> Isn't the best case scenario here that you are the top-selling author, selling over a million copies?
Pretty much not. The vast majority of best selling books are produced by the same few authors year after year. It's far more marketing than meritocracy. Some of those authors farm out ghostwriting duties to numerous authors who will get paid some fixed rate (not royalties) to do most of the writing.
Or, to put it a different way, the odds of becoming an author that sells more than 500,000 copies are probably similar to or less than the odds of becoming a successful Hollywood actor. And probably similar to creating a video game like Minecraft or being one of the founders of a unicorn.
Pretty much not. The vast majority of best selling books are produced by the same few authors year after year. It's far more marketing than meritocracy. Some of those authors farm out ghostwriting duties to numerous authors who will get paid some fixed rate (not royalties) to do most of the writing.
Or, to put it a different way, the odds of becoming an author that sells more than 500,000 copies are probably similar to or less than the odds of becoming a successful Hollywood actor. And probably similar to creating a video game like Minecraft or being one of the founders of a unicorn.