what are the prospects of making a living by being an author.?

Answer 1

Less than 5% of all authors make a living at it. The rest write and also have jobs. In fact. Glen Cook who is a fantastic fantasy/sci fi author wrote most of his books while working on the GM Light Truck Assembly Line by day.

As for Katherine's response, it is very unfortunate that people who do not have the slightest clue what they are talking about give information. Selling books through traditional publishers puts your books on shelves in bookstores. You get royalties and advances. You may not make a fortune at first, but you make money. Self publishers are 99% frauds and scams. The rest print anything as long as your check clears the bank. The average sale of a self published book is less than 100 copies. I have seen some with sales as low as three copies. You have to PAY to do marketing and advertising. It is not free. If you don't pay for marketing and advertising and your book isn't available in stores, how on earth is anyone going to buy it?

And my dear Katherine, publishers do not "Take" most of the money. They earn it. It covers things like ummm let's see. Printing the book? Distributing the book? Editing the book? Promoting the book? Who did you think paid for that? Did you think publishers just took your money for fun? Get real. You seriously need to learn how traditional publishing works and fast. They take a gamble on your success - and that is paid off when your book sells. NO true author would ever make such a silly statement as "the publisher takes most of the money from you".

All you are buying from a self publisher is a box full of books to sell on your own. If you want to set up shop out of your trunk and sell books in the parking lot of the Stop N Shop, go right ahead, but it ain't making you Donald Trump. Expect about 2/3 of your friends and relatives to buy books and that's about as far as it goes.

I have seen people literally refinance their homes to market and advertise self published books who are now homeless because they never earned a doggone penny to pay the mortgage back.

Unfortunately, quite often, self publishers send people to these forums to tell all about how successful they are and how great the service is. They are known in the industry as "sock puppets". All part of the scam.

As for making more money on non-fiction - ask yourself this question. Which sold more copies last week do you think? Double Cross by James Patterson or a book on the Reconstruction of the South after the Civil War? I mean seriously. Mainstream fiction is where the money is. The top non fiction books on the NY Times list don't sell a fraction of what mainstream fiction sells. Common sense, my friend.

If you go to my profile, you will see several starred Q and A on publishing and self publishing. Read through them. Print them out. Laugh along with the rest of us serious authors.


----
They're, Their, There - Three Different Words.

Careful or you may wind up in my next novel.

Pax - C

Answer 2

Being an author, cannot be termed as career. You write , when you feel something. suffering of society, politics.and the like.
In my opinion, an author is some one above average. So if you are above average, go ahead, write. But not with the idea of profit. It will never work.

Answer 3

If you go the usual publishing route, then the publishers take most of the money, and it's hard to get published, so the chances are small. If you self-publish, you have to market the book yourself, but the chances are much greater. You have to have a subject people find interesting, though. You should also look into publishing e-books on the net, which will give you a good idea about whether there's a market for what you want to say. Also, it's a lot easier to make money in non-fiction than fiction, I think.

Answer 4

Some people will tell you that to be a successful author you have to sell lots and lots of books. But I think that if you write a book and sell just one copy for, like, 10 million dollars, you could make a decent living as an author.

Answer 5

The outlook isn't good. Most people who want to write for a living can't make enough money doing it to afford the cost of living. That being said, I want to be a writer and if you want to be one then go for it. Just be prepared for tough times with your finances.

Answer 6

If you are a good author and wright about the right things. The chances are as high as 70%. Good means A Gem

Answer 7

1%,,

Answer 8

good move. the more people read- the more they learn. tell your story- someone will love it. being a writer is GREAT.

Answer 9

Persiphone almost always gives good answers. This is one of her best. Thanks for saying what needed to be said.

Answer 10

slim