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How I Make A Six Figure Income With My Writing

August 7, 2015 by Joanna Penn 55 Comments

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I love the transparency of the indie world.

It's so important for us to share information so we can learn from each other. I've just finished my 2014 -2015 tax returns in the UK, so I wanted to share my breakdowns in the hope that it helps you with your author business.

How does my six-figure income break down?

First of all, I am an author-entrepreneur. All my income stems from my writing but I separate that into books and blogging-related, since the latter brings me speaking opportunities and affiliate income as well as direct sales.

breakdown2015The business now makes an income that is 3x the UK average for a male and is a six figure business in USD.

I won't specify exact figures, but in 2014, when I reported for the previous tax year, the income was just over 2x the UK average for a male, so it has improved.

The break down of income streams is shown in the pie chart:

  • 50% book related income, which includes audiobooks and print as well as ebook sales on all retail stores. This would be a full-time income for many people on its own, and proves that you can make a good income as an author, despite what the mainstream media suggest (but then they never seem to survey indies!)
  • 12% course sales from my own site
  • 25% affiliate sales which is basically a commission on selling other people's products that I use and believe are useful
  • 10% paid professional speaking
  • 3% sponsorship for the podcast from corporate sponsors and Patreon

How does the book income breakdown by format?

format2015Here's the breakdown by format.

Clearly ebooks are dominant, as they are for any indie author. But I wouldn't be without my print sales either 🙂 They are mainly non-fiction sales.

What is more interesting is that a year ago, I had virtually no audiobook income. I am super bullish on audiobook growth over the next few years and have really been focused on growing that area. I have 10 books in audio so I expect to see that figure grow next year.

How does the book income breakdown by store?

I love Amazon.

stores2015They changed my life and enabled me to leave my day job and become an author entrepreneur. I read 99% on the Kindle, I'm Amazon Prime and a dedicated Amazon customer.

BUT, I don't believe in exclusivity for my book sales.

In 2008, I was laid off along with several hundred colleagues in one day during the global financial crisis. That was the last time I relied on one company for my livelihood. If selling books is not your main income, then fair enough 🙂

I also believe that, although Amazon may dominate in the US and UK, iBooks and Kobo specifically dominate in other countries and my income there continues to grow every month. Yes, they take some work to get moving, but in my opinion, it's worth it for the long term global market.

I go into more details on the pros and cons of exclusivity in this article, but obviously it's your choice.

How does book income break down by fiction vs non-fiction?

I now have 10 fiction books (plus a short story series) and 5 non-fiction books.

fiction non fiction income split

The bulk of my book income is from fiction

The first graph shows the % income for fiction and non-fiction. I make nearly 60% of my book income from fiction, which is pretty awesome actually as I've been working hard to develop a back-list.

The second graph shows the % sales volume for fiction and non-fiction.

fic non fic volume

Fiction sells more in terms of volume

You can see that I sell far more fiction books than non-fiction, and I have taken out the free books so this is just for paid items.

In terms of pricing, I have books ranging from free through $2.99, $4.99 and all the way up to $8.99 on Amazon. On Kobo and iBooks I have boxsets at even higher prices as there is no cap on the royalty rate.

 

What am I planning for the next financial year?

Obviously more books!

DevianceI've just released Deviance, the final book in the London Psychic trilogy. I'm writing a dark fantasy thriller with J Thorn in September, working title, Risen Gods.

I also have the next ARKANE book roughly plotted out, working title, Destroyer of Worlds … and a load more to come … For non-fiction, I'm working on a book on mindset for authors. Busy, busy!

But the big change is that I am getting back into courses.

TheCreativePenn_Course Buttons3

One of my old courses, retired in Dec 2014

Those of you who have been around a while know that I have had a number of courses over the last 6 years. I started in 2009 with the Author 2.0 course, then I sold modular courses and then I did several joint venture courses with CJ Lyons, Roz Morris and Alan Baxter. I closed all previous courses in Dec 2014 for two reasons:

a) the EU VAT law that came into law on 31 Dec 2014 meant that I would have to go through painful hoops to sell direct in the way I had set everything up. The law only affects digital products that are electronically provided with minimal or no personal input. That meant I was liable for the new threshold. But if you have a personal element to the product delivery e.g. live webinars, then the usual VAT threshold applies and since most of my income is from the US, that doesn't apply. More here if you want the gory details on the tax rate. I will be including a personal element in future products, so future stuff won't be affected.

b) the courses were dated. They were super 🙂 of course, but it was time to close them down. Those of you who bought the courses still have access to them, but it's time to reinvent my teaching.

c) I was overwhelmed and wanted to focus on my books, especially my fiction, and didn't feel I had time for everything.

What's changed?

champagne corksThe biggest change is that my husband has now joined the business. Yes, I have hired him out of his day job 🙂 and yes, I will introduce him when he's settled in!

This makes a huge difference as I now have help with the technical side of things and can focus on creation. He will also be doing a lot of the customer side of things and it means we can get back into courses.

I get so many emails every day and I am so passionate about teaching what I learn that it's crazy NOT to do courses again. I can't physically speak everywhere and this introvert also does better alone in front of the computer than with crowds. (I do emerge occasionally, honest!)

I want to share how to do everything and help YOU write, publish and market your books as well as build a business. I also want to be able to retreat to my writing cave and create stories 🙂

Creative Freedom Banner 250 x 250Now I can do both.

So, there are courses to come soon as well as a community for those who are serious about building a business as an author.

The first will be the Creative Freedom course – and you can watch a FREE video series where I start to go through the top questions people ask.

