Books by a certain Mikhail Klikin are printed in 7-10 thousand copies. How much is in money - consider yourself.
The circulation of each new book by a top science fiction writer of the level of Lukyanenko or Perumov is about 100 thousand copies. This should bring the author 1,000,000 rubles. And do not forget that top authors are constantly reprinted and republished.
And Joan Rolling, Harry Potter's mother, having released her new book in Russia in a million copies, should have received at least $ 100,000 from Russian publishers only (Most likely, she received more - but this is already out of the realm of conjecture. How the fee is charged to her, I don’t I know.)

How the fee is paid

The fee is usually paid in two installments. At the time of signing the contract, an advance is paid - usually it is half or a third of the total amount. The author receives the rest of the fee after the book is published, usually in 1-3 months - this period should be specified in the contract.
But, again, this is the general case. There are enough exceptions. For example, the publishing house "Armada" ("Alpha-book"), as a rule, does not pay an advance. They release books quite quickly, in a few months. And the fee - all, entirely - is paid after the book is published. By the way, they pay well.
If some publishing house is interested in your text, it can pay the money immediately after signing the contract - and this, in my opinion, is an ideal option, no worries and worries about "they will deceive, they won't deceive, what if the dollar exchange rate collapses, or the publisher goes bankrupt. ..". But only a large publishing house can afford such a scheme of working with authors.
You need to understand that the first fee is not all the money that your text can bring. If the book sells well, the publisher will issue an additional edition, and will pay you an additional fee - "royalty". If the demand for your works is stable, and if you remind yourself of yourself with new books at least once a year, then your books will be reprinted (republishing usually pays a lower percentage, and they come out in smaller editions than a new book by the same author).
Another thing is that not all novice authors reach the level when they begin to reprint and republish them.

So is it possible to make money writing?

Probably you can. However, it all depends on your needs. For example, I am not a very pretentious person, and my requests are rather modest.

If you still decide to become a professional writer, then you need to soberly assess some circumstances:

1. Few writers became famous for their first book. Most take years and years to get any sort of publicity.

2. Most authors write a book for several months, spending all their free time on it. And then you need to find a publisher - and this can also take a long time (my first book traveled through publishers for two years). Then for about half a year the book will be prepared for publication ... But all this time you have to live on something! Therefore, most beginners (and not only) writers are forced to earn extra money. Can you combine work and writing? I still get it.

3. A beginner (any little-known) author should not count on a large circulation. 6-8 thousand copies. - that's good. You will get a little money from this (reread item 2). And your second book, most likely, will be released in the same circulation. And the third... Are you ready for this?..

To summarize: if you want to make money, find another way to do it. Erwin Cobb said, "If writers were good businessmen, they would be smart enough not to be writers."
And for some reason I think he's right.

... or "WritersXXIcentury. Cruel. Cynically. Uncut"

A warning!

- If you think that the paper book has not died, and for many years to come it will successfully resist the popularity of the electronic book, then you can not read further. This article is not for you.
- If you think that an e-book has no right to be called a "book", and its author - a "writer" - do not read, return to your cozy writers' union forum or to the community of eternal MTA. This article is not for you.
- If you do not want to admit that in the conditions of modern reality, the writer is forced to take on the duties of not only the author, but also pr -manager/publisher/promoter/literary agent/etc. - read no further.

Everyone else - welcome!

This article collects and systematizes the experience of promoting and selling Russian-speaking authors in Russia and abroad over the past five years.

Necessary introductory
This article is intended primarily for science fiction writers and writersnon fiction. But it will be useful to any person who decides to connect his life with literature and who wants to receive not only moral, but also financial satisfaction. If you think that these aspects are basically incompatible, then why the hell did you go under the cut?

A few facts:
- in 2015, the number of Russian writers (not only writing in the science fiction genre, but in general) whose circulation exceeded the mark of 100,000 copies decreased to one and a half dozen people.
- the number of officially downloaded e-books in the science fiction genre in Russia for the period from 01/01/15 to 09/01/15 is equal to the number of sold paper copies of the same genre.
- Russian publishing houses, including top ones, are reducing royalties not only for beginners, but also for venerable authors. The old joke that writers will give away their texts for publication for free is no longer a joke. The average fee for a book in 2015 was now 20-25 thousand rubles (and now even less - 12-20 thousand rubles). But recently, cases have become more frequent when the most venerable publishing houses offer authors to publish them on a fee-free basis;
- two-thirds of the former authors left the writing profession, as the current fees simply could not provide for them and their families. Partially, these losses were filled by young authors who are ready to work “for food”, but they are published less and less often and in ever smaller circulations.

