This Bestselling Author From Houston Is Breaking Down How Much They Actually Get Paid After Getting Published, And It’s A Lot Less Than You Might Think
I’ve always admired best-selling authors and how they really dedicate their lives to their craft.
No one has ever really broken down exactly how authors get paid for me. I picked up a few things along the way, learning about book advances and pre-sales, but there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes than one may think.
One TikTok content creator and author has taken the time to explain exactly how they get paid after publishing a novel and making it to a best-seller list.
Sim Kern (@simkern) is a Houston-based best-selling author and environmental journalist whose science fiction novel, “The Free People’s Village,” made the USA TODAY best-seller list after being published in September 2023.
Sim made a viral TikTok at the end of September addressing how authors actually make money once their book is published. What inspired them to create the video was a phone call from their friend who assumed they’d be super rich after making the USA TODAY best-seller list.
However, that is not the case.
“These numbers are all probably a lot smaller than you think,” says Sim.
“As authors, we’re supposed to project nothing but success and winning on social media, but I’ve learned so much in the past week about what realistic expectations should be for a book release, and I think it’s valuable.”
Sim spent a year writing “The Free People’s Village” before selling it to an independent publisher, Levine Querido, for a $20,000 advance, which they say is a pretty great number for an independent publisher. So, it was as if Sim made $20,000 in a year writing their book. But wait, there’s more information.
Rido – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
Sim wasn’t handed $20,000 right away. The cost was split, and they were paid once upon signing with the publisher and then again when the final manuscript was accepted after another year was spent editing the book. Then, Sim signed with a literary agent mid-deal, and their agent took a 10% cut of the advance.
So, Sim only got around $9,000 each year over the two years it took them to write and edit their book, which they say is a number that’s “very far” from a livable wage.
Throughout 2023, Sim was heavily marketing their book on social media platforms like TikTok to get as many people to pre-order it as possible. Sim explains that an author’s pre-sale numbers contribute to their first week of book sales, which is what publications look at when curating their best-seller lists.
Because of their pre-order numbers and first week of book sales, Sim was able to make the USA TODAY best-seller list, which ranks the 150 best-selling books in a week and is more based on sales than anything else. The week their book came out, Sim was the 86th best-selling book, which they say is amazing for an independent publisher.
“It’s really incredible to hit that list with an indie press book,” says Sim.
“That’s because of a ton of support from independent booksellers who really embraced this book and also all the TikTok grinding and content grinding I’ve been doing, trying to get the word out there about this book because we don’t have a billionaire publishing company behind us to do the marketing.”
In the first week of being out, 650 copies of Sim’s book had been sold, which was much smaller than they expected. However, in the comments of their video, Sim found out that thanks to bookstore and library sales, they sold an additional 5,000 books.
So, how does Sim continue making money on the book? To get their royalties, they have to ‘earn out’ their advance, meaning they have to sell enough books equal to their $20,000 advance before getting paid their royalties.
When Sim asked how many books needed to be sold to earn their advance, they found out they needed to sell 7,500 copies. So, while they’re not too deep in the hole, they still have ways to go and have to continue making promotional content to earn more money from book sales.
Sim then explains that they could only write and publish their book while staying afloat because their husband works as an engineer.
“We kind of had this little trade-off where I put him through engineering school back when I was a teacher,” says Sim.
“Now he’s an engineer,= and he’s subsidizing my writing career, which is fantastic.”
Later, Sim explains that many authors, even if they’re best sellers, still have to have alternative means of making more money, and they know authors who have separate full-time jobs.
“You can have a best seller and still be years away from making money on that book,” says Sim.
We wish Sim the best of luck as their book continues to make its way onto people’s bookshelves!
Did you know the publishing process was this intense?
@simkern So im a #bestsellingauthor now. Cool club to be in. Does it mean im making bank? #publishingpaidme #publishingtips #booktea #booktoker #salarytransparency #diversebooks
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
More About:News