# What do you say when people ask how much you make off your books?



## Guest (Sep 7, 2013)

Here in the States, it's a BIIIG taboo to ask how much money someone makes ... but for some reason, this doesn't seem to apply to us indie writers.  So how do you respond when a non-writerly person who doesn't really follow the publishing industry asks how much your books are earning?


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## blakebooks (Mar 10, 2012)

"More than enough"


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## Guest (Sep 7, 2013)

Enough to keep the lights on!


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

I'm not ashamed of telling them the truth, in numbers.

Then again, I'm not in the US.


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## johnlmonk (Jul 24, 2013)

Joe Vasicek said:


> Here in the States, it's a BIIIG taboo to ask how much money someone makes ... but for some reason, this doesn't seem to apply to us indie writers. So how do you respond when a non-writerly person who doesn't really follow the publishing industry asks how much your books are earning?


Joe, I always love your threads  You got some slick threads, daddio.

Ok, here's the way I see it. We should NOT get offended. Almost nobody comes up to you and asks things like, "Why does your haircut suck so much?" The reason: they know that'd be rude. People aren't trying to be rude when they ask us how much we're making, they're just trying to sound interested in what we're doing. They think they're being nice. Or, they think we're making a bundle of money and to them it's basically a compliment disguised as a question.

But, if it's from a family member, it could be an insult disguised as a question  Families...


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## Wansit (Sep 27, 2012)

It's only ever friends + fam that have asked so I politely explain the royalty rate & an estimate of numbers sold that month.


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## johnlmonk (Jul 24, 2013)

blakebooks said:


> "More than enough"


Love your sales rank 

This is so Freudian: I have "sales rank envy."

Cheers


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## Al Dente (Sep 3, 2012)

I usually explain that I do well enough to pay my bills. That seems to work.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Joe Vasicek said:


> Here in the States, it's a BIIIG taboo to ask how much money someone makes ... but for some reason, this doesn't seem to apply to us indie writers. So how do you respond when a non-writerly person who doesn't really follow the publishing industry asks how much your books are earning?


Why are you asking? Do you want to take me to lunch because you think I am a starving writer or do you need a loan?


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## raminar_dixon (Aug 26, 2013)

"A lot more than I made at my full time job. What of it? Now get back to shining my shoes!"


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## Deena Ward (Jun 20, 2013)

They always ask me how many books I've sold, then follow up my answer with, "So how much do you make for each one?" Oh yeah, going for the sideways approach. Funny.

No matter how much I might try to fight it, I am a product of my upbringing. As result, my answers are vague. Also funny.


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## Jerri Kay Lincoln (Jun 18, 2011)

It usually takes me so much off guard that I tell them . . . exactly.


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## JamieCampbell (May 29, 2013)

I laugh


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

I haven't had anyone specifically ask me a dollar amount, but I _have_ had them ask quantities. I'm quite open about the quantity sold (c. 340,000 copies so far), and when it's people who've had anything to do with publishing I sometimes see them doing mental arithmetic on that. 

Generally I just say that the books are doing well enough for me to now be a full-time writer, which most people seem happy with as an answer.


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

Shayne, I always find your story inspiring and proof of the fact that you neither have to write in popular genres nor really fast to do well.


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## Rykymus (Dec 3, 2011)

I tell them I now pay more in taxes than I ever earned in a year from any of my previous jobs. Then I drive away in my wife's new Mercedes!


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## Lefty (Apr 7, 2011)

I tell 'em that I've made $50, but that I subsidized $25 of it.


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## ChrisWard (Mar 10, 2012)

No one asks because they assume I'm not making any.


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## dalya (Jul 26, 2011)

No man is a prophet in his own village.


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## erikhanberg (Jul 15, 2011)

I tell the royalty rate and give an example from my mysteries. I have no problem estimating total sales and let them do the math.


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## Just Browsing (Sep 26, 2012)

It would depend who's asking. Another author/publisher person, that I like? Who is part of "the favor bank"? I'd tell 'em the truth. Someone just making small talk at a party? I'd deflect.

For the authors in my non-fiction niche, sharing info about royalties and fees has been crucial for getting better contracts for many of us and for discovering 'mistakes' in royalty statements (my highest mistake was around $12K; the largest I know of was around $45K. They're not trivial mistakes). How do you know if your figures are 'off' if you don't know what 'on' figures look like?

