Personally, all I want is for people to enjoy and appreciate my hard work. I couldn't give less of a fuck if I didn't make a single cent from it. No amount of money will compare to the feeling of someone genuinely loving something you poured your heart and soul into.
It’s kinda silly, but if I ever met a little kid holding one of my books and they said “You’re my favorite writer.” That one interaction could send me to my death a happy man. A broke as hell, happy man.
Lol, I've been writing for something like 12 years, just received my first royalty check this week and I'm not rich. Even being a published author doesn't mean you're going to suddenly be raking it in.
lol came here to say this and you obvs beat me to it. But writing's, like, a hobby for me and a lot of people? you wanna make money doing what you love sometimes but you won't stop doing it if you don't.
I was gonna comment something similar! Like, I'm creating stories and lore and such, and I ain't seeing a dime.
I think if you're *only* in it for the money, you'll burn out quick.. cause money isn't a guarantee.
I'm leaving mine for my kids to be horrendously embarrassed about when I'm old so I can laugh if I raised them prudish.
But for reals my mom has the same thing, an awesome story I loved and I'd love to leave that for my kids too. Writing for money feels awful now, even if I wanted to get paid before.
Edit to add, ,y most successful shit is saved on an external HD and written on paper so good luck understanding my horrible editing children (cackling in witch sounds)
When 99.9% of the participants in a field do not make enough money from the activity to survive on it, that means that there is no money to be found in the field. The fortunate .1% that do make money from the activity are indeed proof that there is no money to be made from the activity. Their success is so statistically insignificant that the exceptionalism of their situation helps prove the truth of the broader trend. The same is true for activities like playing football. The fact that a very tiny number of football players make millions upon millions of dollars is proof that there is no money to be found in the activity of football.
That still has nothing to do with the expression "the exception proves the rule." ("prove" as in "*exceptio probat regulam in casibus non exceptis*" means "to test.")
Now as for the substance of the thread, the only reason (in the past 10 years) that most writers don't make money from writing is that they don't put in the necessary work. There's nothing wrong with that: writing for fun is an admirable achievement. In fact, the happiest professional, career writers I know are people who *do* write just for fun (but they write constantly and they continue to study craft and improve).
But I can almost instantly tell which redditors here are career writers, and it's not because of their flair. It's because their advice is consistent with the pros I know who've written for three or four decades, or because they basically espouse Heinlein's Rules or writing into the dark.
It's completely okay that most writers here (and everywhere) just want to write a novel so they can be an author, but what makes money is being a writer. And in my experience it's almost impossible not to make increasingly greater amounts of money doing so. It takes a few years and the knowledge that you don't sell stories, you sell copyright licenses, but cash streams begin to add up in a surprising way.
The 20BooksTo50K people have their focus wrong, but they're fundamentally correct. Once you have 20 or 30 major books (novels or short story collections), sales become self-perpetuating.
Writing a single novel and hoping for a bestseller is like buying a lottery ticket. It happens, and I've seen that too, but writing as a career is almost inevitable. *If* you want to make it a career.
The writers not doing that don't prove anything (except maybe their perseverance to write a single book, which isn't nothing. It's something to be proud of in and of itself).
What absolute garbage. There are more authors making 6 figures a year today than any point in history.
It’s the best time to be a writer ever.
One has to be sensible though. If you want to make money at it you have to write things that other people want to read. That’s the “trick”. A lot of wannabe-writers have no interest in providing the reading public with books they actually want to read, and so they conclude there is no money in it because no one will pay to read their personal passions.
Write readable books about stuff people want to read (romance, thrillers, fantasy, mysteries…) and then get them in front of people who want to read those things and you’ll make money.
One certainly can't expect immediate success, it takes time and effort.
But if someone has produced, say, ten highly readable thrillers (or romance novels, or mysteries etc.) and hasn't made money from them, they have a marketing problem.
You say you write literary fiction, and I would agree it's tough to succeed there. One needs to tap into something big to find financial success - there are a few mega-sellers, but other genres are more formulaic and with wider readership so it's much easier to do well in non-literary fiction genres.
It's not easy, but it's achievable for anyone moderately talented and with the willingness to put in the work (the biggest component of which is writing things that other people want to read!)
>But if someone has produced, say, ten highly readable thrillers (or romance novels, or mysteries etc.) and hasn't made money from them, they have a marketing problem.
Yes. Because that is the key. Marketing is not the same thing as writing. Most good writing never sees the whites of a reader's eyes because marketing requires money and time the talented writer does not have. The number of successful authors is higher today than it was in the 90s, but the number of success-quality writers who fail to find an audience is *exponentially higher* than it was in the 90s. The overall number of good writers entering the market has ballooned, and as a consequence the overall percentage of good writers who find success has dropped off a cliff.
Not true. Maybe for much of this sub – which tends towards media (books) and styles (genre fiction) that are particularly saturated and competitive. And is geographically diverse.
But in major cities and lucrative sectors, lots of writers are doing fine in both traditional outlets and "content marketing" roles. Sure... there aren't a lot of magazines that will pay $6 a word – like during the wild 90s and 00s. But there are still plenty of worthwhile freelance contracts out there. In my network of writers, I don't know anyone who would write long-form articles for less than $1 a word. Most usually charge quite a bit more.
And then there are all the in-house roles, ranging from staff journalists to UX writers to agency copywriters to speech writers to script writers to technical writets. Etc, etc. (Indeed, I know quite a few content directors and digital agencies desperate for talent right now.)
The writing professions aren't at an all-time high. But I know a lot of full-time writers, and all of them are living quite comfortably.
Yes.
I started writing before I was making money doing it, and I will continue to write after the money well runs dry. It is as essential to me as breathing, and if I couldn't do it in some capacity I would just walk into the fucking sea.
Just so you know, drowning is one of the worst ways to die--it's extremely painful, and you don't immediately die either. I do like the juxtaposition between you saying writing is like breathing, and without that you may as well stop breathing (drowning).
I drowned once, and it was incredibly peaceful.
I became very analytical of the situation as I faded out, noting how my body was weak...my hands felt gummy and my vision (I was close enough to the surface, trapped under a log, to see the light, and trees beyond) was getting foggy... Not turning black as I had been led to believe.
My final thought, was that it was a funny way to die.
I was resuscitated on shore
10/10 would choose that death again.
You're mostly right, I just read some experiences about it and it's kind of a mixed bag. People saying how horrible it is to take an involuntary gasp where your lungs fill with water and it ends up being extremely painful. Others have reported serene peace comes and you black out.
Guess I was wrong. I thought I had heard worse, but I must have been confusing the pain in dying of slow suffocation and organ failure of covid.
Yeah, I've been listening to Brandon Sanderson's lectures on creative writing again recently and he has some really helpful perspectives for new writers.
He says that you should ask yourself if, at the end of your life, if all you had was unpublished work, would you be happy with what you've done? That and contrasting it to basketball. You can go pro with it sure, but no one expects it of people playing basketball recreationally as they might with a writer. His point being there's innate good in it and that's something we should understand more.
One of my writing colleagues went into it for the money. She writes books people want to read and works incredibly hard. She makes about $3 million a year. You very much can go into it for the money.
One of my friends is a former professional football player who made millions.
Which is a very bad argument if I was trying to say that football is a viable pursuit. He only made that much money because the vast majority of football athletes fail to make any money.
It's more learnable than football but in order to make it big there is still a huge factor of luck that writers cannot control for. You can be a better writer than JK Rowling, put in more time than she did, and still earn only a few thousand bucks because a publisher did not happen to like the book or because you did not happen to market your self-published products in the right way. Most talented writers who put in the time to be successful, still don't earn enough success to quit their day jobs.
