But this is exactly the writing that very few writers have this kind of success with. For each of these millionaires there are thousands of good writers who never reach that level. It's like musicians. Watch an episode of The Voice. Incredible talent is no guarantee of success. It takes something more, be that luck or just something that readers connect with, skill is not the only factor.
According to this site, which I cited in the other thread, that data isn't comprehensive. For example the data doesn't include all the self-published books without ISBNs. While I find that odd since getting an ISBN seems to be cheap and easy enough: Also, you don't know how many of those low earning authors are even trying to write full time. There are lots of problems trying to assess the data that is out there.
I think we should also remember that, goal-wise, writing for money does not necessarily equate with writing for a living. Let's face it, if people didn't want to earn money from writing, they'd put their books up on a blog or self-publish free. But wanting to be paid doesn't mean they even want to earn their living that way, let alone make that their ultimate goal.
Saying, "I don't write for money" isn't the same as "Eew, ick, I don't want any of that filthy lucre, information wants to be freeeeeee...." It means that your primary motivation is something other than money. I want people to read my writing. In the current world, that means that they have to buy my writing. It may be unfair that you can get more readers by selling a book than giving it away, but it's true. So, yeah, I'd work hard helping the publisher sell my book, because if it sells, people will read it. Plus, heck, I'll TAKE the money. I don't object to money. I'd be simply delighted if I could earn enough from writing to do it full time. It's just that if money were my only goal, I could probably earn more by working overtime at my existing job than by writing a book. Writing is not a very lucrative profession.
Pretty much that says it. I buy lottery tickets, winning would be fantastic. But I'm not planning on winning to earn an income.
I write as a hobby. I dont like golf and after reading quite a bit over the years I decided I wanted to produce something rather than merely consume. The likelihood that this turns into a money making endeavor for me is the same as anyone's hobby ever turning into a money maker. It happens and some of the biggest success stories start that way. But its probably not best to start with that assumption.
I am not a writer because I want to make a lot of money. That would be silly as most do not, at least not enough that you would become rich. However I want to build a career and I don't show up to my 9-5 and not expect to get paid for my 40 hours of work every week, thus I am writing to make a living too. I write what I enjoy and oddly enough i believe what I enjoy will one day make me "successful." I write because I love it first and foremost. If i knew that I would never make a dime of my work I would still do it. BUT I do want to make money. Even if all I made was 30K a year in book sales, that would be enough for me to quit my job and do this full time. ETA: of course i know that $30k a year on strictly writing alone is a LONG shot but...dream big lol.
I will tell you a truth every book writer should do to make money: There are thousands of magazines that pay for articles. Pick a field you know well, and start submitting. Write five a week, and you can net $100,000 a year. Now you can do your great novel, and not worry about paying for the beans. Just be sure you know what you write about. If you are a good writer, you will have no problem. Some magazines pay by the word, others a lump, $250-$500 per article.
The problem with this is, not even full time writing staff for newspapers or magazines make that much money a year nor do they write that much a week. A full time newspaper journalist will make about 40,000 a year on average in Canada where the journalism field is highly competitive. Therefore to this anyone can make $100k a year freelance is far fetched. I would bet that average editors in chief doesn't even make that.
My post that was deleted was not meant to appear as advertising. I only posted it as one of many example links, how to find magazines seeking articles. Sorry if it went against forum rules. Those thinking about selling short articles to magazines can find many news letters (on your computer) that post up to date needs, names of magazines, and what they pay.
Yes, really. Bloody Canada. We have gunboats, helicopters and mercenaries, we infiltrate via the North-West Passage. I read the thread a couple of days ago. Writing is this solitary thing, and so many here seem to work/play a fantasy novel lifestyle where the unknown pen reveals the colossus work to the literary agent, and for evermore the scribe jets to talk shows and red carpet openings. But I don't really find such hey-ho that appealing...albeit inevitable. I'm more envious of those in writing groups, circles, all that. Getting off your backside to go read, submitting to local magazines, this takes real effort. The reward is 'scene' but I recall a wise student, Spanish gent who said, 'The problem with your short story is everybody only read you when you dead.' I might have used this powerful soundbite before, sorry. I haven't said anything have I? Whatever, yeah but that Domenic eh? Damned anarchist, should be in prison, x.
Damn matwoolf, I heard you died! Just out of respect I stood on my roof at sunset, drank a whole bottle of whisky, sang farewell songs, and shed a tear to your passing. Good to see you are still waving the flag.
I actually wrote a lot more in my reply other than "Really" but then I deleted it because I didn't join this forum to waste my time arguing with people who just don't get it. ya know?
Stats from Glassdoor put the average freelance writer income at around 51K, gross. Taxes will take a chunk of that. The Bureau of Labor Statistics for the U.S. shows roughly the same figures for median incomes, but it doesn't look to me like they distinguish between freelance and non-freelance writers in those numbers: http://www.bls.gov/ooh/Media-and-Communication/Writers-and-authors.htm#tab-5
I wonder who that data represents? It's easy to see it might be slanted with a whole slew of professional writers like those that write for comedy shows like the Daily Show and the monologues of all the talk shows, newspaper columnists and so on. How would they count the writer that had a column in the local rag or one who submits articles that are occasionally published?
Seems to me the data includes hired, full-time writers working on staff somewhere, as well as freelance writers. They do break it down by category, so you can see some numbers that aren't going to include people in entertainment.
I lived in Canada for a year. I did not say it was a bad country, or the people were bad. The USA, Russia, and China are the three world leading Nations...Canada is not the worlds fourth leading Nation. Thus it is a 2nd world nation. What do you expect me to say...Canada is as strong as the USA, Russia, and China? You take insult were there in none.
That is why we have to be gamblers at heart. Even those that are down to earth enough to realize they may never make it a full time occupation. We are selfish enough to want to win and have our own personal idea on how to pick the numbers; We stay the course even if we don't win because we weren't scared to try and to see what that would mean. I'm proud of every writer who cherishes their ticket. I am proud of everyone who decides to continue to spend much of their time perfecting their 'number' after their last ticket failed. Each attempt makes me more proud of you. Don't give up writers, the abysmal numbers we have been talking about are the reason to be excited. Because we dare to look at them, literally against all odds and yet we continue to pour our soul into it. That is not something that can be overcome with a simple motivation for money.
In what area are you talking about? In a lot of areas, yes Canada is one of the top countries and in some areas above the USA. You also said Canada is a 2nd world nation which is it not. You living there for a year doesnt seem to mean much.
