making a living self-publishing

Ten years ago I was 61. My wife had given me the okay to retire at 62 if I wished. And boy was I ever looking to retire and get out of the toxic county work environment that I’d endured for 30 years.

What I Wrote

In February 2014, I completed my massively sprawling post-apocalyptic epic The Rocheport Saga. A novel over 2200 handwritten pages long. The published seven volumes comprise about a third of the original manuscript. So there is lots more to add, if I decide to continue the saga.

In the spring and early summer of that year, I wrote Trio in Death-Sharp Minor and Festival of Death. The first two books in the Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mystery series.

During the summer, I wrote the first Lady Dru Drummond decopunk action-adventure novel: The Moscow Affair. And I edited Do One Thing For Me (a horror novelette) for publication.

Then I published the entire shooting match in November and December.

Dreamin’ of Riches

And like most writers, I immediately started dreaming about what I’d do with all the royalty money I’d be getting.

However, reality is a harsh mistress. And the money… Well, I quickly discovered that I was in the same league as the vast majority of fiction writers: we make very little to no money from our books. A sad tale, but true.

Although, I can say I am better off than many of my peers. Because, without any significant advertising, I have made at least $200 every year I’ve been at this indie writing/publishing gig. The operative phrase being without any significant advertising.

And last year, again without any significant advertising, I had my best year ever: pulling in around $630. Not a king’s ransom by any means. But I spent less than $30 in advertising and expended very little time hawking my books. The major “cost” was in writing, editing, and formatting — all which I did myself.

My hope is that one of these years before I die I’ll break that $1000 mark in income from my books. So stay tuned.

How to Make a Buck

One key to making a buck writing fiction these days is to orchestrate a massive advertising campaign, often to the tune of thousands of dollars. And hoping you sell enough books to break even. Few do. Even so, this is what almost all the gurus advise. Advertise, advertise, advertise.

Another tried-and-true method is direct sales. Man a booth at a fair, book festival, or convention.

I know authors who have actually sold many thousands of copies of their books doing so. The downside is that your weekends are tied up and you have to lug around curtains of your books. But you can make a living by selling direct. Just too busy and too much traveling for my liking.

Social Media

Generally speaking, social media is a bust. I haven’t gotten any book sale traction via social media for a few years now. In fact, I’ve pulled back severely on my social media involvement. The results aren’t worth the time investment.

Social media’s value, IMO, is in meeting other authors.

Kickstarter?

A venue not often mentioned by the gurus is Kickstarter. However, the platform is drawing name authors who are trying to generate sales and getting followers.

The success of Brandon Sanderson on the platform has kickstarted quite a few writers to give it a try. And when even unknown or little known writers pull in tens of thousands of dollars on their campaigns, it gives one something to think about.

Of course, there is work to organizing and conducting a Kickstarter campaign, but then there is work with everything. Except if you choose to do nothing. No work involved in that.

And this year…

So what’s on my docket for this year? Writing, of course. I’m also planning on giving Kickstarter a try. I’ll use the platform for the launch of my ninth Pierce Mostyn book. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

But you won’t find me going to book fairs, conventions, and what not. I’m retired. I don’t need to make a buck at this venture. As one writer friend says, “I’m just writing for the larks.”

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That’s all for now folks!

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

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How much money would you need to earn in royalties in order for you to quit your day job? That would be your salary plus benefits. How much?

Back in the 90s, when Clinton was president and the Democrats controlled Congress, there was talk of redefining income as your salary plus benefits — for tax purposes. In other words, you’d be taxed on your income + benefits.

My employer gave us a printout of what our salary plus benefits would be for tax purposes. Mine would’ve double. About $100,000 back then.

As a self-employed writer, to quit the day job, you need to replicate your salary and your benefits package. So how much would that be? We’re talking your wages, vacation and sick leave pay, health insurance, and retirement. In addition, self-employment tax is roughly double social security and Medicare withholdings. You may also have to add in your employer’s portion of health insurance and retirement.

I bet we’re talking a lot of money for some of you.

If I was still working, the amount would be roughly $150,000.

If you are selling your ebooks for $3.99, and you get a 70% royalty, the amount you earn per book is about $2.70. Which means, in my case, I’d have to sell 55,556 ebooks each year in order for me to quit my day job — and make roughly the same salary plus benefits.

That is one heck of a lot of ebooks.

Now that number can be reduced to some degree with paperback sales, audiobook sales, and KU page reads. But I’d have to have a lot of paperback and audiobook sales and page reads to significantly alter that number of ebook sales. And that isn’t going to happen without a deep back list of titles.

So to quit your day job, depending on how much your salary plus benefits equal, it is conceivable that you’ll have to sell about 152 ebooks every day. Give or take.

However, we haven’t figured in the cost of production to produce those ebooks, paperbacks, and audiobooks. Which means that you will probably have to sell more than 152 ebooks every day.

Is it any wonder most writers don’t earn a living from selling books? They end up doing other things; such as, offering courses, or becoming ghost writers, or becoming editors. Writing their own books becomes a side thing they do so that they can still call themselves writers.

If we define writing success as making money, it seems to me we’re setting ourselves up for failure. Not that it can’t be done, because it is possible. And so is winning the lottery.

I’ve run across a number of good writers who were daunted by the magnitude of these numbers. They realized that they were not going to make money anytime soon. They realized that earning money from writing is a long game proposition. And when they made that discovery, they became discouraged and quit. Which is sad, because they were good writers and now we don’t get to read their books.

I’m lucky. I’m retired. I have an income and don’t have to work 8 to 5 to get it. For me, I’d simply like to cover the expenses that this writing gig incurs. Because otherwise, it is a doggone expensive hobby.

But if you have the dream of paying for your bread-and-butter peddling stories, go ahead and give it a try. But please do understand that you’re playing the long game. And plan accordingly.

How much money do you need to replace your day job? It’s more than just your paycheck.

Comments are always welcome. And until next time, happy reading (and writing)!