Quote:
Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan
Don't want to. We need trees more than we need paper.
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Several important things come on paper. One is books. One is money. Like it or not, when your books exist on paper, people see that as a sign of quality, and they'll be more likely to give you money. Also, when your books exist on paper, people see them,
period. They then give you money. More people buy pbooks than ebooks. More people visit Barnes & Noble than MobileRead. Paper equals paper.
If you choose to publish only electronically for philosophical reasons, that's entirely your choice, but you can't then complain that your sales don't equal the sales of people who made a different (and more profitable) choice. Apples and oranges.
And sorry about raining on your parade, but the numbers don't lie. Making a living as a writer not only is, but
always has been, damned tough. Making a living as a genre writer (unless it's a current hugely-popular genre) is, and always has been, even tougher.
Writing is not a good way to make a living. Remember that William Faulkner didn't (re)write Hollywood scripts because he liked it; he did that because he liked eating. Writing because you love to write is a good thing, and if you're lucky, you might make a living at it. Writing because you want to make a living is a non-starter, because very, very few writers ever do. Dreams are a good thing ... but being a plumber is a more reliable route to success.