Video 1 is 11 ways to make money as an indie author and Video 2 is 7 ways to find time to write and build your author business. Click the image below to get the first free video.

freedom small

OK, that's about enough for this year. THANK YOU for your support and I'm super pleased to be able to continue helping as much as I can on your author journey.

Please feel free to ask me any questions about this in the comments below.

 

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Filed Under: Author Entrepreneur Tagged With: author entrepreneur, making money

Comments

  1. Kayla Shown-Dean says

    August 11, 2015 at 6:20 pm

    How do you market your online books? Mine dont do very well, and I’d love to be able to quit my full time job and devote my time to writing.

    Reply
    • Joanna Penn says

      August 12, 2015 at 1:12 am

      Lots of ideas here: http://www.thecreativepenn.com/marketing/

      Reply
  2. Liz says

    August 13, 2015 at 9:35 am

    Thank you so much for sharing this. I’m transitioning from a bank job to writing and needed this to inspire and encourage me.

    Reply
    • Joanna Penn says

      August 13, 2015 at 10:53 am

      Just take your time with the transition. I came out of a high paying industry too and those golden handcuffs can be difficult 🙂 Put away some cash for the transition and start with a move to part time if you can – all the best!

      Reply
  3. Shawn Spjut says

    August 14, 2015 at 8:37 am

    Joanna, you’ve been one of my top inspirations for that last couple of years and this year, I’ve decided that getting really serious about the business of writing (I write paranormal and historical fiction) will include emulate many of the things you’re talking about. Looking forward to your training videos.

    Reply
    • Joanna Penn says

      August 14, 2015 at 10:37 am

      Thanks Shawn – even just decided to be serious about it will start to change things 🙂 see you in the vids.

      Reply
  4. Mara says

    September 14, 2015 at 1:16 pm

    This was very informative to say the least. I am embarking on writing my first book and have so many questions. I am also looking at making writing my full-time job (So tired of the rat race) that I am seeking all the advice and help I can get. Thanks for a great article.

    Reply
  5. Pankaj says

    September 23, 2015 at 4:53 am

    Hi,
    This is my situation.
    I am 24 years old guy. I have set a goal to publish my first non-fiction before I turn 30. I want to make it best-selling. It’s not about I care only about money but I want to take writing professionally as I love writing.
    But I have some problems:
    1. I don’t know what to write about. As I can find almost one book written in each field by some expert.
    2. I want to hone my writing skills and make my writing engaging. Where to learn it from?
    3. Is five years a less time to get my work published?

    Thanks,
    Pankaj

    Reply
  6. Vivien says

    August 22, 2016 at 6:37 am

    Can’t wait for your 2016 stats! You’re such an inspiration – thank you for all you do!

    Reply
  7. Manichanh Vang says

    November 8, 2016 at 9:11 pm

    Thank you for sharing! I’ve drafted a book three years ago and my inspiration for writing died when I was told I’ll never be a writer by ex (boyfriend then). I recently jumped back into continuing to finish what I’ve started and am just overflow with ideas. So I’m stuck on organizing my thoughts and making it all flow together. Your site has really help me! Thanks again!

    Reply
  8. Carole says

    February 14, 2017 at 4:00 am

    Hi Joanna

    Can you tell me how we get original documents of our sales etc from Amazon for tax purposes? Thanks for all the great info 🙂

    Reply
    • Joanna Penn says

      February 14, 2017 at 12:24 pm

      You can just download sales from the Amazon dashboard

      Reply
  9. AlexG says

    October 26, 2017 at 2:12 pm

    Hey Joanna,

    Thank you for bringing transparence into the indie world. This greatly motivated me to start my new independent life as well, so thank you again 🙂

    Cheers everybody!

    Reply
    • Heat Anthony says

      February 26, 2018 at 4:00 pm

      Joanna, thank you for your encouragement, honesty, and insight. I’m the author of The Do-Dirt Doctrine Series and like you, I have written books that have not sold well. Like you mentioned, I have to focus on marketing rather than just writing.

      Unlike you, I do not have the budget to buy advertisement. I’m literally scraping resources together to set up my website and learn how to effectively do some on line marketing. With a very tight budget, what do you suggest are best ways to build an e-mail list and get some organic growth in book sales?

      Reply
      • Joanna Penn says

        February 27, 2018 at 4:05 am

        You can use Mailchimp for a free email list up to 2000 people, and you can build a free website on wordpress.com. Social media is free to use. So you can definitely do this with zero budget – IF you put in the time 🙂

        Reply
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  2. Joanna Penn : Les piliers pour réussir en indépendant | Edition Ebooks says:
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    December 18, 2015 at 3:01 am

    […] and ALLi Joanna Penn gave insight into how she makes a respectable income. This The Creative Penn post detailed how as an author-entrepreneur, all of her income stems from writing,  but she separates […]

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    […] a previous post last autumn on earning a six-figure income, Joanna also addressed the huge potential of audio. […]

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  5. Audiobook, le parent pauvre de l’édition indé | Edition Ebooks says:
    March 10, 2016 at 8:33 am

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Most of the information on this site is free for you to read, watch or listen to, but The Creative Penn is also a business and my livelihood. So please expect hyperlinks to be affiliate links in many cases, when I receive a small percentage of sales if you wish to purchase. I only recommend tools, books and services that I either use or people I know personally. Integrity and authenticity continue to be of the highest importance to me. Read the privacy policy here. Read the Cookie policy here. I hope you find the site useful! Thanks - Joanna

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