Why most non-fiction authors don't make any money • Hacker News Board

Re: Why most non-fiction authors don't make any money

#11

Post by m463 » Sat, Apr 17, 2021, 8:58 PM UTC

ghaff wrote: post #7

ed25519FUUU wrote: post #6

It seems to me that virtually everyone going into the creative fields (art, music, writing, acting) should enter that field without any expectation to make a living from it. We pay other people to do things that aren’t fun for us, not the other way around.

I'm not sure why the downvotes. That's absolutely a fair comment. There are some cases where creative work can benefit your day job through visibility and related skills. (A talented amateur actor is probably going to be better at presentations for example. And being that really good presenter at your company's user group event every year isn't going to hurt you.) But it seems a good point overall. Being great on som…

I would also say, people make more money doing stuff that's hard. (and of course the bar goes up)

Re: Why most non-fiction authors don't make any money

#12

Post by WalterBright » Sat, Apr 17, 2021, 8:58 PM UTC

ed25519FUUU wrote: post #6

It seems to me that virtually everyone going into the creative fields (art, music, writing, acting) should enter that field without any expectation to make a living from it. We pay other people to do things that aren’t fun for us, not the other way around.

Fortunately for me, writing compilers is fun.

Re: Why most non-fiction authors don't make any money

#13

Post by k__ » Sat, Apr 17, 2021, 8:59 PM UTC

Having the right publisher is probably the most important.

I can recommend https://newline.co

I wrote a book with them and made enough to pay my rent for over a year with the money I made.

Re: Why most non-fiction authors don't make any money

#14

Post by Finnucane » Sat, Apr 17, 2021, 9:01 PM UTC

ng12 wrote: post #8

So 3/4 of the tips are: write a book people want to read?

No clearly, the message is, write self-help books for wannabe writers.

Re: Why most non-fiction authors don't make any money

#15

Post by ghaff » Sat, Apr 17, 2021, 9:01 PM UTC

okareaman wrote: post #9

ghaff wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In fact, I strongly suspect that the vast majority of people who write non-fiction books are absolutely aware that the royalties will likely be (maybe) beer money--assuming they don't have expensive tastes in beer. Rather they're reputational. In tech, being a published author on a topic often separates people from the pack as consultants but it can also easily differentiate you if you have an externally-facing role…

Researching and writing help clarify your thoughts, which could pay dividends in other ways. I'm retired, don't need the money and am told old to care about fame, but I have several ideas for non-fiction books I'm working on. Now that I think about it, his blog post presents a strong case for not writing a non-fiction book for money. There are other ways to spend your time with a better chance of making money, unless…

That's a great point. It's not just about I have a book. But that, especially if it's through a publisher (which has pros and cons), I have sufficient knowledge of the topic either acquired day-to-day or through research that I'm capable of laying down at least 250 pages or so of coherent writing on said topic. The last book I did I was definitely already familiar with the area but I was certainly more so my the time I was done.

Re: Why most non-fiction authors don't make any money

#16

Post by Invictus0 » Sat, Apr 17, 2021, 9:02 PM UTC

ghaff wrote: post #7

ed25519FUUU wrote: post #6

It seems to me that virtually everyone going into the creative fields (art, music, writing, acting) should enter that field without any expectation to make a living from it. We pay other people to do things that aren’t fun for us, not the other way around.

I'm not sure why the downvotes. That's absolutely a fair comment. There are some cases where creative work can benefit your day job through visibility and related skills. (A talented amateur actor is probably going to be better at presentations for example. And being that really good presenter at your company's user group event every year isn't going to hurt you.) But it seems a good point overall. Being great on som…

It's a bad comment because it totally misses the actual dynamics of the creative marketplace--that is, superstars-take-all. It has nothing to do with the "fun" of the work. The superstars in the creative industries are making 7-8 figures and everyone else is making 4-5 figures while trying to become a superstar.

Re: Why most non-fiction authors don't make any money

#17

Post by btcstudente » Sat, Apr 17, 2021, 9:03 PM UTC

WalterBright wrote: post #12

ed25519FUUU wrote: post #6

It seems to me that virtually everyone going into the creative fields (art, music, writing, acting) should enter that field without any expectation to make a living from it. We pay other people to do things that aren’t fun for us, not the other way around.

Fortunately for me, writing compilers is fun.

Must be fun!

Re: Why most non-fiction authors don't make any money

#18

Post by okareaman » Sat, Apr 17, 2021, 9:04 PM UTC

thomaslangston wrote: post #10

okareaman wrote: post #2

Shouldn't #5 be "not promoting your book effectively" because he's clearly promoting his book effectively. I think this is fine if fame and fortune are your goal, which is an unquestioned assumption for a lot of people, but there are other reasons to write a book, which he does not address.

The point of the article is explaining how a goal of a living wage can be earned directly off nonfiction writing, in addition to two different reasons that are explicitly stated at the beginning of the article as being commonly suggested. It also explicitly is calling out methods that do not require fame, nor does it espouse a goal of fortune (unless you treat a living wage as a fortune).

He does so dismissively, not treating them seriously: "you should therefore embrace your book’s predestined doom by reframing it as either passion project or calling card."

Re: Why most non-fiction authors don't make any money

#19

Post by Finnucane » Sat, Apr 17, 2021, 9:05 PM UTC

He doesn't seem to understand what a royalty is. He quotes himself saying "To compensate for their 85% share of the royalties, a publisher needs to sell at least 5x more copies for you to break even [compared to self-publishing]." As the lady on the tv says, that's not how any of this works. In trade publishing at least, the author's royalty is a percentage of the cover price of the book. In normal retail selling, the publisher gets maybe 50-55% of the cover price in revenue, out of which they have to pay you and also all of their costs of producing your book.

Re: Why most non-fiction authors don't make any money

#20

Post by Ronson » Sat, Apr 17, 2021, 9:06 PM UTC

I can't comment on the article but after a slow start this year, this HN Post has got me "reading" non-fiction audiobooks again.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26206712

I am a member of goodreads, it's just hard to find stuff sometimes and cut through the dross. Thank you pizzicato.