AW authors who are writing full-time

RedWombat said:

Preemptive apologies for long reply...I have Thoughts on this topic.

I work full time as a writer/illustrator, and have for years now. There was a terrifying stretch when I was working as a freelance illustrator and my income was the only one coming in because my husband's company had gone under. It was hand-to-mouth in the worst way and I could work myself into a cold sweat even now, over a decade later, just by thinking how close to the edge I slid.

I did not get there--or where I am now--by positive affirmations, by knowing I had talent or believing in my dream. Actually I spent most of it thinking "I am a godawful talentless hack, so I will make my deadlines with time to spare and be really really pleasant to work with and maybe people will overlook how bad I am." (Turns out that many art directors will take those two over raw talent any day. This is the only career advice I have that is of use to anyone.)

There were a whole lot of grim hours and sweaty-palmed terror of starvation. My dream wasn't to make a living as X, it was to have enough money in the bank that I could go to the grocery store without adding up the totals in my head as I shopped. The main reason I didn't go get a real job was because I was making fractionally more as an illustrator than I would have at data entry.

If I was living the dream, then the dream was actually pretty awful to live through at that point. (It's a lot better now, but a lot of that was dumb luck and I will fight anyone who tells me it was hard work. I was there at the time, and dumb luck was a MASSIVE factor.)

It is great to tell people to believe in themselves. I hope people DO believe in themselves! I hope they believe that they have talent. I hope their path is easier than mine was.

But we're already in a field where people are going to barf their heart on the page and be rejected, criticized, and fail and fail and fail. That's just how writing WORKS. Even if you're wildly successful! And I think that we're being extremely cruel--with the best intentions!--to tell people that they just need to follow their dream and believe in themselves. Because when they fail--and the majority of us will fail--then it's not only "You're not a good writer" it's "You didn't want it enough." We smack 'em coming and going.

It reminds me of all those "Cure horrible diseases through positive thinking!" cures. Then when somebody DOESN'T get cured, not only do they have a horrible disease, they were just such a negative nellie that it's their own fault they didn't cure themselves. And that's a crappy thing to do to anybody.

tl;dr, We do people no favors by telling them that success mostly relies on attitude.

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Captcha said:

There's the old "necessary but not sufficient" distinction, right? Peanut butter is necessary for a PB&J, but it's not sufficient.

A positive attitude and hard work is necessary for success as a writer, but it's not all you need.

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RedWombat said:

Actually I spent most of it thinking "I am a godawful talentless hack, so I will make my deadlines with time to spare and be really really pleasant to work with and maybe people will overlook how bad I am.".

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Mr Flibble said:

Also (iirc) you live in an area that is fairly cheap to live in

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lauralam said:

Nor terribly. The oil industry drives prices up, especially property,

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Mr Flibble said:

Ah, had not thought of that! Was thinking of prices north of the border generally. We'd never be able to get a mortgage on a place here, now. A bed sit costs £100k....

ofc this does mean when we execute the Five Year Plan (sell up and move somewhere super cheap) we'll have some cash to play with so swings and roundabouts

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thethinker42 said:

Very good points. This was why my husband and I made a deal that if I could make a part-time income out of writing while we were in Japan, I could continue writing part-time when we came back to the States. I couldn't work over there anyway, so he was going to be supporting me no matter what, but we both agreed I should take advantage of that period with a finite "if it doesn't work by X date, you're going back to a day job" deadline. (This was also serious motivation for me, as my previous day jobs had been miserable, and now there was a ticking clock to either succeed as a writer or go back to working in customer service.)

His support absolutely played a crucial role in me being able to become a full-time writer. We had actually agreed when we got married that if we ever had the means, I could take 6-12 months off and give it a shot (again with the understanding that if it didn't work out....day job). When he got the orders to Japan, he looked at me and said, "Well, you wanted a year to write. Now you get three."

It took just under a year to start making money (and holy Ned was that a year of tight purse strings!). Two to pull in a part-time income. Three to make a full-time income (which meant I didn't have to get another job when we came back to the States ), which doubled in year four and again in year five.

None of that would have happened without circumstances that required me to quit my job, a spouse who was willing and able to support me, and a firm deadline to make it happen.

(And you'd better believe I spoil that man rotten now...)

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RedWombat said:

Preemptive apologies for long reply...I have Thoughts on this topic.

I work full time as a writer/illustrator, and have for years now. There was a terrifying stretch when I was working as a freelance illustrator and my income was the only one coming in because my husband's company had gone under. It was hand-to-mouth in the worst way and I could work myself into a cold sweat even now, over a decade later, just by thinking how close to the edge I slid.

I did not get there--or where I am now--by positive affirmations, by knowing I had talent or believing in my dream. Actually I spent most of it thinking "I am a godawful talentless hack, so I will make my deadlines with time to spare and be really really pleasant to work with and maybe people will overlook how bad I am." (Turns out that many art directors will take those two over raw talent any day. This is the only career advice I have that is of use to anyone.)

There were a whole lot of grim hours and sweaty-palmed terror of starvation. My dream wasn't to make a living as X, it was to have enough money in the bank that I could go to the grocery store without adding up the totals in my head as I shopped. The main reason I didn't go get a real job was because I was making fractionally more as an illustrator than I would have at data entry.

If I was living the dream, then the dream was actually pretty awful to live through at that point. (It's a lot better now, but a lot of that was dumb luck and I will fight anyone who tells me it was hard work. I was there at the time, and dumb luck was a MASSIVE factor.)

It is great to tell people to believe in themselves. I hope people DO believe in themselves! I hope they believe that they have talent. I hope their path is easier than mine was.

But we're already in a field where people are going to barf their heart on the page and be rejected, criticized, and fail and fail and fail. That's just how writing WORKS. Even if you're wildly successful! And I think that we're being extremely cruel--with the best intentions!--to tell people that they just need to follow their dream and believe in themselves. Because when they fail--and the majority of us will fail--then it's not only "You're not a good writer" it's "You didn't want it enough." We smack 'em coming and going.

It reminds me of all those "Cure horrible diseases through positive thinking!" cures. Then when somebody DOESN'T get cured, not only do they have a horrible disease, they were just such a negative nellie that it's their own fault they didn't cure themselves. And that's a crappy thing to do to anybody.

tl;dr, We do people no favors by telling them that success mostly relies on attitude.

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thethinker42 said:

Also wanted to add: at least in the romance ebook market, it's not unusual at all for authors to be extremely prolific. It's not necessarily *mandatory* in order to make a good living in this genre or format, but the majority of authors I personally know who are making 6 figures (or high 5 figures) are very prolific.

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KatyPerryfan19 said:

Romance ebook market is undoubtedly the #1 market for self-publishers right now.

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KatyPerryfan19 said:

Romance ebook market is undoubtedly the #1 market for self-publishers right now.

Prolific readers who are early adopters of digital. Low ebook prices. 70% royalties means many full time writers.

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Helix said:

I bet romance runs second to the 'how to make a fortune from self-publishing' market.

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KatyPerryfan19 said:

Is that why Random House bought Author Solutions?

So they can sell publishing services to unsuspecting and uninformed authors?

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Helix said:

That would have totes been a zinger if it had been aimed closer to my point.

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KatyPerryfan19 said:

maybe your point isn't funny? and it is in bad taste?

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