Many published authors still struggle to find full-time work because of advances, royalties, and contract secrecy.
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- Book deal amounts are often kept secret, with vague terms like “great” or “good” used to describe advances that range from $0 to more than $500,000.
- Most authors receive an advance, but it’s often paid in installments over several years and may be the only money you make from your book.
- Publishing is a “hit-driven” business, with a small number of best-selling books subsidizing the rest of the market.
From Proposal to Publication is a series that takes readers behind the curtain of modern publishing as a business.
The difference between “good” and “good” can jump as much as $50,000.
Usually, when a book is purchased by a publisher, the transaction is shrouded in mystery. Even when announced on Publishers Marketplace, deals range from $0 to over $500,000 and are categorized as “Excellent,” “Very Good,” “Good,” “Significant,” and “Major.” Unless the author volunteers the exact amount, only those involved in the transaction will know the amount.
For aspiring writers scrolling through contract announcements on industry sites and social media, these vague labels can fuel both dreams and misunderstandings. A “good” deal may sound life-changing. A “big” trade may suggest instant wealth. But for most writers navigating the publishing world of 2026, the economic reality is far more complex.
Let’s take a look at why there are so many secrecy surrounding the publishing industry and how novel writers are coping.
Money that most readers never see
Best-selling novelist Jason June has decided to push back against the industry’s silence around money by continually and publicly sharing his finances and accomplishments through the Ventership newsletter. The goal, he said, was to help other writers understand what a career is really like.
“It’s very private,” June said of the writers not sharing their income. “If we don’t talk about it, no one will know if what they’re getting is industry standard or if it’s very low or very high.”
Confidentiality is not necessarily enforced by the publisher. Instead, many industry insiders say it’s largely due to culture. As an unagented writer who recently announced a “great” deal, I understand that impulse. Given that the industry is largely based on taste and preference, you should consider how a particular amount may affect your interest in ancillary rights to your book.
“The publishing industry doesn’t release sales figures,” publishing industry researcher Jane Friedman told USA TODAY. “People often assume their books are doing better than they actually are, and authors themselves don’t want to talk about it, either because they’re being told to do so by their agents or publishers, or because of shame and embarrassment that their books didn’t do well.”
Friedman said authors often assume they shouldn’t discuss their deals, even when there’s no explicit restriction.
June, who posted last holiday season that 174 copies of the 2024 release were sold, said the lack of transparency leaves writers guessing what success actually looks like. (For comparison, Flopping in a Winter Wonderland, a holiday-themed YA novel, sold 1,277 copies in its first three months of publication.)
“This is a kind of permanent fear for writers as a whole, that because no one talks about their work, we think we shouldn’t or aren’t allowed to do it,” he says.
Advancement: The biggest check, and sometimes the only check
For most traditionally published authors, the largest payment they receive is an advance (an advance paid when a publisher buys a book).
However, advances often arrive in installments, sometimes over several years. Fiction author Kristen Byrd recently posted a total of $6,659 in royalties for 2025.
“I think this is a recent phenomenon, but the biggest frustration for me is that the upfront payment is paid in four installments,” Friedman said. “The final payment actually comes after the book is published, at which point it is no longer an advance payment.”
Books can take years to go from contract to publication, meaning authors can wait a long time to get the money associated with work they’ve already completed.
“It’s probably going to take two years from the time the deal is signed…it could be even longer before the final advance is deposited,” Friedman said.
Even if the advance is paid in full, it is unlikely to equate to a sustainable salary.
“The honest truth about advances in bookselling is that these payments are rarely enough to make a living, especially for first-time authors or those who aren’t New York Times bestsellers,” Friedman added. “Even if you work for a large commercial company, the average raise will be five figures.”
Emily Zips’ Substack analysis of 60 authors with traditionally published debut books in 2025 found that advance amounts varied widely, with about 20% of respondents self-reporting $0 in advance, less than half receiving less than $10,000 per book, and just over a quarter receiving more than $50,000.
Still, Friedman insists that author income testing should be treated with caution. This is because surveys often rely on self-selected respondents, which can lump together very different types of authors and create overly broad authorship ‘crisis’ stories from limited data. Nevertheless, she acknowledges that these studies may help show that book advances and royalties alone do not provide a stable living for most authors.
In many cases, that advance may be the only money the author makes from the book. “In most cases, you don’t get any money up front,” Friedman said.
Why royalties are not always accrued
In theory, if a book’s sales exceed the advance payment, the author can earn additional income through royalties. However, these payments are likely to be small as there are no set standards.
Royalty structures vary depending on factors such as format and contract negotiations, but the amount per book can be surprisingly small. “Even if you sell thousands of books, you only make a dollar or less than a dollar per book sold,” June told USA TODAY. “So if you sell 1,000 books, you might make $1,000.”
Kevin O’Connor, programming director and literary agent at New York University’s Summer Publishing Institute, said most of the writers he works with, both fiction and nonfiction, have other sources of income.
“Most of my clients are part-time writers,” he said. “For most writers, I don’t think it’s possible (to become a full-time writer) until they have a big hit.”
A hit-driven industry
Another economic challenge arises from the uneven distribution of books.
The publishing industry operates as what insiders call a “hit-driven” business, with a small number of titles generating most of the revenue. “Most books don’t sell more than 5,000 copies,” O’Connor said, citing publishing industry data and reporting on the 2022 antitrust trial between Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster.
As with many entertainment industries, some blockbuster titles subsidize other markets. “There’s an 80-20 rule,” he said. “20% of the title is responsible for 80% of the business.”
Still, editors continue to acquire new books out of passion as well as profit. “They’re excited about a book because they have a personal connection to it,” O’Connor said. “They care and think they can find an audience that cares.”
Sometimes that gamble pays off. In many cases, this is not the case.
Why transparency benefits everyone
For Friedman and other industry observers, increased transparency provides a “better understanding of what others are doing” and puts authors and agents in a “better position to negotiate.”
June agrees. His decision to share finances was intended to provide a data point for writers considering whether to seriously pursue publication.
Industry experts say the economics for authors are unlikely to change dramatically in the near future because the publishing industry remains a hit-driven business, with a small number of titles generating most of the revenue. As a result, advances, rather than royalties, are likely to continue to be the main source of income for many authors, Friedman said.
Very few writers make enough money to write full-time, including blockbuster novelists, prolific genre writers, and original film and television authors. But for most people, publishing looks like part of a portfolio rather than a single career.
Josh Rivera is an author and senior editor at USA TODAY.
