How to be a famous writer and earn zilch

[elfin_odalisque]

From Dr M down, writers here have groaned at the miserable payback from writing books. Have you kindled?

Try this NYT piece to see where writing has to go - music went there years before.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/23/books/23kindle.html?scp=1&sq=free books on kindle&st=cse


The whole business model of writing (or music) is being torn up. We can jump the broomstick and ignore sr's strictures.

 

[lesbiaphrodite]

I read this article the other day and found it pretty interesting. I don't know what the shape of the future is going to be for us fledgling fiction writers who are trying to publish and make a name for ourselves. I have a few titles on Kindle for Amazon and have sold some work there under a pen name, but I'm not making much money yet for my erotic fiction, that's for sure. LOL. I work as a journalist full-time, so I'm not quitting my day-job for fiction writing.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

LOL! I'm quitting my day job but that's because my pension will be plenty enough to live comfortably on. It sure isn't because I expect to clean up with my keyboard skills, I can tell you.

 

[oggbashan]

There has been a book version of this for years.

Some authors' books are given away as freebies with magazines and newspapers. The idea is that the recipient enjoys the book and looks to buy more titles by that author.

Working in a charity bookshop it is easy to tell which books were freebies - we get dozens of copies of the same title compared with one or two of any other title by the same author.

One Charles Dickens First Edition is very common. It was first published by a newspaper in the 1930s at a very low price for the time. When I had a secondhand bookshop I used to get two or three people a year saying "I've got a Dickens First Edition. Is it valuable?" It was always the same book and no it isn't.

Og

 

[DeeZire]

I can see the validity of an author with a large catalog giving away one book, since it results in increased sales for the rest of the catalog. What if a new author was to just give away the first chapter or two? Would that make readers want to buy the book, or would it just piss them off? iTunes does a similar thing, allowing a 30 second preview of any song before purchase.

The difference between the music fiasco and books is that it appears the digital downloads for books include some kind of copy protection scheme, although I suspect it will only be a matter of time before the pirate sites are offering stolen books to the same degree that they're offering music and software. At least, with the book-buying public, you expect a higher level of integrity, which should result in less piracy. They're seeing the same thing in music - the youth-oriented artists are the ones losing the most sales. Artists who's demographic is older aren't hit quite so hard with piracy.

 

[bronzeage]

"Ain't no money in poetry
That's what sets the poet free
I've had all the freedom I can stand"

Guy Clark.

I think the ratio of writers who make a living at it to those who wish they could, is lower than professional basketball players to anyone whoever picked up a ball.

 

[oggbashan]

"Ain't no money in poetry
That's what sets the poet free
I've had all the freedom I can stand"

Guy Clark.

I think the ratio of writers who make a living at it to those who wish they could, is lower than professional basketball players to anyone whoever picked up a ball.

I used to attend a creative writing class. No member of the class had ever been paid for their writing. The teacher had only been paid for writing a few articles in in-house magazines. She googled my real name and found a long list of technical articles and a few books by me. My so-called income from my writing was all assigned to the company's welfare fund because the writing was done in the company's time at the request of the company.

Even though my output was non-fiction and related to my professional activities, she couldn't accept that I wanted to learn "creative" writing.

When I came third in a local poetry competition and then first in a regional essay competition my attendance at her class became impossible. I had to switch to a class with a different tutor in another town. That was a shame because her teaching was useful. She couldn't accept that a "published author" could learn from her.

Og

 

[fallen_1]

I used to write a LOT...self published 4 books, 2 got picked up by small presses and had a short run. Didn't make any money off of any of it.

I earned some decent cash doing book signings with my self published books...but the cash I made was just enough to cover printing costs and travel expenses. Though Borders was supposed to reimburse me and stiffed me on 15 books.

