The Creative Writer's Survival Guide: Advice from an Unrepentant Novelist

Money and the Writer

233 Money and the Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . If you’ve decided to become a writer for the big paycheck, let me make a suggestion: Play the lottery instead. The odds of winning are better. Much better. That’s not to say that there isn’t money to be made as a writer. There is. One problem is that you can’t count on it. Another problem is that you probably can’t live solely on your writing income. I don’t mean to be discouraging here, but the reality is that very few writers can afford to quit their day job. Let’s do a little math. Let’s say that a commercial publishing house has agreed to pay you $100,000 for your first novel. Not bad, right? By all accounts, this would be an exceptionally good advance. (Most first novels do not get $100,000 advances, but I’m feeling generous today.) First, let’s take out the agent’s 15 percent commission.That leaves you with $85,000. Next, let’s take 25 percent out for taxes. That gives you $63,750. Now, let’s assume that this novel took five years to write. Some novels take longer; some can be knocked out in a few years. For a literary novel that has a chance of earning 100K, you probably would have spent about five years on it. What this means is that you will have made $13,150 foreach yearof your hard work. In other words, you made less than what you would likely have made working at Wal-​ Mart. I earned a pretty good advance for my two-​ book deal with Free Press. It wasn’t the best advance in the world, but it was certainly more money than I was anticipating. You know what I did with that money? I paid off my VISA bills. I didn’t even make enough to put toward my house or my student loans. That said, a published writer can sometimes supplement his or her writing income in various ways: teaching at conferences; giving readings at colleges; writing book reviews; or receiving grants and fellowships. These offers could mean anywhere from a few hundred bucks (for writing a book review) to a few thousand (for teaching at a conference).There’s no set figure for any of these opportunities. I’ve been paid anywhere from two hundred dollars to three thousand to give a reading. The same is true for conferences. I’ve agreed to teach at conferences for as low as five hundred and for as much as three grand. Unless you’re famous, it’s difficult to draw a line in the sand and say, “This is how much I work for, and I won’t go any lower.” 234 The Writer’s Life Everything is negotiable, however. What may lure me to a conference or a reading for significantly less money than I might otherwise want could be any number of factors, but one factor stands out above all the others: the opportunity for book sales. Occasionally, this means that I might be able to sell my own books at the venue, thereby opening up more money-​ making opportunities. Earning extra money without sacrificing your writing time is a delicate balancing act, and if you’re lucky enough to have published a book that’s gotten some attention, it’s easy to get lured by the fast cash, but as the cliché goes, moderation in all things. ...