What did the Penana interview discuss about making money from fiction? Utsudo was invited to an interview with Penana’s Heixiong (Yangzi) to discuss how fiction makes money and authors’ career paths. Heixiong shared that original works at doujinshi conventions also need real promotion—online publicity, large posters and merchandise—to sell well, and that popular authors who self-print can earn far more than publisher royalties. It made Utsudo rethink her approach and plan to self-print the second volume of the Ghost Island essays.

Translated from Utsudo’s original Chinese column.

Invited to a Penana interview

This time, I had the experience thanks to an invitation to Penana’s interview with Heixiong.

Of course, it wasn’t limited to questions from newcomers. Heixiong (Yangzi) has been active in the writing scene for a long time, with experience running convention booths and observations of the mainland Chinese writing scene, so she had lots of experience to share.

So I occasionally asked Heixiong about her thoughts and views, letting our perspectives spark new ideas. I think every viewer that day gained a lot—someone even said it took three days of notes to finally write down all the key points.

How do novels make money?

The questions were mostly about “how fiction makes money” or “career paths.” That’s what I care about most too—if writing can’t support you, you can’t make it your profession.

Heixiong said next time she’ll share her experience running booths at doujinshi conventions. I’m so excited!

Questions I want to ask about CWT booths

The questions I’ve come up with so far about CWT booths:

1. Any advice for making money at events?

2. Are there examples of people who made money at events and then signed with a publisher?

3. What’s the typical cost per book?

4. What’s the most effective way to promote?

Original works need real promotion too

According to Heixiong, original works also need real promotional effort—posting publicity online and making large posters or merchandise—to have a chance of selling well. As for how, I’ll probably get more ideas once Heixiong shares.

Honestly, this surprised me—that original works without a famous name behind them can still make money. It made me rethink my current approach and consider how to manage things to boost sales.

I’ve heard of people who run booths only two or three times a year and make around a million NT dollars. Of course, those are top illustrators, so it may not be accurate for fiction, but I believe top fiction creators can also make quite a lot.

But when I chatted with a friend last time, I heard that works that used to sell over 300 copies have dropped sharply to around 50. That really surprised me. Are there really that many fewer people reading? Or was it just a one-off? There’s no way to know.

I’ll see if I have more ideas later and discuss them properly then.

Self-printing with a premium approach

In any case, I think if I publish books in the future, I’ll go the premium route. If you’re popular enough with plenty of loyal readers, printing and selling your own books earns more and frees you from publishers’ restrictions—though “supporting yourself on self-published books” is itself a big threshold and challenge.

By the way, a friend once told me he sold over 300 copies and made about NT$100,000 after costs. A publisher would give you around NT$20,000 in fees at most, and might tell you what to do at every turn. You can see how big the difference is.

In short, at the end of the year I plan to self-print and sell the second volume of the Ghost Island essays. I hope I can get a booth—see you at CWT 65!

FAQ

Further reading

• Previous: Hey! I Heard You’re a Writer on Ghost Island #197: You’re Not Alone on the Creative Path
• Start from the beginning: Hey! I Heard You’re a Writer on Ghost Island #01: Utsudo’s Debut — A Road to the Dream Covered in Frost
• Utsudo’s books

About the author

Utsudo is a Taiwanese light novelist and novelist VTuber with more than ten years in the industry and 40 commercially published print books. Her novel 《遺失的情書》 received a 2022 Ministry of Culture youth creative award. The 《嘿！聽說妳在鬼島當作家》 series records her experiences as a novelist in Taiwan.