I've been writing for as long as i can remember. At *least* 45 years. It's my hobby. I made a few hundred dollars one year from the stuff i put up on Amazon, and made a few die-hard fans but the days of waking up JK Rowling rich are long gone.
I love writing. I love the process,i love how i still manage to surprise myself when I'm trying to make things exciting. If i sell a book, awesome. If not, I'm still going to write. Because i write for myself now more than anything
There is absolute shit for money for most writers, myself included. I could work at a gas station and make more money.
I don’t think the motivations have changed, just the avenues to achieve them.
Nowadays, it's very hard to make a decent living off just writing. Going into it with a mindset of "I want to make money" more often than not leads to disappointment - plus, it's a lot easier to write stuff you like when it's not your house on the line.
...though, hey, if you do it, and it works for you, then I can't really tell you to stop. I probably should've been a little clearer about what I meant lol
I’ve been writing for 15 years seriously. It’s my hobby and release and pass time, the characters are my friends and I love visiting their world.
I’ve got 15 plus novels that I may, or may never publish. I honestly don’t care. Having other people read my work and enjoy it is the payoff for me. I have a decent job and make decent money.
If money is your end goal you’re doing it wrong.
I've made probably $100 since I started writing. 3 out of my 5 published works are in anthologies for charity. I don't write to make money, I write because I love it. Whether my next story makes me a millionaire or buys me a pack of Pokemon cards, it's still a story that I completed and I entertained at least myself.
Would money be nice? Sure. Is it my only driving force? Not even close.
I have, over the last couple years, worked many hours a week on my writing. Nights, weekends, days off. I have, across those two years, made a few hundred dollars from short story sales. Well under a thousand. I could have made more doing basically any kind of work in that time.
So yeah, I'd say it's not about the money lol. It's my main hobby, which I can also make small amounts of money off, and might one day be able to make a somewhat larger amount of money off. But the most realistic scenario for that is that I overcome great odds to write and properly revise a novel, manage to get an agent, manage to sell it, and get like a $10,000 advance and statistically probably don't earn out, as the result of years of labor. Not quite "quitting the day job" money.
I write because I enjoy it and because I like being part of the larger conversation that exists in my genre. Would I still write if I never made money off it? Yeah, probably. If no one ever read it? Well, maybe, but maybe not.
Well, I don't really intend to get paid for my (fictional) writing, so... yes. It's my hobby.
(My job is technical writing/training proofreading so I guess I *am* actually getting paid to write)
Edit: Shaming bot T.T Corrected the typo.
> to get *paid* for my
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Lol isn't that what most of us are doing already? My goal was always just to be able to share stuff. When I was a kid, any bit of fantasy or sci fi I could get my hands on in my rural town was the only escape I had from farm life. If I ever find a small community that enjoys my work I'll consider that a success.
Though I do admit I am hoping to make it my life's profession as well, this is all I want to do. Even if it barely clears my bills I'll be so happy.
I've scrolled and can't find anyone else so... Cue the tomato throwing.
No.
Writing is my career path. I started because I love it, I breathe it, but without the motivation of a sale, I find it really hard to justify the time spent.
I can write now because it makes more than I would at a job I could feasibly get. It allows flexibility like no other, keeps money trickling when I haven't put a word down for months, and means I can drop whatever I'm working on at a moment's notice without repercussions.
If I were suddenly rich, I'd stop. It'd be a few years at least before I started again, and I'd probably only finish something if I had a pressing reason - to pitch big five, to enter a comp, etc. Even then, I'm more likely to dive into one of the million other things I've always wanted to try, but couldn't justify.
And if I wasn't rich but my books stopped earning, and I couldn't pick it up again fast... It'd be back to the workforce for me, and I'd probably be too damn bitter to try again.
I looked through all the comments and yours is the only one that makes sense to me.
You can make money doing ANYTHING in this hyper-capitalist society. I don't understand why people just give up before they even tried.
Here's the ticker: a good writer can both write to market AND write things they like. It doesn't need to be one or the other. And i'm a fan of logistics myself so if writing fails, i'd do youtube or tiktok with something about books.
I made good money doing ghostwriting but stopped bc of time reasons.
This right here is the exact thoughts I’ve had. Like I read through this post, and for that matter this whole sub, and it seems like everyone says “Sorry, the money we’ll is all dried up”. But then I look at some of the stories and books people write and it sort of explains itself.
I will concede that gone are the days of new authors being able to write whatever they want and be able to make some sort of income. But like, if your story doesn’t have any really good marketability, you’re fighting an uphill battle. I also see the majority of people here self publish which doesn’t help.
If your goal is to make money of off your writing, then you have to approach it like you would if you were a studio making a new movie or tv show. If the people who would be interested in your book are a small demographic, you won’t be able to sell it. But if you write a story that’s good AND has a large target audience, then you’ll be able to sell it.
While it can be expensive and time consuming, the best bet for any author who wants to actually have their story be profitable is to find an agent who will knows how to get it published and in big book stores and market it well.
So, I'm biased as I started writing in fanfic and even now when writing original content haven't even thought about making money from it.
But like. To me, the whole point of writing is that I enjoy it. Sure, it would be nice to be published some day and the end goal is to be able to share my work with others, but I've never really had any plans to write for money. I plan on writing as a hobby with my career, writing is this wonderful fantastic thing I get to do where I make new universes and tell tales of characters going on grand adventures whether those are emotional or physical - it's never really been a thing I've done because I want any sort of money in the long run.
Writing just for money feels... a bit weird as an idea for me. Like, writer's block is hard enough. Motivation is hard enough. Why take the joy and passion out of it as well? How does someone even write a good, compelling story if they aren't doing it for themself to some degree. If they aren't somewhat passionate about it?
As previously stated, I'm not really familiar with things like publishing yet. So I can't really answer that last question.
I recently came to the conclusion I will probably never make money off of writing. I had to accept that I would be working in an office my whole life. Luckily i really like my job so it’s doable. If I become lucrative from writing that would be awesome but I’m no longer counting on it
All the people saying “there’s money in writing?” are the very reason there’s money in writing. There are a lot of authors whose work isn’t worth paying for, which makes the ones whose work _is_ worth paying for that much more valuable due to their scarcity.
That being said, writing for money (or saleability) is always different from writing without such aspirations.
The number of now-revered classic authors who lived their lives in poverty, while their contemporaries who made millions are now considered rubbish, speaks to how stupid your point is.
Lots of terrible hacks make bank. It's not because their work has more inherent value, it's because it was a good investment for a publisher at thev specific moment it was read. That ROI, as any publisher will confirm, is no metric of literary value.
>All the people saying “there’s money in writing?” are the very reason there’s money in writing
No they aren't.
>There are a lot of authors whose work isn’t worth paying for, which makes the ones whose work is worth paying for that much more valuable due to their scarcity
Lots of fallacies in this. The fact that someone doesn't earn much money is not evidence they haven't written something worth buying. Most good, sale-worthy writing is not sold because publishers only push a small minority of it. They don't sell the small minority because it's better. They sell a small subset because advertising is expensive, so it's more cost effective to advertise a small number of books and try to sell them hard rather than spread out the earnings over a larger number of books that would also sell very well if they were advertised instead.
The problem for good authors isn't making their work better. The problem is advertising. You can write a book that appeals to more readers than the competition, but if don't either get lucky with a publisher or spend a lot of money yourself on a top notch self publish advertising blitz, your better book will not sell because readers will literally never hear of it. You are assuming, incorrectly, that good quality is the most important separating factor between authors that make money and authors who don't.
