Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospamcom> writes:

>> Try to see if you can dig up the profit margins publishers operate on.
>> It's often quite low. At times, a bestselling author makes more money
>> than his publisher does (after you take out expenses).
>
> In my experience (as an author, but not a bestselling author), royalty 
> rates for authors are typically sub-10% of wholesale (which is half of 
> the cover price).  That's in non-fiction; fiction tends to sell for less 
> (esp. in paperback) so the royalty structure may be somewhat different, 
> but for most authors it's not enough that they can give up their jobs and 
> live off the royalties.
>
> Authors like Stephen King are the exception rather than the rule.

Agreed - that's why I said best selling authors. Even that's a
stretch. I really meant people like King, Grisham, Grafton, etc.

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