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While the fiction sections of bookstores and libraries are overflowing with books, few of the authors make their living as fulltime writers. Making a living as a writer is tough.

Let's do a little math. Suppose you could live on $20,000 per year and you have a novel out in paperback that sells for $10. If you receive at 10% royalty, then your return on each sale $1.00. That means that in order to achieve your income goal you would have to sell 20,000 books a year. That is a lot of books.

I think you can see that, even for bestselling authors, making a living wage requires having several books out there selling at the same time. Making a living as a novelist is a long term goal, you need time to develop an audience and to write a number of high-quality books. There are a few superstars who hit it off big right away, but for most of us it is a long journey.

I had my first novel accepted by a medium-sized publisher. The book is published in paperback only (no hardcover); it retails for $11.95 and I get a 10% royalty. I received a $600.00 advance on an initial print run of 1200 books. If the run sells out, the maximum I will earn is $1,434.00. Not enough to retire on is it?

If you write mainstream work and get accepted by a major publisher you will make more. If you are an experimental writer and publish through a small press, you may make less. But even if you write a popular book and receive a $50,000 advance, how long will that sustain you? You will need to publish a bestseller every year or two. (Many people do not understand that the advance is an advance on royalties, usually amounting to about half the expected royalties from total sales. This means that you won't see any royalty payments until the book has earned back the amount of the advance for the publisher.)

The higher the sales of your book, the better chances you have for making money from selling foreign publishing rights or the film rights.

So to make a living as a novelist you need to work as hard at establishing your name as you do at your writing. After you have published something, you may be eligible for grants from governments, foundations, or arts organizations. If you take a long term view and build your career steadily, you may have a chance to become a fulltime writer.

Learn more about this author, J. Goodman.
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