I self-publish, write on Substack and Medium and sometimes pick up freelance projects. I am able to make it work because I get health insurance through my husband.
You're extremely lucky getting insurance via your husband. I will never stop writing and I'll never and didn't use garbage e reads like Kindle, etc., because I'll always love the written word by publishing houses that give you a tangible book to hold in your hand and reading them as much as I studied to become a ridiculous attorney, hating every moment of it as I always knew I wanted to be a writer. Unless we are big pretentious names like ex presidents, celebrities etc.,we'll never get the massive million dollar advances in paychecks thar really amazing writers get. I starter watching this show called The Nerve by Maureen Callahan, a writer for The Daily Mail, NY Post, came up before me about 10 years earlier and she stated she wrote a book called " American Predator " and her most recent about the Kennedy women & how horrible the Kennedy men treated them..Very true about all of that. Absolutely no question..issue is she stated JFK, Jr., wanted to kill himself and his wife and sister in law,which I definitely don't believe at all..I don't believe the original story by the already dead legacy media, which is propaganda central...issue is she stated she wrote it like a novel, and I'm guessed she did this so the Kennedy 's wouldn't sue her...I'm definitely not a fan of the Kennedys but I don't believe a nepo baby,handed millions as his inheritance by his mother,would want to kill himself..this I find ridiculous,even though, yes,it definitely was true that he & Carolyn were on the verge of divorce & he didn't have the majority of flight
hours you should have to fly a small plane like that, or any plane for that matter,but the name Kennedy will get you out of anything, including murder..it's infuriating what I read and definitely knew about the death of Martha Moxley, as I'm originally from Hingham, MA, my grandmother worked with Jackie Kennedy to help her get Jack into the presidency...she still has the lovely handwritten letter she wrote to my grandmother for her help. My grandparents were big Kennedy people..I just don't abide by the grotesque nepotism these untra wealthy children who did absolutely nothing to gain any wealth such as the now wanna be congressman Jack Schlossberg,who is an Instagram fool. I read that the Kennedy family literally black balled Caroline and Jack because of his insane and ridiculous behavior on social media, pretty much making them all look like fools..we all know Bobby Kennedy is a complete joke and screw up and I definitely don't believe that he's clean as he Saya he is because he hangs with alcoholic Tucker Carlson, Ketamine & Acid taking,( he admitted both on a 60 minutes interview) and as Bobby was known to have a hollow leg,used heroine and cocaine etc., his behavior is so off,I do believe he's probably still on substances..it doesn't matter that he's 71 or 72 years of age..sometimes they'll do this for life..he's another spoiled rotten nepo baby that isn't a Dr., scientist, or anyone who should give advice about anything medical..who cares what the ridiculous government says..I'll never listen to them anyway..the Constitution says "We the people " not we the elected /placed official..The so called Camelot days died when Jackie Kennedy died...that's just a fact and I'm a Millennial in my 40's and have read so much about the Kennedy's because I'm from MA.....oh well..I say keep writing forever and I hate these clowns who say the written word is dead because of social media??? What a joke..no the written word will always be amazing, incredible and comforting because we have so many amazing writers to read such as Hemingway, way too many of them to ever say something like that..I'm so happy I got to experience analog and I miss it so much as I miss the 90's...These grotesque tech bros are repulsive as they live in star wars land,THANKS DUMMY GEORGE LUCAS!! YOU'VE MADE EVERY SINGLE MAN ON EARTH A 5 YEAR OLD CLOWN...ugh..sickening...They don't grow up..and to the lol, Christmas lights pathetically filmed Star trech...these Things never die because dudes keep this garbage alive...it's ridiculous...grown men I've seen all the way up to their 60's will buy these ridiculous items for hundreds to thousands of dollars because they want to live in an alternate universe of baloney..ick!!! I'll never forgive these Marvel comic making movies v making amazing movies with substance that died with Gen X..the very last of the true movie stars .all these losers buying up all of the streaming companies, the movie companies and social media will lose BILLIONS...people hate all that ridiculous woke crap and because they refuse to listen,they'll be dead broke in less than 3 years..Bari Weise has absolutely no business heading CBS..they should never let anyone like the Ellisons monopolize everything as I'll definitely not waste my money on their crap movies and these ridiculous losers he hired for one specific reason, so he's over..he's all happy with his ridiculous 80 year old face-lift..but soon,soon enough this ridiculous fool will see that if you mess with the people, you go broke..nice talking to ya!!! Keep writing......