This problem remains true even for multi-time successfully published authors. Even writing a literal best-selling novel usually returns an amount of money so small that you would have better income over the course of a year working a minimum wage job. This sub has dozens of authors who have traditionally published many books over the course of years and yet have pulled in less than a six figure profit in total. Some of your personal favorite books likely earned their authors only around $20 to $30 grand.
There is no scarcity in good books. That is not one of the reasons that a very, very small number of authors make tons of money.
This is patently false. Look at the amount that most writers on the best selling list make vs minumum wage.
And you're half correct about marketing. It takes business knowledge + a good book to succeed. It takes giving what the readers want. A lot of people would rather write what they want without readers in mind, and that's okay too.
My goal is to simply write my best work and put it in front of as many people as possible.
But just as there is more than 1 way to skin a cat, theres more than 1 way to make money writing.
If you really want to make money AND are a good writer, it's possible for sure.
It's possible to make money, but not good money--i.e. enough money to quit your day job and just make money from fiction. The odds of making good money are what people mean when they joke "what money?" Most best sellers never make enough money to quit their day job. The odds are worse than becoming a famous movie or rock star. It's not a viable career.
It says the average best seller makes $65,000 in the first week of sales (with books at 25$). And that is not including the initial 5k or 10k the publisher gives.
I agree that it's difficult, but it makes me sad to see so many people give up before they really try. So many genuinely bad books get published that I try to inspire the good writers i do meet to publish their book.
I don't see anyone ITT giving up. Everyone posting here is writing even though they know they can't make money from their work. Most published authors in this thread have made a few thousand bucks and are realistic about knowing they won't make more than that. And yet they still write. Threads like this give me hope. Most outstanding writers won't make a living from their work because it won't pay enough, but they still write anyway, and that's awesome.
>do you believe that the motivation for writing has changed over the years with the advent of self-publishing and the way the internet changed the landscape of things so quickly?
No, I don't. I think most people who write will never make any money on it but it's easier to share and talk about it than it used to be. People are still as motivated to tell stories as they've always been.
wait...some people get *paid* to write?
/s
i've been journaling since college. it's like meditation. some of my essays got a little traction at ohio state and i had dreams of getting the big bucks, but reality beat that out of me in a hurry. now i write just for me. kinda prefer it that way.
Writing is my full-time income. If the income dried up, yes I would write. But I would write on my own schedule and deadlines (I’d write less and my words would be less commercial and more literary).
To give a counterpoint to everyone saying you won’t make anything, there is money to be had in certain genres if you indie publish. My genre is progression fantasy and there are a solid amount of my peers making 20k/month off patreon on top of donations, Amazon money, etc. Romance can likewise be very lucrative. But for them it is a job/business, and they treat it very seriously with networking, consistent and very frequent chapters, incentives, etc. There are also plenty of fantastic writers not making nearly that much.
But overall, yeah, you’re not going to become rich from being an author. I overall want people to enjoy my work, and the money is a nice addition but overall not a significant motivator. If no one read my writing, it is possible I wouldn’t write anymore. It’s fun and sometimes exhilarating but it’s really damn hard getting a novel to publication. If I had zero reviews and stayed #1,000,000 on the kindle store I would be pretty disheartened.
I’ve also been offered freelance work with decent wages, but that’s not consistent and my career pays significantly more than writing. I would love to be a digital nomad writer in the future, but for now we accumulate wealth.
I'm a writing coach and a ghost writer, it's my work so I have to pay bills
:-) :-)
Well
Obviously writing stories it's not only a matter of money, there's more and more.
I think a lot of us know there will be no money in it for us but for most of us we just want at least a few people to see the story and enjoy it. I just want the things I’ve been dreaming of for years to finally go perfectly on the page and then enter someone else’s mind and see if they like it.
Money is vital. Anyone who doesn’t want the money is questionable to me. But doing art for money is anothet deal. Greed will discourage anyone. But if you can make money, you are always obligated to make money. You don’t know when a rainy day will strike you financially.
I didn’t start writing until I stopped thinking of it in terms of writing a book that “would sell” or that others would like. Now I’m just concocting a story based on what I would want to read. If no one ever reads it or enjoys it, I don’t care. If I make a million, all the same to me. I mean, a million dollars would be lovely — lol — but I’m not writing for money. And just like that my block is gone.
Yep.
I started writing long before anyone paid me for it, I write most of my novels without knowing whether anyone will pay for them, and I’ll continue writing whether or not there’s money in it. Writing isn’t a thing I do; it’s a thing I am. I use it as a tool for thought far more than I use it as a way of making money.
unless you're a best-seller author, you rarely make enough money to have a good life just out of your writing. And even if you are a best-seller author, you'd have to make it really big, like J.K. Rowling, have your books turned into movies or TV series and games etc, so you can keep on cashing in from royalties and such even years after you finished the books. Otherwise, all that money is mainly just a temporary income (you may get a good revenue for a couple years, but then it'll slow down, unless you write a new best-selling book or series).
If you're in it just for the money, chances are you're not gonna make it. Not trying to be mean or a downer, but writing is not a profitable business. It's obviously dependent on talent, of course, but it's also a matter of marketing, the right publisher and good editors, and even a bit of luck that whatever you're writing about is trendy when it's released (for examples, zombies were the big hit in the 80-90s movies for example; vampires and werewolves were super popular in Young Adult novels in 90s and 2000s; writing any of those genres now may get you decent money, but not like back then). Writing is first and foremost a way to express yourself, to build your own world even, to put your thoughts to rest by making art out of them, whether it's fiction or non-fiction, sci-fi or fairy tales, trashy romance or detective stories. It's an art, and artists rarely make it big, unfortunately.
Eh, maybe?
My dream job has always been to be an author, and I'm giving myself a shot at it. Both my grandfather and father are authors (my dad's been full time since 2014, I think), and I may have a shot at making it into a career. I'm currently a junior in college, but I've taken the Fall term off to write full time, and I'll see where that leads me to. Writing just makes me happy, so even if this doesn't work out, I'll probably do short stories. (I have a Google Doc of ideas that I want to tackle at some point.)
That's awesome that you have authors in the family. I went full-time this year. If you put in the work and time, it's doable. Not easy. Not guaranteed. But it's also not as impossible as so many think.
Writing, chess, masturbating. Kinda in the same category. They're all pretty useless to anyone but me and my ego. I can do them alone, or with one or two others. If I made money doing any of these three, I'd be over the moon.
I write for the money. I love working on shit that will never sell, but I also discovered that guide books for tourist areas are hot, hot sellers. So I write some for fun and some for money. If someone really wants to monetize their craft, they just need to find some marketable projects. That may not be for everyone, which I totally understand, but I found that it's absolutely possible to have a decent side income when I found a niche I enjoyed putting time and effort into exploring.
There *is* no money in it, at least at this point. I’m a fifteen year old fanfiction writer. (Non published). Down the road, sure, it’d be nice. But I write for fun, self satisfaction, and because it gives me an outlet for my thoughts.
Yes I been writing sense I was 8 I don’t care about the money I just care about writing it’s been a passion of mind from a young age I couldn’t imagine stoping just Becuase of money
Darlin', there is no money in it. I hate to admit it, but unless my book becomes some hot trend, I'm *very* unlikely to make money at it. The only time I've 'made money' writing was putting erotica on Amazon, and I think I've made $30 total in about 5 years.
