I remember when I signed my first book contract and a friend’s husband wanted to know when I was going to buy a second house. I still want to know the answer to that. I think I could swing Barbie’s Dream House (finally!), but I won’t be basking under a thatched roof on my own private island any time soon.

Maybe I should start a Kickstarter campaign for the Avery Flynn island dream home, I hear that works (Yay, Veronica Mars movie!).

Joking aside, we all want to know when we’ll earn enough from writing to give the evil day job the old heave ho. I’ve seen some averages for advances and earn outs. Check out this great post from Brenda Hiatt for breakdowns by publisher. I’ve talked to friends and eavesdropped on others. Yes, I’m that girl. Come on you cannot be shocked by that. And I’ve researched using my Google Fu skills. But everything I found looks mainly at returns on one book (hello, backlists matter) and give self-published authors the short shrift.

Well most of the mermaids in this Waterworld Mermaid lagoon are too polite to ask, but you’re stuck with me today so I’m going to go for it. I want to know how much money you made from writing romantic fiction in the past year. Answer the anonymous poll below and you’ll get to see the results right after you vote.

*Note, only include income that went into your bank account (no counting agents’ cuts) from advances and all romance books sold, including from your backlist.

Not seeing the vote buttons? Click here to vote.