There's a saying: "Art for arts sake, money for Christ sake.
Why is someone a painter, or songwriter or writer/story teller, film maker, photographer? Because they love it. They love the medium, they love art. One goes into medicine to help the sick, because they love helping, healing the sick.
Money is not tied at the hip to any of this. When we need it to be, then we are setting ourselves up for disappointment.
Yes, a law student knows going in that there is lots of money to be made, so too a surgeon, or tech geek - and there is are and creativity in all those things - but the convention that we know to be art - should still be just about the love of that craft and it's results.
I often see people complain about not being able to pay rent as an artist - as if getting a job that pays is some strange thing. No, work at McDonalds, be a personal fitness trainer, be so many things where people are conventionally employed, and pay yo dam bills and be quite.
Then, in your own time, like antiquing, or basket weaving, do what you love - and enjoy doing that. If you make any money with your art - that is bonus, icing on the cake, but beyond that, money for Christ and bills sake, art for arts sake. Oliver
🖤 I’ve self published…22 books? Haven’t sold one. Not even to family. And yet that means absolutely nothing to me because I look at those books and my kids do too and I think…I did that. And my kids think “wow. Mom did that.” So I just keep on. At the end of the day that’s why I started anyway. Because I love it. That’s it. And sometimes I think I’m thankful for the silence because then I don’t need to deal with bad reviews or mean comments. There’s a grace in that too.
I absolutely love this! And agree with every word. I’ve just had book 15 published (all trad) and this year I’ve started my Substack, started my new mentoring business plus in a year or two I’m planning to self-publish as well, alongside trad contracts. I’ve been facing burnout since I decided 2 years ago to try writing 3 trad-published books a year, all just to try to make ends meet. Even with 3 books a year and getting all of them into supermarkets, I still don’t earn enough to live in my tiny rented 2-bedroom house in Lincolnshire, one of the cheapest places to rent in the UK. I knew this was wrong and ridiculous but there was no point fighting it any longer. I’d been a teacher for decades so I revamped myself and now I’m a mentor, editor and newsletter writer and you know what? I’m absolutely loving it. I love meeting new people, seeing new work, using all the experience I’ve built up in publishing for the last 14 years and passing it on. It’s still appalling how little authors are paid, yet as you say, there are so many other interesting things to do as well, that every author needs a portfolio career. In fact, my greatest mentor - my Head of English when I was new teacher 30 years ago - told me back then that I didn’t want to be in a classroom forever. Diversify, he said. Very wise. And here I am, diversifying and loving it. (Authors still need to be paid better though!) Thanks for such a great article. :)
To be writing three traditionally published books a year is an intense commitment! In fact, writing any type of book three times a year is extremely intense.
It really is… 😅 I don’t want to do it anymore. I may have to this year for financial reasons but I’m hoping I can slow down that pace in the coming years. It’s not much fun!
I know it's easy for me to say, but it sounds though you are doing your best, and that's all you can do. A bit like the above article suggests, it may be useful to look at other ways you can take advantage of your skills and experience in ways that would take the pressure off yourself a little bit more (I say that as though I know what I'm doing). 😅
There's a saying: "Art for arts sake, money for Christ sake.
Why is someone a painter, or songwriter or writer/story teller, film maker, photographer? Because they love it. They love the medium, they love art. One goes into medicine to help the sick, because they love helping, healing the sick.
Money is not tied at the hip to any of this. When we need it to be, then we are setting ourselves up for disappointment.
Yes, a law student knows going in that there is lots of money to be made, so too a surgeon, or tech geek - and there is are and creativity in all those things - but the convention that we know to be art - should still be just about the love of that craft and it's results.
I often see people complain about not being able to pay rent as an artist - as if getting a job that pays is some strange thing. No, work at McDonalds, be a personal fitness trainer, be so many things where people are conventionally employed, and pay yo dam bills and be quite.
Then, in your own time, like antiquing, or basket weaving, do what you love - and enjoy doing that. If you make any money with your art - that is bonus, icing on the cake, but beyond that, money for Christ and bills sake, art for arts sake.
That’s a very fair point and that’s what I started doing last year, by setting up my own business as an editor and writing mentor - it’s actually going really well! I do a lot of my work via Reedsy and getting a steady stream of clients now and building reviews. So I hope this will continue and then I can earn more from that than I need to from writing, thus making it easier to reduce to one or two books a year (one book a year would be the dream!) That’s my business plan anyway. 😁
Great article, and you mentioned one of my biggest bugbears: "Editors feel safer commissioning celebrity books."
