Six Reasons Why Writing Is Like Christmas

Posted on November 30, 2021 by Diana Stout

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

December 1 question – In your writing, what stresses you the most? What delights you?

Six Reasons Why Writing Is Like Christmas

Writing a book, like Christmas, is a major event. One that takes planning and a lot of forethought if we’re going to produce a product that goes off without a hitch. Both writing and Christmas can equal amounts of stress and delight.

Reason #1 – the idea

It all begins with that first idea.

For writers, it begins with genre, theme, a character, a plot’s beginning or ending, or even a scene in the middle of the book. Sometimes it begins with a what if question.

For Christmas, it generally begins with what am I going to get everyone?

Reason #2 – the planning

For writers who are plotters, the idea becomes an outline. For writers who are pantsers, there is no planning; their idea takes form as the writing occurs, and if they’re lucky, they don’t go wandering down any primrose paths that force them to backtrack to where they got away from the story’s journey. (The Christmas equivalent of having to return a purchased gift and changing your mind about it.)

For Christmas, this is where the planners’ stress begins in thinking about where to find that perfect present. The equivalent of pantsers at Christmas are those who shop with no list or wait until Christmas Eve to start.

Reason #3 – the execution (doing)

For writers, enthusiasm for the initial idea takes the writer only so far. After that more planning or just gutting it out is required—getting through the dreaded sagging middle. This is where procrastination is heavy, where avoidance is practiced to an art.

For Christmas, this is where writers will turn, most happily, allowing that writing procrastination to continue by performing legitimate tasks of the masses because there’s a definitive deadline: shopping, backing, decorating, wrapping, and drinking lots of hot chocolate. (Did I just synopsize a Hallmark Christmas movie?)

Reason #4 – the gathering

For writers, the gathering occurs as characters come together and start driving the plot toward the story’s conclusion. They gather because of a crime, a dead body, a family celebration where long-time secrets are revealed, and other plots of conflict and stress. So many gatherings, so many activities.

For Christmas, the gathering of presents needing to be wrapped occurs, then the gathering of people’s schedules and arranging the details of trips to Granny’s house or to the beach for a family Christmas vacation.

Reason #5 – the waiting

Anticipation builds.

For indie writers who have submitted the book, the wait for final acceptance of the uploaded file begins, and if accepted, then the wait to official publication—one to three days. For traditional writers, they’ve submitted the book to their agent/publisher and are now awaiting the final yes of publication, which could be anywhere from a few weeks to over a year, depending on the publisher’s schedule.

For Christmas, kids can hardly wait for Santa to arrive. Parents, grandparents, other relatives, and friends are eager for the gathering of people, football games, and the way-more-than-we-needed food. And of course, some just can’t wait for the holiday to be over with, already.

Reason #6 – the big day

For writers, the big day is when that box filled with newly published copies of the book arrives, and it’s opened with excitement and joyous sounds of delight about how pretty it looks. All that hard work culminated into this tangible object that has the writer’s name stamped on the cover and spine.

For Christmas, it’s about the wrappings quickly ripped and shredded revealing the surprise inside to squeals of joy and delight. All followed by the smells and tastes of traditional meals and chatter around the table.

For me, when my high school best friend, Sharon, received her copy of my first indie-published book before I received mine, posting this picture online with obvious excitement, it was just like Christmas. A big day for both of us.

*****

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds.

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time – and return comments. This group is all about connecting.

Posted in #IWSG, Writing Behind the Scenes | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Drafts, Titles, & Blurbs, Oh My!

Posted on November 2, 2021 by Diana Stout

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

November 3 question – What’s harder to do, coming up with your book title or writing the blurb?

Drafts, Titles, & Blurbs, Oh My!

Writing on some days flows easily. Most days not so much; it feels like I’m writing junk. And then, there are far too many days when writing is a struggle fest. Those are the days when I just have to get it done because of a deadline.  

Writing first drafts is the part I like doing the least. It’s a real chore. Often, I’m just gutting it out, with the goal of writing it quickly. FAST!

I much prefer editing. Usually. Well, at least until I’m editing the same story for the fifth time or more. Most fiction regardless of length takes on average about eight rewrites, revisions, and polishing. The highest number was 49 drafts, but that was for my cookbook. All because of the many technicalities that required uniformity.

