I should note though that when I hear about authors of tech books (O'Reilly and the like), I do tend to imagine a Jaguar in their garage.... Imagine that a tec

I should note though that when I hear about authors of tech books (O'Reilly and the like), I do tend to imagine a Jaguar in their garage.... Imagine that a tech book breaks even (for the publisher) at 5000 copies sold. Further imagine that a successful book sells about 8000 copies. At a $30 cover price, the author gets $1.50 per copy sold, so 8000 copies is $12,000. Also remember that the publisher probably gets paid 30 days after the close of the month in which a sale occurred, and the author gets paid at least a month after that--and more, if the publisher holds back royalties in case of returns. If you're fortunate, you get paid monthly. You probably get paid quarterly.