Having never received a rejection letter, (or even submitted anything to a publisher), I don't hold a grudge because Richard Osman, (or whoever), got ahead of me in the "queue". No. My beef is as a reader, who is appalled by the unimaginative dross that's written, (and published), by celebs. Yes, it's subjective - just my opinion. But I know what I like. And it's not what they write.
Ya know, Taylor Swift's first album sold "millions" - her father bought them all to get the attention of the music industry executives- so yes, beware those words indeed.
So much interesting food for thought here. It really does feel impossible to make a living just as an author (or illustrator) and luckily for me I really enjoy teaching and working on projects in schools. But it’s also hard not to feel you’ve failed when a book you felt proud of sinks without a trace, and gets no promotion (other than what you do yourself) or reviews. A great reminder that it’s just a very tough industry, and no it is NOT our fault! Thanks Tammy!
Glad you liked it. One thing that hasn't changed is that people still enjoy reading, buying books and want to be writers. We just can't sit around anymore hoping that our book is going to be a hit. It's good to be proactive - and you are!
It is so hard to not feel like I've failed! I just had my first book traditionally published. I was well aware that I was going to have to do my part to promote this book, but I can't believe how very little my publisher has done to get this book out into the world. I feel like they really don't care and I'm all on my own.
That's basically how it goes for nearly every one - with a traditional deal or self-published. It's just that they don't tell you to expect it when you get a trad deal. Indie authors know this and embrace it, then find the handful ways that truly works for them. You've cracked the code, now lean into it if you still choose the path. One book doesn't define you.
Thank you Andrea. I had no idea what to expect when I landed a book deal, but I sure thought I'd have some publisher support. I've made a career as an artist on my own and I'll figure out how to sell this book myself too!
I'm loving that! I'm stepping into art in a surprise twist for my life...and it's definitely feeding into how I consider new approaches to the writing and publishing aspects.
My publisher was bought out by another one just as my third book was released. It shuffled sideways out of a back door (back in 2011) but still managed sell a full print run. I haven gotten my act together to finish writing another one yet, but happily my School of Nomad Arts, occasional teaching and my bletherings on substack are keeping body and soul together.
Really great piece! One of the biggest pieces of advice I'd give to new writers is to build multiple income streams (or at least be open to them) from the beginning of your career. Not only does it allow you to not be so reliant on one thing (which can be a disaster if the industry shifts or an economic downturn happens), but it also opens you up to new skills, people and roles you might never have thought you'd enjoyed. A portfolio career can be way more interesting and fulfilling than just clinging to one idea of being a writer (or anything creative).
Love this. I’ve had two books trad published and feel a bit disillusioned by it all, I’m searching for a new agent but thinking about self publishing and this essay has sparked a lot of ideas. Thank you.
Indie-publishing has been a game-changer for me. I’m going to write about it in-depth in the New Year. I think it’s information that every creative needs in their toolbox
Embracing self-publishing is the best gift I gave myself. It's where things are headed, and there's so much support available, and many models for every type of author.
I've been self-publishing since around 2010. It started with a memoir for a friend recovering from cancer. She'd written a blog, and someone suggested she should write a book, so I collated all of her posts, homogenised the formatting, and published the book for her on Amazon. The last I heard, it had made over £1000 for her charity, but it was never the sort of book that would be picked up by a trad publisher.
I've since published 8 novels, 3 collections of short fiction, and 7 non-fiction author help books. Self-publishing has allowed me to be agile, and writing what a) I love and b) what I think will sell. I can't live off my book sales, but it allows me to run workshops and courses because I have the experience and back catalogue which gives me the credibility to teach others.
And quite often, I will write a book to sell alongside a workshop I'm running. Win-win!
Hi. This is the first post of yours that I've read and it's really wonderful. I've worked in the book industry for a long time as founder and director of a major international book festival based in Berkeley. Burned out, I left three years ago, moved to Paris (France), and am working on a book of my own on the topic of rest – because I've been exhausted and nearly everyone I know is exhausted. There's something very wrong going on, and I'm getting to the bottom of it from multiple levels.
At the same time I'm facing the very challenge that you're describing here, which is to function creatively while engaging with production, distribution, and revenue from the now-needed multiple streams.
