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There are all kinds of statistics bouncing around out there, but generally speaking, most self-published authors will likely sell around 250 books or less. A few years ago, the industry was buzzing when statistics revealed that the average self-published author earns less than $500 from her books.
*The source clarifies that they worked with over 34,000 authors at the time the post containing this data was published. The source did not provide the exact survey date. EAs = Emerging Authors who earn less than $500 / year from book sales….
| Characteristic | Average number of books published |
|---|---|
| Emerging authors | 7.38 |
How many books does the average author sell in a year?
The average book in America sells about 500 copies. Those blockbusters are a minute anomaly: only 10 books sold more than a million copies last year, and fewer than 500 sold more than 100,000. So are all the rest of the books simply failed blockbusters? Of course not.
Is it OK to write two stories at once?
Be realistic on how stories many you’re working on Some people are really good at multitasking and can have four and five stories going at once with no problem. Other people can only juggle two or even just one at a time. Don’t take on more than you can handle. If you do get overloaded, feel free to scale back.
How many books should you publish each year?
On average, traditional authors will tell you they publish 1 to 2 books every 3 to 5 years. There is no doubt, that pressure is being put on them by self-published authors willing to crank out more titles every single year.
Does writing more books make you more likely to sell?
With that being said, I guess it turns out I thought it was actually worth saying after all. In general, the more books you write and publish the more books you’re going to sell. This is especially true for an unknown self-published author.
How many books does the average author write?
The majority of these authors had been writing for over three years, 88\% to be exact, compared to only 59\% emerging authors. And, 100K authors spent more time writing which led to more books published. The average 100K author had 33 books published compared to only 7 for emerging authors. You can take a look at more data from the survey here.
Do you write one book at a time?
So many people spend their lives declaring “I’m sure I have a book in me, if only I had time to write it”, that it’s natural to assume that books emerge one at a time, if at all. And if writing one book at a time, giving it your exclusive attention like a treasured only child, works for you, that’s fine.