What to expect?? I had no idea when I first began. I’ve started writing posts about money at the end of every financial year so people can have some idea. (And honestly, I am not sure how typical or atypical my earnings are because I also still really have no idea!)
2021-2022 financial year (total: $13,790.65)
2022-2023 financial year (total: $27,133.07)
The national averages vary depending on what genre you write and who you are as well as one million other factors.
The ASA published this article in Dec 2022 - the average from all authors they surveyed was $18,200. Poets were the lowest earners with an average of $5700 and educational authors were the highest at $27,300. The article goes into this more and it’s worth reading.
This article in the Guardian by Rafqa Touma profles a few different authors and discusses how they make their incomes. This one is also from Dec 2022.
Between 2017 and 2023, my lowest income was $13,790.65 and my highest was $43,248.21 (so high because I got a huge grant from the Australia Council). It’s hard to predict and again this depends on a lot of things, like if I have a new book out, if I get any grants, how many events I will be booked for at libraries, schools and writers festivals.
-—-> if you found this useful you can buy me a coffee @ ko-fi.com/alisonwritesthings