It's really not easy, and I've read several posts just over the past few days about the challenges of moving outside a structured system into one where you basically oversee all the production, distribution and monetization as well as the creative side. It's daunting. I really appreciated these other posts. But I also really appreciated your post here because you took a positive view of the whole thing. Truly some tears came into my eyes as I read because you highlighted the excitement around such a multiplicity of challenges.
I have a great deal of business and marketing experience - so the basic SKILLS required to succeed - and I also know that I'm a good writer and have a meaningful and actually quite unique book idea in how I've conceived it. But the thought of bringing my business skills to my own creative work is, like, gulp.... Thank you for your wonderful cheerleading. ❤️
Good luck with the book - I’d love to read it when it’s done. Working in the creative industries is rewarding but hard work and the importance of rest is overlooked.
I’ve recently started writing a lot more but my background is in the music industry (major label for the last 4-5 years, and independent agency 2 years before that). From what I understand all creative industries are experiencing the same restructure because of the way capitalism works. Everyone would benefit would from the book you’re writing.
I had this idea some time ago that I would end up writing something that would catapult me into the world as a "writer." Instead, I go to work and make sure a 25k-employee agency gets the right workplace training it needs, then I come home, make dinner, check in with my wife on her day and do all the husband things that make my life a joy (no sarcasm), then sit down and write my stories. I get a few hours to write, post, and market my couple of novels, the hundreds of thousands of words on my Substack, and occasionally go back and read something that I wrote and smile. Even if no one reads me, my stories make me happy. I do have one guy, though, who reads everything, likes it, and comments. And sometimes I feel all of this is for him -- I got you, dude. Here comes another tale. And that's good enough.
That's a great way to put this in words...I'm going to write this down. Boo👎to all people who say the written word is dead. When you think about that statement, it literally doesn't make sense. The written word,IMO,is now more important than ever. I believe I've read more books in the past 2 years than I did during high school and college days than ever before in my life. I've always been a voracious reader, always,always could spend 8 hours of bliss at The Strand reading books like crazy with my beloved coffee...sounds cliché, but I absolutely love it. My parents brought me to this incredible library when I was 6 years old in MA..New England is a story within itself because of the beauty, the amazing colleges and I went absolutely nuts in there. It was an amazing place for kids because they had instruments we could play as well. It was in a closed off room with a great deal of padding so as not to let the acoustics bother people in that fantastic 3 story library ...I believe my parents had to drag me out of that place because I was having way too much fun....
I self published my first book. Before now I was a known musician for 12 years until I got tired of the box. My soul left long before my body and mind followed. Now I still make music but better - I have a container that can carry all of my creativity. Writing, making ritual art, producing and writing songs and I’ve never been more proud and at peace. I truly enjoyed reading this- it checked so many boxes for me.
Gosh, you’re a positive lady! I love your history lesson on the truth about the career of author. The gatekeeping in the current publishing industry seems insurmountable for the everyday author but you are right not to give up and to find another way. Writers gotta write. I’m going to check out “private lives.”
Indie publishing has been a game-changer for many and increasingly, trad publishers are looking to buy self-publishing hits. It’s a tough industry for sure, but there are still many success stories out there and you don’t need to ‘chosen’ to make an income. Thanks for looking out for Private Lives!
Feel like the market for full time writers has shrunk but it was always a tough sled. The ones I knew earlier in my career always seemed to be hustling on the side with articles or speaking engagements or some other side business. Only a rarified few appeared to live off book deals and royalties. Thanks for the perspective adjustment article
I self-publish, write on Substack and Medium and sometimes pick up freelance projects. I am able to make it work because I get health insurance through my husband.
