Latest from Author Earnings: Bigger Data Set, More Profitable Authors

Calling their latest Author Earnings report “definitive” might seem risky. After all, Data Guy and Hugh Howey’s quarterly reports will always change, with new data. If we ever get the “final answer” that Merriam-Webster calls “definitive,” it will mean that All Literature has become backlist—much of it heavenly, some of it hellish. Charon and I will come by for you on the ferry.

But what Mssrs. Howey and Guy mean by “definitive” is, as Vanessa Amorosi’s song has it, “absolutely everybody” is in their sights now: they’ve moved beyond their earlier surveys’ focus on bestsellers to create a wider data set, which they describe as “a complete picture of Amazon author earnings—ebook, print, and audio sales combined—for every single author, traditionally published or indie, who is making any significant Amazon sales today whatsoever.”