Writers Are Like Actors: Most Work Two Jobs

Are you a writer? Well, unless a rich relative recently left you a million-dollar bequest in a will or you have a winning lottery ticket in your safe deposit box, it is doubtful you will be able to quit your day job. If writing full time is your goal, there are three essentials to consider when contemplating writing full time. They are:

·         Personal finances

·         Assignment or publication frequency

·         Contract and deadline obligations

If you are writing on spec or as a freelancer, how often are you selling your work or getting assignments?  If you are writing books, will you receive an advance from your publisher and, if so, how long can you live on it?  (The advance will probably be paid in increments as you meet your submission deadlines.)

What is your financial situation?  How much money do you need each month to meet obligations such as rent or mortgage and utilities?  Do others depend on your income?  Notice I didn’t include food. How literally are you living the starving artist label?  How much money will you need to market your work? In other words, do you know what it will cost you to become a full time writer?

Review your current income and expenses. Determine what you are willing to give up and what you can afford to spend on your business. How much help and support will you get from your spouse or family?  After you use up your vacation time, how many unpaid days off will your employer allow?  How many can you afford to take?

Until you are able to leave the employment that pays the bills, you will be working two jobs. Give some thought to how you will budget time as well as money.

The preceding paragraphs are pulled from Dollars and Sense for Writers, Chapter One. So many readers, reading articles about J. K. Rowling’s wealth, think all writers make a lot of money. Nothing could be further from the truth. Being a writer is not easy and eking out a living from it is extremely difficult.  But if you truly love to write, you’ll do it anyway.  Just like I do.

Hard Work for Hardly Any Pay

Are you writing because you love it? You'd better be.

Writing is a tough way to make a living - just like the other arts. Many famous painters, musicians, and dancers never became wealthy. You may work at writing a long time and never strike it rich. That's the truth: however that is not the only truth.

Many, many writers earn a decent living from writing. They may not be rich or famous but they are surviving. The important thing to keep in mind is that writers write because they can't imagine doing anything else.

I recently facilitated my workshop based on Dollars and Sense for Writers. Near the end, we do an exercise called Do the Math. In it, I illustrate how discounts, royalties, and per word payments impact what a writer earns. I saw a lot of sad faces. Some in the class had come expecting to earn thousands from their memoir effort.  That's like assuming one will win the lottery. There's nothing wrong with the positive attitude but, while waiting for the windfall, it's best to continue a writing life grounded in reality.

Happily there remain many opportunities for writers. What has changed is the manner in which our words are delivered to our readers.  Printed books are no longer the norm. Digital media have replaced them. But there is nothing as flexible as writing.

If you have a love of something, such as fishing, ballet, or apple pie, you can write about it and get paid for doing it. Think about it - how many sports writers are there?  How many movie critics?  In addition to the many possible topics, there are more outlets than books.  Think Web sites, think theater, think local newspaper  If you have something to say and say it well, your words will find an audience.

So plan on hard work and expect hardly any pay but if you love to write, write. The money and reward will come.

The New Home for Dollars and Sense For Writers

     One of the key pieces of advice I give to writers is that change is part of doing business and, once again, I find myself dealing with it.
     Not long ago, I was informed that my blog's hosting company was getting out of the business. That meant deciding whether or not to continue blogging and where to base the blog, if I ultimately wanted to go forward with it. Naturally all this happened during tax season, which necessarily postponed my decision.
     So, as you can see, I wound up here. Blogspot serves my purposes for now. We'll see how things go.
     I may not post routinely but if there is something happening in the publishing or writing world that sparks my interest, I will discuss it here.
     Thanks for joining me.  I look forward to some interesting exchanges.