Oct
25
how much money could i make if i wrote a childrens book?
By
Nothing To Lose questioned:
im 14 and well i want to make money and get out of school and wuz thinking on maybe writing a childrens book and possibly sending it to get it published. how much could i make off this?
GeniusMaker
im 14 and well i want to make money and get out of school and wuz thinking on maybe writing a childrens book and possibly sending it to get it published. how much could i make off this?
GeniusMaker
if your book is excellent and your publisher has excellent marketting skils you could become a millionaire like Dr. Suess, but I doubt that at 14 you could make a living of it and leave school. most 14 year olds don’t have many original thoughts
Judging by your grammar and spelling, nothing
Practically nothing. Certainly not enough to make up for the lost income potential of not finishing school. IF you were to really get published (and that’s a huge, huge IF). I’m not going to try and clarify the economics to you because I’ll get something about the publishing business incorrect and other people will slam me for it, but just remember that since you are not writing out each copy yourself and selling it out of your home there are a lot of other people who will have to be paid, whether the book is a hit or not. And can you repeat it? Can you write several brilliant or at least extremely well loved books in a row? That is what makes some writers rich; the repeat. They can negotiate better deals for themselves and command higher prices.
Now, beyond that, anyone who is thinking they might write a book because they want to make money is NOT A WRITER. A writer is someone who writes, whether anyone will ever read it or not, because they need to get it down on paper. End school and get a business degree or something.
J.K. Rowling has made hundreds of millions so far….She is the richest woman in all of Britain.
First of all, in most places a 14 year ancient CANNOT legally drop out of school. You would either have to continue until at least 16 years of age, or be home schooled.
Secondly, writing a book is hard work. If you do not have the fortitude to even end high school, then you will most likely never end your book.
Thirdly, a first time author would be lucky to earn a $5,000 advance from their book. Depending on what rent costs where you live, you would most likely only be able to live on that for a few months (meaning you would have to write several books a year to sustain a living). You’d make more consistant money working at a quick-food restaurant.
Less than 5% of writers make a full-time living on books. Children’s books are currently the most hard market to sell work in, because of the fierce competition. Most of the books published in this area are either from established authors, or celebrities.
If you really want to write because you have a passion for it, you should focus your attention on your English class and improve your grammar and spelling. Your manuscript would immediately be in the trash can if you used the word “wuz” anywhere in it. That sort of netspeak makes you look ridiculous. Publishing is a business world, and you need to have a basic education to be successful at it.
depends on if its excellent. but your 14 so lemme crunch some numbers here…………………… about….. well an estimate of about…. nothing
It depends on how creative yet simple to read you are – also how well marketed your book would be.
You have to sell your book yourself to the publisher, then you may (and if you are successful – will) be questioned to do a book tour where many strangers will act as though you are best friends and tell you tales of how you and they are similar. All this time you must smile and say something amiable and appropriate – you don’t want to scare your readers away. Of course this will all happen when a string of people are waiting to get your autograph on the newest addition of your body of work. You’ll also be invited by your publishers to read your work at various functions. Then trudge off to some lonely hotel room to spend the night, arise the next morning and glide off to a new city to do it all again.
Of course there’s always the people who want to tell you what to write about next – Jane Austen didn’t do book tours but still got suggestions from family, fans and readers. And then there are those who will be mad about what you wrote because they never saw their favorite character doing as you had them do.
Incidently, I’ve yet to mention that writing a book is harder than the 10th grade, 11th grade and 12th grade combined. You write, then you re-write and self-edit; then you turn it in to your publisher who makes suggestions for re-writes and sends it back to you. When you and your publisher finally agree on a final draft, it will be published – then the critics throw their 2 cents in.
School is the simple way to get ahead in life, sweetie. You will be a better person in so many ways (mother, voter, friend, employee, even writer) if you stay in school.
Check in your area to see if there are any writing clubs you can attend. I use to go to one called Night Writers.
well most manuscripts go to the “slush pile” and only those sent by agents are really read.After that if any are chosen they have to be re read by a few more people,then a publishing team reviews it to see if its worthwhile.Only then is it considered for publication,you would get a very tiny percentage of any sales.Very few people read anymore so If it is really published you would probably make about 40c.
You won’t make *any* if you drop out of school, honey.
At your age, publishers won’t take you. You’re going to have to spend years writing and learning your craft. Hone your skills, and be really dedicated to your writing.
Because there are a lot of writers out there like you, but very few grow out of the stage long enough to be exceptional storytellers.
As for money, advances are quite small for first-time authors–no matter what genre they write in. Somewhere in the range of $1000 upwards to $2500 on average.
Sometimes, $5000. But you have to be real savvy to get this number. And the publisher in question has to have a real excellent reason to be forking over this much scratch.
But rarely, do first-time authors make back their advances. There are simply too many titles being published out there and a lot more competition from the mainstream to see who can come out on top.