I know… It’s been more than a year since I felt like writing anything here. Why? Because my work writing is BORING and not fun. I mean, I can do it (and have been doing for 13+ years now), but it’s nothing compared to intense research about a topic or making up people that don’t exist that is so much more satisfying. I’d love to go back to being a book author. Problem is… I need to eat.
Yes, that’s the sad truth about writing books. Unless you’re very lucky or are a celebrity (who doesn’t do his/her writing his- or herself), writing for pleasure just doesn’t pay. You have to be your own marketing engine and be willing to buy a TON of your own books that you then, schlep them all over the country. Not really worth it when you see a royalty check of $82 for the year, eh?
It’s true. I’ve written nine of my books for big publishing companies, and by the time they finish taking their TON of flesh, there’s not much left. My only good luck this year will be that the publisher sold foreign rights to a book I had published in 2002, and so I got to keep 1/2 of that profit. Whoopee! That particular book is in Chinese, French, and Spanish, too. And yet, I get practically nothing.
This is what dis-enchanted me about writing books. I mean, I got more writing for Writer’s Digest. One 400-word article paid $400. That was worth doing, and now, I’d love to have the time to start doing that again.
But writing quality material takes time. Even for a short article, you have to spend a while researching and putting it all together. The writing part is easy. I guess I’m lucky in that I was born with the writing gene. I can write about most anything and the writing just flows out of me. God helped me in that department, but why couldn’t He (or She) give me a really cool story to write so that I could become the next freakishly popular writer?
I sit awake and wonder.
And He/She STILL hasn’t given me the answer. I’m a tad miffed. If I have this talent, what’s the use?
So, I keep working at my own business, where I help clients (self-published authors, mainly) to get a website up to suit their needs. I feel as though I’m giving back to writing in a way. But I’m making the money I need to survive. I can’t just turn that business off and go back to writing full-time. Sigh.
Anybody want to be a patron? I’d love a patron. Wouldn’t you?