In a perfect world…
An author friend, Anny Cook, wrote a post on 5/12/10 that not only gave me pause, it made my heart hurt.
You can read it for yourself here: http://www.annycook.blogspot.com/
She says: “Every human in the world reaches a point of no return. It’s not so much giving up as finally reaching that place of diminishing returns where the results just don’t support the effort.
I am quickly approaching that point. Oh, not this week or the next, but soon. The signs are all there. Sales are flat-lining. I give parties and no one shows up. Most visitors to my blog and webpage are accidental and according to my meter, they leave almost before they arrive. That can’t be a good thing.
Lest you think this is a whine and cheese event, I will hasten to say none of the events listed in the paragraph above are NEW. No, that’s been the situation for quite a while. So why would I suddenly ‘fess up? Perhaps it’s simply a matter of facing reality and economics.
What is my time worth?
At least five days a week (sometimes more) I sit at my computer and write. From eight to nine I take care of business-e-mail, blog, social networking. Then from nine until around five I write. There’s a break until seven-thirty and then more writing until ten. Close down the computer. Start all over the next day. So I work a minimum of forty hours a week just writing.
My income last year was six thousand dollars.
Hmmmm. Forty hours a week multiplied by fifty two weeks = two thousand eighty hours. Divide six thousand dollars by two thousand eighty and you have…? Two dollars and eighty nine cents per hour. Not exactly a stellar income.
I never expected to sell my books like a Nora Roberts or J.K.Rowling.”
I don’t want Anny to throw in the towel. Not only is she a good writer, she’s a friend and she is one of the very first authors to generously give of her time and herself, taking me under her wing when I was brand new to this epublishing business. But, big but here, what she says is true. We struggle. I sometimes wonder if readers believe we are raking in mega bucks. Some authors are…most are not. It takes guts, determination and very often another source of income to stay in this business. I’m happy with my current publishing situation, but in nearly three years with my former publisher, I grossed under $200 on four books, total. I have some notion as to why that happened, and it is not conceit when I say I don’t believe it was related to the quality of my work. Water under the bridge…kind of…
Do I write to make a living? Or do I write out of love? I write out of love and because I have stories to tell. I hope to make at least a modicum of income doing it. Up until April 30, I did work as an RN and I made good money, but the job caused me a tremendous amount of stress. A three-day shift required three more days of recovery, and during that recovery period I couldn’t focus enough to write. Now I’m writing full time and working on that mainstream novel I’ve had in my heart for years. Will it make money? Will it bring me success? As my dad is fond of saying, one never knows, do one? I plan to pursue the dream anyway.
I encourage you to head over to Anny’s place and read her post. She does bring up the issue of e-piracy and lost revenue. Sorry Anny…I have to laugh! I’m not popular enough to be pirated!
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May 12th, 2010 at 9:51 pm
May I deign to disagree with the last statement, dear? I just had Beauty and the Feast pulled from three pirate sites. Looks like you are in thew big time, girl. LOL!
May 12th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
Oh hell no! I am not on pirate sites. I haven’t seen a thing! You jest!
May 13th, 2010 at 3:43 am
It IS a rough road when you’re working like crazy and making less than enough to go out to dinner once a month. I can see where she’s coming from. (Though I’m like you, Julia-not pirated nearly as often as some.) But there just isn’t the money in fiction writing-unless you’re a best-seller-as people think.
May 13th, 2010 at 3:47 am
I wish I were writing for the money! I have four books out that didn’t make over $400 combined for the first year. Maybe some day! HA.
As for the pirates, for the first year I didn’t have any of my books stolen. Now there’s a request and upload/download on release day.
I’d hate to see Anny quit writing. She’s a lovely dear friend who also writes amazing books. This is sad.
May 13th, 2010 at 5:28 am
Google your name and one of your titles - asatalk and underground.mn are the two that seem to come up in nearly ever google search I do on an ebook.
May 13th, 2010 at 5:57 am
Oh, Julia! Thank you for your wonderful words. It’s an interesting experience when you’re first pirated. You think, “Wow! Somebody wants my books so much they’re requesting them by title!”
Then you give yourself a slap up the side of the head and reality sets in.
If they loved you so much, they would BUY your books. You don’t steal from someone you love and respect.
May 13th, 2010 at 7:53 am
I know some authors are pirated like crazy even before their books are released. I seriously do not have the name recognition and that’s a good thing…I think. I’m just not sure that it’s file sharing hurting us or a combination of factors - people aren’t spending a lot of money right now, urban fiction is huge among younger readers which sort of impacts romance writers, some epubs put out so many books a week that they dilute sales for individual authors. Alls I’m saying Anny is - Don’t Quit!
May 13th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
The pirates drive me crazy and Anny’s right-you don’t steal from someone you love and respect. Well said, Anny;-) I write because I have stories to tell but I’m almost afraid to figure up my time because I’d see just how little I do make. I’d love to make more but I’ve yet to stumble onto the magic formula of how to attract a larger market without spending all of my time on facebook and twitter.
I hope our amazing Anny never silences her wonderful voice…
May 13th, 2010 at 5:12 pm
From what I’ve seen, Paris, you get pirated a lot. Until the government figures out a way to stop it, we’re stuck with pirates and file sharing. The internet is a wilderness and no one quite knows how to deal with the situation.