DominaYork
Posts: 49
Joined: 7/19/2008
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The OP doesn't give many details, so I'll try to be usefully vague. It all has to be broken down into fiction and nonfiction and what the goal is.
If the goal is to write something, give it to someone, have it published and get some cash for it just to earn that pat on the back of being able to say you're a professional writer that isn't a difficult task. If the goal is to earn a living at it, well, that makes things a ton more complicated.
Just getting a writing credit is easier now than ever. Tons of websites are paying for content, there are more newsletters and magazines around in all sorts of topics. Find one, read what they publish, write something that fits their needs, submit according to their guidelines and cross your fingers. Odds are pretty good if you can write decently you'll reach your goal.
Now making a living is another beast. In nonfiction it's easier, maybe that's the wrong word, how about it has more possibilities. Everything we read has to be written. Greeting cards, instructions, user manuals, text books, surveys, you get the point. Someone has to write all that. Freelance nonfiction writing is a ton of work but if you put your nose to the grindstone and plug away at it, there is a good shot at making a living. Assuming you're not looking to live in a huge house with a fancy car.
Fiction writing is more difficult. It isn't just about how well you write or how clever your stories are, mainstream publication is set up for the publisher to win, not the writer. Unless you know someone or can attract the attention of an agent, just getting a publishing house to read your works is horribly difficult. Even if they read it all it takes is them having something similar in the works or something they want to try more or a new direction for next year or whatever. And since most publishing houses now refuse to read multiple submission works, that means you have to wait for house A to reject you before sending the same fiction to house B. Doesn't sound bad until you think about how long it takes to even get a rejection. In a year's time you'd be lucky to try your story at three places. Smaller presses are more likely to give a hoot about the writer but they tend to only publish a handful of titles a year and if they do 10 titles they could easily receive 1000's of submissions. Best bet with mainstream publishing is to already know someone inside. Shocking huh? Who you know and who you blow and all that fun stuff.
E-publishing has opened a lot of doors. It's much cheaper to start an e-publishing company so there are tons more independents around. Most take electronic submissions as a standard means of submissions which makes it easier. A lot of them will work with the writer if they like the story but it isn't perfect yet.
Sounds nifty huh? Downside is, both ways make it almost impossible, almost, for a writer to make a living at it. Mainstream publishers won't put one penny into spreading the word about your book so if you want it to sell, that's your job. And off you go and bust your butt and still you make squat money. If a book sells fo 10$ that's retail. You'd think a writer would get their cut, let's say a nice fat 50% and it sounds good that they'd be making 5$ a sale. Retail isn't the cut. The standard discount given to bookstores and Amazon and places is at LEAST 50% if not 55%. I've heard some places get away with 45% and if you're a huge famous writer well, the rules are different and they make exceptions but how many of us are? Back to the numbers. Figure a happy 50% discount to the bookstores, sale price is chopped to 5$. Okay so 2.50$ a sale sounds nifty! Hold on, the publisher doesn't pay on gross, they pay on net. Have to figure out cost per book printing. This is where I'm guessing from my costs but it's going to be at least half that 2.50...okay so we're down to 1.25$ DEEP BREATHS friends... and from that they won't pay you a penny of your generous 50% until they've 100% recouped their costs for editing (snorts like they EDIT any more!) cover, layouts and what not. If you're lucky you'll be making .75$ per sale when you start making money. If they've given you an advance, oh call it 1000$ you don't see another check until you've hit 1000.75$ in your share of the sales.
Crazy huh? E-pub can get just as hairy. The start sale price of most e-books is well under $5 so you're taking from an already smaller pie. And some e-publishers charge you the set up fees if you want to take that e-book and have it printed. They pick the printer, pass the fee the printer charges on to you. Not all mind you but some do it to keep their costs down.
See where making a living writing gets difficult? It's crazy insane tough, takes way more than luck and skill. Go and google 'average income fiction writer' and see what comes up. Most make well under 5,000$ in a year. The few that can do this full time hit the $25,000 a year mark. For most it's a very, very fulfilling hobby.
Should you not try? Pfffft! Don't make me slap you! Of course you should try! Who knows and if you've the writing itch it's better to give in than fight it. One of the e-pub groups I'm a part of tries to go on about how they do this for the art and the love of writing not the money, that no one would do ANYTHING just for the money. Which I think is a slap in the face to everyone writing instructions and greeting cards and textbooks. We all do things for the money every day when we go to work. Yes, writers get the short end of the stick, that's not new, but none of us would go through the trouble of jumping through all the hoops to publication if it wasn't for the carrot prize of money and the pride of doing well. Pretending it's okay because 'you don't write for the money' is silly. It sucks, it's okay to say it sucks, just keep writing while it sucks. It was when I admitted I wasn't doing it for the 'art' of writing and I wanted to make money that I figured out how to change the rules and get paid.
I know this was a HUGE post and I'm sorry for it. My point is just this: if you're going to go after writing for a living, know what you're getting into, know what your goals are, keep your eyes open about it, don't take it personally and don't give up.
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Some will say there is safety in numbers, tell that myth to the edge of the herd. ~ Blood from Gaia's Consort
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