Reading Books is trending..and I'm all about it...how much money do authors make?

[Anonymous]

It seems reading is fun again...I love it...but with sooo many books, and sooo many authors..any idea what kind of money is in this enterprise.. Just curious if anyone in the publishing industry has the intel on the writer's net income? Where have all these authors come from and are they making banK? Shall I hole up in an airbnb in the woods and start typing the latest thriller on my mac?

[Anonymous]

Why don't you give it a try, hmm?

Sigh.

[Anonymous]

Every published author I know has a day job. Go write a book if you want to.

[Anonymous]

I really don't want to, nor can I with success...Just curious...what the numbers are for the successful writers?

[Anonymous]

No, unless they are very, very famous and successful (like James Patterson) and have their books optioned for film/tv, they are not making very much money at all.

[Anonymous]

"reading books is trending" <-- OP you just made yourself sound so incredibly vapid and childish with that.

[Anonymous]

I guess if Reese Witherpoon's production company buys your rights you are golden.

[Anonymous]

OP..trending on tik tok...and with younger readers..this is a good thing. Don't bash me.

[Anonymous]

Book tok, Reese, Jenna, GMA, Book of the Month Club can all make books work. It's hard now even to throw promotional money at releases and have a success. Very few authors make a lot of money anymore, and a lot make very little.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP..trending on tik tok...and with younger readers..this is a good thing. Don't bash me.

Is...writing with ellipses...also trending?

[Anonymous]

Last year's "Bad Art Friend" saga made me happy that I wasn't a writer!

[Anonymous]

The very big names who make big bucks are a teeny tiny minority of authors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, unless they are very, very famous and successful (like James Patterson) and have their books optioned for film/tv, they are not making very much money at all.

This. And usually by then you have a staff and are not even doing all the writing yourself. You become an enterprise. But if you are just an author, you are not making money. Wish there was a way to change this, but no one seems to have found a way not to exploit writers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess if Reese Witherpoon's production company buys your rights you are golden.

Her book picks are generally pretty terrible

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The very big names who make big bucks are a teeny tiny minority of authors.

Agree’d.

Like Danielle Steel.
I follow her on social media and her homes always look so fancy.