Author Royalty Earnings in Traditional Publishing and Self-Publishing

You’re going to make a smaller profit per book through traditional publishing, but a traditional publishing company takes all of the risk up front. They pay you for your story. If you’re an author, they find and pay the illustrator. They take care of the editing, design, some marketing, and distribution. 

On the other hand, you can make more per book through self-publishing. But do you want to take on the marketing and production expenses of making your book? If you’re hiring an illustrator for a self-published book, a hardcover book will probably cost you $30,000. You can cut your costs nearly in half if you illustrate and do a lot of the work yourself. Print-on-demand can save you even more money. But you will still need to put time and money into marketing if you want your book to sell.

Our hope is that seeing real numbers will help you choose the best strategy for you. If you want to learn more about building an author business, Arree offers classes on the subject through Storyteller Academy.

Thanks for reading! If you have insights you'd like to share, please comment below.