You may be asking, aren’t rewrites and revisions the same thing?

No, they’re not. Rewriting encompasses rearranging, removing, and adding. A revision is about smaller matters: looking at the sentence structure, choosing the right words, right tense, and correcting other grammar and punctuation issues. The polishing draft is about fixing all errors and getting the formatting correct.

So, everything—books, articles, short stories, even poems—goes through the four-draft process: first draft, rewrite, revise, polish. Thankfully the first draft is a one go-through only. The rewrite can take several drafts, as does the revision, and polishing drafts.

This month’s question refers to the smallest parts of writing a book: the title and blurb. For me, they’re the easiest to write and the most fun, even though they go through the four-draft process, as well.

When coming up with titles, I start with the exercise of what I call Brainstorming 20, an exercise I’ve taught to students and teach to other writers.

Here’s a partial list brainstormed by a group. Recognize what they were looking for?

Awful

Flabby

Snoopy

Scrappy

Hoppy

Weepy

Cranky

Sneezy-Wheezy

Hungry

Lazy

Dumpy

Thrifty

Nifty

Shifty

Woeful

Doleful

Wistful

Soulful

Helpful

Goopy

Gabby

Blabby

Silly

Dippy

Graceful

Neurtsy

Gloomy

Sappy

Crabby

Daffy

Tearful

Gaspy

Busy

Dizzy

Snappy

Hotsy

Jaunty

Puffy

Strutty

Biggy

Biggy-Wiggy

Jumpy

Chesty

Biggo-Eggo

Sneezy, Dopey, Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy, Bashful, and Doc were part of the list, too, the final characters chosen for the 1934 movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Are you noticing how some of the names became later comic characters?

I do the same thing when looking for a title; I create a list of 20. The first ten are easy. The next five start becoming a combo of different words from the first ten. The last five are usually more of a struggle but start expressing what I’m really looking for. These last five are also the most original.

As for the blurb, it’s about coming up with an elevator pitch, a one-line summary, which then I can expand with a few more sentences.

Coming up with a title and a blurb can take several days, even a week, and I enjoy writing them immensely.

Are your brainstorming methods anything like mine?

*****

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds.

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time – and return comments. This group is all about connecting.

Posted in #amwriting, #IWSG, Writer at Work, Writing Behind the Scenes | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Decluttering an Office and Finding Gold!

Posted on October 8, 2021 by Diana Stout

Decluttering an Office and Finding Gold !

I don’t know of any writer who doesn’t either have a collection of files—online and/or hardcopy.

Personally, I’m a hardcopy writer, meaning I want hardcopies of my material to read and edit. It’s how my career began, and I like being able to spread the manuscript pages out in front of me rather than switching screens or scrolling.

The problem is: the paperwork accumulates. Scraps of papers—even a few napkins—with ideas start piling up.

To make a long story short, I had the equivalent of three file-cabinet drawers worth of story-idea files—some started and some finished with a rough draft.

I had three shelves full of other projects in three-ring binders: screenplays, plays, three mystery series, and several how-to manuscripts, all having multiple drafts written. Some even had beta reader drafts with comments.

The files were arranged alphabetically by title. And, everything but the plays and poetry had been written in the 1990s. I was more prolific at that time than I had remembered. Extremely prolific.

I pulled every project, every file, every binder out of the drawers and off the shelves and started sorting it all, first by category, and then genre. What I discovered was that I had distinctive groupings of novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, academic papers & presentations, poetry, and nonfiction.

I found one letter from a well-known Hollywood production company where a staff member had written that I was a “writer to watch.” (Talk about gold!) Sadly, at that time I had to shift my focus from creative writing to academic writing. I had returned to school fulltime while working fulltime. There was no room for the love of my life then–screenwriting.

