Author Income Ranges
An author makes between 4.5 percent and 5.5 percent of the cost of the book as royalty. If an author sells one million books per year at $9.99 a copy, the yearly amount is $4.5 million to $5.5 million.
Most authors earn around minimum wage based on book sales and advances. Making a full-time living solely from writing novels is difficult for most authors.
How Authors Get Paid
Authors get paid an advance on royalties when they initially sign a book contract. After that, they receive a percentage royalty on each book sold. The percentage is based on the book’s retail or net price.
Novel Sales Figures
If we look at the terms, conditions and ways of publications above, it’s very simple to understand how much money an author makes per book. It ranges between 4.5 percent and 5.5 percent of the cost of the book and is known as royalty. This might not sound much. However, if we consider that a good author sells an average of one million books per year, the amount can easily range between $4.5 million to $5.5 million per year, for a book which sells at $9.99 a copy.