Qwerty, first, yes, published authors make far more than $500 a year. Advances alone put them above that amount. Even in Canada.

Second, you cite earnings from 1998 — already, those earnings are higher than the “average” of self-published authors nearly 15 years later. Plus, you’re citing numbers from Canada, which is a small market. 

Third, that “$10,000 average” is an average, and it’s skewed high because of big-selling high-profile names — the “big money” is upper echelon (top 10%). The earnings are actually spread out more among authors with traditional publishers.

Fourth, the authors who earn any money at all self-publishing — as the survey shows — are those who spend money on such things as editing and marketing. That eats into your earnings a fair bit.

Fifth, the survey was a voluntary one, and a higher response rate should be expected from those who have done well, because those people want to trumpet the success of self-publishing. People who have had no success at all are less likely to respond. I’m surprised the numbers are as bleak as they are, frankly.