Table of Contents
How much does the average romance novel make?
A 2018 Authors Guild survey found that self-published authors across all genres were the only group to see an increase in income from 2013 to 2017. Looking specifically at self-published romance authors, their median income in 2017 was $10,050, which is almost five times higher than the next highest genre.
Do romance writers make good money?
The truth is that there is good money to be made out of romance writing. It’s just not easy money. Asked whether romance writing allows her to earn a “comfortable living”, she replies: “Everyone’s version of ‘comfortable’ will be different, so it’s a hard question to answer.
How much do romance authors make Amazon?
During the first three weeks, she sold 541 copies of this “little romance that could,” earning her over $1,100. For those who don’t know, Amazon pays authors 70 percent of all novels priced between $2.99 and $9.99. So you net about $2.09 on a novel priced at $2.99, which is where she priced hers.
How much can you make selling a book?
Self-published authors can make between 40\% – 60\% royalties on a the retail price of a single book while traditionally published authors usually make between 10\%-12\% royalties.
Ari* is a self-published romance author with 50+ books who makes a high six figures each year. She spends up to $8,000 per book on editing, covers, and promo excluding travel. “It took a year of writing for me to make sure I made 3x my former job’s salary for me to feel comfortable writing full time.
How can I increase my income as a romance author?
Hiring other writers is an easy way to increase your income as a romance author. But, good writers are hard to find – as is the case in any genre. So it takes a while to find reliable ones who write well – consistently. All of this is discussed in the romance writing course, by the way.
The median 2017 income of participating authors was $6,080 with just $3,100 of that being from book income alone (as opposed to speaking fees, teaching, book reviewing, and other supplemental activities). The median income of people who described themselves as full-time authors was just $20,300 when including all book-related activities.
However, since they have received an advance against royalties, they are essentially earning money they have already been paid. They don’t get paid again until their royalties have surpassed their advance amount, which can take any amount of time from before the book is even published until…well, never.