i know this mght sound stupid,but do author's make money.?

Question

If they do how much is the average money they make?

Answer 1

There's no quick answer to this. It all depends on the type of writing your doing and how much work you get. Most writers are freelance, submitting articles or stories to magazines or websites in the hope of getting published. Should they be lucky and persistent enough to achieve this, they can earn anywhere from a few hundred bucks to several thousand depending on the publication and the article or story. If you manage to rise to a certain level of recognition, and have the money, a literary agent can assist you in planning your career and landing you paying jobs. There are steady writing jobs as well. If you land a job on the writing staff of a magazine, TV show, or newspaper, you can make a decent to great living depending on the popularity and success of the company you're working for, as well as the specific job you have. If your the head writer for a TV show or you're a lead journalist for a newspaper, you'll do very well, if your one of the many grunts, well you'll be paid accordingly (not so well). If your a screen writer there is always the chance that you'll sell a screenplay, that is if the studio will even look at your work and take a meeting with you. This can pay very well, depending on the studio and whether it's a big budget film or not. It is possible to earn thousands on a first screenplay, the downside is the employment rate for screenwriters is about 1-2% (yes, out of 100%). As far as the great American novel, it depends (once and if you can get it published) on how popular it is with readers and critics. The more well known and published you become, the more you get paid. Most writers realistically hope for a good living off their writing without having to have a survival job (waiter, temp work, etc). Becoming wealthy from your writing is only attained by a very select few. It can be a very long hard road to becoming a successful writer. Needless to say we don't do this for the money.

Answer 2

Most book authors have "day" jobs. They may get an advance if their novel is accepted by a large press. Smaller or independent presses often do not offer an advance at all. Unless an author is self published (in which case they PAY to get their book published), they usually receive royalty checks a couple times a year, based on their book sales.

When you hear of writers making a lot of money (Nora Roberts, Stephen King, JK Rowling), you are hearing of the bestsellers.

Freelance pay for magazine or newspaper articles has a wide range as well. I have several newspaper stories published and was paid $25-$40 a story.

I have two novels being published and won't see a cent until the books are on the shelf and begin to sell.

I've several published friends who have "regular" jobs to pay their bills.

Answer 3

Not very much all at once, but they do make money. It all depends on the popularity of a book. If a book it popular enough, it'll make a lot of money. Also author make money when a book is made into a movie. So yes authors do make money, it just depends on a few things. Merry Christmas and I hope (if this is the sort of thing you want to do) that you do become a very successful author!!

Answer 4

Yes authors make money. I'm not sure of the average but i think that it depends on how much profit they get from selling the books. But i think that the agent and publisher get a cut. Authors have to make money because they are the ones that write the book and they should get paid for it.

Answer 5

For SciFi and Fantasy fiction novelists: "The typical advance for a first novel is $5000. The typical advance for later novels, after a typical number of 5-7 years and 5-7 books is $12,500."

That's according to a survey done by Tobias S. Buckell which can be found here:http://www.tobiasbuckell.com/2005/10/05/author-advance-survey-version-20/

For Romance writers: Cash advances can range from $1,500 to $1 million a year. A typical advance for a first novel can be between $2,000 and $5,000, according to Beverley.

Royalties, the percentage the author receives from each copy sold, are generally six to eight percent of the cover price. The actual amount of royalty income varies: some authors may make $20,000, while others collect $500,000.

Income depends on several factors, according to RWA: the author's publishing history and current popularity, the number of books released per year, and the novel's foreign distribution."

http://careerpronews.bridges.com/explorer/browse/se/romance/main.htm

Answer 6

Only a select few at the top. Most of us do it for love. I would venture to guess that only one in ten thousand makes a living at it. It's a compulsion.
The average annual income from writing books is probably not much over $1000. That's not to deny that many authors get millions for every book, but many more get nothing.

I like keke1986's point about how we should get paid because we're the ones who write the books. And so many people want them to be free.

Answer 7

Uhh...yes they do.

Major publishers tend to give established authors an advance. They also get a percentage of the profits based onthe sale of books so to say there is an average depends on the author. Could be six-figures if the book is a best seller, more if Oprah endorses it.

Answer 8

Well, they all make some kind of money, but only about 1% earn enough to quit their day jobs. As far royalties, they recieve only
chump change per book, depending on whether it's hardback or
paper, and, of course, the more books they sell the more money they make.

Answer 9

they do but they only make money when they sell books. and you basically have to pay for the printing with selling books. if you dont sell enough you lose money. not sure if the author actually loses but they will not sell another book. which is why getting a book published is very hard.

Answer 10

No. the US mint makes money. Author's write books and some of them get paid quite a bit