{"id":10050,"date":"2013-10-28T21:23:03","date_gmt":"2013-10-29T02:23:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lisatener.local\/?p=10050"},"modified":"2024-09-30T08:59:07","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T12:59:07","slug":"publishing-decision-how-much-money-can-an-author-make","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/2013\/10\/publishing-decision-how-much-money-can-an-author-make\/","title":{"rendered":"Publishing Decision: How Much Money Can an Author Make?"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_9717\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9717\" style=\"width: 283px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-9717  \" src=\"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/lisa-tener.png\" alt=\"Lisa Tener book coach\" width=\"283\" height=\"293\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/lisa-tener.png 314w, https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/lisa-tener-289x300.png 289w, https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/lisa-tener-144x150.png 144w, https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/lisa-tener-100x104.png 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 283px) 100vw, 283px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9717\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Your Book Writing Coach<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I recently received this e-mail:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Dear Lisa,<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m wondering if anywhere on your site you discuss money, as in what a typical new author will make per book by signing w\/traditional publisher versus what an author will make by becoming the publisher&#8230;taking into account marketing budget needed to do marketing regardless of which way you go. I know terms vary by contract, but it&#8217;s important. Just wondering because too many authors get that shock too late in the process and regret having signed&#8230; &#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a great question, but it&#8217;s important to take a step back. When I consult with an author on their publishing decision&#8211;whether to self publish or traditionally publish&#8211;I first ask them about their goals, vision, what they&#8217;re willing to do to meet a publisher&#8217;s requirements and how they plan to use the book.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9697\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9697\" style=\"width: 271px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9697 \" src=\"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/evanna-maggiore.png\" alt=\"Evana Maggiore self published Fashion Feng Shui in order to get her book to market quickly and maintain control over all decision making.\" width=\"271\" height=\"269\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/evanna-maggiore.png 271w, https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/evanna-maggiore-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/evanna-maggiore-100x99.png 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 271px) 100vw, 271px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9697\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Evana Maggiore self published <em>Fashion Feng Shui<\/em> in order to get her book to market quickly and maintain control over all decision making.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>If you:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Want a book published fast (maybe you need it &#8220;yesterday&#8221; for all your speaking gigs or to attract ideal clients)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>or you<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Want control over the project (Can&#8217;t part with that title? Want your sister-in-law to design the cover?)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>then, self publishing may be the ideal option for you.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, if you can&#8217;t meet a publisher&#8217;s requirements, or don&#8217;t want to, self-publishing may also be best. For instance, if you:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Don&#8217;t have a big following and can&#8217;t imagine spending lots of time growing your mailing list, blogging and doing social media before getting a book deal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9710\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9710\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9710 \" src=\"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/sherry-ways.png\" alt=\"feel good spaces author sherry ways\" width=\"235\" height=\"266\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/sherry-ways.png 235w, https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/sherry-ways-133x150.png 133w, https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/sherry-ways-100x113.png 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 235px) 100vw, 235px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9710\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sherry Ways&#8217; Feel Good Spaces is a nice, short book. It&#8217;s perfect for attracting clients and speaking gigs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>or you<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Have a short book in a category that would generally require a longer book.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>or you<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Have a book that&#8217;s not particularly marketable for any reason, but still has a purpose and an audience&#8211;maybe just not a huge audience.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>then self publishing is a good option.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, if you:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Have a strong following or &#8220;author platform&#8221; or reach<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9706\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9706\" style=\"width: 227px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9706 \" src=\"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maureen-hancock.png\" alt=\"maureen hancock Author\" width=\"227\" height=\"267\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maureen-hancock.png 227w, https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maureen-hancock-128x150.png 128w, https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/maureen-hancock-100x118.png 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 227px) 100vw, 227px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9706\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maureen Hancock had a strong following and performed for large audiences. She self published and her book sold 16,000 copies the first month it was out.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>or you<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Are willing to build that reach\/following before pitching publishers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>and<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Your book would appeal to a strong focused audience of a good size (&#8220;good size&#8221; will vary from type of book and size and type of publisher&#8211;it can mean 15,000 people for a small niche publisher or 300,000 or much more in a competitive category and for a larger publisher).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>and you<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Want the cache and distribution of a traditional publisher<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8860\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8860\" style=\"width: 247px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8860 \" src=\"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/vint-virga.png\" alt=\"author Vint Virga\" width=\"247\" height=\"253\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/vint-virga.png 247w, https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/vint-virga-146x150.png 146w, https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/vint-virga-100x102.png 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 247px) 100vw, 247px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8860\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Soul of All Living Creatures had a large potential audience, the author had experience on national TV, and the book was fresh and timely&#8211;all good for traditional publishing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>and you&#8217;d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Like to get on national TV with your book (not impossible with a self-published book but easier with a traditionally published book)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>and you<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Don&#8217;t want to have to become a publisher and make all those publishing type decisions (cover, layout, distribution, editing) yourself<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And\u00a0 you<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Want the expertise of a big publishing house<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>then Traditional publishing may be for you.<\/p>\n<p>Also, there are smaller niche publishers who don&#8217;t always require a huge platform, and your book may be a fit for one of them.<\/p>\n<p>Will you earn more per book by self-publishing? Yes, once you make back any investment in design, editing, etc. But is that really the right question to be asking? I would say, &#8220;no.&#8221; The question to ask is: &#8220;<strong>Which type of publishing is going to be the best fit for my vision, goals and needs<\/strong>?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Authors seldom make their money on number of books sold. They make their money from the doors their books open&#8211;from speaking to training to consulting to coaching to other opportunities that come their way because they&#8217;re published authors.<\/p>\n<p>Now, to answer the question the e-mailer asked, new authors will generally make 10% of the sales price minus transportation costs when they traditionally publish and 30-40% of the cover price, sometimes higher when they self publish.<\/p>\n<p>The Guardian reports that an extensive <a title=\"self publishing survey\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/books\/2012\/may\/24\/self-published-author-earnings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">self-publishing survey<\/a> shows that half of self published authors earn less than $500. But the average earned is $10,000.<\/p>\n<p>So, sure, look at these numbers, but please don&#8217;t stop there in evaluating your options. More important is to look at how you&#8217;ll use the book to further business and other goals and determine how effectively each type of publishing&#8211;traditional publishing or self-publishing will help you meet those goals, as well as to examine what you&#8217;re willing to do to attract a traditional publisher and whether your project is likely to meet their criteria.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I recently received this e-mail: &#8220;Dear Lisa, &#8220;I&#8217;m wondering if anywhere on your site you discuss money, as in what a typical new author will make per book by signing w\/traditional publisher versus what an author will make by becoming the publisher&#8230;taking into account marketing budget needed to do marketing regardless of which way you&#8230;<a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/2013\/10\/publishing-decision-how-much-money-can-an-author-make\/\"><em>&nbsp; Read more<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1,142,140],"tags":[1380,1393,138,1392,1379],"class_list":{"0":"post-10050","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-getting-published","7":"category-more","8":"category-self-publishing-2","9":"category-self-publishing","10":"tag-how-much-money-an-author-makes-per-book","11":"tag-how-much-money-can-an-author-make","12":"tag-publishing-decision","13":"tag-self-publishing-vs-traditional-publishing","14":"tag-whether-to-self-publish","15":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10050"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":279175,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10050\/revisions\/279175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}