It took me three days to fully sort everything. From this sorting, I now have these pure-gold projects to work on:

  • A collection of short stories—romance and mystery—and short plays.
  • Screenplays to rewrite, a few others to plot and write out for contest entries or publication, including a horror idea that I started on Halloween night in 1998, scaring myself so much, I had to put it away and have only now taken it out again. Another new genre is a time travel romance—a story I’ve been wanting to tell for decades based on an idea that came from a song.
  • Book-length mysteries! Two series and a stand-alone.
  • A collection of my paranormal experiences, which I started as my Into the Core blog a decade ago with the intent of turning those blogs into a book. The blog is ready to be turned into a book as there are so many other blogs first-draft written.
  • A collection of how-to books. Ideas I had decades ago. At the time, I didn’t have the authority. Now, I do. NOTE: I’m now nearly finished writing the first one, hoping to publish it yet this year. If not, then at the beginning of next year.

I’m going to become that “writer to watch” again.

Posted in #amwriting, Motivation, Persistance, Publishing, Writer at Work, Writing Behind the Scenes | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Coloring Outside the Lines

Posted on October 5, 2021 by Diana Stout

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

October 6 question – In your writing, where do you draw the line, with either topics or language?

Coloring Outside the Lines

Throughout my entire writing career, the only time I considered writing inside the acceptable lines was when I was writing to market. Meaning, I needed to follow the guidelines of the publisher.

Once I started screenwriting, the characters dictated their language, their behavior. And, once I began publishing as an indie author, there were and are no limits.

Speaking of limits, lately, there’s been a movement of blasting authors who write outside of their culture, where it’s said that a white author can’t write about black characters, that unless you’re Latino, you can’t write characters from that heritage, or where a romance book with a fictional character who participated in a massacre can’t redeem himself by the end of the book. That none of these books are worthy of earning awards, either.

Historic events are filled with tragedy and flawed people who made horrendous mistakes. History usually recorded only information about the winners. Today, many of us are learning about these horrible historic events that were never taught in school, that were swept under the nasty carpet of racism.

Just because I’m a white woman that doesn’t mean I can’t research and immerse myself in a culture or ask questions for understanding of another’s thinking or motivation. If we do our research well, we can betray others different from ourselves. And, we can write about locations we’ve never visited.

When I first published Determined Hearts, which was originally published as The Man on the Romance Cover, a reader asked me when I had last been to Idaho, in particular the Snake River Valley region, which is the setting of the book. When I replied that I’ve never been there, she said, “You’d never know it. Your details were spot on.” Her praise told me that I’d done my research.

If writers are told they can only write about that which they experience and know firsthand, then libraries would have to empty their shelves.

As a romance writer, how can women—the majority of that genre’s authors—write from the male view of point?

How can a mystery writer write about murder unless they’ve murdered? How can a sci-fi author write about living on another planet without having traveled in space?

The tipping point of ridiculousness has been reached.

Coloring outside the lines has always been the hallmark of innovative creativity and fantastic new movements, albeit some criticism, too, which always comes from those who believe we writers need to color inside the lines.

We’re in one of those coloring-outside-the-lines times, now, where a few are trying to dictate the many.

How limiting. How narrow-minded. How sad. How infuriating.

*****

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time – and return comments. This group is all about connecting!

Posted in #IWSG, Stylistic Choices | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Six Paths of Writer Success

Posted on August 31, 2021 by Diana Stout

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

September 1 question – How do you define success as a writer? Is it holding your book in your hand? Having a short story published? Making a certain amount of income from your writing?

Six Paths of Writer Success

While most people believe a writer’s success is by how many books are sold and the money they make, it’s not the only way to identify writer success. There are multiple ways to measure that success. These are a few that I’ve identified.

Path #1: Financial Success – This is the measurement stick most people—readers, critics, and other writers—use to determine if a writer is successful or not. Are they a best-selling author? Did they make the New York Times list? Did they receive a huge advancement?

Path #2: Review Success – The number of reviews readers leave can be a huge measure of success if the bulk of the reviews are positive. Getting notes and messages from fans is always a thrill. It’s the equivalent of Sally Field’s award-winning speech of “They like me!”

My best friend from high school who got a copy of my book a couple days before I got my copies! She’s one of my biggest fans!

Path #3: Word-of-Mouth Success – There’s no better measure of a writer’s project than it getting a lot of reader word-of-mouth promotion. Nothing can top it. Word of mouth praise sells books. And, there’s nothing more fun than seeing friends of my friends stating, “She’s a good writer,” or “I love her writing!”