And at the same time:
- in 2015, the number of authors selling books by subscription and receiving more than fifty thousand rubles on this exceeded the mark of two hundred people;
- the number of Russian-speaking authors, whose monthly income from electronic sales is from ten to fifty thousand rubles, in 2015, according to various sources, ranges from 500 to 1000 people (for comparison, in 2014 there were less than two dozen authors);
- the number of Russian-speaking authors sold on the site Amazon . com independently (without the mediation of publishers), over the past year has grown from 15 to 67 people;
- in 2015, the number of books published through crowdfunding tripled;
- in the same year, more than a hundred authors publish books on their own, raising funds for publication and selling circulation through their websites and groups in social networks .

What conclusions can be drawn from all this?
1) A novice author (especially if he writes works of such genres as fantasy, detective story, love (erotic) novel ornon-fiction) is much more profitable to initially promote on the Internet, gaining an army of devoted readers. Piracy is no longer a problem, as there are effective ways to minimize the damage from illegal distribution of texts, and the number of Internet users who are willing to pay for the use of legal content is growing daily.
2) Writers who have received fame, fame, paper circulation and substantial royalties from publishers in the past twenty years should think about the fact that the paper book market is no longer just in a protracted peak, but has collapsed. The crisis, the arrival of which we have been afraid of for the past five years, has already happened. In 2016, the number of authors, series and the amount of royalties for the publication of paper books will be reduced by fifty to seventy percent. And yesterday it was worth starting to prepare the escape routes.
3) The Internet is not killing the writing profession. He gives her incredible opportunities that literature did not have in the past. He opened a direct path from the author to the reader, no matter what cities and countries they live in and what distance separates them. At the moment, of the 7 billion inhabitants of the planet Earth, almost half use the Internet - 3.3 billion. It's worth considering, isn't it?

So, the introductory part is over. And, if you agree with my conclusions, then let's move on to the practical part.

What to do?
1. Understand and accept the fact that your work on the Internet is like a paper copy on a bookstore shelf. Only this store is not located in some city, and all Internet users have access there. And the assortment in it is several million items. Accordingly, in order for your book to be noticed among hundreds of thousands of others, you need to draw attention to it. To the book itself, to his work and to his person. And the sooner you start doing this, the better. For, as one of my acquaintances accurately noted, we live in the era of the second nineties. And if earlier they divided money, territories and power, now we are seeing how the Internet is being divided. And its possibilities are much more extensive and promising than any country on our planet. And those who join the game earlier will reap the fruits of their labors earlier. It is important to realize that this work is now in the future. Not everyone will be able to get 1, 5, 10,000 rubles a day for their writing right now (although someone is getting it right now). This will take time and effort.
2. Designate your presence on the Internet. As Dmitry Glukhovsky once said: If I had not posted the book on the Internet, it would never have become so popular.". The author's site is good, but on the condition that you already have a huge Internet readership. Otherwise, social networks and thematic groups will come to your aid. But here you should be careful and choose wisely. Do not waste your energy on communities of graphomaniacs and eternal MTAs, such as:
a) absolutely all communities of writers on LiveJournal, VKontakte, Facebook, etc.;
b) genre forums;
c) sites with low attendance;
d) Proza.ru and the like.
On these resources you will not find your readers, but only bathe in the poison and despair of the mentioned comrades. No, there are talented authors and good people there. But I repeat once again, you, in fact, flush the time spent on these resources down the toilet.
3. HIt is good to recruit an italian audience on the following resources:
a) SamIzdate - there many readers and top authors often notice publishing houses, but there is a minus - they do not allow you to indicate links to purchase your books;
b) Fanbook - the site is useful specifically for science fiction writers - it has less traffic, but these are science fiction lovers, plus competitions are held there with publications in top domestic publishing houses, plus the chance to get into the eyes of publishers is incredibly high;
c) Illusory Worlds - if you write romantic fantasy, fantasy and erotica, then on this resource you can find your reader and sell your texts.
d) Litera - useful not only for science fiction writers, but also for authors of other genres. There are also competitions with publications in publishing houses, but there is still an opportunity to sell your texts.
4. You will find some more practical tips on winning and working with the audience in the article of my colleague Dmitry Rus. Recommended reading: one and two.