When I've worked at places that didn't want us to share salary info, it was usually because salaries were not equitable. Could have been just a coincidence every time, of course.


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## A. Rosaria (Sep 12, 2010)

I can buy a MC Chicken with it and maybe fries, and a sundae ice cream for my kids. (Once a month that is.) I hope to be able to add a bucket of KFC chicken by the end of the year.


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## @Suzanna (Mar 14, 2011)

"Enough that after five months we paid off the last five years of our mortgage."

If a writer friend who I respect greatly is making very little with small epublishers, I'll pull them aside and volunteer the information because I really want to see them do well.


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

Patty Jansen said:


> Shayne, I always find your story inspiring and proof of the fact that you neither have to write in popular genres nor really fast to do well.


Thanks, Patty! Encouraging others is a major motivation for sharing my figures.


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## Ty Johnston (Jun 19, 2009)

"I'm not getting rich, but the bills are paid."


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## AndreSanThomas (Jan 31, 2012)

Yet another place that pen name comes in handy.  Non-writer friends and relatives don't ask because I don't tell.

If it is a writer buddy, that's different.


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## Terrence OBrien (Oct 21, 2010)

Joe Vasicek said:


> Here in the States, it's a BIIIG taboo to ask how much money someone makes ... but for some reason, this doesn't seem to apply to us indie writers. So how do you respond when a non-writerly person who doesn't really follow the publishing industry asks how much your books are earning?


70% of Amazon retail price.


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## Guest (Sep 7, 2013)

Thanks for the responses, guys.  Those are pretty clever.

I guess the trouble is that I'm making more than chump change, but not quite enough to support myself on writing income alone.  So on the one hand, I want to let people know that I'm doing pretty well, and expect to go full-time soon ... but yeah, that sort of a vague answer just makes it sound like I'm being wishy-washy or trying to cover something.  Or worse, I give off the impression that the little that I am making is somehow spectacular compared with what could reasonably be expected, when really there's a lot of room to grow (especially compared with all of you blockbusters).

So yeah, it's like being an adolescent all over again ... too big for your own skin, everything is awkward and you don't know where you fit in.  If that makes any sense.


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## AriadneW (Feb 16, 2013)

Enough to pay the power bill.  Anyone who knows me knows living with a network engineer husband means we have all kinds of computer and network equipment going at a time and I'm constantly complaining about how high our power bill is so that answer is great for people I know.


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## 54706 (Dec 19, 2011)

I just tell them.  It's inspired more than one person to finish that novel they always said they would and embark on a writing career.  I figure if someone asks that personal a question, they have a burning desire to know; and maybe they'll translate that burning desire into their writing and put out some great books for my readers to grab.


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## Zoe Cannon (Sep 2, 2012)

I'm willing to tell people how much I've made from my books. What I never know how to answer is, "So how are your books doing?" I don't know what kind of a benchmark they have in mind - would they consider a single copy sold to be doing well, or would anything short of bestsellerdom be considered failure? And what if I'm having a bad sales month?


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

I have never had anyone ask. They've hinted they wonder but since I don't consider it anyone else's business, I just say "enough".


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## Cege Smith (Dec 11, 2011)

I have no idea why, but I've always used the ability to make a car payment as my measurement when people ask. I find that satisfies their curiosity and sounds substantial enough that they are usually impressed. I just don't elaborate on _how many_ car payments I could make each month.


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## Christa Wick (Nov 1, 2012)

Depends on what kind of not writer they are. 

Readers -- enough to replace the job that I held with my post doctorate degree, all because my fans have been so supportive and I love you all. 

In laws (I don't have parents, someone turned a rock over and there I was -- oh, wait, it might have been a cow chip, but anyway) -- annual dollars or year to date. 

Son -- same, with some running daily totals sometimes because so much of this money gets funneled to him and he's also a writer and I want him inspired to try some self-pubbing. 

Rest of family and friends -- keeping the lights on and enjoying the freedom (because as another thread noted, you don't want them thinking it's easier to get you to part from your money because you don't really have to "work" for it).


