How Not to Lose Money as a Published Author

When I sold my first novel to a major publishing house—after a multiyear saga of rejections, rewrites, and epic self-doubt—I figured the hard part was over. I’d done the writing; now someone else could handle the selling. Wasn’t that the reason I’d gone the traditional publishing route in the first place?

I was quickly set straight. In a highly competitive, attention-driven online marketplace, there’s only so much work publishers are willing to do to break through the noise. (Not to mention that corporate consolidation and downsizing has led to smaller marketing departments.) That means writers are under increasing pressure to spend their own money on promoting their books. Think about all the cute things you’ve seen your favorite authors post on social media: elaborate prepublication giveaways; custom cupcakes for a book launch; branded swag to hand out at writing conferences. The vast majority of those writers are footing the bill for all that themselves, with no guarantee the investment will pay off through increased sales.

In fact, it’s all too easy to spend more than your entire book advance in the hope of building some elusive prepublication “buzz.” Given that most authors don’t earn out their advance—i.e., they never get royalty payments—it’s entirely possible to achieve your dream of selling a book yet to end up worse financially.

To avoid that fate, beware these common money-sucking pitfalls:

1. Personalized Swag: Back in my naive, Newbie Author phase, I eagerly asked my publisher’s marketing department what sort of promotional goodies they’d be sending me to give out at readings: Bookmarks? Pens? Magnets would be fun! I soon learned that the only thing I’d be getting was a digital file of my book cover, which I could use to create my own publicity materials, at my own expense. (Did you know that authors are also expected to be proficient in Photoshop and graphic design?) It took me hours of online tutorials to finally figure out how to create a very basic bookmark, and I printed out a giant stack of them at my local FedEx for a total cost of about a hundred dollars.

Since the dozens of glamorous events I’d envisioned never materialized (see Pitfall #5), most of those bookmarks are now sitting in the bottom drawer of my desk. In retrospect, I’m glad I went the cheap DIY route, but at the time, I worried that it was a mistake not to invest in my “brand” by hiring a graphic designer and using upscale card stock. In which case, I would have spent a lot more money for some beautiful bookmarks . . . that still would be buried in my desk.

2. Image Makeovers: Given that most writers spend more time on craft-related websites than online makeup tutorials, prepping for your first professional headshot can be fraught—and expensive. I tried to keep the cost reasonable by hiring a local photographer who specialized in corporate work, paying $150 for a total of three images that I thought made me look chill and approachable. My editor quickly informed me that the pictures weren’t acceptable, primarily because I’d committed the sin of applying my own makeup. Granted, she was a tough-love, give-it-to-you-straight New York type, but it was still jarring to hear that the “regular-me-but-with-more-eyeliner” look I’d spent so much time perfecting came across as unprofessional.

Desperate not to repeat that mistake, I scoured through book-jacket photos and ended up paying four hundred dollars to a photographer who’d worked with one of my city’s best-known authors. The redo cost me four hundred dollars, plus another hundred dollars to my regular hairstylist to glam me up. The end result made me look pretty good, but the whole process ended up being way more pricey than expected.

3. Online Promotion: It doesn’t cost anything to tweet about your book or awkwardly incorporate it into a TikTok dance. But there are plenty of not-so-obvious digital expenses that authors are quietly paying for behind the scenes. While a personal website isn’t an absolute necessity, having one boosts your credibility as a “real” writer who takes their work seriously. I started out with a no-frills WordPress website that cost me about $150 a year to maintain. On the eve of my fourth book release, I decided to make the leap to a more professional look. After all, I was a successful author now, right? I paid nearly two thousand dollars to a design firm for a complete overhaul . . . right before Covid hit, and my book tanked. The fancy new website was more about boosting my ego than boosting my career.

Many authors make even pricier investments in digital PR. Publishers have entire marketing teams who’ve cultivated relationships with bookstagrammers and other online influencers, but they often focus their efforts on a few “star” titles (i.e. the ones that have already gotten big advances). To avoid getting lost in the shuffle, it’s become increasingly common for traditionally published authors to hire their own independent publicists. A comprehensive marketing launch starts around ten thousand dollars; a more targeted “Instagram tour” can run four hundred to eight hundred dollars. Paying for such publicity may or may not boost sales of your book (no one can say for sure!), but it’s easy to think it’s a necessity when you see so many other authors doing it.

4. Giveaways: There’s a widespread misconception that authors get as many free copies of their books as they like. In reality, writers get a limited number of ARCs (advanced reader copies, for reviewers) and ten to twenty-five copies of the finished book. Once that limited stash is gone, the only way to get more copies of your book is to buy it. Publishers usually give their authors 50 percent off the cover price, but you can still shell out serious money buying copies for all your friends, relatives, and random friends-of-friends because you’re so freakishly excited that your book is finally out that you want everyone to have it!

As part of various promotional efforts, you’ll also be expected to offer copies of your books in giveaways—which also means paying for mailing envelopes, postage, and any other swag you feel obligated to include. I recently heard a debut author talk about a tactic she’d used to build her Instagram following: She promised to send a personalized bookplate to every person who DMed her a receipt that they’d preordered her book. She was thrilled—then appalled—by the overwhelming response. It cost her more than a dollar to print and mail each bookplate, and suddenly she was on the hook for hundreds of them.

5. Events: Before my first book came out, I was constantly asked if and when I’d be going out “on tour.” In reality—as with everything else—only a few top authors get the coast-to-coast, all-expenses-paid treatment. The rest of us are on our own. I did have a lovely launch event at a local bookstore, but considering I paid for the refreshments and felt obligated to buy a few books while I was there as a thank-you, I broke even at best. So, while bookstore appearances can be fun—and a nice little ego boost—it only makes financial sense to do them in places where you (1) have a free place to stay, and (2) have enough connections that people will actually show up to buy your book.

Publishing has always been a competitive business, and the new expectations around author promotion are exacerbating already-existing inequalities; only the most privileged writers can afford to fund an all-out publicity blitz. That’s why it’s important to remember the dirty little secret of book publicity: No one really knows what makes one book a hit and another a flop. It’s all a high-stakes gamble, so place your bets wisely, and concentrate on what you can control: writing good books.

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