JK Rowling vs Ordinary Joe (aka Tertia)

There is a big misconception out there that if you write a book, you are going to get rich.  If you ever want to get rich, please do yourself a favour – DO NOT WRITE A BOOK. Or, write a book, but do it for love, not for money, because honey, there is no money in writing a book.

Sure, there are some who make money. There are some who make a HUGE amount of money, but they are the tiny, tiny few.  I would estimate that less than 1% of people who write a book (and have it published) earn enough money from their sales alone to support themselves.  Most authors do freelance work, and other writing in order to make enough money to live.

Here in South Africa, that is especially true. Here you definitely do NOT write a book for money.  (SA has a low literacy rate, plus books are expensive here, so v few people buy books)  You write a book for many reasons – to tell your story, to express your creativity, to connect, to build your brand, or just for love, which is what I did.  I wrote my book to tell my tale.  To share with those I loved what I went through. To document the story for my children. To honour the children I had lost, and to let others know what it was like to live in my world.

During my first discussions with the publisher, they nervously broached the subject around expectations of earnings, and I said ‘relax, I have no expectations’. Which is just as well because in the three years I have had my book out, and taking into account that it has done fairly well according to South African standards, I have earned less in total for all the sales than I do in ONE MONTH’S SALARY.  That’s right, I earn more in one month at work than I do for all the money I have made out of my book over three years.  Oh, and as for that ‘advance’ thing that most people think you get – happens mostly only in movies and for well known authors.  Not for lowly folk like myself.

People are always shocked when I tell them the facts.  I think most people think that if you have a book published, you make boatloads of money, but it isn’t true for most. Most authors get $1 or $2 a book.  When you self-publish, like I did for the overseas market, you have to invest a whole lot of money upfront. So after your first few hundred copies are sold, you haven’t even paid off the expenses incurred to date.  In fact, in my last tax return, the tax man felt so sorry for me, HE gave me money back, hahaha!

But none of that matters, or at least not to me. I didn’t write the book for money.  Any money I might or might not make out of it is just the cherry on top, and to be quite honest, I am going to have to sell a shit load of books to come close to covering the money I’ve spent in IVFs etc!! But as I said, it really doesn’t matter to me. 

Writing the book, and having people read it, is more payment than I could ever have wished for. I feel immensely proud of myself for having stuck it through, as I am a notorious slacker who would rather take the easy way out than do hard work with things like this.  ‘Ah fuck that, sounds too much like hard work’ is a common approach. So the fact that I wrote in the first place, then had the gumption to follow it all the way through to the end (getting it on Amazon etc) is a big feather in my cap. 

So darling hearts, please rest assured that I am not about to leave you for the lifestyles of the rich and famous, I am going to have to stick it out with the day job and the egg donor business (www.nurture.co.za) for a little while longer. BUT!  That doesn’t mean you mustn’t buy the book!!!  I want you all to read it and tell me what you think!  But please, be very gentle.  If I am not going to get rich, I at least want a bit of gratuitous flattery ;-)

Oi!  Get the book!  Immediately!  We shall be BFF if you do.

For an excellent and very humorous view on making money from writing, check out this brilliant blog post by Brian Keene.

Comments

[Jennifer Rindfleisch]

I am so excited to buy your book. I have been wanting to get it on Amazon, but it wasn't available. I ordering it today. I can't wait to read it!!

[tiah]

So true. I don't even make R1,000 a year on my writing. One of the worst paying jobs in the world.

Happy that you found a way to make your book available in the US. I'm taking notes :-)

[Missy]

I also can't wait to buy your book. It is a birthday present for myself. I just have to wait a couple of weeks and it shall be mine. I LOVE YOU! heh.

[Shandra]

Very very true. When people tell me I can get rich like JK Rowling, I just ask them if their investments have paid off like Warren Buffet.

[Ninotchka]

I love my little twenty-something (American) dollar royalty checks I still get for my book nearly 5 years later. I obviously didn't do it for the money either and I find it incredibly rewarding that it sells at all. Oh, and I don't mind the bad reviews. I'd venture to say they're my favorite. #1 everything they say is exactly how I felt about infertility and #2 it's good to know I struck a chord. Better than no-one caring. ;)

[Sara]

I so hear you. My net profits to date on my first book-17 USD, four years later (granted it was an obscure technical tome, but still--those are just as hard to write!)

