There is a common belief that artists, including authors, make very little money. To explore that assumption, in 2023, the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) commissioned the world’s first Indie Author Income Survey, focused specifically on self-published authors. We found that indie authors earn more than those who are traditionally published, and this data was confirmed later that year by a survey conducted by the Authors Guild of traditionally and indie-published authors.

In addition to the author survey, which ALLi will repeat every two years, ALLi also compiles the Big Indie Author Data Drop, which brings together facts and figures from across the self-publishing industry. This type of information is a vital resource for authors making strategic and tactical decisions about their publishing business. All these reports are available at https://www.allianceindependentauthors.org/facts.

Regardless of how developed or extensive your publishing business is, following these two guidelines is critical:

  • When you decide to self-publish, you become a publisher, and publishing is a business. A business owner invests money to make more money, so you’ll do best if you think less about how much something costs and think instead about how much return you can expect from that investment.
  • Value your time as much as your money. Although you can often avoid making a financial investment by investing time instead, both have value; one might argue that your time is your most valuable commodity. Paying for assistance or a tool might yield better financial results than trying to do everything yourself.

The indie authors who are succeeding financially are those who are treating their writing and publishing work as the business it is, and who bring a healthy money mindset to their work. In this article, we share tips for the steps authors can take at every level to optimize their business for financial success.

Beginning Authors: Establish the Basics and Invest Wisely

ALLi aims to empower every writer who commits to high-quality indie publishing. We know that meeting professional publishing standards can be a financial challenge for some authors, especially those just starting out. A genre-right cover design and a professional edit can represent an investment of $1,000 or more. But modest financial resources shouldn’t put the goal of high-quality work out of reach. If you don’t have money to invest, ALLi provides guidance on how to get started with little or no expenditure in our guide Self-Publishing (Almost) for Free, which you can download here: https://www.allianceindependentauthors.org/campaigns/selfpub3.

In addition, here are a few pointers for beginning authors who are getting their publishing business up and running:

  • Log all your writing business money coming in and out—even a basic spreadsheet will do—so that you can monitor your finances on an ongoing basis and review past performance to look for opportunities to optimize in the future.
  • Set aside money to pay your taxes throughout the year.
  • When considering where to invest your educational time and money, factor in business classes as well as craft classes.

ALLi’s three-part series on money management for indie authors covers the basic money principles and mindset that authors should develop. Find the series on ALLi’s blog:

For Emerging Authors: Keep Upgrading Your Money Mindset

As you develop your author business, continue to work on your money mindset: how you think and behave around money. Often people have ways of behaving that are detrimental to their financial success.

  • If you believe it’s wrong to make money from helping people, then you might be tempted to give away your self-help book with no solid business reason for doing so.
  • If you somehow feel that indie authors are less worthy than traditionally published authors, you may price your books lower than theirs, even if the quality is the same.
  • If you have heard “artists are flaky” once too often, you might believe you will be no good with money and not bother to keep proper records rather than learning how to do so, just as you learned the craft of writing.

For more information on the importance of a money mindset and for tips to help you develop yours, check out ALLi’s March 13, 2024, podcast episode and transcript, “Pen to Prosperity: Money Mindset, Manifestation, and Management with Carissa Andrews”: https://selfpublishingadvice.org/podcast-money-mindset.

For Experienced Authors: Keep Learning

There’s a reason ALLi’s top tier of author membership—authors who sell over fifty thousand books a year—is called Authorpreneur: if you want to be a successful author in terms of sales, you will need to think like an entrepreneur. At this stage, with a little more budget available and probably a significant back catalog, think about expanding your money mindset with the following steps.

  • Make sure you’re thinking of each piece of content as a core piece of creative IP whose value you can maximize through multiple formats and selective rights licensing.
  • Get a financial advisor and professional accountant, and make sure that they have experience working with authors and that they understand the publishing industry. Tapping into their expertise will pay back your investment.
  • Consider pursuing a relationship with a literary agent who can broker more complex deals for you and maximize your income through opportunities like translations and film deals.
  • Make provisions for financial benefits from your work for your beneficiaries. Creative works have a seventy-year “life” after the death of their creators, during which time they remain in copyright and can generate money for the creator’s estate. However, only a quarter of authors have made any provision for their literary estate in their wills. ALLi members can take advantage of two guidebooks by Michael La Ronn to provide guidelines for managing your author estate: The Author Estate Handbook: How to Organize Your Affairs and Leave a Legacy and The Author Heir Handbook: How to Manage an Author Estate and Look After a Legacy.

For All Authors

On ALLi’s Self-Publishing Advice & Inspirations podcast, ALLi founder Orna Ross and advisor Joanna Penn shared how to optimize your earning potential in a March 2023 episode, “How to Make More Money than the Average Author.” Listen at https://selfpublishingadvice.org/make-more-money.

As an indie author publisher, understanding money and having a positive mindset about it is critical to the success of your publishing business. Recognizing that you are an entrepreneur as well as a creator will lay the foundation for a successful author career.

Matty Dalrymple

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