Quote:
Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan
[...]And getting back to the OP, I think this is something every writer should consider when deciding if this field is right for them. In hindsight, I should probably have never started writing, since I've never been a good self-promoter, nor do I have a horde of friends to support me and my work. I wish someone had explained it to me, so I might have gone into some more worthwhile activity and spared myself the hassle of writing.
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It is certainly something every writer should consider - IF earning an income is their goal. Everything that I've read, for many years, has been quite clear about the fact that writing is not a good means of earning money. The only potential exceptions appear to be those that doing it truly professionally: journalists and teachers that spend years perfecting their craft and able to earn money from a variety of sources.
The ebook revolution is changing things to the extent that many people can earn some money from their work, but - as expected - very few (percentage-wise) earn what could seriously be called an income. Other threads on this forum bear out this fact. Ebooks haven't mysteriously increased the size of the market, the number of readers (or not that I've seen evidence of, and certainly not dramatically), they've simply made it easier for new writers to make their work available. Availability doesn't magically transmute to sales. Even writers that have the support of traditional publishers rarely make very much money. The existence of ebooks changes the nature of publishing, but they do not change the nature of readers. Their existence will not change the ratios of financial success.
I think everyone that starts writing as a hobby needs to clearly understand this: That even with the ease of self-publishing, your books are unlikely to ever repay (in financial terms) the time you have put into them. (The time you better have put into them, if you expect to earn anything at all.) If you want a career in writing: start young and become a journalist or teacher; if that doesn't appeal, put away your expectations of making money and write for your own enjoyment, that way anything you do earn - financially - is a bonus.
I started writing because I felt compelled to, I have kept at it because it has become an obsession. I hope to publish my books, but I am in no hurry, I don't seriously expect to be able to give up my day job - as much as I would like to.