Do authors in control of everything really make more money? US/UK/global… ALLi Author surveys of indie authors (in 2022) who spend at least half their working time on writing and self-publishing had a median income of US $12,749 — this is the middle value of self-published authors’ income distribution. ALLi’s 2025 survey was opened for data ­collection to update these figures, and one source notes a median income rising to about US $13,500 in 2025 — but still in progress. In Australia, surveys that include self-published authors reported a mean total author income (including all writing-related income) at around AU$18,000 (≈ US $12,000) — a figure that aligns with published medians in global surveys. Taking the median gives a more realistic picture than ‘average’ or mean earnings, because the higher earning authors really went gangbusters. Unfortunately, this is not even including…