Advances, Royalties, & All-Time Earnings

As an industry, publishing tends to be shrouded in mystery. Especially when it comes to numbers. 

It’s rare for authors to talk publicly about how much money they make or how many copies of their books they sell.

There’s lots of euphemisms: “Oh, it was a fairly small advance” or “the book did okay” or “sales didn’t meet expectations,” etc. 

And I get it! So much of being successful in publishing starts with the perception of success, regardless of what the numbers say. (Plus, you know, boundaries. You don't actually owe anyone this information.) 

I’ve long been a fan of transparency. I’ve talked openly about my advance sizes on my podcast, on social media, and in writing communities. 

Until now, though, I’ve never done a full accounting of what I’ve made, where it comes from, and all the different ways that I personally keep track of my author income. (And WHY I track it that way.)

So today, I’m diving into all of it. Complete with screenshots of the spreadsheets I keep for myself! Let’s dive in.

What My Books Have Earned Overall

This first category breaks down what publishers have paid for my books. These are gross numbers, meaning it’s the total amount of money that the publisher paid out - NOT how much I actually received. 

I find it useful (and motivating!) to see the TOTAL amount of money my books have generated, including the portions that went to my agents and to taxes. Seeing this number helps me remember how freaking magic it is to get paid to write sapphic love stories about witches and vampires and ghosts.

TOTAL PUBLISHER-PAID MONEY: $431,603.29

Y’all. That’s nearly HALF A MILLION DOLLARS. 

Now, not all of that money has been dispersed yet. 

That total includes the entire $200k advance for my first two adult books, only the first $40k of which has been paid out so far. The current total paid out to date is actually $271,603.29 with the final $160k due to be paid out between now and fall 2027. 

Here are those totals, broken out by book, from my personal spreadsheets. (I didn’t include screenshots for WITH ALL MY HAUNTED HEART or its sequel, since right now it’s just the advance, which is $100k each).

 
Yearly (Gross) Income

 This is the number that I track most closely: how much money I’m making per year from fiction. 

This is again the gross amount (aka the full amount that I received in my bank account and have to pay taxes on), but this version doesn’t include the portion of the money that went to my agents. 

I use this spreadsheet to track trends and to estimate what I’ll  earn in upcoming years based on my current contracts and delivery dates for different payments.

You’ll see in this spreadsheet that 2026 and 2027 have totals in them (in pink) - that’s the amount I anticipate based on what’s in my contracts and the trajectory of advance payments for my YA titles.

While I do have to pay taxes out of these amounts, I prefer to track gross income (rather than net) because that’s how most “normal” professions talk about their income. 

You won’t hear doctors say things like, “Well, technically I get paid $200k per year, but really it’s not that impressive once you take out taxes.”

I get why authors do this - there are lots of misconceptions about publishing. Just because you get a $200k book deal doesn’t mean you’re suddenly swimming in cash! But when we continually discount and downplay our earning as the constant default, it can create an unhealthy relationship with money.

When it comes to financial goals, I personally like to focus on these yearly numbers. 

As of 2022, I’ve been the sole income provider for my family as a full-time author and coach,  which means I need to be on top of what I’m bringing in each year. 

My next financial goal is to earn $100k per year from fiction. As you can see from the spreadsheet, that’s not yet possible for 2026 or 2027 unless I sell another book. 

That’s why I’m focused on getting a YA novel on submission this year. I can’t sell any other adult titles until my current contract is complete, so if I want to bring in more bookish money over the next few years, juggling multiple contracts in multiple age groups is the way to go.

All Books Overview: Advances vs Royalties

Finally, I like to keep a spreadsheet that gives an overview of all my books and what they’ve earned in advances and royalties from the different territories they’ve sold. 

This was especially helpful given that my first two deals were for North American rights and my agent sold foreign rights directly. My adult deal is for World rights, which mean my publisher is in charge of selling foreign rights - so I won’t see any of that money until I’ve earned back my advance. (This is part of the reason why there’s a big jump between my YA and adult advance sizes.)

 One of my favorite takeaways from that spreadsheet is that it’s easy to notice that I’ve earned way more in royalties for These Witches Don’t Burn than I did for the initial advance. AND I’ve earned more in foreign rights than from the initial advance, too. 

• US Advance: 20k
• US Royalties: ~ $60k 
• Foreign Rights: ~ $33k 

Final Thoughts

It can be hard to talk about money. Especially if you’re part of any marginalized group (including being socialized as a woman). For the vast majority of us, we were taught by society that we’re bad at handling money.  

There’s also so much shame wrapped up in money. 

Shame for not making enough. Shame for making too much. Shame for how we spend, invest, etc. (The patriarchy loves to set up a no-win situation that always ends in shame. That’s something I help my clients unlearn in coaching.) 

One of the first steps of unlearning money shame is being willing to look at your numbers. 

If you’d like to a blank copy of these spreadsheets to start tracking your own bookish income, you can get a copy here. 

And whatever your numbers, be willing to use those numbers to motivate you rather than tear yourself down. 

If you’re not making enough (yet!) to live on, that doesn’t make you a failure. (Also - it’s totally fine to never intend to have books be your primary income!) 

It’s still fucking magic to get paid to tell stories. Own that! It truly is incredible, whether you’ve made your first $50 or $50k or $500k.

And then from that place of sufficiency, from that place of “it is MAGIC that I get to do this,” you can set your sights on your next level goal without hustle, shame, or scarcity getting in the way of your creative joy.

Happy writing,
Isabel

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