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## AngryGames (Jul 28, 2013)

"About minutes thirty-two cents per ebook." That's what I tell people. Then I have to explain that the only time my books sell is when I buy a gift copy and send it to a fake email address I just signed up for at Hotmail. 

I say this as I'm driving off in my $46,000 orange Dodge Challenger SRT8 with black racing stripes. 


Anyway, this is the story I would tell if anyone actually asked me this question. No one does. It kind of makes me sad as I have all kinds of made-up stories of how much I make as a writer, and no one to tell them to =(. 

And this is the story I would tell if I actually made enough to own an orange $46,000 Dodge Challenger SRT8 with black racing stripes. But a story about 'then I say this as I drive off in my 2000 Saturn SL1 with 214,000 miles on it and only one of four speakers still working but I can at least listen to NPR for three miles until it breaks down again' really doesn't have the same...zazz.


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## mariehallwrites (Mar 14, 2013)

I had no problem telling them when I made pennies, now I feel kinda braggy if I tell them what I make a month. So I just say it'll be enough to buy a house in a few years and leave it at that.


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## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

Well, my first year of trading I made a £1,400 loss!  On for another loss this tax year as well so far.  Hoping to change that around by the end of year three, which is how long it supposedly takes most small businesses to start showing a profit.  (Might help if I get some more stuff published!)


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## AmsterdamAssassin (Oct 21, 2011)

My reply is 'enough to enjoy writing the next book', which doesn't really say anything since I'd write regardless of sales. If they persist I tell them about this excellent review I got from a visually impaired professor who really likes my blind character and...

If they persist after that, I'll ask them if they moonlight for the IRS? Nobody wants to be outed as an IRS agent, so that shuts them up pretty fast.


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## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

I tell them I make enough to keep roofing. Bwahaha.


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## L.C. Candar (Sep 25, 2012)

I just smile. Then return to searching their pockets for breadcrumbs XD


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## Tim_A (May 25, 2013)

I say somewhere between the price of a coffee and the cost of the advertising.


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## Austin_Briggs (Aug 21, 2011)

ChrisWard said:


> No one asks because they assume I'm not making any.


People usually ask me what was my latest print-run. Most of my real-life friends are Europeans, Japanese and Russians and they still think in terms of big print runs.

When I say that I do no print runs, they struggle to understand.

Usually my close friends are massively supportive though, and never ask about money. They just want me to succeed... at some point...


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## Chris Northern (Jan 20, 2011)

"Well, I don't do anything else."


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

How about just smiling and saying, "Isn't that kind of like me asking to see your paystub? Except, unlike you, I get to write off expenses." Unless they are self-employed. THen "Isn't that like me asking to see your 1040?"


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## LG Castillo (Jun 28, 2012)




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## NathanWrann (May 5, 2011)

Since it's not my full time job, nor my only source of income, I just tell them "a couple hundred bucks a month" regardless of the actual amount. Or I tell them "enough to make the car payment" or I tell them "enough to get a full sleeve tattoo" or "enough to get a new banjo" I keep it vague, primarily because I don't have the exact numbers in my head but it always seems to be "a couple hundred bucks a month"


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## zandermarks (May 20, 2013)

I say nothing. Or I say "nothing." Right now, each is an equally correct response.

I believe that will change, but I'll figure out another answer when the time comes.


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## Bookside Manner (Aug 24, 2013)

If it's someone at the day job asking, I say, "I'm still here, aren't I?"

If it's someone else asking, I say, "Enough to afford the grande lattes instead of the tall ones."

Accurate either way!


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## Adrian Howell (Feb 24, 2013)

Nobody ever asks me because I make sure no one I personally know knows that I write.

That said, I make more money writing than I do watching movies, and I enjoy writing more than I do watching movies.


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## minxmalone (Oct 28, 2012)

No one really asks me anything directly. I think I have a really powerful resting b*tch face so people stay away  But most friends know it's a lot because I quit a full-time corporate accounting job to write. So I guess most of them don't really need to ask because they already know I'm doing pretty well.


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## bhazelgrove (Jul 16, 2013)

Millions...why do you ask


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## Gina Black (Mar 15, 2011)

I've never had anyone ask besides my financial planner. And I tell her.


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## williamvw (Mar 12, 2012)

ChrisWard said:


> No one asks because they assume I'm not making any.


