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Don't Give Up Your Day Job

Bramblethorn

Bramblethorn

Sleep-deprived
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Feb 16, 2012
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Some research here on how much money authors make from their writing: https://authorsinterest.org/2018/02/20/whats-happening-to-authors-earnings-surveying-the-surveys/

It's a bit dismal, all in all. The average Australian writer has an income of $62k, but only $13k of that comes from writing. Most of that average comes from a few "big fish", with the median author making just $2800 from writing. Results in other countries are similarly glum, sometimes worse, with writers' incomes falling significantly in the last few years.
 
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As with all things, it all comes down to what group you are writing for. I changed who I wrote for and tripled my income from writing.

When you are retired, every little bit helps. It might not be steady but it is good for the bank account and the ego.
 
A couple years ago the local newspaper ran an article on what local people earn in different occupations. They interviewed a local author who had a book on the USA Today best-seller list. She said that in that year she grossed about $35,000.

Success doesn't deliver a lot of money. Unless your George RR Martin, or the like. He lives in the next town up the road and his income has made him prominent there. He owns a theater, donates to local causes, makes a lot of appearances. You get used to the way he looks after a while.
 
There is a reason that top selling authors have a dozen or more books on the shelf. Sales by volume has always been the method for increasing ones take home pay, whether it be from writing books or digging latrines.
 
Bramblethorn said:
Some research here on how much money authors make from their writing: https://authorsinterest.org/2018/02/20/whats-happening-to-authors-earnings-surveying-the-surveys/

It's a bit dismal, all in all. The average Australian writer has an income of $62k, but only $13k of that comes from writing. Most of that average comes from a few "big fish", with the median author making just $2800 from writing. Results in other countries are similarly glum, sometimes worse, with writers' incomes falling significantly in the last few years.
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Words are cheap. I frequently hear my words recited back to me and I get nothing for it. I frequently hear my words quoted on the radio. I get nothing for it. Making people laugh or think has no value at all except that it is so frequently stolen and claimed again to be original. To make money it is best to hold people to ransom, like a professional- you know the kind.
 
I know one of the most prominent authors in my country had to do a lot of stuff besides writing his novels because he couldn't make a living from those. Which is a pretty tough wake-up call when you aspire to be a novelist.

It made me prioritize a study in a job field that would actually get me a proper salary rather than trying to make a living from writing. I'm still writing, but I do know I'm not getting the bills paid with that unless I get to be as popular as Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, Anne Rice or whoever can actually make a living out of it. And I'm not seeing that happen anytime soon ;)
 
I've known a lot of artists who are the same. They might make a thousand or two (AUD) a year, but that's it. It's probably more of a downer for them; at least writers aren't paying for drawing mediums, clay, exhibitions etc.

I'd hate to write full time. I enjoy it because it's a hobby that puts no real pressure on me. I also need to live a real life to be able to glean ideas, effectively people watch, and have that time away from the laptop to work through plot holes.
 
Gentleman_G said:
I know one of the most prominent authors in my country had to do a lot of stuff besides writing his novels because he couldn't make a living from those. Which is a pretty tough wake-up call when you aspire to be a novelist.
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Yep. I've seen a few who do make a living from fiction writing alone but most of those have to take a very pragmatic approach to the work - if the first book in a series doesn't sell there's not going to be a second one, no matter how much they want to write it.

It made me prioritize a study in a job field that would actually get me a proper salary rather than trying to make a living from writing. I'm still writing, but I do know I'm not getting the bills paid with that unless I get to be as popular as Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, Anne Rice or whoever can actually make a living out of it. And I'm not seeing that happen anytime soon ;)
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A while back I saw a stat on market shares in fantasy - I don't remember the exact number, but I think it was about 70% of all fantasy books sold are by just three authors (GRRM, JKR, JRRT). The rest of the pie is cut very very small.
 
Bramblethorn said:
Yep. I've seen a few who do make a living from fiction writing alone but most of those have to take a very pragmatic approach to the work - if the first book in a series doesn't sell there's not going to be a second one, no matter how much they want to write it.
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I've also read that even well-known authors who do make money usually make more money from teaching and speaking engagements than they do from book sales.
 
Like hooking, I suppose. It might be passable at the upper levels, but for the 99% out on the street, not so much.

And hookers have a better public image.
 
TarnishedPenny said:
Like hooking, I suppose. It might be passable at the upper levels, but for the 99% out on the street, not so much.

And hookers have a better public image.
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Maybe not a bad analogy. I do have the impression that some of the readers think we're their whores. It's our responsibility to get them off. If we don't then it's a slap across the face. 1* for you, bitch.

But they can't demand their money back.
 
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NotWise said:
I've also read that even well-known authors who do make money usually make more money from teaching and speaking engagements than they do from book sales.
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Makes sense... book sales for say, 'a' book, won't be constant. They'll fluctuate. You do the maths on how many copies you need to sell to earn a decent wage (of the kind a career can usually afford if you're in tech), and writing looks like a piss poor source of income, except at the very high levels. And how many authors occupy that space?

You can earn good money publishing absolute crap, like inspirational religious bollocks. But actual novels? Maybe if you get your movie deal.

My day job, for the meantime, is a brilliant source of income and a good counterpoint to make me want to be creative in the evenings. Writing's always a treat, something I look forward to, that relaxes me.

I think, if I didn't have a day job, my creativity and productivity might fall off. As it is, I take 'holidays' from work to finish books and do final edits, and that's the only part of writing that feels like hard work.

If I had to earn money off it, the whole endeavour would feel like work, and I think I'd hate it.
 
JasonClearwater said:
If I had to earn money off it, the whole endeavour would feel like work, and I think I'd hate it.
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That's why I never agreed with the adage "Do what you love, and you'll never work a day in your life."

If I had to make money off what I loved, I'd probably stop loving it pretty quick. All of the scheduling and accounting and pressure required to turn any activity into a going concern would just suck all the joy out of it.

Ok, maybe it works if you love bookkeeping.
 
LoquiSordidaAdMe said:
That's why I never agreed with the adage "Do what you love, and you'll never work a day in your life."

If I had to make money off what I loved, I'd probably stop loving it pretty quick. All of the scheduling and accounting and pressure required to turn any activity into a going concern would just suck all the joy out of it.

Ok, maybe it works if you love bookkeeping.
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IKR? Tax. Fuck tax. Also, fuck receipts. If I had someone to manage me, who did all the accounting and marketing, and I was the product, and did all the writing, I'd be happy with that.

But I do not see that ever happening. :p
 
The article cites studies in various Anglophone nations but I'm rather hazy about "full-time" authorship vs commercial writing. Are there really scores of starvelings hunched over worn keyboards 15 hours daily writing fiction for greedy publishers? Do tech and non-fiction authors, magazine and news writers, and paid copywriters count?

Are staff at FauxNewz, BriteFart, and InfoWars considered full-time fiction writers?

And do those low median incomes reflect "making a living", or more "bonus money"? How many are "full-timers" after (or during) their day jobs? Our village barber has plenty of time between customers to write slash fiction. How many are supported by spouse, family, bequest, welfare, pension, shoplifting, etc?

"Only a fool writes, if not for money." --Dr. Johnson. Alas, fools abound...
 
I think that my most 'profitable' year may have been the year in which I sold two books, three plays, and 24 magazine columns (plus a few other bits and pieces). I can't recall exactly what that pulled in, but let's say about £30k or so. But I was also pulling in a bit over £10k a month from a major advertising agency. Believe me, it wasn’t high art, but it paid the grocer. :)
 
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