As some of you know, I've got a few books for sale on Amazon. At the end of the year, I get a tax statement telling me how much income I earned from these books. I'm awaiting my UK statement, but I got the US statement last night and was personally happy with the number I saw. So I decided to share with my older daughter, who wants to be an author herself.
Me: "Guess how much money your mom earned selling the books I wrote on Amazon?"
Daughter: "Ummmm..... 700?"
Me: "700 dollars?"
Daughter: "No, um.... 700 THOUSAND dollars."
Me: "700 THOUSAND dollars!!!!"
Daughter: "No, I mean... one... thousand. One thousand dollars."
Me: "I earned $24,000."
Daughter: [disappointed] "Oh."
Fine. I didn't earn $700,000 last year. But hey, $24,000 isn't bad. (I did donate a chunk of that money to charity, but that's my choice.) A lot of people rag on me about how self-publishing isn't legit and I should submit my book to a real publisher, but all in all, self-publishing has been good to me. I've probably made maybe $60K total since I started in 2013. And I've given away hundreds of thousands of free copies of my books, which makes me feel like I would never get this kind of visibility if I'd used a traditional publisher.
With all that in mind, I've written a sequel to The Devil Wears Scrubs. Await publication in the spring.
You've given away hundreds of thousands of free copies? Just curious how much did that cost? Or is that already netted out of your $60K.
ReplyDeleteEither way, sounds like a nice hobby!
It's free because they are kindle copies.
DeleteHey, there are a lot of would-be professional authors that would be elated to make 24000 in a year from writing. Isaac Asimov, who was hugely prolific in his day, once said that his main advice to anyone who wanted to be a writer was, "don't quit your day job."
ReplyDeleteAlso, since your post made me curious--according to the DHHS, the poverty threshold for a family of 4 in 2017 is 24,600. For a family of 3, it's 20,420. Those numbers seem extremely low to me... but as a comparison point, it says something.
So my husband and I could quit our jobs and live in poverty :)
DeleteSome of us are able to live in poverty without quitting our jobs. What a country!
Delete24K is not exactly pocket change. When do you find time to write Fizzy when you are a practicing physician, wife, and mother?
ReplyDeleteEveryone is able to find time for the things they really enjoy.
DeleteI think it's great!
ReplyDeleteWhen people have kindle unlimited you don't receive anything for your books?
I get about half a cent per page read.
DeleteThat is terrific! I can't wait for the sequel!
ReplyDeleteSo excited for the sequel!
ReplyDeleteGo Fizzy!!!
ReplyDeletePS Screw whoever said self publishing isn't legit. Enjoy what you do.
I am excited about the sequel too! I've had it in my head for ages, and I didn't think I'd be able to write it. I hope I don't disappoint fans of the original.
ReplyDeleteWell done on your success! I wouldn't turn down $24 000
ReplyDeleteI will have to see about buying your books. I struggle to buy books because I am poor and I have a hard time spending 15 dollars on a book I will read once. That's why I have a library card. But if the books are reasonable and I can download them to my computer or 6 year old android phone without having to have a kindle then I'll go for it.
ReplyDeleteAny chance we'll get a sequel to Brain Damage? I'd so love to see where you'd take that? I hope you & your family are having a nice weekend.
ReplyDelete