Most poets’ main source of writing income is whatever they produce in their day jobs. But while you may not be able to make a full living writing poetry, you can make some supplemental income by selling your poems and through other activities we’ll call “poetry adjacent.”

A small book deal may be $5,000 to $20,000. A middling deal may be $20,000 to $60,000. A significant deal may be $60,000 to $150,000. And, of course, advances can go through the roof for a book that every publisher wants.

Full chapbooks (say, the median is roughly 20–30 pages) can and usually do sell for somewhere between five or six dollars up to ten or twelve dollars (sometimes even a little more!), depending on the production quality and length of the chapbook—and who the poet is.

A traditionally published author makes 5–20% royalties on print books, usually 25% on ebooks (though can be less), and 10–25% on audiobooks.

Where To Sell Used Books: 6 Of The Best Places Online (And In…

• BookScouter. I like to start with BookScouter.com.
• Half Price Books.
• Amazon.
• 4. Powell’s Books.
• Online Buy Back Programs.
• Your local indie.

How to Write a Romance Novel: Step-by-Step Guide

1. Choose Your Subgenre. The romance genre contains numerous subgenres.
2. Set the Scene. Setting is particularly important in romance writing.
3. Make Your Main Characters Compelling.
4. Don’t Be Afraid of Romance Tropes.
5. Use Love Scenes to Show Character Development.

Romance Publishing Romance novels regularly top the major bestseller lists (New York Times, Publishers Weekly and USA Today), and have a large, dedicated audience of readers.

The latest figures listed by Brenda Hiatt, who surveys romance authors in an attempt to find out what they’re earning, suggests that the average advance for a first book from Harlequin is around $3500 to $4000. Other big romance publishers include Avon/HarperCollins ($8000), Berkley/Jove ($8000) and Kensington ($3500).

Average book authors don’t make a lot of money. But you can, even if you gave away all your books. You receive an advance and 10% royalties on net profit from each book. If your book retails at $25 per copy, you would need to sell at least 4,000 copies to break even on a $5,000 advance.