I earned back my advance after about five years and have been receiving royalty checks ever since.
This year, it surpassed 100,000 copies sold.
Just a little note for other would-be authors ... it's never been easier to self-publish -- but getting a book deal with a traditional publisher still has substantial upsides, particularly on the distribution side. There are exceptions (e.g. if you expect digital versions to constitute the vast majority of sales). But by and large, you're better off getting a book deal if you can.
> In the Penguin Random House/S&S antitrust trial it was revealed that out of 58,000 trade titles published per year, half of those titles sell fewer than one dozen books.
Which also had some discussion on HN, where some people suggested that it was somewhat true, while others explored other aspects of it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32794673
But even the article itself refers to more claims like that, with many suggesting that in writing, like many other industries, there will be a few very successful books/projects, and many that will fall by the wayside (honestly, I'd say the same about most things, from making SaaS products, to game development and art/music). Here's a humbling article that someone wrote: https://hughhowey.com/most-books-dont-sell/
I guess what I'm trying to say here: don't write a book hoping to earn a lot of money. Write a book because you find the experience interesting or fun, and just because you want to write (and publish) a book.
If you don’t mind sharing, what do the advance and royalty terms look like for a first time author? And how many copies does it take to “break even” on the advance?
Details are in my bio, but it's a pop-science book for new parents. It got a big publicity boost when Parents magazine ran excerpts, and a gigantic publicity boost when "The Big Bang Theory" wrote an episode where my book was a central plot element.
Hah! I saw your comment and was intrigued since I have been looking for a Christmas present for my brother and his 7-month old son. Then I looked at your bio and realised it was the book I'd bought for him last Christmas.
I love the BBT show, well the early seasons more than the later ones, but still it's an amazing feat to featured in a world-wide blockbuster loved by geeks :-)
ps. Most pharmacy university students were closely familiar with the show, there was an abundance of references during classes.
I earned back my advance after about five years and have been receiving royalty checks ever since.
This year, it surpassed 100,000 copies sold.
Just a little note for other would-be authors ... it's never been easier to self-publish -- but getting a book deal with a traditional publisher still has substantial upsides, particularly on the distribution side. There are exceptions (e.g. if you expect digital versions to constitute the vast majority of sales). But by and large, you're better off getting a book deal if you can.