Also called: Indie Author
Writes and publishes books independently, handling covers, marketing, and sales.
An indie author writes 3,000 words a day, hires cover designers, and runs ads to sell e-books online. Some publish a new book every few months.
Extremely variable.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
No formal education, about 0 years after high school. No degree; you write and self-publish your first books, often on Amazon KDP, and teach yourself cover design, editing help and marketing.
Ways in: Self-taught. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Creative Writing.
Growing about average. Growing.
High risk for 10 years. AI-generated books flood self-publishing sites, making it much harder to earn; loyal readers still follow real authors.
Classes: Creative writing, English literature, Marketing, Graphic design CTE.
Official data: O*NET occupation 27-3043.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.