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Author: what the job actually is

Turning an idea into a finished book or script that strangers will pay to read, usually while earning a living some other way.

By , founder, U.S. Air Force veteranPublished Last reviewed How we research and correct this

Author: quick facts

Author salary in Ontario: the median pay is $40.38 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024). Its three-year outlook in Ontario is undetermined. The job usually needs a university degree.

Median pay in Ontario
$40.38 an hour
Pay range (low to high)
$25.82 to $53.00 an hour
Job outlook, 2025-2027
Undetermined
Usually needs
Usually a university degree

Source: Job Bank wages (updated 19 November 2025) and job prospects (updated 10 December 2025), NOC 51111. Pay varies by region and experience.

The work

What this job actually is

  • Writing books, scripts or long pieces that stand on their own, and getting them in front of readers. That means finishing, which is the part most people never do.
  • The writing is only one job. The rest is revising, taking an editor's notes, pitching, marketing your own book and keeping records, because most authors are running a small business of one.
  • Pay is lumpy. Job Bank's hourly figure below is for the hours that get paid; it does not show the months of unpaid drafting before a book earns anything, and many authors keep another job.
  • There are several routes: a traditional publisher, a small press, self-publishing, or writing for hire (ghostwriting, corporate writing, screenwriting). They reward different habits.
  • Nobody licenses authors. Your proof is a finished manuscript or a published book, which makes it one of the few careers you can start today for free.

A Tuesday

What a normal day looks like

Not a good day or a bad one. The ordinary version, which is what you would actually be living.

  1. 6:30 — Up before the day job. Two hours of writing is the only part of the schedule that is yours.
  2. 8:30 — Day job or other work. Many working authors teach, edit, freelance or hold a regular job.
  3. 12:15 — Lunch break notes: a line of dialogue, a fix for yesterday's stuck scene, typed into a phone.
  4. 16:30 — Emails: an editor's comments, a festival invitation, an invoice that has not been paid.
  5. 18:00 — Revision. Cutting a chapter you loved because the book is better without it.
  6. 19:30 — Reading, because writers who do not read run dry.
  7. 20:30 — Marketing: a post, a library event to confirm, a newsletter to send.
  8. 21:30 — Back to the draft for forty minutes. The word count is small and it is still progress.
  9. 22:15 — Rejection or good news arrives by email. Either way tomorrow starts the same way.

Honestly

Who loves this, and who should not do it

The second list is the useful one. Nearly every careers page leaves it out, which is why nearly every careers page reads like an advert.

You may like this if
  • You finish what you start, even when the middle is boring and nobody is watching.
  • You can take blunt feedback on something you care about and then rewrite it.
  • You are curious enough about people or subjects to research them properly.
  • You are comfortable with an uncertain income and a long wait between effort and reward.
  • You like working alone for long stretches.
You may hate this if
  • You need a steady paycheque and clear promotions. Authorship has neither.
  • Rejection stays with you for weeks. Almost everyone is rejected many times before a yes.
  • You want to write only when inspired. Working authors write on schedule whether they feel like it or not.
  • You dislike promoting yourself. Even with a publisher, much of the marketing falls to the author.
  • You want writing to be your only job straight away. For most people it is not, for years.

The route in

How you actually get there in Ontario

  1. Write regularly and finish things

    There is no licence and no required degree. The route starts with a habit: finishing short stories, articles or a first draft. English, creative writing and media classes help you get feedback early.

  2. Get feedback from readers who will be honest

    Join a writing group, a school paper or an online workshop. Revising after feedback is the skill that separates a draft from a book.

  3. Choose a route to readers

    Pitch literary agents and publishers, submit to magazines and contests, or self-publish. Each costs something different: time, rejection or money and marketing effort.

  4. Look for grants and organizations built for writers

    The Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council fund writers and publishers, and writers' associations offer community and contract advice. Check each one for who can apply.

  5. Build a second income deliberately

    Editing, technical writing, copywriting, teaching and journalism are paid writing work that sharpens the craft while the books come together.

Where this comes from: Job Bank: Authors and writers in Ontario · Canada Council for the Arts · Ontario Arts Council · The Writers' Union of Canada

The money

Author salary in Ontario

Job Bank's own figures, quoted rather than summarised, with the period they describe — so you can tell how old they are and go and check them.

