It’s important to acknowledge that “making money” in publishing as a whole, whether you self-publish or publish traditionally, is not an easy question to answer. When considering average income figures, keep in mind that some authors receive seven-figure royalties annually, while others make only single-figures. An average in this case does not reflect the probability of any one author’s earnings. Here is a piece from 2020, which includes figures on author incomes (self-published and traditional) from 2018. The Writers Union of Canada’s 2018 income survey, the most recent year of data available, states: “The average net income from writing was $9,380, while the median net income was less than $4,000.” Further, the same survey of 1499 respondents indicated that 45% of writing income came from traditional royalties, while 8% came from self-publishing. Self-published authors’ profits depend on multiple factors, including but not limited to: successful marketing plans and their execution, consistent book production, consistent high-quality engagement with readers, and consistent low overhead. (The WGA provides links as general resources and does not endorse any third-party services or websites.)