How much do SELF-published authors really make?

You probably already know how hard it is to earn a liveable income from selling books. More than likely, you’ll need to find ways of supplementing your income if you’re a self-published or even traditionally published author.

According to the Author’s Guild, the median income for self-published authors is $1,951, which is actually close to double what it was in 2013. While it’s still significantly less than what traditionally published authors earn, this shouldn’t be discouraging. If you combine all author earnings — self-published, traditionally published, full-time, part-time — the median income is still only $6,080.

Writing and self-publishing your book should be a step in your overall plan of promoting and marketing yourself as an author. It’s certainly the most important step, but it can't’ be the only action you take if you hope to sustain your writing career.

Think about what it takes to build a fanbase, nurture that fanbase and continue to have it grow. Experiment with ways to draw attention to yourself and your book. As you saw in the last letter, this type of attitude is necessary whether you’re self-published or traditionally published.

CRY

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How much do SELF-published authors really make? was originally published in C.R.Y on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.