Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Show Me the Money--Again!

Last year I posted about the money published authors really make called Really Show the Money. It was fun to get a cross section of many authors and see the range of spectrum in the financial lucre. Recently, LDSpublisher had a blog post about the LDS market and the comments trailed into the $$ we make in this market. It's a question people ask A LOT, and are often surprised when I answer them without hesitating. I know our society is supposed to be all close mouthed about money issues, but I figure that's only because people are judgemental. You wanna judge me because I make a certain amount of $$, fine with me. If it destracts you from other things like bad hygeine and poor social skills, I'll take judgements over money any day.

Soooooo, being as I'm a total copy cat and since I'm cleaning my stove after canning season and therefore have nothing of interest to post about, I thought I'd ask the same question I did last year--How much money are you authors making?

Here's the format:
What Market are you published in?
Do you have a traditional publisher or are you self-published or both?
How much $$ have you recieved in ROYALTIES or ADVANCES in the last 12 months?
How many books do you have published? 1, 2-6, 6-10, more than 10

What did you do with your last royalty check?

And despite my 'open and free' comments in regard to $$, please post anonymously if you're sharing finances--no need to tempt me since I've recently learned just how easy it can be to hack into bank accounts :-) Also, my answer will be anonymous also, I'm fine having an in depth discussion with anyone on a one on one basis, but would rather not put it out into blogland.

Any other comments along this trail are welcome

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Market--LDS
Publisher--Traditional Publisher
Royalty--$14,763 (softcover of 2004 book & new 2007 book--hardcover)
Number of books published: 4

My last royalty check went into savings.

Anonymous said...

Market--LDS
Publisher--Traditional Publisher
Royalty--About $2,500 (no new release during this time)
Number of books published: between 6 and 10 (that are still in print and earning royalties)

My last royalty check was $90 and went toward school fees.

Anonymous said...

Teacher NOT ENOUGH
PAY CHECK gas, food, kids, bills, missionary and everything else

Anonymous said...

LDS Market
Traditional publisher
$2,400
2-6 books

For a new release, it's the lowest first royalty check for a new book I've ever had.

Anonymous said...

Market - LDS
Publisher - Traditional Publisher
Royalty - They said I was $12 in the hole, I asked them if my statement was a bill, they said no, then they realized they had made a mistake. They sent me a couple hundred bucks.
No new books for several years
Number of books published - 2

Anonymous said...

*LDS market
*traditional publisher
*was $300 in the red with my last statement despite having a 2007 release. I've earned just over $2,000 in the last 12 months.
*I've published between 6-10 novels

IF I had a royalty check coming in my near future, which I don't, I would use it toward the paper, ink, conferences, and other things I'm paying for out of our household budget right now.

Anonymous said...

Market-LDS
Publisher-Traditional
Advance-Hahahahahaha
Royalty-$9500.00 (for two softcover books, including one in 2007 and one in 2008)
Number of books published-3

My first two royalty checks went to tuition payments, my last one went into savings but in truth, it will barely cover my expenses to research and market.

So writing is more a passion than a realistic vocation for many of us!

Anonymous said...

Market--LDS
Publisher--Traditional Publisher
Royalty--About $13,000
Number of books published: between 2 and 6

My royalty checks are typically used to pay for toner, paper, travel (mostly for book signings), and kids' college funds.

Anonymous said...

Market: LDS
Publisher: Traditional
Royalties AND books sold on my own: Somewhere between $1500 and $2000 (I've made MORE peddling my own books than the royalties).
I have 6 published novels.

Anonymous said...

market--LDS
Publisher--Traditional
Royalty--$230.00
number of books--3

I haven't had a new release for several years. My last royalty check went to household expenses.

Anonymous said...

Market--childrens
Publisher--national
Royalty/advance--$9725.00
number of books published--1 and one due out next year.

My last royalty checks went to attend a writing workshop and pay for school tuition.

Anonymous said...

Forbes has updated their annual guesses on the earnings of the most successful authors. This year's list, covering June 1, 2007 to June 1, 2008, estimates the top 10 authors "pulled in a combined $563 million."

1. J.K. Rowling, $300 million
2. James Patterson, $50 million
3. Stephen King, $45 million
4. Tom Clancy, $35 million
5. Danielle Steel, $30 million
6. John Grisham, $25 million
6. Dean Koontz, $25 million
8. Ken Follett, $20 million
9. Janet Evanovich, $17 million
10. Nicholas Sparks, $16 million

Kimberly Vanderhorst said...

Wow, what a fascinating topic. Will have to check back here.

Hope that a couple years down the round I'll have an anonymous comment or two to leave.

ali cross said...

that was really ineresting Josi. Thanks to everyone who contributed!

hi, it's me! melissa c said...

K, I want to be JK Rowling! HELLO!!!!! From a single mom to a millionaire! That is amazing!

Looks like I have my work cut out for me!

Melanie Jacobson said...

Thanks! This is really interesting!

Anonymous said...

Market- LDS
Publisher-Traditional
2008 Royalty- $1868.22
Number of books- 2, 2006 & 2007
What I did with last royalty check-paid off bills

Anonymous said...

Correction on JK Rowling...she went from single mom to BILLIONAIRE. She is the first author to ever reach that milestone. Wish she would donate to poor authors in the LDS market!