Fat Abe,
not being perfect while writing software is actually one of the ways to succeed - how else can you justify upgrade costs, and a v2 to include all the things you didn't get around to in v1.
Being a software developer I really shouldn't have said that. But what I can add is that one of the most depressing things about writing software is its short lifespan. You've barely released it and it's out of date (if it wasn't already out of date before you released). Fiction may also fall out of date, but you generally get at least a few years out of it before it gets embarrassing.
None of which changes the fact that anyone that takes up writing fiction
expecting to make a living from it has obviously not done much research - like maybe five minutes with Google. Sure some people make it that far, but it's not something you can
expect, just something you can try and see how it comes out - pretty much like anyone else that tries to run their own business.