Path #4: Publication Success – Before writers could become indie publishers, a writer’s success was hinged solely by being accepted by an agent or editor. The only other option open for writers to publish without an agent or editor back then was to use a vanity press, where the writer paid to have the book published, and then the author would go out and peddle the book. It worked for Robert James Waller who self-published his book, The Bridges of Madison County. He filled his trunk with copies and drove across the country giving them away, seeking out radio stations for live interviews.

With the advent of the eBook, independent publishing (self-publishing, indie publishing) became possible. That avenue became a game changer for many writers, including me, even though I had been traditionally published in the 1990s with three of these books, which I retitled and have republished. Today, any writer can get their book(s) published and in any format: print, e-Book, audible, large print, and so forth.

To date, I’ve published eight books and edited a ninth that included one of my short stories, publishing it for a writer’s group that I belong to.

Path #5: Film Rights Success – The dream of any writer of fiction is to see their story on the screen—big or small. I keep hoping and keep writing the scripts.

Path #6: Journey Success – This measure of success is all about self-satisfaction. The first time a writer pens The End, it is a huge achievement of a dream becoming reality. And then, opening a box and seeing a stack of my newest release never gets old. Ever. (Three such past boxes being opened.)

Currently, as I come to the end of writing a how-to nonfiction book and am finishing the small-town romance series I’ve been working on for the last few years, I’m enjoying how my fire is directing and driving me toward my desk every day.

Watching the words pile up, getting into the writing zone, and watching the hours fade into each day’s end are self-satisfying beyond words. Amazingly so. There is no other emotion or feeling like it.

I love all these various moments and events of success. How could I not?

*****

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time – and return comments. This group is all about connecting!

Posted in #IWSG, Writer at Work | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

The Writer’s Journey Recommendation

Posted on August 3, 2021 by Diana Stout

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

August 4 question – What is your favorite writing craft book? And why?

The Writer’s Journey Recommendation

Ever since its publication in 1992 when I bought the book, my recommendation is and always has been Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Storytellers & Screenwriters.

Syd Field’s book, Screenplay published in 1979, introduced me to the structural three acts of screenwriting. Vogler’s book built upon it, showing where the emotions, conflict, and character goal (internal and external) take place and how they drive the plot forward within that three-act structure, using twelve important plot points.

Anyone since then who has developed a seemly new structure has basically used Vogler’s model but has renamed the plot points or provided something that made the new model unique.

For example, one structure has 22 steps. Popular right now is the story line with 14 beats. Another one has 15 beats. There’s always a new method coming out, all shiny and bright. But, it’s still the same information with the same foundation, just renamed, offering new insight.

While most of these other models are good and many find worthwhile, none hold the same esteem and respect that The Writer’s Journey did and still does for me.

*****

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time – and return comments. This group is all about connecting!

Posted in #IWSG, Writing Behind the Scenes | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Going Wide…Maybe

Posted on July 29, 2021 by Diana Stout

I can be so stupid sometimes.

Up until now, all of my eBooks have been published on Amazon and through their Amazon Select program, which means it’s sold exclusively through Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited (KU) program. Instead of buying books, those Amazon readers who pay a monthly fee get to read it and any other books they desire for no other charge.  

Up until now, half of my eBook royalties have come from pages getting read. The other option author have to sell their eBooks would be to go wide, which means remove it from KU, though I can still sell it on Amazon as an eBook and selling it through additional distributors. The best places that my research revealed and was highly approved of by other authors was to use Draft2Digital (D2D) and Smashwords, the latter only because D2D doesn’t distribute to it. D2D does distribute to digital stores: Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, Tolino, and Vivlio; the subscription service of Scribd; and Kobo plus territories: Belgium, Netherlands, and Canada.

But, which eBook(s) did I want to start with, experiment with? I did some investigative research. One of my books, Grendel’s Mother, does extremely well with pages read and eBooks purchased through Amazon. My romances: Love’s New Beginnings, Tomorrow’s Wishes, and Determined Hearts do not. So, it had to be one of these latter three.

When you put an eBook into KU, you do so for 90 days. I’ve always chosen to have that 90 days renewed automatically. This time, I unclicked that auto-renewal box for the first one that would renew: Love’s New Beginnings.

Then, I went to D2D and uploaded the book. I put in my desired publication date, which would be the day after it came out of KU. I pushed the publish button thinking it wouldn’t publish until my indicated date.