You're extremely lucky getting insurance via your husband. I will never stop writing and I'll never and didn't use garbage e reads like Kindle, etc., because I'll always love the written word by publishing houses that give you a tangible book to hold in your hand and reading them as much as I studied to become a ridiculous attorney, hating every moment of it as I always knew I wanted to be a writer. Unless we are big pretentious names like ex presidents, celebrities etc.,we'll never get the massive million dollar advances in paychecks thar really amazing writers get. I starter watching this show called The Nerve by Maureen Callahan, a writer for The Daily Mail, NY Post, came up before me about 10 years earlier and she stated she wrote a book called " American Predator " and her most recent about the Kennedy women & how horrible the Kennedy men treated them..Very true about all of that. Absolutely no question..issue is she stated JFK, Jr., wanted to kill himself and his wife and sister in law,which I definitely don't believe at all..I don't believe the original story by the already dead legacy media, which is propaganda central...issue is she stated she wrote it like a novel, and I'm guessed she did this so the Kennedy 's wouldn't sue her...I'm definitely not a fan of the Kennedys but I don't believe a nepo baby,handed millions as his inheritance by his mother,would want to kill himself..this I find ridiculous,even though, yes,it definitely was true that he & Carolyn were on the verge of divorce & he didn't have the majority of flight
hours you should have to fly a small plane like that, or any plane for that matter,but the name Kennedy will get you out of anything, including murder..it's infuriating what I read and definitely knew about the death of Martha Moxley, as I'm originally from Hingham, MA, my grandmother worked with Jackie Kennedy to help her get Jack into the presidency...she still has the lovely handwritten letter she wrote to my grandmother for her help. My grandparents were big Kennedy people..I just don't abide by the grotesque nepotism these untra wealthy children who did absolutely nothing to gain any wealth such as the now wanna be congressman Jack Schlossberg,who is an Instagram fool. I read that the Kennedy family literally black balled Caroline and Jack because of his insane and ridiculous behavior on social media, pretty much making them all look like fools..we all know Bobby Kennedy is a complete joke and screw up and I definitely don't believe that he's clean as he Saya he is because he hangs with alcoholic Tucker Carlson, Ketamine & Acid taking,( he admitted both on a 60 minutes interview) and as Bobby was known to have a hollow leg,used heroine and cocaine etc., his behavior is so off,I do believe he's probably still on substances..it doesn't matter that he's 71 or 72 years of age..sometimes they'll do this for life..he's another spoiled rotten nepo baby that isn't a Dr., scientist, or anyone who should give advice about anything medical..who cares what the ridiculous government says..I'll never listen to them anyway..the Constitution says "We the people " not we the elected /placed official..The so called Camelot days died when Jackie Kennedy died...that's just a fact and I'm a Millennial in my 40's and have read so much about the Kennedy's because I'm from MA.....oh well..I say keep writing forever and I hate these clowns who say the written word is dead because of social media??? What a joke..no the written word will always be amazing, incredible and comforting because we have so many amazing writers to read such as Hemingway, way too many of them to ever say something like that..I'm so happy I got to experience analog and I miss it so much as I miss the 90's...These grotesque tech bros are repulsive as they live in star wars land,THANKS DUMMY GEORGE LUCAS!! YOU'VE MADE EVERY SINGLE MAN ON EARTH A 5 YEAR OLD CLOWN...ugh..sickening...They don't grow up..and to the lol, Christmas lights pathetically filmed Star trech...these Things never die because dudes keep this garbage alive...it's ridiculous...grown men I've seen all the way up to their 60's will buy these ridiculous items for hundreds to thousands of dollars because they want to live in an alternate universe of baloney..ick!!! I'll never forgive these Marvel comic making movies v making amazing movies with substance that died with Gen X..the very last of the true movie stars .all these losers buying up all of the streaming companies, the movie companies and social media will lose BILLIONS...people hate all that ridiculous woke crap and because they refuse to listen,they'll be dead broke in less than 3 years..Bari Weise has absolutely no business heading CBS..they should never let anyone like the Ellisons monopolize everything as I'll definitely not waste my money on their crap movies and these ridiculous losers he hired for one specific reason, so he's over..he's all happy with his ridiculous 80 year old face-lift..but soon,soon enough this ridiculous fool will see that if you mess with the people, you go broke..nice talking to ya!!! Keep writing......
There's a saying: "Art for arts sake, money for Christ sake.
Why is someone a painter, or songwriter or writer/story teller, film maker, photographer? Because they love it. They love the medium, they love art. One goes into medicine to help the sick, because they love helping, healing the sick.
Money is not tied at the hip to any of this. When we need it to be, then we are setting ourselves up for disappointment.
Yes, a law student knows going in that there is lots of money to be made, so too a surgeon, or tech geek - and there is are and creativity in all those things - but the convention that we know to be art - should still be just about the love of that craft and it's results.
I often see people complain about not being able to pay rent as an artist - as if getting a job that pays is some strange thing. No, work at McDonalds, be a personal fitness trainer, be so many things where people are conventionally employed, and pay yo dam bills and be quite.
