Welcome to the ordinary life of artists, my friend.. there is pain and self doubt, like many choices in life, but it's a beautiful and unique journey that will light your soul. Proud of you always!
yeah man, if we’re not doing it for the simple pleasure of writing and experiencing the world and being free, then what’s it all for? Nice piece. Thank you
This week we had an application for a digital nomad visa at the consulate where I work. As proof of sufficient funds the applicant provided their Amazon Kindle report showing 8 thousand USD in royalties in the last 3 months. This author has 30 plus YA fantasy books on Amazon. I don't know how they produced this amount of books in a short time. So, it's possible to make a living writing books, but not 'serious' books. While I don't intend to read any of this person's books - I can't resent their financial success, good on them for understanding the system.
This is very true Sister Ping. There are some books on Amazon that are absolutely killing it. I self published a novel a few years back that really lost me a lot of money trying to crack the Amazon algorithm. Books on how to write books also seem to do well. Any book that generates 30k in sales seems pretty serious. But I do take your point. Thanks for reading!
Writing for a living isn't easy. However if that is your craft, your art and you are skilled, there is writing you can do that pays well, in many cases it isn't even very interesting but it can pay the bills. I'm talking about writing for magazines, for the web and things like company newsletters. I did quite well before COVID finding work mostly through Upwork. There are always companies looking to use gig writers to do the work they used to get staff or expensive agencies to do. The problem with gig work is that sometimes there is more than you want to deal with and sometimes there are quiet patches. The quiet patches don't pay, but give you time to do your own writing. Once you get some regular clients, you can raise your rates and generate a good income. If you have a specialty, all the better. I have knowledge in certain areas that allowed me to earn very good rates. I didn't like the deadlines though :)
Thanks for the comment Luigi. Did you find that writing the not very interesting dulled your ability to write what you wanted to write? I find it hard to separate the boring job that pays for the writing from the actual writing.
It didn't so much dull my ability as much as my desire to write for that client. As I got more business I did less of the boring work. For example I had a client in Australia who had me read reviews of various products, and then compile reference articles about things like gun safes and alarm systems, which I had no interest in. It was good for cash flow, but we don't always get to write articles that are interesting. I took on the responsibility of helping someone looking at investing in a product, to be able to make a smart decision. It was boring work, but you don't always get to write something that really appeals to your interests. I would slowly phase out the boring work as I got more work that interested me, was more of a challenge and paid better and accepted less work from clients who either paid less, or didn't offer me work that caught my interest. I was always careful not to burn bridges, with COVID and other distractions, you never know if you might need that boring work again.
Ryan, these words have come at a most perfect time for me. Thank you for being so open and honest. My eyes welled up for Mike, three days!!! This is the beauty of books and the written word, they touch so many people in so many different ways.
Oh Ryan - that is such a lovely story. To release your words out into the world is an act of generosity and of bravery. Your journey will be full of moving connections!
Oh the last bit made me feel so emotional! So beautiful your book became part of someone's life, someone's gift, something so meaningful. Isn't that all we want? $3.30 doesn't reflect this true value of a book. Our life, what we do, to mean something to someone..!!!! What an awesome encounter with the family Ryan.
Thanks Kana, it was a pretty special moment and made me reflect that we never really know what effect our actions will have on others. Thanks for reading as always!
Welcome to the ordinary life of artists, my friend.. there is pain and self doubt, like many choices in life, but it's a beautiful and unique journey that will light your soul. Proud of you always!
Thanks for the welcome. Lovely to be here. I'm finally seeing what you've been getting out of it for all these years.
yeah man, if we’re not doing it for the simple pleasure of writing and experiencing the world and being free, then what’s it all for? Nice piece. Thank you
That's right. If you're in it for the money, you're in the wrong game. Thanks for reading.
This week we had an application for a digital nomad visa at the consulate where I work. As proof of sufficient funds the applicant provided their Amazon Kindle report showing 8 thousand USD in royalties in the last 3 months. This author has 30 plus YA fantasy books on Amazon. I don't know how they produced this amount of books in a short time. So, it's possible to make a living writing books, but not 'serious' books. While I don't intend to read any of this person's books - I can't resent their financial success, good on them for understanding the system.
This is very true Sister Ping. There are some books on Amazon that are absolutely killing it. I self published a novel a few years back that really lost me a lot of money trying to crack the Amazon algorithm. Books on how to write books also seem to do well. Any book that generates 30k in sales seems pretty serious. But I do take your point. Thanks for reading!
Writing for a living isn't easy. However if that is your craft, your art and you are skilled, there is writing you can do that pays well, in many cases it isn't even very interesting but it can pay the bills. I'm talking about writing for magazines, for the web and things like company newsletters. I did quite well before COVID finding work mostly through Upwork. There are always companies looking to use gig writers to do the work they used to get staff or expensive agencies to do. The problem with gig work is that sometimes there is more than you want to deal with and sometimes there are quiet patches. The quiet patches don't pay, but give you time to do your own writing. Once you get some regular clients, you can raise your rates and generate a good income. If you have a specialty, all the better. I have knowledge in certain areas that allowed me to earn very good rates. I didn't like the deadlines though :)
Thanks for the comment Luigi. Did you find that writing the not very interesting dulled your ability to write what you wanted to write? I find it hard to separate the boring job that pays for the writing from the actual writing.
It didn't so much dull my ability as much as my desire to write for that client. As I got more business I did less of the boring work. For example I had a client in Australia who had me read reviews of various products, and then compile reference articles about things like gun safes and alarm systems, which I had no interest in. It was good for cash flow, but we don't always get to write articles that are interesting. I took on the responsibility of helping someone looking at investing in a product, to be able to make a smart decision. It was boring work, but you don't always get to write something that really appeals to your interests. I would slowly phase out the boring work as I got more work that interested me, was more of a challenge and paid better and accepted less work from clients who either paid less, or didn't offer me work that caught my interest. I was always careful not to burn bridges, with COVID and other distractions, you never know if you might need that boring work again.
Ryan, these words have come at a most perfect time for me. Thank you for being so open and honest. My eyes welled up for Mike, three days!!! This is the beauty of books and the written word, they touch so many people in so many different ways.
Oh Ryan - that is such a lovely story. To release your words out into the world is an act of generosity and of bravery. Your journey will be full of moving connections!
so wonderful as always- just love your writing
Oh the last bit made me feel so emotional! So beautiful your book became part of someone's life, someone's gift, something so meaningful. Isn't that all we want? $3.30 doesn't reflect this true value of a book. Our life, what we do, to mean something to someone..!!!! What an awesome encounter with the family Ryan.
Thanks Kana, it was a pretty special moment and made me reflect that we never really know what effect our actions will have on others. Thanks for reading as always!
Great article - puts it into perfect perspective. Regardless of the many downsides (and there are many), it's worth it in the end!
100% agree Bryan. Thanks for reading and commenting!