For some reason people start hyping themselves up to finally take the plunge to become an author.
Now, I want to be as encouraging as I can be. If someone genuinely wants to try their hand at writing a book, I wish them all the luck in the world, because the task is far from easy! However, it isn't just that people start talking about finally writing a book with the new year looming in front of them... it's that they start talking about writing a book that is going to allow them to quit their job, pay off their debts, and live a life of ease.
Because, for some goddamn reason, people in general population seem to think that anyone can write a book and make a killing off of it.
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| Yeah, I don't know where they got that idea, either. |
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You Are Very Unlikely To Be The Lottery Winner
Some people might compare writers to Olympians, in that this is a skill you have to have a natural aptitude for, it's something you have to work at, and you have to pour years of your life into honing your craft before you're ready for the big leagues. And while that might be true if the quality of one's writing directly correlated to their book sales (spoiler warning; it doesn't), I find the lottery is a much more fitting example. Anyone, in theory, could win the lottery regardless of who they are or where they are as long as they took the risk and bought a ticket.
However, if you play the lottery, you just have to hand over some cash for your chance to win big. For a book you've got to spend several months to several years actually making it into something that's ready for the market. And while it's true that a book could see steady growth over time, or get a big boost in sales years later, too many people seem to think that as soon as they finish writing the book they're going to get a big, fat check from the royalty fairy.
Let me be blunt. It isn't going to happen. The idea that someone can just sit down at their computer, bang out their first-ever book, and catapult themselves to stardom and money overnight is a fantasy. It's no different than any of the thousands of hopeful screen writers and actors who flock to California, dreaming that they'll meet a producer at the perfect time who will be wowed by the dreamer's talent, and make them a superstar. It's pure, Grade-A, Rags-To-Riches American bullshit.
And if you really are serious about writing a book, you need to understand this, and to look at the actual challenges you're facing.
This is a video that I referenced all the way back in my first post How Much Money Do Writers Really Make?, but there is something that I feel needs to be really brought home to folks who are looking at writing books as a way to make money. Because something people don't seem to grasp, especially when they're just looking to jump into writing books, is how much time everything takes!
So, a brief timeline of stuff for folks who don't know anyone that's an author:
- Writing The Book: This could take you 2 months if you're Robert Louis Stevenson, but it's far more likely that you're looking at between 1 year to 2 years to actually get your manuscript up-to-snuff.
- Publishing The Book: If you go with a traditional publisher, this could take several months, to a year. If you do it yourself this will depend entirely on your personal skill, familiarity, or whether you can pay someone else to do it.
So, if we're extremely generous, we're looking at a 6-month turnaround if you are someone who can blaze through writing your book. For the rest of us, though, let's say you're going to take 2 years or so to get your book market ready and available for purchase.
In that 2 years you have between 1 and 4 lottery tickets. Now ask yourself, what are the chances of you winning the lottery with 1 ticket? 2 tickets? Even as many as 4 tickets? They aren't good, right?
It's the same thing for writing books.
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| But I was supposed to be a bestseller...? |
It's one thing to fantasize about becoming a blockbuster bestseller. We can all indulge in a little escapism from time to time. But the reality is that those are a tiny percentage of books, and when you only count the books written by first timers, the numbers drop even further. A lot of people act like writing a book is a guarantee of income, status, and an easy life, when in reality you can spend 2 years or more on a title and sell a handful of copies to your friends and family. Or to no one.
We like to believe that writing a good book that entertains readers is enough. Unfortunately, it isn't. You need to have a good marketing plan, you need to figure out some way to get the word out about your book, you have to go to shows, do interviews, write blogs, make videos, show up on podcasts... or just be famous. After all, it's why every D-list celebrity is a bestselling author; if at least 10,000 people are curious enough what you have to say, then you can become a New York Times bestseller without breaking too much of a sweat.
Even if you skimmed everything I said above, I'm asking you to please lock in for this closing part.
Writing a book is hard work. It takes skill, dedication, and a lot of time to actually finish this project. But writing the book isn't where the work stops; it's just the beginning. You actually have to sell the book once it's written, and unless you are already famous or have a huge platform (we're talking 100,000+ followers for scale), then you haven't just found a shortcut to Easy Street... you've given yourself a second job as a salesman.
It's all well and good to sit back and imagine... but this is sort of like that whole getting-somebody-a-pet-for-the-holidays thing. That puppy is not a Christmas present, but a 10-year commitment. If you want to be an author, that's all well and good... but you're looking at several years before any wheels start turning.
So keep that in mind before you start drafting your resignation letter, expecting your novel's royalties to pay your bills come February, because it ain't happening, friend.
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