The average gross income for a family of four is actually about 30,000. So her estimate puts her $5,000 above the mean. That says more about the distribution of income in the country. Still, $35,000 for all those books sold is still meager. Dave
On Wed, Nov 18, 2009 at 5:29 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > There is more to this equation, which she is leaving out. I'm going to > blog about this. > Nan > > > > > In a message dated 11/18/2009 3:01:30 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, > [email protected] writes: > > > > Sent to you by Jonathan via Google Reader: > > > One New York Times Bestseller Per Year Will Barely Keep You Above The > Poverty Line [Book > Vortex]<http://io9.com/5407211/one-new-york-times-bestseller-per-year-will-barely-keep-you-above-the-poverty-line> > via io9 <http://io9.com/> by Charlie Jane Anders on 11/18/09 > > Paranormal romance <http://io9.com/tag/paranormalromance/> author Lynn > Viehl <http://io9.com/tag/lynnviehl/> bared all last week — she posted her > complete royalty statement from her publisher, for her New York Times > bestselling book *Twilight Fall*. And the details might make you > reconsider a career as a novelist. > > *Twilight Fall* was a top 20 bestseller on the New York Times mass market > paperback list — so, not the main fiction bestseller list, but still > impressive. According to Penguin Group, the publisher, the book has sales of > 89,142 copies, minus returns of 27,479, for total sales of 61,663 copies. > (As far as I know, the books are counted as sold until the bookstore chooses > to send them back — but I could be wrong about that.) The publisher is > holding back reserves against royalties for another 7,350 copies to be > returned. > > In any case, the bottom line is that Viehl got a $50,000 advance for *Twilight > Fall*, and she's unlikely to earn it out for up to a year — which means no > royalty payments. After taxes, expenses, and her agent's cut, she gets to > keep about half that advance. As she notes: > > My income per book always reminds me of how tough it is to make at living > at this gig, especially for writers who only produce one book per year. If I > did the same, and my one book performed as well as TF, and my family of four > were solely dependent on my income, my net would be only around $2500.00 > over the income level considered to be the US poverty threshold (based on > 2008 figures.) Yep, we'd almost qualify for foodstamps. > > It's pretty great of Viehl to share her royalty statement with the world — > apparently the last time she did that, she got some flak online, and here's > hoping that doesn't happen this time. The only caveat I'd toss in there is > that most of us don't reckon our incomes on an after-tax basis — if we did, > I suspect we'd all be horribly depressed. So if you leave taxes out of her > estimation of her income, she's probably making closer to $35K or $40K per > book, rather than $25K. [Straight > Goods<http://www.straightgoods.ca/2009/ViewBrief.cfm?Ref=187&Cookies=yes> > ] > > [image: > http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/io9/full?a=1iQ_iqXoOEo:y-KlrVF_nLg:yIl2AUoC8zA]<http://feeds.gawker.com/%7Eff/io9/full?a=1iQ_iqXoOEo:y-KlrVF_nLg:yIl2AUoC8zA> > [image: > http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/io9/full?a=1iQ_iqXoOEo:y-KlrVF_nLg:D7DqB2pKExk]<http://feeds.gawker.com/%7Eff/io9/full?a=1iQ_iqXoOEo:y-KlrVF_nLg:D7DqB2pKExk> > [image: > http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/io9/full?a=1iQ_iqXoOEo:y-KlrVF_nLg:V_sGLiPBpWU]<http://feeds.gawker.com/%7Eff/io9/full?a=1iQ_iqXoOEo:y-KlrVF_nLg:V_sGLiPBpWU> > > > > Things you can do from here: > > - Subscribe to > io9<http://www.google.com/reader/view/feed%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fio9.com%2Findex.xml?source=email>using > *Google Reader* > - Get started using Google > Reader<http://www.google.com/reader/?source=email>to easily keep up with > *all your favorite sites* > > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "R-SPEC: The Rochester Speculative Literature Association" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/r-spec?hl=en. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "R-SPEC: The Rochester Speculative Literature Association" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/r-spec?hl=. > -- David Ennocenti 9 West Crest Drive Rochester, NY 14606 585-426-2348 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "R-SPEC: The Rochester Speculative Literature Association" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/r-spec?hl=.