To my horror, the book published immediately as a preorder book! No, no, no! Turn it off, turn it off!  

I scurried like a frantic squirrel in the road with an oncoming car: where to go?

Ten minutes later, I saw the panic button I needed to push. It said DELIST. I clicked on it. Immediately, my book was delisted. No more preorders.

A huge sigh of relief.

The day it was free from KU came and went. I kept checking D2D to see how the book was doing.

No sales. Nothing.

What??? How can that be? I had the publishing date correct.

Today, two weeks and a day later, I went back into D2D to check on the book. Still no sales. And then, I saw it.

DELISTED

Stupid! You have to republish it!

I pushed the publish button. Everything turned green. Yay.

Posted in Indie Publisher, Persistance, Writer at Work | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Teaching again…

Posted on July 22, 2021 by Diana Stout

Squeeeeeee! I’m going to be teaching again!

The class is Time Management for Writers; and actually, the class is applicable for anyone who struggles with managing their time. The principles and science are the same for everyone, regardless of their career or goal(s) they’re trying to reach.

The class takes place February 1-25, 2022, via email. Registration is located on the WritersUniv.com web. Click here for details.

Anytime I’ve been able to teach anything about writing—whether it’s creative writing or the business of writing, regardless of genre—I’m having a good time.

I enjoy sharing information. I especially enjoy watching the light bulb reactions that my students and participants have when they get it.

I enjoy watching empowerment happen. The expressions of joy I’ve witnessed is inspirational. I always smile watching someone’s confidence rise because they’re mastering a skill they never thought they had or were told they never would have.

I enjoy learning from others. I learn as much from my students and workshop/roundtable participants as they learn from me! I’ve even been corrected from time to time. After all, information is not always static. Improvements and new information are made and found all the time.

I’m even toying with setting up some live Zoom meetings, where I teach creative writing/business writing in two-hour workshops. Maybe even set-up some free Q&A/discussion sessions. There are so many writing topics that could be covered! What do you think?

Posted in teaching, writing | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Getting Back to Normal – But What Does Normal Look Like?

Posted on July 6, 2021 by Diana Stout

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

July 7 question – What would make you quit writing?

Getting Back to Normal – But What Does Normal Look Like?

My answer to the question of What would make you quit writing? is simple: my death. Or, being incapacitated to the point I can’t see, can’t type, can’t think.

That said, I did struggle with writing recently. My son-in-law died of Covid-19 on April 29.

At first, I resisted the writing—it was hard to start again—but thanks to the weekly Zoom write-in meetings I had with a group of writers, I was able to find that familiar joyful rhythm again.

The promotions, though… Since April, I’ve not been doing any—not for my books or for my writer friends. I couldn’t even perform a simple retweet.

Every time I tried to do any kind of promotion for my books, I struggled and ended up walking away from it all. I’d purposefully delete the emails with links to share, so I didn’t have to deal with it.

I realized in answering the question for today’s blog that something had to change. I didn’t like the monstrous time I’d spent in the past, promoting with little results to show for it. I wasn’t looking forward to doing it again.

Wanting to put the joy of writing back into the writing and why I do it in the first place, I had to dig down deep. Here’s what I came up with:

  1. I want to depend on and work toward more word-of-mouth advertising, where fans share my books and my self-created promos on social media. If it doesn’t happen, so be it. If it happens slowly, so be it.
  2. I want to become more connected in online writing groups where I can share my experience and knowledge. Even if I get back nothing in return. I’m paying forward the help I’ve received over the years.
  3. I want to spend more time writing, teaching, and coaching than I do promoting.
  4. I want to become part of the 5% of authors who write more than 12 books,[1] where everyone else with fewer books has quit writing. I’ve got 9 so far. When I’m finished with my novella series, I’ll have 15. I’m working on getting them finished.
  5. I acknowledge that being an author—traditional or indie published—is a long game, even though I’ve been writing for 45 years.
  6. I will no longer look at my $15-25 per month royalties as sad, but as progress in this long game from where I started at $0 with the creation of my production company in 2015, and which became a new direction/life for me, a reinvention actually.
  7. I will remind myself upon learning of another author’s promotional success that while it works for them, that doesn’t mean it’ll work for me. I will focus, instead, on those methods that DO work for me. I’ll concentrate on a few methods rather than on many.
  8. I want to thank those who subscribed to my newsletter and have stayed because I have something to offer them.
  9. I want to thank those who subscribed to my newsletter and then unsubscribed because I wasn’t a good fit for them. I’m ecstatic that they gave me a try, because…
  10. I want followers who are genuinely interested in my work and me. I want to have earned that follow.

