How Much Do Authors Make Per Book?

An author typing up their book into a word document on a laptop

Fancy being an author? What about if we told you that authors don’t get a salary? 

Writing a best-selling book and living off the royalties is a dream held by many — and understandably so. Writing a book that resonates with the masses (or at least inspires them) is no easy feat, let alone making a sum off of it, and yet so many people hold this as an aspiration. But, behind the glossy covers and the film adaptations, what’s the bottom-line reality for authors? 

Being a published author is a closed-off world until you’re suddenly a part of it. So, in today’s blog, we’re going to do our best to shed some light on just how much authors make per book — if that’s even possible to determine …

A penny for your thoughts…

Before we get started, it’s important to note how complex the ostensibly simple state of ‘being an author’ is. There are numerous ways to publish a book, including self-publishing, all of which have implications for the amount that an author earns. What’s more, there are also factors such as royalties and first-novel advances to consider. However, for the most part, publishing contracts remain the most reliable and common way for an author to (literally) earn a penny for their thoughts. 

Now let’s take a look at these factors each in turn.

Self-published authors 

If an author is self-published (as is increasingly common), the amount earned per book depends on the terms required by the wholesalers and individual retailers. The more that readers pay, the more that self-published author earns — it’s as simple as that.

A person holding a new book above a box of copies

Publishing contracts 

The amount of money an author is paid per book sale is determined by the kind of contract they have with their publisher. The publishers set the recommended retail price for a book, after which retailers and distributors can purchase it for a discount (which can reach up to 50% for some major retailers).

When an author enters into a contract with a publisher, they are traditionally paid an up-front sum which is known as an ‘advance’ (nowadays, advances are typically quite small, mind). Legally speaking, an ‘advance’ is a non-refundable loan paid by the publisher before any royalty earnings happen.

Got all that? Now onto the royalties themselves.

Royalties

When a book is sold, the author is of course entitled to some of the royalties from the sales of a book — the percentage of which depends on their contract with the publisher. 

Usually,  royalty money is first used to pay off any advance that the publisher paid to the author. After this, though, royalties are the amount that a publisher pays an author in exchange for the rights to publish their work. Royalties are always calculated as a percentage and are typically as follows:

  • 10% of the RRP on hardbacks 
  • 7.5% of the RRP on paperbacks 
  • And usually more on ebooks or audiobooks.

So, if a book sold for £14.99 hardback, an author would make about £1.50 per copy. Similarly, if a book sold for £9.99 paperback, an author would expect to make around 75p per copy. Sometimes, if the retailer has demanded a higher discount, the authors’ share of the royalties can decrease even further. 

Net receipts

Increasingly, authors are alternatively being paid a percentage of the publishers’ receipts instead of a percentage of the RRP. This method means that authors get paid a percentage of what the wholesalers and retailers pay the publisher, meaning the discount they have demanded is deducted before the author gets a percentage of the amount. The retailer can sell the books for whatever price it wants to after it has acquired copies at a discount deemed satisfactory — and as you’ve guessed, the retailers naturally will want to make profit. 

A person using a laptop and a notebook to write notes

Fixed fee selling

Occasionally, an author will be paid a fixed fee, meaning that a lump sum is paid to them irrespective of the performance or sales of the book. This fixed fee selling method is most common for multi-contributor titles and for works of non-fiction. This is not always the most profitable method for an author as, if their work sells a lot, they will not share in the reward.

Read your favourite authors with Victoria Freudenheim

Now that you know more about how much your favourite authors may be making from their books, keep reading with help from Victoria Freudenheim. From thrillers and horror to romance and crime, we review books of every genre to help you find new top reads. Catch up with our latest reviews page or get inspired by our top-rated list.

In the meantime, for more bookish content and answers to all your reading-related questions, head over to the Victoria Freudenheim blog.

An author typing up their book into a word document on a laptop

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