I bought a fantasy novel recently that was written in 1998. Turns out the author wrote 11 more novels in this series which was a big part of why I chose it. The most recent novel came out in 2021. She no doubt will receive a tiny amount of income in 2022 from my purchase in 2022 stemming from work she completed in 1998. I would classify that as passive income but of course is it really? Would the book have even been on the shelf at Books A Million if she has stopped writing in 2000? Hard to say but I think most people would consider that passive income earned this year.
CharlesW's interpretation was off, but still it's not truly passive until she stops writing books.
Continuously writing books for 20 years is work. The first book would probably have significantly less sales if the author didn't invest time or money in marketing and sequels for 20 years.
The root comment would still hold true:
> If there was a magic way to make money without work