 

[Liar]

I can see the validity of an author with a large catalog giving away one book, since it results in increased sales for the rest of the catalog. What if a new author was to just give away the first chapter or two? Would that make readers want to buy the book, or would it just piss them off? iTunes does a similar thing, allowing a 30 second preview of any song before purchase.

Amazon does it with books, if the publisher opts in. Not sure if they charge for it though. (Charge the publisher, not the reader.)

 

[bronzeage]

I used to attend a creative writing class. No member of the class had ever been paid for their writing. The teacher had only been paid for writing a few articles in in-house magazines. She googled my real name and found a long list of technical articles and a few books by me. My so-called income from my writing was all assigned to the company's welfare fund because the writing was done in the company's time at the request of the company.

Even though my output was non-fiction and related to my professional activities, she couldn't accept that I wanted to learn "creative" writing.

When I came third in a local poetry competition and then first in a regional essay competition my attendance at her class became impossible. I had to switch to a class with a different tutor in another town. That was a shame because her teaching was useful. She couldn't accept that a "published author" could learn from her.

Og

That is a strange attitude for a teacher. Perhaps you raised the standards higher than the other students could match.

I think all writing is technical writing. The ability to write a clear sentence is a very valuable skill. Like any skill, it can be taught and learned.

Talent, however it is defined, is quickly overtaken by technical skills and hard work. I sometimes run up against a person (so far, its alway been an English major) who feel they have some special gift and listen to them declare, "Talent can't be taught." I always agree and add that it's fortunate that talent is seldom needed, as long as a person really wants to put words on a page.

 

[oggbashan]

That is a strange attitude for a teacher. Perhaps you raised the standards higher than the other students could match.

I think all writing is technical writing. The ability to write a clear sentence is a very valuable skill. Like any skill, it can be taught and learned.

...

I don't think so. She managed to get all of us to write something memorable even if only from our own life experiences. Some of us needed more help than others with the technical side of writing but it was the creativity that she was good at imparting.

Unfortunately she was more concerned about her own perceived inexperience as a writer. She was, and is, a good teacher able to inspire others.

Og

 

[Handley_Page]

I think all writing is technical writing. The ability to write a clear sentence is a very valuable skill. Like any skill, it can be taught and learned.

Talent, however it is defined, is quickly overtaken by technical skills and hard work.
I always agree and add that it's fortunate that talent is seldom needed, as long as a person really wants to put words on a page.

I don't quite agree with you. Technical Writing is not a skill requiring 'creative talent', just a decent understanding of what the reader needs from the document and what the "inventor" of the widget thinks it will do for the user.
Furthermore, the Technical Writer merely needs a reasonable grasp of English. The Creative writer needs more.

 

[michchick98]

I can honestly say I don't make much on my e-books, but I haven't had too many hobbies in the past that have generated even a small amount of income so I can't complain. The few hundred bucks every quarter helps, believe it or not, especially when my car just decided it didn't like its transmission any more. *sigh*

 

[bronzeage]

I don't quite agree with you. Technical Writing is not a skill requiring 'creative talent', just a decent understanding of what the reader needs from the document and what the "inventor" of the widget thinks it will do for the user.
Furthermore, the Technical Writer merely needs a reasonable grasp of English. The Creative writer needs more.

I can show you some creative writing which is practically unreadable. A skilled writer who has mastered the technical aspects of telling a story in text, will make it appear easy to the reader. It will look like his/her imagination is a faucet, all that is needed is a turn of the knob and the story flows onto the page.

To say a technical writer "merely needs a reasonable grasp of English" devalues the work that goes into good writing.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I can show you some creative writing which is practically unreadable. A skilled writer who has mastered the technical aspects of telling a story in text, will make it appear easy to the reader. It will look like his/her imagination is a faucet, all that is needed is a turn of the knob and the story flows onto the page.

To say a technical writer "merely needs a reasonable grasp of English" devalues the work that goes into good writing.

And an excellent example of the truth of that can be found in the instruction book of any cell phone. What are they talking about?