You are receiving Jane Friedman’s self-study class, How to Earn a Living as a Writer. New lessons release every Friday through April 18, 2025. Browse the archive.​

Week 1: Few authors earn a living through book sales alone

Out of everything I’ve written, published, and presented over 25 years, the most popular material has always concerned “How can I get my book published?” and—increasingly—“How should I publish my book?”

Getting a book published is a major milestone that may not happen for many years into a writing life. While it’s a milestone to be celebrated, it rarely leads to the kind of success or earnings that writers think it will. One source reported that 80% of authors stop publishing after their third book. Some believe it’s because the industry is unfair or society doesn’t highly value authors. I think it’s because writing books is difficult work and you won’t keep doing it unless you enjoy the creative act for its own sake. But I can’t deny that poor earnings is part of it, too.

Perhaps you’ve read essays by authors “exposing” the fact that the average book advance today does not equate to a full-time living for even a single year. And rarely has it—there was no golden era where writers were on easy street. I was motivated to write The Business of Being a Writer because I continually heard writers say at conferences (especially AWP), “I wish I had known the truth about the money before I started [or before I went into debt for my MFA].”

Unfortunately, few authors are transparent about what they earn and most will take offense if you ask, so it’s understandable how emerging writers might remain in the dark about money. Other writers have unrealistic expectations or engage in magical thinking: I will be the exception.

Few people make a living solely by writing and publishing books, unless they have a big platform. Genre fiction writers, especially romance authors, may currently be in the best position today to realize the full-time writing dream simply because they tend to produce more work in a shorter amount of time—work that’s in high demand. Having a prolific pen can and does play a role in your business model and earnings. The more work you can produce or the faster you can write, the more work you have to sell, and the more chances you have to break out or get known.

Writers sometimes equate being paid a big advance or writing a bestselling book with being a “real” writer, but this is a product of the writer’s ego—and writerly myths at work. However, it’s true that the more experienced you become, and the bigger your platform, the more possible it becomes to support yourself through writing alone, if it’s what you desire.

Exercise

As your career progresses, it helps to think of your earnings in terms of three overlapping areas of activity. (1) What fulfills your creative or artistic goals? Or what writing would be ideal to earn a living on? (2) What earns you money today? (3) What activities increase your readership (or platform), and thus potential future earnings?

In the beginning, the writing or other work you do for money (like a day job) will take up the largest part of the canvas. As feasible, you wedge in the other things, and that might involve sacrifice. Time you might ordinarily spend watching TV, relaxing, or doing something with family is put into your writing that still earns little (or nothing) or into activities that build readership. Such activities include engaging in literary citizenship, attending events and conferences, using Substack, and so on—all these help you, in the long run, earn a living on writing you want to do and sometimes earn you money in their own right. Building your full-time business as a writer is often a slow process of minimizing what you do just for the money.

Additional reading

• ​Schrodinger’s 100k Author Advance by Lincoln Michel
• ​How Much Do Authors Make Per Book? by Sarah Nicolas
• ​You Can Write a Bestseller and Still Go Broke by Laura Miller
• ​If It Wasn’t for My Corporate Job, I Couldn’t Be a Novelist by Jillian Medoff
• ​Contemporary Literary Novels Are Haunted by the Absence of Money by Naomi Kanakia

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