Ha! This. ^^^

Trouble is, they've been right so far.


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## Jan Thompson (May 25, 2013)

Ryan Casey said:


> I just politely tell them I'm making enough to get by on at present.


I second this.

Or you can always say it fluctuates every month and leave it at that.

Both statements would be true.

The key is to be polite. People sometimes don't know what they're asking. Sometimes they ask out of genuine curiosity or plain ignorance, so you need to cut them some slack, IMO. I think if you treat potential readers or influencers with respect, it goes a long way (speaking as a reader myself).


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## Nathalie Hamidi (Jul 9, 2011)

I fart.
People usually leave me alone after that.


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## Eric Rasbold (Aug 27, 2013)

This is no different than asking one's salary at any job - usually rude.

I have never had any ask that directly - then again, I haven't bought my new Cadillac yet!


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## 41413 (Apr 4, 2011)

Nathalie Hamidi said:


> I fart.
> People usually leave me alone after that.


BE MY WIFE.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Someone upthread nailed it: people are asking not because they want to know how much you personally make, but because they're curious about how much anyone can make. " Wow, you're doing something cool! Of the many prejudices I've heard, which one is right?"

I usually answer that last question first.  "I beats traditional publishing.  Which isn't saying much."

Then the people who love negatives will ask you about how bad traditional publishing is.  The people who love positive stuff will want to know more about being you're own boss.  And everybody else will just say, "but that's great though!" because they were just asking how you were doing.  

Camille


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## Nathalie Hamidi (Jul 9, 2011)

smreine said:


> BE MY WIFE.


YES.
*licks Sara's eyeball lovingly*


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## Vivi_Anna (Feb 12, 2011)

johnlmonk said:


> Joe, I always love your threads  You got some slick threads, daddio.
> 
> Ok, here's the way I see it. We should NOT get offended. Almost nobody comes up to you and asks things like, "Why does your haircut suck so much?" The reason: they know that'd be rude. People aren't trying to be rude when they ask us how much we're making, they're just trying to sound interested in what we're doing. They think they're being nice. Or, they think we're making a bundle of money and to them it's basically a compliment disguised as a question.
> 
> But, if it's from a family member, it could be an insult disguised as a question  Families...


I think it's really offensive for people to ask. They always always always ask writers.

You would never ask someone what they did for a living... "Oh I'm an engineer." "Oh really, so how much money do you make?"

No one asks other professions how much money they make, I don't know why it's okay to ask a writer that same question.


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## Bruce Blake (Feb 15, 2011)

Vivi_Anna said:


> I think it's really offensive for people to ask. They always always always ask writers.
> 
> You would never ask someone what they did for a living... "Oh I'm an engineer." "Oh really, so how much money do you make?"
> 
> No one asks other professions how much money they make, I don't know why it's okay to ask a writer that same question.


If i put my mind to it, I can probably come up with a dozen people or more who are engineers (unless you mean on a train...maybe only a couple of those). There's nothing too unusual about it and I have a sense of what people in many professions make. Most people, however, cannot claim to know a published author--especially one how does it full-time. There is a natural curiousity, so I don't think we should be offended. 
That doesn't mean, however, that we have to reveal all. I let them know I make enough that I haven't worked for someone else in almost a year.


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## AmsterdamAssassin (Oct 21, 2011)

smreine said:


> BE MY WIFE.


Isn't that a David Bowie song?


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## Kathelm (Sep 27, 2010)

> So how do you respond when a non-writerly person who doesn't really follow the publishing industry asks how much your books are earning?


"Ha ha! ...Make."


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## Ashy (Jul 2, 2013)

AmsterdamAssassin said:


> Isn't that a David Bowie song?


No, but I think, _I fart_, is....


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## MonkeyScribe (Jan 27, 2011)




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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

Joe Vasicek said:


> Here in the States, it's a BIIIG taboo to ask how much money someone makes ... but for some reason, this doesn't seem to apply to us indie writers. So how do you respond when a non-writerly person who doesn't really follow the publishing industry asks how much your books are earning?


Well, I look at them conspiratorially, and say...

"Look... just between us... confidentially... don't tell ANYONE this... but so far, in the last two years, I've made in excess of... FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS!"

