Question: Money earnt by authors?

[AaronBrown]

For authors in general, not just poker, it makes more sense to think of career earnings than money from your first book.

One rule of thumb in publishing is you have to sell the first 1,000 books yourself. Since you're a first time author, no one knows anything about the book. So why will they buy? Maybe:

- It comes from a publisher known for high quality books in this subject, and there is a demand for this subject (like 2+2)

- You are a celebrity or just did something big in the news like won the WSOP main event

- You have a bunch of friends who are college professors who will assign it in their courses

There are other ways as well, but all depend on who you are (except the publisher, then who the publisher selects depends on who you are, because they haven't seen the book when they make the deal). So for most people, it doesn't make sense to start by writing a book, it makes sense to do something so 1,000 people (or one good publisher) have heard of you in a manner that makes them likely to buy your book.

If you sell 1,000 books based on your name, then there is a chance for word of mouth to spread. You're also more likely to get reviews and blog mentions. Your publisher might spend some money advertising it. As sales increase it can come out in paperback or audio book, it will get translated into foreign languages and so on.

If you get sales up high enough, you're no longer a first-time author. Now people will buy your second book based on the first one. You are much more attractive to a publisher because they can count on more sales, so they can do a larger initial print run. Your second book is likely to be reviewed right away, and get better display in bookstores. If that does well, you are an established author.

Very few authors make more than the advance on their first book. The advance is whatever you can convince a publisher to pay you, again it depends on who you are, not how good your book is. But if you can make the first book a success, you have a decent chance of being able to make a living, or a significant part of a living, at it.