This is when I put together my writing costs and income, and I've got to say 2016 wasn't a good year for author-stuff. As a business goes, it's a pretty darned expensive hobby. In the electronic age there's less cost in paper, ink and postage, but more cost in everything "e": electronics, electricity, enternet ... *ahem*.
Last year wasn't as red inky as I'd thought, though: I ordered fifty copies of Radio Red, but it was after the first of the year. That means I have to go all Harold Hill to keep 2017 from being red inky, too. (Not to worry, dear reader--as soon as they arrive I'll do my best to recover my cost, which is to say I'll push them like a desperate drug dealer.)
Harold Hill? Come on, the fast-talking salesman in "The Music Man"! Look it up.
So it's not looking good for the whole "retire into the life of a full-time writer" plan. Still, as long as I have a pencil stub and a piece of scrap paper you'll find me writing something, somewhere. That's just what we do--for most writers, it's an addiction. Maybe the desperate drug dealer comparison isn't that far off.
Much as a writer needs to write, a working writer needs to sell, so I'm cutting into my writing time to get manuscripts into the mail again. No agent or editor is safe from me! For you authors out there (Working writers are "working", whether they're trying to sell or not), how much time do you put into selling and promoting?
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| Good times. |
You're not alone, Mark. Most authors don't earn enough at writing to do it as a full-time job...and of those who do, only one percent at best get rich doing it.
ReplyDeleteYes, something I didn't learn until after I'd dedicated myself to the career. It's not an encouraging statistic!
DeleteIt's one thing after another to deal with.
ReplyDeleteIt sure is. And the ironic part is, a lot of us write to get *away* from real life.
DeleteI'd starve if I were living on royalties. I never order that many books. Usually, no more than ten. Of course, I do not have many places to hold a reading so there really isn't any need. I do need copies for people that request a signed one. May 2017 be far more profitable.
ReplyDeleteI didn't have a choice: Torrid Books is an e-book only publisher. They don't do a print run until after the book has received a certain number of e-sales. I have a lot of print-only fans, so I put the initial order in so there'd be a print run. But that's okay because I do have places to put in appearances and such, and I'm not too worried about getting them sold.
DeleteI still dream of that Porsche, but I'm realistic to know that barring an (unknown) long lost uncle leaving me a fortune or wining the lottery, a dream is what it will remain.
ReplyDeleteAlternatively, I could write a really good book.
You don't have to write a really good book--you have to write a book that sells really good, and sadly the two aren't necessarily the same. My wife keeps telling me to write some fast and dirty romances just to make some money, but it would bug me not to do the best possible job on them.
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