How much does an author make from every book they sell?

Question

Like, as a percentage, what should an author expect to make from sales of her book?

Answer 1

A typical first time writer's advance can be up to $5,000. Afterwards, you earn a royalty of about 10% (though this varies from publisher to publisher) on NET sales. Net sales are those that actually end up with consumers. Things like the NYT Bestseller's list often inflate sales because they are based off of GROSS sales. These are sales to bookstores. But booksellers typically return up to 30-40% of the books they order.

Answer 2

Varies wildly, a first-time author can expect to make an advance of around 5,000. After that, the publisher decides your royalty rate, and it's all up to sales from that point on.

Answer 3

Well you never actually know, and worrying about money is not a good thing to do as a writer.
The more copy's you sell, the more money you will make, simple enough? If you have a publisher (usually do) they will often ask for a 10% deal of the total you earn. On average, the amount of money you earn is $10,000. Having a literary agent will help advertise your book and heighten you earnings.
Another way to boost your earnings (greatly) is to sell your book rights to a director (add another $50,000)
This is the closest average i could do. Hope it answers your question.

Answer 4

The percentages can vary immensely from publisher to publisher. That is something worked out during the contract signing process and depends on so many different factors, that there isn't one standard rate. Different publishers have different rates, and sometimes those vary too.