earning money from my book

Very doubtful - although not impossible if you're prepared to work hard, take advice, and bounce back after rejection.

If your only reason for writing is to make money you'll probably be financially better off trying something else.

Hi, John.

There is always room for a would-be author to break through to the top and earn a good living from writing, however, few do. You need to be an international best-seller, and not necessarily an award-winner, to make a comfortable living from writing.

To have any chance of financial reward you need to hook an agent and publish-traditionally, but that is no guarantee of success. A would-be author can expect to be given 8-12% royalties for their first book deal. Say for example you get 10% royalties on a novel priced at £5, you would logically assume to get 50p for each copy sold.

Publishers, however, will sell your novel to wholesalers, supermarkets and book-clubs with a 50-65% discount. At a 50% discount you would receive 25p a copy for a novel priced at £5 on the jacket. You would receive £2.50p for a 100 copies sold, £250 for a thousand, and £25000 for a 100 000 - so don't pack up your day job.

It is, however, not all bad news, because if you self-publish on Amazon for example you can gain 70% royalties, but self-publishing is a minefield for would-be authors. Not many are successful. Those authors who are successful are those already established with a backlog of novels, which they sell for pennies to increase their readership. Famous authors can increase their earnings substantially by self-publishing.

As you can see, the would-be author faces many obstacles, but we still live the dream.

I hope that helps.

Good luck.