I then laugh maniacally, like a just-defrosted Dr. Evil from AUSTIN POWERS, and wander away, still laughing, leaving them wondering how honest I actually just was with them....


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

MichaelWallace said:


>


Curses! You beat me to the Dr. Evil reference... and you killed Kenny!


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## brendajcarlton (Sep 29, 2012)

I say that I've managed to cover my expenses but haven't really made any profit yet, but I'm still hopeful.  All of that is true.  People don't know what my expenses were, and often assume they were much higher than they really were, so they think I must be selling reasonably well.  A little respect there.  No profit means I'm not swimming in money that they can ask to "borrow." Also good.  I'll need a new answer when I do actually make some profit.


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## Redbloon (Mar 27, 2013)

You show me yours (payslip) and I'll show you mine (tax return)  

Alternatively I tell them how many I've sold in the last year and the percentage I get. If I'm at work (Part Time Library Assistant) it keeps them on their toes because I've earned more from writing then I take home in salary.

And it's rude in the UK too, but doesn't stop people asking if you're in an unusual job. I've never been asked how much I earn from my library job.


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## Steve W. (Feb 23, 2011)

I saw this thread a few days ago, and I thought how bizarre it was that someone would ask that. Like others have mentioned, asking about earnings is pretty taboo. But then yesterday it happened to me.


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## Amanda Brice (Feb 16, 2011)

I've never had anyone ask me, although I get "When are you going to quit your day job?" a LOT from my work colleagues. And since we all pretty much earn the same amount, that leads me to believe they all think I'm doing a LOT better than I am.  

Seriously though, there seems to be this crazy assumption amongst people I know that authors make a killing. Probably because most of them really only read the big blockbusters where the authors really ARE making a killing. So they assume all authors must earn gazillions.

Don't I wish?


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## Duane Gundrum (Apr 5, 2011)

My standard response has been: "So far, not a lot, but it keeps getting better." It's true and it doesn't get into dollar amounts.


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## Beatriz (Feb 22, 2011)

Joe Vasicek said:


> Here in the States, it's a BIIIG taboo to ask how much money someone makes ... but for some reason, this doesn't seem to apply to us indie writers. So how do you respond when a non-writerly person who doesn't really follow the publishing industry asks how much your books are earning?


I'd say enough to keep the cats fed once a week, and that's stretching it, ha ha.


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## Guest (Sep 9, 2013)

I don't say anything.

I just light up a cigar using a $100 bill.


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## Emily Kimelman (Apr 29, 2011)

I say I'm doing it full time and that pleases most people. Friends, I'll say how many books I sold in the previous month. And when people really want hard numbers I tell them. Usually that's from someone in the industry and since sharing numbers on this board and in other places has helped inspire me I think it's a a pay it forward kind of thing. Though the other day I was sitting with a friend's fiance who has nothing to do with the publishing industry but was just super curious so I told her. Talking about money doesn't really bother me.


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## D.L. Shutter (Jul 9, 2011)

Not sure. By the way, how much do you make a year sitting in a cubicle despite all the years you spent in college?

Oh, I'm sorry, did that come out wrong?


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

I tell them what I earn. Maybe it's weird of me but I've never been uncomfortable discussing money.


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

My writers group and my father-in-law are the only ones who know what I'm doing. 

With my writers group, I don't mind getting specific, because I want them to know what's possible through self-publishing.

With my father-in-law, the discussion is usually like this:

Him:  How's that thing going?
Me:  Pretty good.


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## Amanda Brice (Feb 16, 2011)

If it's a writer/someone in the industry, then I don't mind getting specific because I think the information is very helpful and I've always appreciated those who have shared their numbers.


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## TiffanyNicole (Jul 28, 2013)

It depends on who's asking and why they're asking. I've only had one "friend" ask specifically but it was more like a "Tell me how hard you're failing at this." sort of thing. I told her I'm making a little bit but I'm just starting out. I wouldn't mind discussing specifics with other writers though.


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

I think asking about salaries is considered potentially rude most places.

And I think people in non-traditional jobs like writers always get asked anyway.

Why?

Well, I believe this:

Unlike acting, which requires (usually) good looks as well as dedication, and unlike painting or other art, which requires an ability to draw, all writing requires is an ability to compose text in one's native language.

