Don’t Write a Book for the Money

When we decided to write our recent book, Intangible Capital, we felt fortunate that our agent found us a publisher that paid us a modest advance against royalties to finish it and get it out into the market. To us, our book is a big deal. But, in the scheme of things, it’s still a huge gamble.

Each year in the U.S., over 150,000 new books are published by major U.S. publishers. Add to that figure the numerous books that are published privately through on-demand vendors. That’s a staggering number of books – yet on average each book will sell just 500 copies, which is typically not even enough to cover costs. So you can imagine how few authors can actually make a living from their writing alone.

Did you get that?  A unique idea that is worth the interest of a viable publisher, months of writing, editing drafts, thinking and re-thinking, proofreading, taking time away from your real business – all this for a modest check that is still only an advance against future royalties? Even if the book takes off, which we believe ours will, it is certainly not going to make us rich at a few dollars a book.