$25.82
Low (hourly)
$40.38
Median (hourly)
$53.00
High (hourly)

Ontario, NOC 51111. Reference period 2023-2024, last updated by Job Bank on 19 November 2025. Wages vary a lot by region inside Ontario and by how long you have been doing it — the low figure is roughly where you start, not what the job is worth.

Source: Job Bank — Author wages in Ontario

Where it is heading

The outlook for the next three years

Job Bank publishes a three-year outlook for every job in every province. It is the closest thing to an honest forecast, and it moves, so read it as a weather report rather than a verdict.

Ontario, 2025-2027

Undetermined0 out of 5 stars

  • Since the employment opportunities in this occupation are primarily based on talent or entrepreneurship, they will vary from one individual to another.

What that rating means: how many openings Job Bank expects in Ontario for this kind of work against how many people are likely to be looking — not whether it is a good job. A “limited” rating means more competition for each opening; it does not close the door, and it can change before you are ready to walk through it.

Source: Job Bank — Authors and writers (except technical) job prospects in Ontario (NOC 51111). Outlook updated by Job Bank on 10 December 2025; read by us on 4 November 2026.

Before you leave school

Things you can do now

  • Take English, creative writing and media courses, and join the school newspaper or yearbook for real deadlines.
  • Enter a short story, poetry or essay contest. A deadline and an outside reader teach more than a notebook.
  • Volunteer at the local library or a literary event to meet working writers.
  • Read widely in the kind of book you want to write, and note what makes the first page work.

Test it

Do this before you decide anything

Reading about a job tells you almost nothing. This is designed to be done alone, this week, for free.

Write and finish a 500-word story in one evening

About 90 minutes
  1. Pick a character who wants something and a problem that gets in the way. Write one sentence for each.
  2. Set a 45-minute timer and write the story start to end with no editing. Finishing matters more than polish.
  3. Read it aloud the next morning, mark the three weakest sentences, and rewrite them.
  4. Give it to one person you trust and ask a single question: where did you get bored?

What it tells you. If you finished and wanted to revise, that appetite for rewriting is the real predictor of an author. If you stalled halfway and felt relief to stop, that is useful to learn before you plan a career around it. Writing can still be a serious hobby alongside another job.

Better than any article

Questions for somebody who does this job

Most people say yes to a teenager who asks good questions. These are the ones that get real answers rather than encouragement.

  1. “How do you make a living, and how much of that comes from your books?”
  2. “How long did your first book take from idea to print?”
  3. “How many rejections did you get before a yes?”
  4. “What do you do when you do not feel like writing?”
  5. “What would you tell a 17-year-old who wants to do this?”
  6. “What do you wish you had known about contracts and payment?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

In effect, yes. Most authors are self-employed and run a one-person business: contracts, invoices, taxes and marketing. Self-publishing makes that explicit, and the business side of this site applies directly.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

Quick answers

Questions people ask about this job

How much does an author make in Ontario?

The median pay for an author in Ontario is $40.38 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024, updated 19 November 2025). The range Job Bank publishes runs from $25.82 to $53.00 an hour. Pay varies by region, employer and experience.

What is the job outlook for an author in Ontario?

Job Bank rates the employment outlook for this work in Ontario as undetermined for 2025-2027 (updated 10 December 2025). Since the employment opportunities in this occupation are primarily based on talent or entrepreneurship, they will vary from one individual to another. A lower rating means more competition for each opening, not that no one is hiring.

What do you need to become an author in Ontario?

Job Bank says this work usually needs a university degree. The usual route in Ontario, in order: Write regularly and finish things; Get feedback from readers who will be honest; Choose a route to readers.

Where people come from

Which programs lead here?

In the 2021 Census, this job is one of the 12 most common for graduates of these programs. Each page shows what else they do, and which of those jobs have openings.

What can you do with your degree?

Not sure this is the right list to be reading

Start from yourself, not from the job.

Future Finder is free, takes about ten minutes, needs no account and stores nothing. It will tell you which kinds of work you lean toward, and which of these pages are worth your time.

Try Future Finder — freeAll jobs

Parent of a teenager weighing this up? Career coaching for teens gets them talking to people who do the work, anywhere in Ontario.

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Wages and training requirements change. Every figure on this page is linked to the body that publishes it, and the review date above says when we last checked. If you find something out of date, tell us and we will fix it.