The Indie Author Income Survey, initiated by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi - UK) was presented at the London Book Fair and reported on by The Bookseller (UK trade publishing magazine) and Publishers Weekly (US trade publishing magazine), as well as many other outlets globally.
Over 2,500 authors took part, from all over the world, which contributed to making the data really robust. The survey was carried out by an independent third party but it was our many contacts around the world who helped us ensure our insights would be meaningful. So thank you!
Self-published authors earn more than writers with publishers. And independent (indie) author incomes are rising, year on year. Key findings included:
- In 2022, the median income of “primary income” self-publishing authors (those who spend more than half their working time on writing and publishing activities) was $12,749.
- The average income was over $80,000 (almost a quarter had not yet started to earn, bringing in between 0 and 1K.) Some 28% earned $50k+ and almost a fifth ran six-figure publishing businesses.
- Equally significantly, self-publishing author incomes are rising, year on year with a 53% increase in 2022 over the previous year. By contrast, previous author income surveys, which have focused on revenues received by authors with traditional publishers, have repeatedly reported lower and falling incomes.
Read the full report: www.allianceindependentauthors.org/resources
What are the next steps with the research? There was so much interesting data to mine that ALLi ordered a second round of independent analysis, this time on the demographics and on cross-category insights, exploring what factors contribute to author success. This data will form part of what we’re calling the Big Indie Author Data Drop (BIADD), when multiple sources of data from across the self-publishing community will be pulled into one report, providing even more useful insights to authors, and greater visibility of self-publishing’s advances to a wider audience, including mass media outlets. Director Orna Ross will present the secondary report and the BIADD compilation at the Self-Publishing Formula conference in London on the 21st June 2023.