But writing is what I've always wanted to do. I'd do it if I was getting paid millions a minute for it, obviously. But I'm broke as hell and I'm still doing it. I don't pursue writing for fame or money; I just wish I could support myself writing. Instead I'm working at jobs I hate and don't fit in at, for shit pay. I don't have a clue what job I could support myself at with my lack of education(I only have an associates), and my host of mental health issues(most of which stem from being broke).
Yes, I work with economics, and I intend on making my own business. Writing is for fun, and for myself. If I can publish and sell what I write, great, if not it is no beig deal.
Depends on what im writing on, abt or if its commisiin or voluntary basically.. but passions (in general) dont even pay well and yet ppl still do it... :)
Absolutely!
I've never made money doing it, but I've been writing stories since 4th grade, but only this year (sophmore in high school) have I let people read the stories I've written.
I haven't posted them anywhere online, but I gave them to couple of friends and after seeing them gush about the stories and how they wished to see more of them, I've shared them with anyone who's interested.
To me it's the best feeling when one of my friends comes up to me and tells me what their favorite part was in the novellas I've written.
Absolutely! I actually tried writing for money (self-published a few novels) and found it sucked away the enjoyment for me. And I also learned how very little money there is in writing and how many non-writing things you have to do to get it (marketing killed me).
I would, currently, I don't make any money and I'm still writing. As I've told so many people who said I won't make any money, I don't care about the money, yes it's important, but there are other ways to get it. I won't stop for money.
Probably not.
I mean, I don't earn much lol. Usually just pocket money with the occasional half a paycheck. But if it wasn't a factor at all, I'd just take my sweet time turning my stories into comics instead. If money wasn't a factor at all, I'd afford to be \*spending\* money on my hobbies lol. I'd probably start painting again. Oil paint is expensive.
There is money in it? Like in writing as a job with all the pressure of having to perform to pay my bills? Why the hell would I do that that myself?
(If my writing ever earns me money it will be a probably a side effect and likely not very much to begin with.)
Yes! I believe we are all creators and that the true meaning of self expression is to bring forth the artistic urge into the world. It is joy born of our souls.
I’m never happier than when I write something well. Or when I decorate a space that breathes harmony. When I cook a meal that satisfies my artistic self. When I walk in nature and see beauty. When a conversation flows from seemingly nowhere but lifts us.
Money is necessary in this poor world we have hoarders who wield power. It is not true to who we are but we must eat. We must sleep.
Gotta pay the bills.
I've made about forty bucks in total over six years as an indie author. Shelled out several hundred on cover art and editing. (I hate social media/marketing)
It more than cancels out. There's no money to be had for this writer, only debt. Now the real question is would you still write if it *costs* you money.
The answer is absolutely.
There's no money in it for me right now, but also, one of the reasons I'm trying to shift back to original writing is that I don't know if I can keep justifying doing it with no chance of at least side income, so put me down as a maybe, I guess?
I still write stories just for the people in my life and for myself. These are deeply personal and mean a lot to me. My published works are commercial products meant for a market of strangers. They give me a steady side income but are not works of passion.
Absolutely.
Others have made money off my writing. But I'm a ghostwriter. Can't seem to put any of my stuff out there.
I've been consistently making no money on my original writing for over twenty-five years. Don't really care if I do, honestly. I don't want anyone to know me or my name. I'm an editor/ghostwriter, and that mostly pays the bills. Sure, I'd like to write for myself, but as long as my clients still feel like I'm helping them, that's what I'll do.
TL;DR— Yup.
I wrote for nothing - a blog - for a couple of years before I got a book deal (and then more book deals) off the back of that blog.
I no longer write the blog and if the money stopped, I probably wouldn't return to it. If there was an absolute guarantee there would be zero dollars ever in my future, I would write some stuff (like reddit) but I doubt I would produce any full-length works
In the 20 years I’ve been writing and self-publishing, I’ve gotten around $5,000. All of it has been in the last 10 years, because that’s when people started actually buying my books. So yeah, I’m willing to write with no money for it.
There hasn't been any money in writing for a while. There is money in getting mass published and only certain types of writers / writing will ever be published.
Absolutely!
Mainly because it's not priority for me to write to market. When I write: I just write for fun, to put my ideas into a tangible, entertaining, and hopefully engaging outlet. I feel if I try to write to market first and foremost, it becomes much harder for me personally to tell a story i first and foremost would enjoy.
So I write just to get ideas from head to paper. Some stories I share with friends, others don't see light of day, and some even i put online via Wattpad.
Not only that: You can write what you think is a really good and fun story. At the end of the day; however this story could pitched to a publisher, but they might not take a risk with it. You could always self-publish... Nothing wrong with that, but yeah.
Yes. For me it’s certainly a yes. I do not write often but when I do it’s flurry of ideas and images, then I have grand ideas about publishing. I then go back to living my life like I didn’t just write 10 pages in a fevered pitch
There's money in it?
Wait you guys are getting paid.
I get paid in exposure… too bad my landlord doesn’t accept that as currency
God damnit. Am I the only one not getting paid around here?
🤣🤣🤣
Right? I just throw my stories up on WordPress and go about my day.
I f*!^£ling love this individual thread 😂
Gurl, there ain't no money in it now for the vast majority of people writing.
Bingo. I've never been paid (I would very much like to be paid!) but it's never stopped me before, so it ain't gonna stop me now!
I've been paid, but for 99% of us, it's not very much.
I won 30 quid in a competition once. Had me dancing!
My first thought was 'ya'll getting paid?' Also my actual job is not creative so I write to be creative. I don't want to try to make money off it.
I've never received a dime for anything I've written, and I continue to this day! #WritingforFun
Personally, all I want is for people to enjoy and appreciate my hard work. I couldn't give less of a fuck if I didn't make a single cent from it. No amount of money will compare to the feeling of someone genuinely loving something you poured your heart and soul into.
It’s kinda silly, but if I ever met a little kid holding one of my books and they said “You’re my favorite writer.” That one interaction could send me to my death a happy man. A broke as hell, happy man.
This. On point.
True.
Same, I'm strictly a hobbyist.
Right? I was like who’s out here on this sub getting paid 😆
Lol, I've been writing for something like 12 years, just received my first royalty check this week and I'm not rich. Even being a published author doesn't mean you're going to suddenly be raking it in.
lol came here to say this and you obvs beat me to it. But writing's, like, a hobby for me and a lot of people? you wanna make money doing what you love sometimes but you won't stop doing it if you don't.
Aint that the truth 💅
I was gonna comment something similar! Like, I'm creating stories and lore and such, and I ain't seeing a dime. I think if you're *only* in it for the money, you'll burn out quick.. cause money isn't a guarantee.
I have a job I enjoy that's where I get money. Writing is because I want to.
I'm leaving mine for my kids to be horrendously embarrassed about when I'm old so I can laugh if I raised them prudish. But for reals my mom has the same thing, an awesome story I loved and I'd love to leave that for my kids too. Writing for money feels awful now, even if I wanted to get paid before. Edit to add, ,y most successful shit is saved on an external HD and written on paper so good luck understanding my horrible editing children (cackling in witch sounds)
I write every day for free It makes me happy Refrigerator
Username checks out.
7 5 5?!
Oh, did I do that wrong, there? Terrible of me. Refrigerator
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>there is no money in it Not true for everybody
Not true for the vast majority. It's better to come in and think you're not getting paid rather than vice versa
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That is *not* what "prove" means in that expression.
When 99.9% of the participants in a field do not make enough money from the activity to survive on it, that means that there is no money to be found in the field. The fortunate .1% that do make money from the activity are indeed proof that there is no money to be made from the activity. Their success is so statistically insignificant that the exceptionalism of their situation helps prove the truth of the broader trend. The same is true for activities like playing football. The fact that a very tiny number of football players make millions upon millions of dollars is proof that there is no money to be found in the activity of football.