Then, in your own time, like antiquing, or basket weaving, do what you love - and enjoy doing that. If you make any money with your art - that is bonus, icing on the cake, but beyond that, money for Christ and bills sake, art for arts sake. Oliver
🖤 I’ve self published…22 books? Haven’t sold one. Not even to family. And yet that means absolutely nothing to me because I look at those books and my kids do too and I think…I did that. And my kids think “wow. Mom did that.” So I just keep on. At the end of the day that’s why I started anyway. Because I love it. That’s it. And sometimes I think I’m thankful for the silence because then I don’t need to deal with bad reviews or mean comments. There’s a grace in that too.
“surveillance capitalism dressed up as intimacy.” You are a very good writer by the way - AI or not. Great art /image choices as well.
An old soul who has found wisdom in enjoying 'creating for the sake of creating.'
Many could learn from you.
X
What if we paid surgeons a pittance and expected them to work at McDonald’s to subsidize their love of medicine?
I really needed this today! Now I feel like cheering!
Ditto!
I absolutely love this! And agree with every word. I’ve just had book 15 published (all trad) and this year I’ve started my Substack, started my new mentoring business plus in a year or two I’m planning to self-publish as well, alongside trad contracts. I’ve been facing burnout since I decided 2 years ago to try writing 3 trad-published books a year, all just to try to make ends meet. Even with 3 books a year and getting all of them into supermarkets, I still don’t earn enough to live in my tiny rented 2-bedroom house in Lincolnshire, one of the cheapest places to rent in the UK. I knew this was wrong and ridiculous but there was no point fighting it any longer. I’d been a teacher for decades so I revamped myself and now I’m a mentor, editor and newsletter writer and you know what? I’m absolutely loving it. I love meeting new people, seeing new work, using all the experience I’ve built up in publishing for the last 14 years and passing it on. It’s still appalling how little authors are paid, yet as you say, there are so many other interesting things to do as well, that every author needs a portfolio career. In fact, my greatest mentor - my Head of English when I was new teacher 30 years ago - told me back then that I didn’t want to be in a classroom forever. Diversify, he said. Very wise. And here I am, diversifying and loving it. (Authors still need to be paid better though!) Thanks for such a great article. :)
To be writing three traditionally published books a year is an intense commitment! In fact, writing any type of book three times a year is extremely intense.
It really is… 😅 I don’t want to do it anymore. I may have to this year for financial reasons but I’m hoping I can slow down that pace in the coming years. It’s not much fun!
I know it's easy for me to say, but it sounds though you are doing your best, and that's all you can do. A bit like the above article suggests, it may be useful to look at other ways you can take advantage of your skills and experience in ways that would take the pressure off yourself a little bit more (I say that as though I know what I'm doing). 😅
There's a saying: "Art for arts sake, money for Christ sake.
Why is someone a painter, or songwriter or writer/story teller, film maker, photographer? Because they love it. They love the medium, they love art. One goes into medicine to help the sick, because they love helping, healing the sick.
Money is not tied at the hip to any of this. When we need it to be, then we are setting ourselves up for disappointment.
Yes, a law student knows going in that there is lots of money to be made, so too a surgeon, or tech geek - and there is are and creativity in all those things - but the convention that we know to be art - should still be just about the love of that craft and it's results.
I often see people complain about not being able to pay rent as an artist - as if getting a job that pays is some strange thing. No, work at McDonalds, be a personal fitness trainer, be so many things where people are conventionally employed, and pay yo dam bills and be quite.
Then, in your own time, like antiquing, or basket weaving, do what you love - and enjoy doing that. If you make any money with your art - that is bonus, icing on the cake, but beyond that, money for Christ and bills sake, art for arts sake.
That’s a very fair point and that’s what I started doing last year, by setting up my own business as an editor and writing mentor - it’s actually going really well! I do a lot of my work via Reedsy and getting a steady stream of clients now and building reviews. So I hope this will continue and then I can earn more from that than I need to from writing, thus making it easier to reduce to one or two books a year (one book a year would be the dream!) That’s my business plan anyway. 😁
Great article, and you mentioned one of my biggest bugbears: "Editors feel safer commissioning celebrity books."
Having never received a rejection letter, (or even submitted anything to a publisher), I don't hold a grudge because Richard Osman, (or whoever), got ahead of me in the "queue". No. My beef is as a reader, who is appalled by the unimaginative dross that's written, (and published), by celebs. Yes, it's subjective - just my opinion. But I know what I like. And it's not what they write.
When a celebrity or political figure gets a book deal with obscene money I think several things.
Its a fake source of income
it is written by ghost writers
the publisher is looking for salacious gossip to sell the thing.
it isn't worthy of my time and money
You are right about celebrity writing, or ghostwriting. There are dreadful readsl, yet thet sell millions. Not fair is it?