So, you have your own audience, what's next?
Publish texts. Remember that even if you are a successful author in the past, the modern audience on the Internet may simply not know you. To do this, I recommend publishing one or two novels (the main thing is that the rights to them belong only to you and it is desirable that these be the first novels of large cycles). Remember, now you will be forced to spend almost as much time (if not more) on maintaining your text as writing it. Unfortunately, this is a forced measure. Yes, not every author is a public person, and writers are often not social at all (I, for example). Not everyone has the skills and abilities of an Internet project manager andpr-agent. Without this, now, alas, it is difficult to succeed. Of course, if funds allow you, you can find a specialist. But a) where to get it, b) it’s not a fact that he will cope with his duties.

There is reader recognition, but you want financial returns?

In principle, if you are only interested in satisfying your creative ambitions, and literature is just a hobby for you, then you can not read further. Next, we'll talk about money.
1. You can get the first influx of funds from grateful readers even at the stage of writing a novel. This method is called "book by subscription". What is it and what is it eaten with? On this topic, I recommend reading my colleague Vasily Makhanenko, one of the pioneers of this method. And if earlier authors collected money on their own, now there are entire sites that provide the author with special tools: Knigoman,Z elluloza, and the Phantom Worlds and LitEra mentioned above. Let's talk about them on the example of the latter. Andrey Levitsky, anothermy colleague is fantastic, shares his experience, thoughts and tips on using this service. But speaking bluntly, Andrei is not the most popular author on this resource. Let's take for example an author who hides under the pseudonym of Franziska Woodworth - in the first days alone she has several hundred paid subscribers.

/Lyrical digression
Why might you be denied placement of your tests?
It's simple - a very weak level of your works. Sorry, but no one wants to discredit their resource by selling graphomaniac novels and the work of the MTA. Is it possible to call site owners assholes for this? Of course you can! Prove them they were wrong! Unwind on the Internet on your own and break all the ratings, gather around you a loyal army of readers who are ready to pay you with a clear electronic coin for all your work. And let these assholes bite their elbows.
So they need it! /

2. When the text of the new novel is finished, the paid subscription also ends. Now you need to decide:
a) sell it electronically?
- on the author's website (as they do, Booksmarket, XinXia and others). They have more options for promotion within the site, but little traffic. Buyers need to be led there on their own.
b) sell to a publishing house for publication on paper?
Everything is simple and clear here. The classic way, which I will not talk about now.
c) publish it on paper on your own and sell it using the Internet?
- order and pay for a print run. This method is suitable for those authors whose level of trust from the readership allows them to collect on pre-orders alone the amount necessary to produce a circulation of three to ten thousand copies. As an example, I will cite the writer Alexander Biryukov, who managed to achieve such results in just a year. He formalized his experience of communicating with publishers in.
- Publishing and marketing a bookPOD (“Print on demand”, “Print on demand”). In many ways, this method is similar to the first, only copies are printed as needed and their cost is higher.
- crowdfunding. I talked about this method of publishing books a lot and often. So I will not repeat myself, but simply indicate the links:,.
- I will separately mention a new resource dealing with similar issues, which I have not talked about yet - Ridero. That's what

Margarita Ledovskikh

I am glad to welcome you on our site. My name is Margarita Ledovskikh, I am a media lawyer. I have been working in the field of information law for 19 years, of which 6 years I have been managing the Law on the Net project.

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Very often, if a person is angry, offended, you can hear such words from him: “Yes, I will file a claim against you for compensation for moral harm.” And now it may seem that if a person is worried, if some negative information about him is spread on the Internet, he is dissatisfied with the purchase in the online store, indignant that, in his opinion, […]

Hello Daniel.

I want to make a short film based on a story written in 1959 by an American writer (the author is still alive today). With the indication of the author and the name of the literary source, of course.

Because, in accordance with Part.1 Article. 229, the absence of a direct prohibition of the copyright holder on the use of his work is not considered consent on his part, then without documentary evidence of your right to film this literary work and rework it into a literary script, you have no legal grounds to shoot (neither a short film, nor a full-length film, nor, even, a video) based on a story written by one or another author.

The right holder may, at its discretion, allow or prohibit other persons from using the result of intellectual activity or means of individualization. The absence of a prohibition is not considered consent (permission).

The project is non-commercial, the goal is to demonstrate on youtube (without making a profit) and participate in festivals.

In accordance with Art. 1270 G, the purpose of making a profit does not play a decisive role when using an author's work.

The use of a work, regardless of whether the relevant actions are performed for the purpose of deriving profit or without such a purpose, is considered, in particular:

<....>translation or other processing of the work. At the same time, the processing of a work means the creation of a derivative work (processing, film adaptations, arrangements, dramatizations, etc.).

The demonstration of such a work on yotube and at festivals will be the result of using the author's work by processing it, i.e. such activities are illegal.

Is this process illegal?

Yes, without the appropriate written permission of the owner of the exclusive copyright for the specified work, the process you specified is illegal.

What are the possible consequences?

civil law responsibility - art. 12, 1252, 1301 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation

administrative responsibility - art. 7.12 (we are talking only about the purpose of generating income or an invention), 14.33 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (we are talking about unfair competition with the illegal use of copyright).

criminal responsibility - article 146 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (we are talking about plagiarism - the appropriation of authorship).

In your case, you need to be wary of civil liability.

Art. 12 Ways to protect civil rights; Art. 1252 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation Protection of exclusive rights.

Protection of exclusive rights to the results of intellectual activity and means of individualization is carried out, in particular, by presenting a requirement:

1)on the recognition of the right- to a person who denies or otherwise does not recognize the right, thereby violating the interests of the right holder;

2)to stop actions violating the right or creating a threat of its violation - to the person committing such actions or making the necessary preparations for them;

3)for damages- to a person who illegally used the result of intellectual activity or a means of individualization without concluding an agreement with the right holder (non-contractual use) or otherwise violated his exclusive right and caused damage to him;

4)on the seizure of the material carrier in accordance with paragraph 5 of this article - to its manufacturer, importer, custodian, carrier, seller, other distributor, unscrupulous purchaser;

5)on the publication of the judgment about the committed violation with an indication of the actual copyright holder - to the violator of the exclusive right.

Art. 1301 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Liability for violation of the exclusive right to a work

In cases of violation of the exclusive right to a work, the author or other right holder, along with the use of other applicable methods of protection and liability measures established by this Code (Articles 1250, 1252 and 1253), has the right, in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 1252 of this Code, to demand, at his choice, from the infringer instead of compensation for damages, payment of compensation:

at the rate of from ten thousand rubles to five million rubles determined at the discretion of the court;

double the amount the cost of copies of the work, or twice the cost of the right to use the work, determined on the basis of the price that, under comparable circumstances, is usually charged for the legitimate use of the work.

Can the Russian publishing house (which published this book in Russia in Russian) give me the appropriate permission?

Yes, if the Russian publishing house is endowed with the appropriate right: to screen the specified work, including with the involvement of third parties, which seems very doubtful. The answer is more no than yes. In any case, for an appropriate explanation, you need to contact the Russian publishing house.

For review, I am enclosing a form of a model copyright agreement on the transfer of the right to film adaptation of a literary work.

If you are interested in how much writers in Russia earn, then you should first understand and accept a few things. Superprofit writing does not bring to everyone. Yes, and the talent of the writer at least something, but it means. Read about everything at once - what is the writing business, how much beginner writers earn, how to write your book and the most popular topics for making money in the writing business.

First, a person does not get rich after the publication of the first book. Even after overcoming the long journey of writing a book, editing it, finding a publication and signing a contract, you, as an aspiring writer, can only count on a small circulation, and, therefore, a fee. Moreover, it is not uncommon to have to personally pay for the release of your work.

