10K a month in Author Royalties

Written by Alexa Bigwarfe

Women in Publishing Summit Archives

It may seem farfetched to you to earn 10k a month in author royalties if you’re just getting started, but it’s feasible. And many authors are doing it. Like Jennie Goutet.

How does someone get to the point where they’re cashing 5 figure royalty checks every month? It wasn’t an accident – it took a plan. And Jennie shared that plan with me.

Who is Jennie Goutet?

Jennie Goutet is a friend of mine and I’ve followed her since her writing journey began. So it’s truly exciting to see her having this level of success as one of the top indie Regency fiction writers. I knew her waaay back. She actually was a contributor to my book, Sunshine After the Storm: A Survival Guide for the Grieving Mother, as we sadly share the loss of a child.

When we met, she was already blogging her way through her memoir, which she would publish about six months after Sunshine. The title: A Lady in France.

She went on to hit the #1 spot on the New York Times bestseller list for 9 weeks straight and make a LOT of money in royalties. 

NO SHE DIDN’T.

But she is earning a lot of money as an indie author on Amazon, and has even landed some traditional publishing contracts since this interview.

The Real Story Behind Jennie’s Success as an Author

I was obviously joking about the NY Times bestseller list. That does NOT actually happen, just so you know. Truly. It’s almost unheard of for a self-published memoirist (or any genre) to have a success like that on their first book.

What DID happen was she had some mediocre success, got a lot of feedback, and wound up making some significant changes to her book after she learned a lot more about the business of being an author.

Then, she set to work, and over the course of six years, learned everything she needed to know so that by November of 2020, she was earning $10K per month through book sales in KDP.

Jennie has so much knowledge to share.

I interviewed Jennie for the 2021 Women in Publishing Summit and she went step-by-step through what she learned, what she took from it, and how she went from her first experience of publishing her memoir not so successfully to now being one of the top Regency fiction writers on Amazon. And she shared that she achieved her goal: earn 10K a month in author royalties.

You are going to want to watch this interview. I took SIX PAGES of notes!

Jennie could have thrown in the towel when her book did not meet her expectations. She could have had a pity party that she just wasn’t a good writer. But Jennie didn’t give up. She had a goal to be a successful author.

She learned and implemented changes that soared her into the top 10 in her very competitive category of Regency fiction.

Jennie shares her tips for earning 10k a month in author royalties.

In our interview, Jennie told me all about the things she WISHED she’d known at the beginning that took her a lot of time and effort to figure out, before finally climbing her way to the top.

She tried a lot of things before she got it right. But now she’s got a system that is working for her and with each book she publishes, she’s having more and more success.

I’ll share some sneak peeks into Jennie’s tips:

•         Work on your craft
•         Take the time to do it right – know your genre!
•         Get strategic and move forward in a very specific way

Make sure you watch the interview below to get the full scoop.

What about Jennie’s memoir?

In case you’re wondering about her memoir, Jennie went on to republish it after she learned more about the norms of the memoir genre. She got a new cover and a new title that more appropriately fit her book, and she cut 50,000 words, because it was way too long. It did okay in sales, nothing revolutionary. But – and this is the important part – that process taught her an incredible amount that she shared in her interview with the intent of helping YOU get there faster and with less experimentation.

There’s one more thing about Jennie that makes her amazing. After having some success with fiction books, she landed a traditional publishing deal. She also shared about the differences that being traditionally published taught her, and why she decided to go back to indie publishing with subsequent books.

I invited Jennie to speak after I saw her post an update in a group we’re both in. I was both proud as heck of what she’s done over the past 7 years AND biting at the bit to hear what she’d been doing to have  this kind of success. I’ve had a front-row seat at watching her publish and grow, so it was really exciting to hear the HOW from her. And it was really encouraging to see that it is possible, even after a failed start, to have great success and earn a living as an author.

Her journey wasn’t easy or quick. But if it was simple, ALL authors would be making $10K/month in royalties.

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