Last year, I ran an anonymous survey for traditionally published children's authors. Hundreds of authors participated and the results for young adult, middle grade, and picture books categories painted a detailed picture of the life and livelihoods of children's authors.
After I published these results, a few people contacted me saying it's easier/better/more profitable to self-publish. I had guesses but not enough information to respond or verify. I wanted to know more, so from January to May (2018) I opened a survey for "Non-traditional Children's Book Publishing."
This anonymous survey was for authors publishing children's book(s):
1) under their own publishing brand (or under the label of a close friend/family member)
or
2) through a company that provides minimal to no editing/marketing assistance (including print on demand)
or
3) through a company where the author pays for or crowdfunds at least part of the publishing project.
Authors identifying as "self-published" or "indie" were welcome to participate as long as they met these requirements. In the end, seventy-eight authors submitted answers. THANK YOU authors!
A note about the term "indie author"
Some people thought I should call this survey an "indie author survey" instead of "non-traditional" or "self-published." However, while advertising for the survey, "indie" created some confusion. Some people seemed to think indie means published under a small, traditional, and advance-paying press. Not so. Indie means the author manages their own publishing brand and becomes their own house. Because of this confusion, I chose to identify all authors participating in the survey under the umbrella term "self-publishing." Feel free to discuss this more in the comments.
The authors taking the survey were:
Gender: 84.6% female, 14.1% male, 1.3% husband/wife team, 0% non-binary
Ethnicity: 8.2% Hispanic or Latino, 1% Filipino-American, 1% Ukrainian, and the remainder simply identified as "not Hispanic or Latino"
Race: 87% White, 3% Black or African American, 3% Mixed, 1% Middle Eastern, 1% Filipino, 1% American Indian or Alaskan Native, and 4% didn't answer
Age: The ages ranged from 19 to 85 years old. The average age was 46.
Country of residence: 85% USA, 4% Canada, 4% UK, 3% Australia, 1% Denmark, 1% Brazil, 1% New Zealand, 1% Singapore
Types of creators: 69% authors, 28% author/illustrator, and 3% illustrator
Writing: 88% fiction, 12% nonfiction
Intended audiences: 52% picture book, 2% chapter book, 33% middle grade, and 13% YA
I didn't have a large enough sample to feel confident breaking the data into sub-groups. However, if there's interest, I can look up specific information, like "30 year old female Hispanic picture book writers from the United States."
Levels of experience:
Authors rated their levels of experience in writing, editing, and marketing on a scale from 1 (hobbyist) to 5 (expert).
Children’s books are always popular with new parents. Many children’s books have launched the writing careers of several authors, like Robert Munsch and Mo Willems.
So how much money can you make from a children’s book? Here’s an overview of the median and average incomes for authors in the United States.
Children’s Book Author Salary
There are a few different statistics regarding the salaries of children’s book authors. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2020 median pay of all authors and writers is around $67,120.
Unfortunately, this statistic includes several categories, such as copywriters or magazine editors. This means it doesn’t give us the full picture when it comes to authors of children’s books specifically.
To answer the question, “How much do children’s book authors make,” it’s best to look at statistics from the authors themselves.
A survey conducted by The Author’s Guild found that the median income of full-time book authors in 2017 was only $20,300, with 18% making nothing from their publications.
In addition, authors of children’s fiction were near the lower end of the spectrum, with a reported median income of $5,970 out of those who end up making money from their publications. If including those who make nothing, the median drops to $1,770.
Factors That Affect Income
Of course, there are many factors that may affect the overall income of a children’s book author. While not all these factors carry the same weight, they’re important when considering if becoming an author is right for you.
Location
It may not seem like it at first, but location has somewhat of an impact on the amount an author makes. So, how much do children’s book authors make based on where they live?
According to recent BLS data, larger states such as New York, California, Texas, Florida, and Pennsylvania have the highest number of authors.
One reason for this is that many traditional publishers operate in these states, such as Penguin Random House or HarperCollins. In states like this, writers of all backgrounds make more, with writers in New York making upwards of $95,880 on average.
Traditional Publishing vs. Self-Publishing
With traditional publishing, a publisher may offer an advance of $5,000 and 5% royalties on sales. In this case, we’ll say that the author is also the illustrator of the children’s book.
If the book costs $15, the author makes about 75 cents per sale. A relatively popular children’s book may sell 5,000 copies, which generates about $3,750. In total, the author makes $8,750 off one book.
Self-publishing is a little different. If an author prints their own books using a print-on-demand service, such as IngramSpark or Amazon, they don’t get an upfront advance.
However, they retain more royalties from overall book sales, sometimes as much as 70%. The only catch is that they must market the book on their own, which may cost time or money.
Learn to Write Children’s Stories with Stratford Career Institute
If you have a passion for storytelling and want to know more about publishing children’s books, enroll in our Writing Stories for Children course today!
You can learn everything about the process from writing principles to audience targeting. Best of all, you can complete the course at your own pace.
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Stratford Career Institute offers a convenient and affordable online course to teach you the ins and outs of writing stories for children.
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