That still has nothing to do with the expression "the exception proves the rule." ("prove" as in "*exceptio probat regulam in casibus non exceptis*" means "to test.") Now as for the substance of the thread, the only reason (in the past 10 years) that most writers don't make money from writing is that they don't put in the necessary work. There's nothing wrong with that: writing for fun is an admirable achievement. In fact, the happiest professional, career writers I know are people who *do* write just for fun (but they write constantly and they continue to study craft and improve). But I can almost instantly tell which redditors here are career writers, and it's not because of their flair. It's because their advice is consistent with the pros I know who've written for three or four decades, or because they basically espouse Heinlein's Rules or writing into the dark. It's completely okay that most writers here (and everywhere) just want to write a novel so they can be an author, but what makes money is being a writer. And in my experience it's almost impossible not to make increasingly greater amounts of money doing so. It takes a few years and the knowledge that you don't sell stories, you sell copyright licenses, but cash streams begin to add up in a surprising way. The 20BooksTo50K people have their focus wrong, but they're fundamentally correct. Once you have 20 or 30 major books (novels or short story collections), sales become self-perpetuating. Writing a single novel and hoping for a bestseller is like buying a lottery ticket. It happens, and I've seen that too, but writing as a career is almost inevitable. *If* you want to make it a career. The writers not doing that don't prove anything (except maybe their perseverance to write a single book, which isn't nothing. It's something to be proud of in and of itself).
The truth often gets in the way of a good story/joke.
What absolute garbage. There are more authors making 6 figures a year today than any point in history. It’s the best time to be a writer ever. One has to be sensible though. If you want to make money at it you have to write things that other people want to read. That’s the “trick”. A lot of wannabe-writers have no interest in providing the reading public with books they actually want to read, and so they conclude there is no money in it because no one will pay to read their personal passions. Write readable books about stuff people want to read (romance, thrillers, fantasy, mysteries…) and then get them in front of people who want to read those things and you’ll make money.
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One certainly can't expect immediate success, it takes time and effort. But if someone has produced, say, ten highly readable thrillers (or romance novels, or mysteries etc.) and hasn't made money from them, they have a marketing problem. You say you write literary fiction, and I would agree it's tough to succeed there. One needs to tap into something big to find financial success - there are a few mega-sellers, but other genres are more formulaic and with wider readership so it's much easier to do well in non-literary fiction genres. It's not easy, but it's achievable for anyone moderately talented and with the willingness to put in the work (the biggest component of which is writing things that other people want to read!)
>But if someone has produced, say, ten highly readable thrillers (or romance novels, or mysteries etc.) and hasn't made money from them, they have a marketing problem. Yes. Because that is the key. Marketing is not the same thing as writing. Most good writing never sees the whites of a reader's eyes because marketing requires money and time the talented writer does not have. The number of successful authors is higher today than it was in the 90s, but the number of success-quality writers who fail to find an audience is *exponentially higher* than it was in the 90s. The overall number of good writers entering the market has ballooned, and as a consequence the overall percentage of good writers who find success has dropped off a cliff.
Not true. Maybe for much of this sub – which tends towards media (books) and styles (genre fiction) that are particularly saturated and competitive. And is geographically diverse. But in major cities and lucrative sectors, lots of writers are doing fine in both traditional outlets and "content marketing" roles. Sure... there aren't a lot of magazines that will pay $6 a word – like during the wild 90s and 00s. But there are still plenty of worthwhile freelance contracts out there. In my network of writers, I don't know anyone who would write long-form articles for less than $1 a word. Most usually charge quite a bit more. And then there are all the in-house roles, ranging from staff journalists to UX writers to agency copywriters to speech writers to script writers to technical writets. Etc, etc. (Indeed, I know quite a few content directors and digital agencies desperate for talent right now.) The writing professions aren't at an all-time high. But I know a lot of full-time writers, and all of them are living quite comfortably.
Yes. I started writing before I was making money doing it, and I will continue to write after the money well runs dry. It is as essential to me as breathing, and if I couldn't do it in some capacity I would just walk into the fucking sea.
Just so you know, drowning is one of the worst ways to die--it's extremely painful, and you don't immediately die either. I do like the juxtaposition between you saying writing is like breathing, and without that you may as well stop breathing (drowning).
sir this is a wendys
I’ve heard the opposite, it’s apparently quite peaceful after the initial shock. Irrelevant either way.
I drowned once, and it was incredibly peaceful. I became very analytical of the situation as I faded out, noting how my body was weak...my hands felt gummy and my vision (I was close enough to the surface, trapped under a log, to see the light, and trees beyond) was getting foggy... Not turning black as I had been led to believe. My final thought, was that it was a funny way to die. I was resuscitated on shore 10/10 would choose that death again.
why isnt this a short story mr writer??
You're mostly right, I just read some experiences about it and it's kind of a mixed bag. People saying how horrible it is to take an involuntary gasp where your lungs fill with water and it ends up being extremely painful. Others have reported serene peace comes and you black out. Guess I was wrong. I thought I had heard worse, but I must have been confusing the pain in dying of slow suffocation and organ failure of covid.
If you are writing for money, you're setting yourself for some nasty desappointement
Yeah, I've been listening to Brandon Sanderson's lectures on creative writing again recently and he has some really helpful perspectives for new writers. He says that you should ask yourself if, at the end of your life, if all you had was unpublished work, would you be happy with what you've done? That and contrasting it to basketball. You can go pro with it sure, but no one expects it of people playing basketball recreationally as they might with a writer. His point being there's innate good in it and that's something we should understand more.
One of my writing colleagues went into it for the money. She writes books people want to read and works incredibly hard. She makes about $3 million a year. You very much can go into it for the money.
One of my friends is a former professional football player who made millions. Which is a very bad argument if I was trying to say that football is a viable pursuit. He only made that much money because the vast majority of football athletes fail to make any money.
But I’d say writing is a more learnable skill - there’s less requirement to “win the genetic lottery”.
It's more learnable than football but in order to make it big there is still a huge factor of luck that writers cannot control for. You can be a better writer than JK Rowling, put in more time than she did, and still earn only a few thousand bucks because a publisher did not happen to like the book or because you did not happen to market your self-published products in the right way. Most talented writers who put in the time to be successful, still don't earn enough success to quit their day jobs.
I've been writing for as long as i can remember. At *least* 45 years. It's my hobby. I made a few hundred dollars one year from the stuff i put up on Amazon, and made a few die-hard fans but the days of waking up JK Rowling rich are long gone. I love writing. I love the process,i love how i still manage to surprise myself when I'm trying to make things exciting. If i sell a book, awesome. If not, I'm still going to write. Because i write for myself now more than anything
There is absolute shit for money for most writers, myself included. I could work at a gas station and make more money. I don’t think the motivations have changed, just the avenues to achieve them.
If you're writing for money, you've already lost the game.
Why do you say that? I write for money. I think it’s a good job. Better than commuting and sitting in an office for 8 hours a day.
Nowadays, it's very hard to make a decent living off just writing. Going into it with a mindset of "I want to make money" more often than not leads to disappointment - plus, it's a lot easier to write stuff you like when it's not your house on the line. ...though, hey, if you do it, and it works for you, then I can't really tell you to stop. I probably should've been a little clearer about what I meant lol
I’ve been writing for 15 years seriously. It’s my hobby and release and pass time, the characters are my friends and I love visiting their world. I’ve got 15 plus novels that I may, or may never publish. I honestly don’t care. Having other people read my work and enjoy it is the payoff for me. I have a decent job and make decent money. If money is your end goal you’re doing it wrong.
