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.

[Jim C]

No, not a dig, just a joking comment. "Earnt" is an improper form, even in UK english.

[Kmon]

If I wanted to get my name out there, I would right a book and make it free online to make myself known, then have a follow up with more complex ideas. Then you can expect a bigger fan base and you can have more books made with your first order reducing cost. Or send it to mason and see if he likes it.

[ChrisV]

[ QUOTE ]
No, not a dig, just a joking comment. "Earnt" is an improper form, even in UK english.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, there you go. I would say that "earnt" is common usage in Australian English and would deserve a place in an Australian dictionary. It's so commonly used I wasn't even aware it was considered non-standard.

There are examples of three different major Australian newspapers using the word here, here and here.

I suspect this has to do with the Australian tendency for clipped, staccato speech. When I think about why I used "earnt" rather than "earned" in that phrase, I'm pretty sure the reason is that "earnt by" is easier to say than "earned by".

[steamboatin]

[ QUOTE ]
Is "earnt" a real word or it one of those deals like when foreigners want to add extra letters or use a "y" when spelling a word when it is obvious that an "e" is a much better fit?

And what's up with calling a truck a lorry anyways?

[/ QUOTE ]

It is a terrible burden always being right.

[Jim C]

Huh. I didn't even consider looking online to see if it was standard South African or Australian. Guess we both learnt something new! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

No offense intended, sorry if my post didn't convey my good-natured intentions.

Jim

[wins_pot]

I've sold over 3000 copies of Broke: A Poker Novel and I don't think I've broken even yet. I went through
www.iuniverse.com
It's kind of like a vanity publisher.
I have to sell 4 for every 1 I give away. That hasn't worked out for me.
I wrote Broke during the most profitable time ever for poker (summer, fall 2005), so it didn't make a lot of sense for me $-wise.

BA

[Peter McDermott]

[ QUOTE ]
I've sold over 3000 copies of Broke: A Poker Novel and I don't think I've broken even yet.

[/ QUOTE ]

On the upside though, I enjoyed it a lot -- and suspect that in twenty years time it may well end up as *the* classic novel of the internet poker boom -- even though most of the action is in B&M casinos.

[King Yao]

[ QUOTE ]
Two other points: ......And the second, is that our biggest competitor pays a standard royalty rate on almost all of his books of 6 percent of retail. So our authors, in general, make about five times as much as his.

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe I am misreading this...does this mean your normal or average royalty rate is 30% of retail?

[Bill Haywood]

Chris,

It is unlikely you'll make more than a dollar or two per hour for the time it takes to write a book. That was my experience publishing one with RGE. But I enjoyed the process and like being a noted authority.