Beware of "It has sold millions." no one questions who is buying the book, there are no numbers given and there is a lot of marketing words there.
Ya know, Taylor Swift's first album sold "millions" - her father bought them all to get the attention of the music industry executives- so yes, beware those words indeed.
So much interesting food for thought here. It really does feel impossible to make a living just as an author (or illustrator) and luckily for me I really enjoy teaching and working on projects in schools. But it’s also hard not to feel you’ve failed when a book you felt proud of sinks without a trace, and gets no promotion (other than what you do yourself) or reviews. A great reminder that it’s just a very tough industry, and no it is NOT our fault! Thanks Tammy!
Glad you liked it. One thing that hasn't changed is that people still enjoy reading, buying books and want to be writers. We just can't sit around anymore hoping that our book is going to be a hit. It's good to be proactive - and you are!
Thank goodness those things never change!
It is so hard to not feel like I've failed! I just had my first book traditionally published. I was well aware that I was going to have to do my part to promote this book, but I can't believe how very little my publisher has done to get this book out into the world. I feel like they really don't care and I'm all on my own.
I’ve published over 70 children’s books in 23 years and this has always been the case.
So sorry this has happened to you but you are not alone! And you have NOT failed!
That's basically how it goes for nearly every one - with a traditional deal or self-published. It's just that they don't tell you to expect it when you get a trad deal. Indie authors know this and embrace it, then find the handful ways that truly works for them. You've cracked the code, now lean into it if you still choose the path. One book doesn't define you.
Thank you Andrea. I had no idea what to expect when I landed a book deal, but I sure thought I'd have some publisher support. I've made a career as an artist on my own and I'll figure out how to sell this book myself too!
I'm loving that! I'm stepping into art in a surprise twist for my life...and it's definitely feeding into how I consider new approaches to the writing and publishing aspects.
My publisher was bought out by another one just as my third book was released. It shuffled sideways out of a back door (back in 2011) but still managed sell a full print run. I haven gotten my act together to finish writing another one yet, but happily my School of Nomad Arts, occasional teaching and my bletherings on substack are keeping body and soul together.
Really great piece! One of the biggest pieces of advice I'd give to new writers is to build multiple income streams (or at least be open to them) from the beginning of your career. Not only does it allow you to not be so reliant on one thing (which can be a disaster if the industry shifts or an economic downturn happens), but it also opens you up to new skills, people and roles you might never have thought you'd enjoyed. A portfolio career can be way more interesting and fulfilling than just clinging to one idea of being a writer (or anything creative).
Love this. I’ve had two books trad published and feel a bit disillusioned by it all, I’m searching for a new agent but thinking about self publishing and this essay has sparked a lot of ideas. Thank you.
Indie-publishing has been a game-changer for me. I’m going to write about it in-depth in the New Year. I think it’s information that every creative needs in their toolbox
Check out my history newsletter all free, over 400 articles, already 1466 subscribers, Making History Come Alive.
https://makinghistorycomealive.substack.com/
Please don’t spam.
Please accept my apologies for this
Please do. Because I always wonder how I'll navigate the publishing waters when I finish my first novel.
Yes please :)
Embracing self-publishing is the best gift I gave myself. It's where things are headed, and there's so much support available, and many models for every type of author.
Check out my history newsletter all free, over 400 articles, already 1466 subscribers, Making History Come Alive.
https://makinghistorycomealive.substack.com/
I've been self-publishing since around 2010. It started with a memoir for a friend recovering from cancer. She'd written a blog, and someone suggested she should write a book, so I collated all of her posts, homogenised the formatting, and published the book for her on Amazon. The last I heard, it had made over £1000 for her charity, but it was never the sort of book that would be picked up by a trad publisher.
I've since published 8 novels, 3 collections of short fiction, and 7 non-fiction author help books. Self-publishing has allowed me to be agile, and writing what a) I love and b) what I think will sell. I can't live off my book sales, but it allows me to run workshops and courses because I have the experience and back catalogue which gives me the credibility to teach others.
And quite often, I will write a book to sell alongside a workshop I'm running. Win-win!