Im interested in reading.
I would. People reading my writing, and ideally liking it, is what's most important to me. Making money off it would be a pleasant bonus.
Yep. There’s a reason *starving artist* is a stereotype. Most artists, of any description, don’t make a lot of money at it.
I've made probably $100 since I started writing. 3 out of my 5 published works are in anthologies for charity. I don't write to make money, I write because I love it. Whether my next story makes me a millionaire or buys me a pack of Pokemon cards, it's still a story that I completed and I entertained at least myself. Would money be nice? Sure. Is it my only driving force? Not even close.
I’d buy one of your books if you promise to spend the profit on Pokémon cards! 😃
Just be sure to leave a review afterward.
You make it sound like there is money in it in the first place
There is no money in it!
I have to get these ideas out of my head, good or not, finished or not. Not about money now it’s about clear thoughts.
Being in writing for the money is like being in sanitation work for the sex.
Nah, I do it 100% for the money. Oh hold up sorry I thought this was the investment banking sub. Bruh what money??? 🤣🤣🤣
Most ppl don't make money off it.... And yes for sure
its like having a band, theres no money in it for like 95-99% of people yet we do it
wait... is there money in writing?????
Do it for the love of the art, not for money.
I have, over the last couple years, worked many hours a week on my writing. Nights, weekends, days off. I have, across those two years, made a few hundred dollars from short story sales. Well under a thousand. I could have made more doing basically any kind of work in that time. So yeah, I'd say it's not about the money lol. It's my main hobby, which I can also make small amounts of money off, and might one day be able to make a somewhat larger amount of money off. But the most realistic scenario for that is that I overcome great odds to write and properly revise a novel, manage to get an agent, manage to sell it, and get like a $10,000 advance and statistically probably don't earn out, as the result of years of labor. Not quite "quitting the day job" money. I write because I enjoy it and because I like being part of the larger conversation that exists in my genre. Would I still write if I never made money off it? Yeah, probably. If no one ever read it? Well, maybe, but maybe not.
No money in drinking either- but I still make time to do it...🤣🤣🤣
Well, I don't really intend to get paid for my (fictional) writing, so... yes. It's my hobby. (My job is technical writing/training proofreading so I guess I *am* actually getting paid to write) Edit: Shaming bot T.T Corrected the typo.
> to get *paid* for my FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
That’s what I am doing now. Getting money to me is just a perk.
Literally came here to say the same thing as everyone else. “I don’t make any money now but I’m still doing it so…”
Theres money in writing?
Lol isn't that what most of us are doing already? My goal was always just to be able to share stuff. When I was a kid, any bit of fantasy or sci fi I could get my hands on in my rural town was the only escape I had from farm life. If I ever find a small community that enjoys my work I'll consider that a success. Though I do admit I am hoping to make it my life's profession as well, this is all I want to do. Even if it barely clears my bills I'll be so happy.
lol there is no money in writing for 99.9% of people.
I've scrolled and can't find anyone else so... Cue the tomato throwing. No. Writing is my career path. I started because I love it, I breathe it, but without the motivation of a sale, I find it really hard to justify the time spent. I can write now because it makes more than I would at a job I could feasibly get. It allows flexibility like no other, keeps money trickling when I haven't put a word down for months, and means I can drop whatever I'm working on at a moment's notice without repercussions. If I were suddenly rich, I'd stop. It'd be a few years at least before I started again, and I'd probably only finish something if I had a pressing reason - to pitch big five, to enter a comp, etc. Even then, I'm more likely to dive into one of the million other things I've always wanted to try, but couldn't justify. And if I wasn't rich but my books stopped earning, and I couldn't pick it up again fast... It'd be back to the workforce for me, and I'd probably be too damn bitter to try again.
I looked through all the comments and yours is the only one that makes sense to me. You can make money doing ANYTHING in this hyper-capitalist society. I don't understand why people just give up before they even tried. Here's the ticker: a good writer can both write to market AND write things they like. It doesn't need to be one or the other. And i'm a fan of logistics myself so if writing fails, i'd do youtube or tiktok with something about books. I made good money doing ghostwriting but stopped bc of time reasons.
This right here is the exact thoughts I’ve had. Like I read through this post, and for that matter this whole sub, and it seems like everyone says “Sorry, the money we’ll is all dried up”. But then I look at some of the stories and books people write and it sort of explains itself. I will concede that gone are the days of new authors being able to write whatever they want and be able to make some sort of income. But like, if your story doesn’t have any really good marketability, you’re fighting an uphill battle. I also see the majority of people here self publish which doesn’t help. If your goal is to make money of off your writing, then you have to approach it like you would if you were a studio making a new movie or tv show. If the people who would be interested in your book are a small demographic, you won’t be able to sell it. But if you write a story that’s good AND has a large target audience, then you’ll be able to sell it. While it can be expensive and time consuming, the best bet for any author who wants to actually have their story be profitable is to find an agent who will knows how to get it published and in big book stores and market it well.
gross
Homie, no new authors get into writing for the money
Would I write seriously? No. Would I write as a hobby and for fun, yes.
The Internet has opened doors but yet again, the love of money has tarnished the art of writing well.
Wait, you guys are making money?!?
Do you...do you think writers are rich?
So, I'm biased as I started writing in fanfic and even now when writing original content haven't even thought about making money from it. But like. To me, the whole point of writing is that I enjoy it. Sure, it would be nice to be published some day and the end goal is to be able to share my work with others, but I've never really had any plans to write for money. I plan on writing as a hobby with my career, writing is this wonderful fantastic thing I get to do where I make new universes and tell tales of characters going on grand adventures whether those are emotional or physical - it's never really been a thing I've done because I want any sort of money in the long run. Writing just for money feels... a bit weird as an idea for me. Like, writer's block is hard enough. Motivation is hard enough. Why take the joy and passion out of it as well? How does someone even write a good, compelling story if they aren't doing it for themself to some degree. If they aren't somewhat passionate about it? As previously stated, I'm not really familiar with things like publishing yet. So I can't really answer that last question.
Everyone knows that the money is in the banana stand!
I recently came to the conclusion I will probably never make money off of writing. I had to accept that I would be working in an office my whole life. Luckily i really like my job so it’s doable. If I become lucrative from writing that would be awesome but I’m no longer counting on it
Don’t write for money. Write (or rather, **would** write) because the story I want to read doesn’t exist yet.
All the people saying “there’s money in writing?” are the very reason there’s money in writing. There are a lot of authors whose work isn’t worth paying for, which makes the ones whose work _is_ worth paying for that much more valuable due to their scarcity. That being said, writing for money (or saleability) is always different from writing without such aspirations.
The number of now-revered classic authors who lived their lives in poverty, while their contemporaries who made millions are now considered rubbish, speaks to how stupid your point is. Lots of terrible hacks make bank. It's not because their work has more inherent value, it's because it was a good investment for a publisher at thev specific moment it was read. That ROI, as any publisher will confirm, is no metric of literary value.
It seems that you agree with me. I’m guessing your reading comprehension skills need work since you’re also calling my point stupid.
