Unexpected Benefits of Being an Author

Photo by Elisa Calvet B. on Unsplash

The obvious benefits of being an author:

• You have a physical product available to sell
• You completed the incredible achievement of turning the knowledge, wisdom, research, and experiences in your mind into a physical object that people can read and benefit from
• If your book is at least halfway decent, you have increased credibility

I’m sure there are many more things you could add to that list.

I’ve written three books. One of them has won an award. Another became a bestseller in a competitive category. My books have acted as glorified business cards, credibility boosters, and tools to help others.

At the same time, here’s a tough truth:

None of my books have made me any money.

Or, to say the same thing another way: I do get royalties from book sales, but none of my books have come even close to providing me a return on investment (referring here to not only costs of publishing, but also costs of marketing).

You might be thinking…

Uh oh…is this guy a pissed off writer who never made it? Do you regret publishing books being that you lost thousands of dollars on them?