Check out my history newsletter all free, over 400 articles, already 1466 subscribers, Making History Come Alive.
https://makinghistorycomealive.substack.com/
Check out my history newsletter all free, over 400 articles, already 1466 subscribers, Making History Come Alive.
https://makinghistorycomealive.substack.com/
Hi. This is the first post of yours that I've read and it's really wonderful. I've worked in the book industry for a long time as founder and director of a major international book festival based in Berkeley. Burned out, I left three years ago, moved to Paris (France), and am working on a book of my own on the topic of rest – because I've been exhausted and nearly everyone I know is exhausted. There's something very wrong going on, and I'm getting to the bottom of it from multiple levels.
At the same time I'm facing the very challenge that you're describing here, which is to function creatively while engaging with production, distribution, and revenue from the now-needed multiple streams.
It's really not easy, and I've read several posts just over the past few days about the challenges of moving outside a structured system into one where you basically oversee all the production, distribution and monetization as well as the creative side. It's daunting. I really appreciated these other posts. But I also really appreciated your post here because you took a positive view of the whole thing. Truly some tears came into my eyes as I read because you highlighted the excitement around such a multiplicity of challenges.
I have a great deal of business and marketing experience - so the basic SKILLS required to succeed - and I also know that I'm a good writer and have a meaningful and actually quite unique book idea in how I've conceived it. But the thought of bringing my business skills to my own creative work is, like, gulp.... Thank you for your wonderful cheerleading. ❤️
Good luck with the book - I’d love to read it when it’s done. Working in the creative industries is rewarding but hard work and the importance of rest is overlooked.
I’ve recently started writing a lot more but my background is in the music industry (major label for the last 4-5 years, and independent agency 2 years before that). From what I understand all creative industries are experiencing the same restructure because of the way capitalism works. Everyone would benefit would from the book you’re writing.
I had this idea some time ago that I would end up writing something that would catapult me into the world as a "writer." Instead, I go to work and make sure a 25k-employee agency gets the right workplace training it needs, then I come home, make dinner, check in with my wife on her day and do all the husband things that make my life a joy (no sarcasm), then sit down and write my stories. I get a few hours to write, post, and market my couple of novels, the hundreds of thousands of words on my Substack, and occasionally go back and read something that I wrote and smile. Even if no one reads me, my stories make me happy. I do have one guy, though, who reads everything, likes it, and comments. And sometimes I feel all of this is for him -- I got you, dude. Here comes another tale. And that's good enough.
Love this! I really appreciate this reminder, which is both realistic and hopeful: “We are not witnessing the death of the full-time author.
We are witnessing the death of a myth, and the rebirth of a new, more resilient, more expansive kind of writer.” Thank you for this. 💗
That's a great way to put this in words...I'm going to write this down. Boo👎to all people who say the written word is dead. When you think about that statement, it literally doesn't make sense. The written word,IMO,is now more important than ever. I believe I've read more books in the past 2 years than I did during high school and college days than ever before in my life. I've always been a voracious reader, always,always could spend 8 hours of bliss at The Strand reading books like crazy with my beloved coffee...sounds cliché, but I absolutely love it. My parents brought me to this incredible library when I was 6 years old in MA..New England is a story within itself because of the beauty, the amazing colleges and I went absolutely nuts in there. It was an amazing place for kids because they had instruments we could play as well. It was in a closed off room with a great deal of padding so as not to let the acoustics bother people in that fantastic 3 story library ...I believe my parents had to drag me out of that place because I was having way too much fun....
I self published my first book. Before now I was a known musician for 12 years until I got tired of the box. My soul left long before my body and mind followed. Now I still make music but better - I have a container that can carry all of my creativity. Writing, making ritual art, producing and writing songs and I’ve never been more proud and at peace. I truly enjoyed reading this- it checked so many boxes for me.
I was a little bit afraid when I started to read but by the end I was more reassured
Thanks for all the advice- so valuable x
Gosh, you’re a positive lady! I love your history lesson on the truth about the career of author. The gatekeeping in the current publishing industry seems insurmountable for the everyday author but you are right not to give up and to find another way. Writers gotta write. I’m going to check out “private lives.”
Indie publishing has been a game-changer for many and increasingly, trad publishers are looking to buy self-publishing hits. It’s a tough industry for sure, but there are still many success stories out there and you don’t need to ‘chosen’ to make an income. Thanks for looking out for Private Lives!
Feel like the market for full time writers has shrunk but it was always a tough sled. The ones I knew earlier in my career always seemed to be hustling on the side with articles or speaking engagements or some other side business. Only a rarified few appeared to live off book deals and royalties. Thanks for the perspective adjustment article
A really honest and insightful article.