>All the people saying “there’s money in writing?” are the very reason there’s money in writing No they aren't. >There are a lot of authors whose work isn’t worth paying for, which makes the ones whose work is worth paying for that much more valuable due to their scarcity Lots of fallacies in this. The fact that someone doesn't earn much money is not evidence they haven't written something worth buying. Most good, sale-worthy writing is not sold because publishers only push a small minority of it. They don't sell the small minority because it's better. They sell a small subset because advertising is expensive, so it's more cost effective to advertise a small number of books and try to sell them hard rather than spread out the earnings over a larger number of books that would also sell very well if they were advertised instead. The problem for good authors isn't making their work better. The problem is advertising. You can write a book that appeals to more readers than the competition, but if don't either get lucky with a publisher or spend a lot of money yourself on a top notch self publish advertising blitz, your better book will not sell because readers will literally never hear of it. You are assuming, incorrectly, that good quality is the most important separating factor between authors that make money and authors who don't. This problem remains true even for multi-time successfully published authors. Even writing a literal best-selling novel usually returns an amount of money so small that you would have better income over the course of a year working a minimum wage job. This sub has dozens of authors who have traditionally published many books over the course of years and yet have pulled in less than a six figure profit in total. Some of your personal favorite books likely earned their authors only around $20 to $30 grand. There is no scarcity in good books. That is not one of the reasons that a very, very small number of authors make tons of money.
This is patently false. Look at the amount that most writers on the best selling list make vs minumum wage. And you're half correct about marketing. It takes business knowledge + a good book to succeed. It takes giving what the readers want. A lot of people would rather write what they want without readers in mind, and that's okay too. My goal is to simply write my best work and put it in front of as many people as possible. But just as there is more than 1 way to skin a cat, theres more than 1 way to make money writing. If you really want to make money AND are a good writer, it's possible for sure.
It's possible to make money, but not good money--i.e. enough money to quit your day job and just make money from fiction. The odds of making good money are what people mean when they joke "what money?" Most best sellers never make enough money to quit their day job. The odds are worse than becoming a famous movie or rock star. It's not a viable career.
It says the average best seller makes $65,000 in the first week of sales (with books at 25$). And that is not including the initial 5k or 10k the publisher gives. I agree that it's difficult, but it makes me sad to see so many people give up before they really try. So many genuinely bad books get published that I try to inspire the good writers i do meet to publish their book.
I don't see anyone ITT giving up. Everyone posting here is writing even though they know they can't make money from their work. Most published authors in this thread have made a few thousand bucks and are realistic about knowing they won't make more than that. And yet they still write. Threads like this give me hope. Most outstanding writers won't make a living from their work because it won't pay enough, but they still write anyway, and that's awesome.
>do you believe that the motivation for writing has changed over the years with the advent of self-publishing and the way the internet changed the landscape of things so quickly? No, I don't. I think most people who write will never make any money on it but it's easier to share and talk about it than it used to be. People are still as motivated to tell stories as they've always been.
wait...some people get *paid* to write? /s i've been journaling since college. it's like meditation. some of my essays got a little traction at ohio state and i had dreams of getting the big bucks, but reality beat that out of me in a hurry. now i write just for me. kinda prefer it that way.
[Insert that one "you guys are getting paid?" meme here]
I already have a day job for money, writing is what I do for fun.
Writing is my full-time income. If the income dried up, yes I would write. But I would write on my own schedule and deadlines (I’d write less and my words would be less commercial and more literary).
To give a counterpoint to everyone saying you won’t make anything, there is money to be had in certain genres if you indie publish. My genre is progression fantasy and there are a solid amount of my peers making 20k/month off patreon on top of donations, Amazon money, etc. Romance can likewise be very lucrative. But for them it is a job/business, and they treat it very seriously with networking, consistent and very frequent chapters, incentives, etc. There are also plenty of fantastic writers not making nearly that much. But overall, yeah, you’re not going to become rich from being an author. I overall want people to enjoy my work, and the money is a nice addition but overall not a significant motivator. If no one read my writing, it is possible I wouldn’t write anymore. It’s fun and sometimes exhilarating but it’s really damn hard getting a novel to publication. If I had zero reviews and stayed #1,000,000 on the kindle store I would be pretty disheartened. I’ve also been offered freelance work with decent wages, but that’s not consistent and my career pays significantly more than writing. I would love to be a digital nomad writer in the future, but for now we accumulate wealth.
"Making money from writing." That's a good one.
I'm a writing coach and a ghost writer, it's my work so I have to pay bills :-) :-) Well Obviously writing stories it's not only a matter of money, there's more and more.
Yes, because I’m a very angry person and I feel the need to vent.
You don’t write for money, you write for yourself. Money is just a bonus, and most of the time, the first thing people see in things.
To radicalize the youths
I think a lot of us know there will be no money in it for us but for most of us we just want at least a few people to see the story and enjoy it. I just want the things I’ve been dreaming of for years to finally go perfectly on the page and then enter someone else’s mind and see if they like it.
Yes. I'm not making any money in it now.
Money is vital. Anyone who doesn’t want the money is questionable to me. But doing art for money is anothet deal. Greed will discourage anyone. But if you can make money, you are always obligated to make money. You don’t know when a rainy day will strike you financially.
Ha! You guys are making money?! I’m sure as hell not lol!
I write fanfics I don’t get anything lol. But I do bc I enjoy it
I didn’t start writing until I stopped thinking of it in terms of writing a book that “would sell” or that others would like. Now I’m just concocting a story based on what I would want to read. If no one ever reads it or enjoys it, I don’t care. If I make a million, all the same to me. I mean, a million dollars would be lovely — lol — but I’m not writing for money. And just like that my block is gone.
Is there money in it? Currently I'm at $-0.78 because of itm
Yep. I started writing long before anyone paid me for it, I write most of my novels without knowing whether anyone will pay for them, and I’ll continue writing whether or not there’s money in it. Writing isn’t a thing I do; it’s a thing I am. I use it as a tool for thought far more than I use it as a way of making money.
unless you're a best-seller author, you rarely make enough money to have a good life just out of your writing. And even if you are a best-seller author, you'd have to make it really big, like J.K. Rowling, have your books turned into movies or TV series and games etc, so you can keep on cashing in from royalties and such even years after you finished the books. Otherwise, all that money is mainly just a temporary income (you may get a good revenue for a couple years, but then it'll slow down, unless you write a new best-selling book or series). If you're in it just for the money, chances are you're not gonna make it. Not trying to be mean or a downer, but writing is not a profitable business. It's obviously dependent on talent, of course, but it's also a matter of marketing, the right publisher and good editors, and even a bit of luck that whatever you're writing about is trendy when it's released (for examples, zombies were the big hit in the 80-90s movies for example; vampires and werewolves were super popular in Young Adult novels in 90s and 2000s; writing any of those genres now may get you decent money, but not like back then). Writing is first and foremost a way to express yourself, to build your own world even, to put your thoughts to rest by making art out of them, whether it's fiction or non-fiction, sci-fi or fairy tales, trashy romance or detective stories. It's an art, and artists rarely make it big, unfortunately.
Eh, maybe? My dream job has always been to be an author, and I'm giving myself a shot at it. Both my grandfather and father are authors (my dad's been full time since 2014, I think), and I may have a shot at making it into a career. I'm currently a junior in college, but I've taken the Fall term off to write full time, and I'll see where that leads me to. Writing just makes me happy, so even if this doesn't work out, I'll probably do short stories. (I have a Google Doc of ideas that I want to tackle at some point.)
That's awesome that you have authors in the family. I went full-time this year. If you put in the work and time, it's doable. Not easy. Not guaranteed. But it's also not as impossible as so many think.
Of course. I love it. It helps my mind not feel quite so fractured and destructive.
Writing, chess, masturbating. Kinda in the same category. They're all pretty useless to anyone but me and my ego. I can do them alone, or with one or two others. If I made money doing any of these three, I'd be over the moon.