Second, understand that it will be years before you can achieve a certain level of fame and success with your talent and hard work. More than 144 million people live in Russia. Of these, about 20-30 people can boast of substantial income from writing books. Daria Dontsova, for example, for each published book can count on approximately 7,000,000 rubles, if you do not take into account the money received from the re-release. Boris Akunin in this situation gets more 1,000,000 rubles. Fee in 800 000 rubles can boast of Alexandra Marinina.

A writer can get rich and become famous throughout the country, this cannot be ruled out. However, comparing the above figures, we can rather talk about exceptions to the rule, right?

How Writers Make Money

First you need to understand the basic concepts of the writer's earnings. A young author entering into a publishing contract faces two main concepts:

1) royalty- a certain amount of money that a writer receives from each sold copy of his book. You can count on 3% -25%. It depends on how successful and respected the writer is. The most common royalty is 5%-10%.

2) fee- the amount of money that the writer receives immediately after the delivery of the book to print. The first work can bring the author about 5000-20000 rubles.

Often a beginner is content with either one or the other. It depends on the terms of the contract. Don't count on getting both royalties and royalties at the same time, because the publisher won't go for it.

There is such a phenomenon as selling the rights to translate and publish a book abroad. Revenue in this case can vary from $1,000 to $3,000 on average.

Understand that the first 5 books will not be able to provide for your existence (with rare exceptions). That is why most of today's Russian writers have a permanent job in another area of ​​life, but they do not give up their hobby. Only those who have more than 20 published works behind them can count on a good income. Their fees reach 50,000-150,000 rubles for the book.

Average salary for a beginner in the world of writing

So, how does a writer make his first money? After the work has been written and edited, it is necessary to find a publisher that will agree to give it to print. Often, novice authors apply to several organizations at once, so as not to waste precious time.

If your work is appreciated, and one of the publishers agrees to the publication, then an agreement is concluded between you, which describes the amount of the fee or royalty. It was previously mentioned that at the initial stage you should not count on fabulous money.

Consider the possibility of obtaining royalties on a specific example. First you need to understand what a selling price is. This is the amount for which books are sold by the publishing house itself. It should be noted that on the shelves of shops works appear 3-4 times more expensive. Royalties are received from the selling price, and not from the final price. Newcomers can only count on a small circulation, as the publisher must see if the book is in demand. At best, you can count on 3000 copies. It is easy to calculate the final income of the author. Let the selling price of the book be equal to 100 rubles. With a 5% royalty and a circulation of 3,000 copies, the writer will receive 15000 rubles.

Reissue of books

Sometimes books become so popular that it becomes necessary to republish them. For the author, this situation is quite advantageous. The fact is that deductions to the writer are somewhat reduced, but at the same time he is freed from any work, because the work has already been written. The publisher takes care of all the hard work. Royalty varies between 3% -15%.

The book can be republished by another publisher in a few years if the contract is drawn up correctly. For the author, this can bring more favorable conditions for cooperation, including higher income.

As mentioned earlier, a person who has published about 20 works can count on a decent income. However, most Russian writers do not earn their living by publishing their own books. Although the writing business, but without the involvement of publishers. How it's done? Look for links at the end of the article.

Rating of the most popular genres of fiction in Russia

The main question for some novice writers is what topic to choose to make the book popular? The correct answer is to use your knowledge. However, if this is not the case, there are five popular book genres that can be explored that guarantee a high chance of a good book sale.

1) Honorary first place takes female detective. It should be noted that it is the female audience that can be considered the most active in the field of buying books on any subject. As well as the authors. It so happened that today the most popular authors of books are women.

2) Action. However, this is not about a foreign action movie, but about a Russian one. Such a head start may lie in the fact that foreign literature is translated into Russian for a long time. And not always the translation can be considered successful, that is, during the translation, an important play on words or the meaning of the whole work may be lost.

3) Historical adventure classic. This genre came to an honorable third place relatively recently. But, he quickly gained his popularity. This is due to many factors, including the growing interest in historical series on television, such as The Magnificent Age or Downton Abbey. This, by the way, is used by many aspiring writers. They write their works on related topics, thereby receiving a guaranteed initial interest in the book.