1. A writer receives an advance payment. This is given by the publisher in hopes the book will sell enough copies to make that back. However, if a book doesn't "sell through" the author must PAY the advance BACK.
2. Publishers DO NOT give their writers money for marketing. When an author gives you a free book, bookmarks, swag, or prizes, she/he is paying for that out of her own pocket-usually with the hope you will spread the news about her book via social media, book reviews, and word of mouth. Publishers only spend money on marketing materials for BIG NAME authors.
3. Unless the author is a HUGE name, her royalty rate is pennies on a dollar. That means she might make 30 cents on a $4.99 book.
4. Book reviews left on the major sites - Goodreads and Amazon - are vital to an author's success. Publishers do monitor reviews, so if you really like a book, heap on the praise.
5. Marketing and selling a book is harder than writing it. A bulk of a writer's time is spent talking about and promoting their book.
6. You click over to Facebook and your feed is cluttered with authors promoting your book. Annoying, right? Well, what you might not know is publisher's expect (and often write it in their contracts) authors to be very visible on social media.
7. If a writer has an agent - vital if he/she wants to land a contract with an established house - he/she has to share a portion of their earnings with that agent. That means, if a writer makes 30 cents for every book sold, he/she is sharing a portion of that with his/her agent.
8. Nasty reviews hurt. I mean really, really hurt. Somewhere, out there, an author is reading a nasty review and wondering if they should forget writing all together. Think about what you say. Ask yourself if you would want someone to publicly post a similarly scathing critique of your professional efforts.
9. That being said, most published authors have received their share of rejection letters and nasty reviews. Few get the golden ticket with their first manuscript. So we do develop a tough skin.
10. Writers LOVE their readers. LOVE LOVE them. We love to hear feedback, love to get emails, love to see you holding a copy of our book, love to hear you shared our book with a friend, and love to have our books quoted. So, thank you.