From Words to Wealth

Inside the Mind of Independent Authors Who Earn Over $100K per year

I was once told by an expert that the earnings an author could expect from their books would never exceed minimum wage. Especially if you counted up the hours you spend writing it. In June 2023, I attended Mark Dawson’s Self-Publishing Show in London. I tell you, the authors who spoke at the conference blew that right out of the water. The speakers were independent authors who have sold six million books, two million books, one and a half million books; authors who have earned over one hundred thousand, some of them over a million dollars.

The Evidence

You may have seen recent surveys that show that income for authors is declining across the world, with the median in the range of US$6000–8000. These surveys were based on traditionally published authors. The Alliance of Independent Authors did their own survey of independent authors and found a very different picture. Earnings for independent authors are on the increase, with 43.8% of the authors surveyed earning over $20,000 over per year, 28% over $50,000 per year and *nearly 18% earned over $100,000. A little over minimum wage I think you’ll agree!! The median point (so you can compare) was $12,749 over all the authors who responded to the survey. (Link to survey below.)