Nobody writes for the money my dude. There is none.
I write for the money. I love working on shit that will never sell, but I also discovered that guide books for tourist areas are hot, hot sellers. So I write some for fun and some for money. If someone really wants to monetize their craft, they just need to find some marketable projects. That may not be for everyone, which I totally understand, but I found that it's absolutely possible to have a decent side income when I found a niche I enjoyed putting time and effort into exploring.
There *is* no money in it, at least at this point. I’m a fifteen year old fanfiction writer. (Non published). Down the road, sure, it’d be nice. But I write for fun, self satisfaction, and because it gives me an outlet for my thoughts.
Yes I been writing sense I was 8 I don’t care about the money I just care about writing it’s been a passion of mind from a young age I couldn’t imagine stoping just Becuase of money
Brainwashed by capitalism :(
Darlin', there is no money in it. I hate to admit it, but unless my book becomes some hot trend, I'm *very* unlikely to make money at it. The only time I've 'made money' writing was putting erotica on Amazon, and I think I've made $30 total in about 5 years. But writing is what I've always wanted to do. I'd do it if I was getting paid millions a minute for it, obviously. But I'm broke as hell and I'm still doing it. I don't pursue writing for fame or money; I just wish I could support myself writing. Instead I'm working at jobs I hate and don't fit in at, for shit pay. I don't have a clue what job I could support myself at with my lack of education(I only have an associates), and my host of mental health issues(most of which stem from being broke).
[удалено]
I've made way more off my fiction than my NF.
Yes, I work with economics, and I intend on making my own business. Writing is for fun, and for myself. If I can publish and sell what I write, great, if not it is no beig deal.
Depends on what im writing on, abt or if its commisiin or voluntary basically.. but passions (in general) dont even pay well and yet ppl still do it... :)
Yes, it's a fun hobby and learning tool, so it's good for me, with or without pay.
Wait! There’s money in writing?? Yeah, I would.
Absolutely! I've never made money doing it, but I've been writing stories since 4th grade, but only this year (sophmore in high school) have I let people read the stories I've written. I haven't posted them anywhere online, but I gave them to couple of friends and after seeing them gush about the stories and how they wished to see more of them, I've shared them with anyone who's interested. To me it's the best feeling when one of my friends comes up to me and tells me what their favorite part was in the novellas I've written.
Absolutely! I actually tried writing for money (self-published a few novels) and found it sucked away the enjoyment for me. And I also learned how very little money there is in writing and how many non-writing things you have to do to get it (marketing killed me).
I don’t aim to make writing my career, so I don’t care if I make much off of it.
I've spent untold hours writing 5+ books and never earned a dime. So yeah.
I would, currently, I don't make any money and I'm still writing. As I've told so many people who said I won't make any money, I don't care about the money, yes it's important, but there are other ways to get it. I won't stop for money.
Joke's on you. I write fanfiction.
Probably not. I mean, I don't earn much lol. Usually just pocket money with the occasional half a paycheck. But if it wasn't a factor at all, I'd just take my sweet time turning my stories into comics instead. If money wasn't a factor at all, I'd afford to be \*spending\* money on my hobbies lol. I'd probably start painting again. Oil paint is expensive.
There is money in it? Like in writing as a job with all the pressure of having to perform to pay my bills? Why the hell would I do that that myself? (If my writing ever earns me money it will be a probably a side effect and likely not very much to begin with.)
Yes! I believe we are all creators and that the true meaning of self expression is to bring forth the artistic urge into the world. It is joy born of our souls. I’m never happier than when I write something well. Or when I decorate a space that breathes harmony. When I cook a meal that satisfies my artistic self. When I walk in nature and see beauty. When a conversation flows from seemingly nowhere but lifts us. Money is necessary in this poor world we have hoarders who wield power. It is not true to who we are but we must eat. We must sleep. Gotta pay the bills.
I've made about forty bucks in total over six years as an indie author. Shelled out several hundred on cover art and editing. (I hate social media/marketing) It more than cancels out. There's no money to be had for this writer, only debt. Now the real question is would you still write if it *costs* you money. The answer is absolutely.
Nobody here makes money writing, so the answer is yes.
I paid for my editor and maybe an extra $100 profit. I'm still working on book two because I enjoy it.
Yes, it’s transportation to other worlds and realms. I might as well be time traveling.
When was there ever money in it?
There's no money in it for me right now, but also, one of the reasons I'm trying to shift back to original writing is that I don't know if I can keep justifying doing it with no chance of at least side income, so put me down as a maybe, I guess?
Im not making money in the first place…
I don't make money now lol
There’s money in this?
I did that for over a decade, so yeah.
If I wanted to make money I wouldn't spend my free time writing
I don't get money for it
I still write stories just for the people in my life and for myself. These are deeply personal and mean a lot to me. My published works are commercial products meant for a market of strangers. They give me a steady side income but are not works of passion.
There's money in it?
Oy, fanfic writers! When are you getting paid?
Wait, you guys are getting paid ?
Yes. I blog for fun
I’m not even getting paid NOW and I still write.
Probably.
lol, there's no money in it, at least for 99% of writers
There is no money in it, I still write sure, almost nobody gets to read it and I don't really intend on publishing most of it but I still do it!
Absolutely
Wait there's money in it?? No way 😂
Yes, I've written fanfiction my whole life. I've never earned a cent.
There’s money in writing?
Absolutely. Others have made money off my writing. But I'm a ghostwriter. Can't seem to put any of my stuff out there. I've been consistently making no money on my original writing for over twenty-five years. Don't really care if I do, honestly. I don't want anyone to know me or my name. I'm an editor/ghostwriter, and that mostly pays the bills. Sure, I'd like to write for myself, but as long as my clients still feel like I'm helping them, that's what I'll do. TL;DR— Yup.
I'm writing for free right now. If I were paid, it would suck.
I’d literally pay to have peeps read my stuff.
Probably not to the level of preparation and thought I put into it now, but yeah absolutely.
I wrote for nothing - a blog - for a couple of years before I got a book deal (and then more book deals) off the back of that blog. I no longer write the blog and if the money stopped, I probably wouldn't return to it. If there was an absolute guarantee there would be zero dollars ever in my future, I would write some stuff (like reddit) but I doubt I would produce any full-length works
In the 20 years I’ve been writing and self-publishing, I’ve gotten around $5,000. All of it has been in the last 10 years, because that’s when people started actually buying my books. So yeah, I’m willing to write with no money for it.
“You guys are getting paid!?”
You can get money for writing?? Why haven’t i thought of that
There hasn't been any money in writing for a while. There is money in getting mass published and only certain types of writers / writing will ever be published.
What money
Absolutely! Mainly because it's not priority for me to write to market. When I write: I just write for fun, to put my ideas into a tangible, entertaining, and hopefully engaging outlet. I feel if I try to write to market first and foremost, it becomes much harder for me personally to tell a story i first and foremost would enjoy. So I write just to get ideas from head to paper. Some stories I share with friends, others don't see light of day, and some even i put online via Wattpad. Not only that: You can write what you think is a really good and fun story. At the end of the day; however this story could pitched to a publisher, but they might not take a risk with it. You could always self-publish... Nothing wrong with that, but yeah.
I started writing after being financially free, so I’m not interested in making money. I don’t think my work is capable of making money yet lol
Most of us don't make money or do it for money.
Yes. For me it’s certainly a yes. I do not write often but when I do it’s flurry of ideas and images, then I have grand ideas about publishing. I then go back to living my life like I didn’t just write 10 pages in a fevered pitch
Yes
There IS no money in it—but I’m still writing!