[tess]

i always tell want to be writers that writing their great novel is something you do at night, or first thing in the morning. aka: don't quit your day job.

and you look at so many beautifully written novels (may i point to yours, tee)...and then other pieces of trash, and you realise that talent has little to do with what gets published, marketed, positioned and publicised. it's very disheartening and VERY impressive when we see someone like you do it on your own. and with the right motives. xo

[sheilah]

A friend of mine writes romance novels. For her to make a good living she would have to write about 3 or 4 novels a year (the big, thick romance novels make about $25,000 US...the skinny Harlequin ones make ~$5-10K US). That's a lot of pages.

Fortunately her husband makes good money.

[rae]

I'm still trying to find an australian seller so I don't have to pay shipping from the US - if anyone funds an aus site - please post!

[mijk]

And then you are lucky to write in a major language. So you can actually sell your book in more then one tiny country. Writing a book in Dutch probably won't make me rich either.. But I'd love to do it!

[Kristin]

I ran out and bought it as soon as you announced it was available! I've been reading your blog for ages (I think about 5 yrs) so it was a necessity.

[Paz]

I bought your book as soon as it was available in the US! In fact, I bought several copies and gave the others as gifts. It was remarkably told, in plain voice — which is not to say it wasn't well-written — but rather, like any good book, the writing disappeared behind the emotion of a remarkable life story, bravely shared with raw honesty. I was about 6 months pregnant when I read it. I stood for two days in the shallow end of our pool weeping and smiling. Thank you for the book. I think it will help a lot of people.

Well done!

[Stacey]

I ordered the book the MOMENT you told me it was available on Amazon.com. I e-mailed you YEARS ago to find out how to obtain a copy here in the US. I cannot wait to get it -- I check my mail everyday. So, we are now BFF, yes? Love you, T!!

[Deanna]

Been reading your blog for several years. Congratulations on getting "So Close" published overseas. It is a HUGE feather in your cap. Congrats!!!!

[Katy]

Such a shame about SA literacy rates and not being a terribly "bookish" society but I think that more and more places are becoming less about books as our free time minutes have more and more entertainment fighting for our attention. I know that since I started reading blogs and then blogging myself, I read fewer books than I used to.

My favorite book ever, The Power of One, was written by a SA author, Bryce Courtenay.

Good luck with your book Tertia!

[JennyK]

Thanks for including the link through Barnes & Noble....I've had a stupid gift card from my MIL and had nothing to buy with it until NOW! Can't wait to get it. I'm sure it's simply fabulous.

[Jenny]

Tertia - I read your book recently (Jan) and when I got to you losing Ben I couldn't put it down. I was reading it while putting my laundry on, didn't put in any washing powder and stood sobbing in the laundry room. I then gave it to my mom whose words to me were "we are so lucky that Dylan came along so easily." It gave us all perspective and I wish I could do that to just one person - the money wouldn't matter.

[duncanpowers]

It's too true--self-published books especially are so expensive to produce, that it's really only publishing because you want the world to read it.

[Andy]

My dh writes academic books and has never made any money from them. In fact, for the first one, they made him pay for the artwork so we are still out of pocket LOL.

[becky]

I just got my book, and now I'm going to be late for work, since I can't put it down. Kind of silly, really, since I do know how it ends.

[jane]

I love your book so far Tertia. It got to me fast and is just the kind of read I need here in the hospital with Anna. I love the flow of the book, great job!!

Jane
www.caringbridge.org/visit/annacusatis

[Karen]

My copy of the book arrived yesterday and I dove right in. (I ordered it earlier, but they originally sent me a copy of Macchiavelli's The Prince, which... while a hilariously funny mistake wasn't quite what I was hoping for... your book is far more enlightening, I must say).

[Julia]

I've been wanting to buy it here in America for a while but wasn't able to in the past. What great news to find out that you can order it now. I'm now anxiously waiting for the free shipping bring it to me as fast as free shipping can.

[Jeff Paul Internet Millions]

Now this is very interesting, impressive and never thought of. In simple words well done for providing creative information.