If putting joy back into my writing is my mission statement, then these ten points are my vision statement, specific steps to make that mission statement a reality.

Based on my vision, I don’t see me quitting anytime soon. In fact, after finishing this blog and scheduling it to publish, I went and did some retweets. The next step is to schedule some of my own promotional posts.

Nope, quitting isn’t on my radar anytime soon.

*****

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time – and return comments. This group is all about connecting!

[1] Jane Friedman’s Electric Speed email newsletter, June 26, 2021.

Posted in #IWSG, Struggling to write | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

2 Reasons Why You Don’t Want to Be an Author

Posted on June 27, 2021 by Diana Stout

1) There’s no money in it.

Are you surprised?

There is money in the publishing industry, though, for those who provide you a service as you create your book: from the classes you take, those who do your editing, formatting, help you develop your story, the virtual assistant(s) you hire to save you time, and so forth.

In his article, “How Much Money Do Authors Actually Earn?” Lincoln Michel states that 99% of all writers will need other jobs beyond the actual writing.

Jane Friedman states in her blog, “How Much Do Authors Earn? Here’s the Answer No One Likes” that “the majority of writers don’t earn a living from book sales alone.”

She revealed that her book, The Business of Writing has earned $25,000 since 2018.

Clearly not enough for any author to live on.

Friedman further reveals that her books earn only five percent of her total income. The rest comes from her “paid subscription newsletter, and her services, which includes consulting and teaching.”

Most every writer I know started writing books and scripts for the same reason. They were enticed by the money. Even readers believe authors earn lots of money. After all, don’t we read about the first-time authors who hit it big with six or seven advances? Those stories dominate the news.

I’ll admit it. I wanted to be a writer earning money from writing books. Along the way, that including writing screenplays, wanting to see my name on the big screen, too.

Even though I treated my writing as a business and was always trying to earn a living from my writing, I always needed a day job to pay for the writing expenses.

Once I became a published author, I was approached and asked to teach others how to write, how to get published, how to find an agent, and so forth. I discovered there was decent money in teaching. It’s why you see so many writers teaching! Not to mention paid spending engagements where their expenses are paid—travel, hotel, conference fee—plus, they earn a stipend. And, if they’re lucky, they sell a few more books.

It’s the rare author who earns a living from their books alone. I know of only three such writers personally. In two cases, they treat it like a forty-hour-per-week-plus job, and they have a huge number of books published—more than most writers will ever write. One has her husband doing the editing and formatting.

The third writer, who has less than a dozen books published, invests heavily in Amazon ads. She spends hundreds of thousands of dollars per year to earn it back and a third more.

2) Becoming an author is about playing the long game

All three said it took time for their sales to grow. It didn’t happen overnight, and it took constant vigilance in doing promotions, and writing more books.

Again, it’s the rare author who makes it big right from the beginning. It’s not the norm.

My favorite example of the long game is Andy Weir, the author of The Martian. The story began as a serialized blog, free to his readers. They wanted the book, so he offered it for sale for only $.99 on Amazon Kindle where it became a best-seller that attracted a literary agent and a sale to Crown Publishing Group.

Weir began his writing career in the mid-1990s. The Martian was published by Crown in 2014. Twenty-four years.

I’ve been writing for over forty-five years. Truly, the long game. With my share of teaching and presentations.

So, why am I still willing to play the long game? Two reasons.

  1. It’s the only way I can give a home to the many characters and ideas who follow and travel with me 24/7.
  2. Lightning has to strike somewhere, doesn’t it?

In the meantime, I’ll continue adding books to my portfolio, and in February 2022, I’ll be teaching online again, details to follow.

So, how long are you willing to play the long game?

Posted in Indie Publisher, Publishing, Publishing books, Writer at Work | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments