When Should You Become a Full-Time Writer?
Are you going to quit your job to write full time?
I was asked this question at the Annapolis Book Festival this past weekend (which was a great festival, BTW), It was after my panel with Peter Blauner and Valerie Constantine. I was signing books and, in the course of conversation, mentioned that I had a day job. And was asked if I had plans to leave my job.
And, no, I don’t plan on leaving until my day job replaces me with a robot. So, like, three months maybe? Ha ha, j/k. I hope.
Why? Don’t have you have the balls to write full time?
It’s not that, what it really boils down to is…okay, sorry, this is a separate point, but I need to address it.
I’ve long-stated that we should retire the word “balls” as an adjective for toughness. Balls are fragile. There is no toughness to them. Going forward, we should all agree on a different part of the anatomy to suggest strength, and I’d like to offer the elbow. Similarly to balls, elbows are unattractive, and they’re also wrinkled, but they’re tough.
Why don’t you have the ‘bows to write full time?
It feels that way, of course, but I think dreams always feel that way. I’ve written before about my reluctant acceptance of dissatisfaction. I’ll likely feel there was always more I could have done - which isn’t an excuse, just a rationality.
And rationality is an important element of survival. I have a mortgage, and a kid, and a car payment, and a remaining balance on the Citibank Visa card I got in college in the 90s, and we just bought a pet lizard for some reason. I don’t make enough from books to depend on my writing alone.
How do other writers do it?
I do know quite a few writers writing full-time, and there are usually two ways they manage (assuming they don’t sell a book for zillions, right off the bat):
They rely on support from their spouses or families, and they have “just enough” financial freedom to take the risk. But I’ve never felt comfortable depending on one salary. What if my wife ends up getting mauled by a gaggle of geese? And then it’s just me and no single steady source of income, providing for my kid? And the lizard? I don’t want to risk living like that, especially because, as we all know, geese are assholes.
You could also look into writing other projects, and hope to build a career in that fashion. That’s certainly possible, especially if that work extends beyond the whims of the freelance market (which, speaking of robots, AI is ruthlessly destroying). For example, months ago I interviewed Alex Segura and Lydia Kang about their work writing for Star Wars and Marvel, in addition to their own books. But that’s a tough market to crack. And, again, not one that offers a regular paycheck.
Ugh, there you go again with the idea of a “regular paycheck.”
I know, I know. It’s certainly not the most important thing, and a lot of writers (artists, in particular) are built for what has been optimistically nicknamed “the gig economy.” Years ago, I listened to a speech by David Mack, a prolific writer and Grandmaster of the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers, and he detailed how he’d forged his writing career, and was honest about the hardships and rewards. In particular, he was candid about writing as a profession, and the necessity of considering it as such. It was an important, sobering speech.
But isn’t publishing a lumbering, dying beast? One taking it’s last gasps as it staggers through an arid plain? Not to be rude.
People have been talking about the pros and cons of publishing as a profitable industry recently, given this viral essay claiming that no one buys books anymore, and the rebuttal that says, look, stupid, people do buy books (I’d also suggest it’s okay because writers are supposed to feel bad).
My general sense with publishing is that it always seems on the tipping point of failure, and yet survives. As Salman Rushdie famously wrote in the New Yorker nearly thirty years ago, the novel has been prematurely eulogized countless time. One day, those eulogies will be accurate.
I don’t think that’s today.
So, if you had the financial freedom to write full-time, would you do it?
I don’t know.
Writing well depends on more than the availability of time. And success in publishing depends on far too many factors. The writer with a Big Five contract may find themselves struggling to find any publisher three years later. It’s always good to remember, as David Mack said, that publishing is an industry and, in particular, it’s entertainment. A television series may be popular one season, canceled the next. Books are no different, aside from generally taking longer to write and having less attractive people involved.
As long as I can what I want to say, what I think I need to say, I’m good with my time.
Part-time, full-time, however you need to parcel it. This is the best job I’ve ever had.
EA
Throughout May, my thriller No Home for Killers will be on sale (US-only) for just $2.49 on Kindle! That’s so cheap!
With every copy you buy, Taco the baby gecko can eat another meal. Otherwise, he’ll die, and it’ll be all your fault. I’m sorry to put this on you. SAVE TACO this May!
You all like George Pelecanos, right? DC’s most famous crime fiction writer, worked on The Wire, that guy? He’ll be in discussion on May 1st with DC Public Library about his new novella, Buster: A Dog. I’ve had the pleasure to work with DCPL in the past, and they do such a wonderful job with events in the community (and nationally). If you’re in the area, check it out!
Also, my agency sibling and friend and award-winning writer and co-founder of Crime Writers of Color Kellye Garrett will be at Loyalty Books on May 2 with Alyssa Cole and L.S. Stratton in promotion of her new book, Missing White Woman. Learn more and register here.
A quick note on two of the books below - The Bootlegger’s Daughter and The Alone Time are both Amazon First Reads picks for April, which means you can download them for free prior to May 1 (if you have Amazon Prime). Clickety-click!
The Bootlegger’s Daughter, by Nadine Nettmann
It’s 1927. Letty Hart’s father is long gone, but his old winery provides a meager wage and a legal livelihood for selling sacramental wine. But when that contract goes bust, Letty stumbles upon a desperate option: her father’s hidden cellar, and enough liquor to tempt Letty to bootleg the secret stash. In an underworld dominated by merciless men, Letty is building an empire.
Officer Annabel Forman deserves to be the first female detective in the LAPD. But after two years on the force, she’s still consigned to clerical work and policing dance halls. When Annabel connects a series of unsolved murders to bootlegging, it’s a chance at a real investigation. Under the thumb of dismissive male superiors, Annabel is building her case.
As their formerly uncompromised morals erode, Letty and Annabel are on a collision course—and determined to prove they’re every bit as ruthless and strong-willed as the powers that be who want to take them down.
The Alone Time, Elle Marr
Fiona and Violet Seng were just children when their family’s Cessna crash-landed in the Washington wilderness, claiming the lives of their parents. For twelve harrowing weeks, the girls fended for themselves before being rescued. Twenty-five years later, they’re still trying to move on from the trauma. Fiona repurposes it into controversial works of art. Violet has battled addiction and failed relationships to finally progress toward normalcy as a writer. The estranged sisters never speak about what they call their Alone Time in the wild. They wouldn’t dare—until they become the subject of a documentary that renews public fascination with the “girl survivors” and questions their version of the events.
When disturbing details about the Seng family are exposed, a strange woman claims to know the crash was deliberate. Fiona and Violet must come together to face the horrifying truth of what happened out there and what they learned about their parents and themselves. Before any other secrets emerge from the woods.
Secrets of a Scottish Isle, Erica Ruth Neubauer
Isle of Iona, 1927: Cast away on a remote locale, Jane’s latest assignment depends on concealing her identity and blending in at an occult gathering. Not even her fiancé, Redvers, can be too close as she uncovers the truth about Robert Nightingale, enigmatic leader of the Order of the Golden Dawn—a group made up of supernatural ceremonies, influential people, and an undefinable darkness. When a woman tries to escape to the mainland only to be found murdered in the moors, the shocking scene reveals it’s easier to join the Golden Dawn than it is to leave.
Jane, set on solving the crime and catching the next ferry with Redvers, realizes she may be among the few still grasping reality. One high-ranking member searches for the killer by attempting to access otherworldly planes of existence, while others become immersed in a strange solstice ritual. Then there’s Nightingale and the rivals who discarded him to start a new temple. As a second death brings fresh clues into focus, Jane needs to navigate a frightening dilemma—playing along won’t help her crack the mystery, but revealing too much could be a fatal mistake…
The General’s Gold, LynDee Walker and Bruce Robert Coffin
When Mark Hawkins is found dead in a seedy motel, police deem it an accidental overdose. But billionaire computer genius Avery Turner suspects there might be more to the story. Her old friend was on the trail of the legendary General's Gold, and now Avery is determined to pick up where he left off…
Teaming up with Carter Mosley, a deep-sea shipwreck diver and adrenaline junkie turned social media sensation, Avery embarks on a dangerous quest for the treasure—and the truth. From Florida to Maine, and from the mountains of Virginia to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, they face treacherous gangs, man-eating sharks, and a world of deception and double-crosses.
As they navigate hidden clues and uncertain allies, Avery and Carter must outwit their deadly adversaries and unravel the mystery surrounding the General's Gold. But in this high-stakes game, losing the treasure could cost them their lives.
It's giveaway time! The winner of a copy of any of the books listed above is:
j___y_1@yahoo.com
Congrats, and I'll send you an email soon!
Thanks to everyone who came out to the Annapolis Book Festival last weekend! Just a quick note that I’ll also be at the Gaithersburg Book Festival on May 18, moderating a panel featuring Jeff Hoffmann, Vera Kurion, and Sara Sheppard! I’m reading all three of their books simultaneously, which should make for an awkward panel where I get all the questions wrong. But good for gossip afterward, highly recommended.