Are there actually jobs in writing?

Are there jobs in writing? You answered that question: absolutely.

And like any job, sometimes they're more rewarding than others.

Are there jobs in writing where you get to only write what you want, and never have to answer to another person, and live your entire day in your fantasy worlds? Not as such, no.

Yes, you can write novels - whether you do that in your spare time, or take time off from regular paying work to do it is up to you and your budget. To make money at it, you'll have to sell that novel, either as a self-published author, or to a publisher (usually through an agent). Your job doesn't end with the writing of the novel. You'll have editing and revisions to do. You'll have promotions and marketing events to deal with, and if you're self published, you'll have a lot more on your plate.

Will you make money doing that? Maybe. Some do. A rare few make considerable money doing this. Some make enough to comfortably pay their bills. Many make enough to call it more than a hobby. Many do not.

Realistically, most people writing novels, and only novels, are not making a living wage strictly from their novels.

So, the answer is complicated. Writing novels for a living means treating it as a business, and like any self-started business, you have to have enough capital to function until the money starts coming in, and a back up plan in case it doesn't come in. Unlike most businesses, with writing you have absolutely no way to even vaguely guess if you're going to be successful or not until you try.

Are there other "jobs" in writing? Absolutely. For many who don't make enough from sales of their novels, these are the jobs that pay the bills. Maybe it's writing content for websites, maybe it's doing short stories for special interest sites... the options are out there. Content creation, article writing, copywriting, etc. And it pays, not exceptionally well at first, but as you gain experience and a decent portfolio, your client list expands.

Can you make a living wage doing this? Absolutely. If you're diligent. If you're smart at business. If you manage your time and resources well.

So, are there "jobs" in writing? It depends on what you mean by "jobs".

My apologies - it sounded like you were asking about making a living as a writer.

If you're asking about jobs in the publishing industry - yes, they exist. Editors and proofreaders, as well as agents. I worked most of my career as a magazine editor. A close friend spent much of her early career doing editorial work for a small publishing house.

Are you asking how to break into jobs that are specifically in fiction publishing? That would mean editor, proofreader, agent, things like that. Like any other industry job, if you have no experience, you'd either need to get some education, or find a smaller company willing to take a chance on a new person.

But yes, these jobs exist.

As with many jobs, the key to getting the job you want is to have enough experience to show you can do it. This means working your way up to your goal. If you live in New York, you could look for jobs at one of the big publishing houses. But there are other options such as working for a literary agency. If editing is your goal, many companies have editors. Believe it or not, more is being written these days than ever before in human history. Almost every web page you visit has to be written. And any sufficiently large company is going to have someone writing and editing pages.

There are many routes to the goal. For example, I write for About.com. They have some topics open that might interest you such as "Sci-Fi/Fantasy Books". It's something you could do on the side of your 'real' job to build up some experience and exposure. Of course, it might be more difficult to get that topic if you don't have previous writing experience and an audience on social media, but it could be worth a shot. (You can see job openings at: http://experts.about.com/)

Another avenue is to look for ePublishers. They won't pay as much and it possibly would be a side job, but it's at least another way of building up some experience.

You weren't very specific on exactly what you are aiming at, but the essence is the same: figure out what you want to do and then figure out what experience you would need to get there.