Keep in mind, there are a lot of "technical skill" aspects to writing, but it's far less obvious to the casual observer.

So, whether it's the person who thinks, "I've got at least one novel in me" or the bored accountant looking for a more stimulating way to make a living... nearly EVERYONE thinks they could be a writer "someday, when I have the time."

It's therefore a natural extension to explore the next naturally-occurring question: "Sure... I've got a novel in me... but could I make anything doing that?"

Only the most daydreamy types think they could make Stephen King money straight out of the gate. But they want to know, "If I take that jump, will I end up evicted the next month?"

So I think people ask about what we make not so much because they care what we make, but because it feeds that "I could be a writer someday, when I have the time, maybe after I retire" fantasy.

Like I said, there are plenty of technical skills required to be a top-notch writer, and "Oh, that's what an editor is for" doesn't cover it the way people outside our field assume. (And on occasion, 'oh, that's what an editor is for' quickly turns to 'I can't afford an editor, I can edit myself' as soon as they get a quote from a proper editor on their 450,000-word epic that could be told far more efficiently in 1/4th of that length... but I digress.)

Writing is the one creative profession that everyone thinks they could do. Nothing will ever change that, and it sounds rude when you suggest "It's not as simple as it seems."

So, I think that's all that's behind the salary question. Folks are just fueling their "I could be a writer someday" fantasies. No harm in that.

And it's not worth it trying to disabuse anyone of the notion. After all, we've all been there, we just started earlier in life, in our grade-school years rather than in our forties. Long before "can I make a living at that" ever really occurred to us... and we heard that plenty from our parents, convinced we'd be homeless the moment we left home. 

Besides, the enormity of the task of telling a story through the written word makes itself obvious once a person actually sits down to make the attempt.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

CraigInTwinCities said:


> I think asking about salaries is considered potentially rude most places.
> 
> And I think people in non-traditional jobs like writers always get asked anyway.
> 
> ...


I am gonna try to become a writer but I have no illusions about being the next Stephen King or even the next Hugh Howey. For me it is a can I do this? If I do make some money off the book great but I am not gonna think ok write a book, all bills will be magically paid by this book immediately. 
Though I am being to question my own thinking which is: is writing really easy than crafting? Or does it really take less time?

Note to self: Start setting aside one hour a day for writing, one for crafting and at least one for housework. PS: Get off Kboards and go vacuum.


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## AnneEton (Nov 30, 2012)

I ask how their sex life is. Either they nod after a reaaalllly long pause, or they walk away. Either way they get the point!


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## AmsterdamAssassin (Oct 21, 2011)

CraigInTwinCities said:


> Unlike acting, which requires (usually) good looks as well as dedication, and unlike painting or other art, which requires an ability to draw, all writing requires is an ability to compose text in one's native chosen language.


I don't get the 'earning' question much, but pretty much everyone asks me why I write in English instead of Dutch.


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## Pnjw (Apr 24, 2011)

It depends on who's asking and why. If it's another writer trying to gain data to make informed choices, I'll tell them. If it's a friend who is just genuinely curious about the book business, I'll them them. If it's anyone else, I hedge and am vague.


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## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

I purse my lips, hold my pinkie up to the corner of my mouth, and say . . . "I do okay."


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## scottmarlowe (Apr 22, 2010)

My friends have enough common sense not to ask how much I make at either my day job or from my writing. My family doesn't have enough sense, period, to even think one can make any money at all writing independently.

The last time I broached the subject to let them know what I had going on, the first response I got was, "How about getting a publisher?". <forehead slap> Needless to say, I don't bother bringing it up anymore.


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## Dan Fiorella (Oct 14, 2012)

usual responses:

"I'm doing okay."

"Well, I ain't quitting my day job."

"I'm hoping the kids marry rich."

"Who keeps track?"

"What books?"


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## Taking my troll a$$ outta here (Apr 8, 2013)

Much more than I made while the manuscript sat in my drawer gathering dust.
Much, much more


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

ebbrown said:


> Much more than I made while the manuscript sat in my drawer gathering dust.
> Much, much more


Actually, when it was in your drawer, did you have a day job? .... LOL, just sayin'....


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