- Feb 3, 2024
- LitBits
- 0
New blog post by Jake E
Writing as a job
Recently, I came across a fiery argument on multiple social media platforms around the topic a writer compensation. On the face of it, it shouldn’t be a hugely controversial topic – work should be paid for – but as with anything opened to mass criticism you find that many miss the point. Some deliberately.
Authors, artists, and anyone creative work hard on their projects over many hundreds of hours, so being compensated fairly for that effort should be a forgone conclusion.
But it isn’t.
Personally, I work three jobs just to keep me and my family afloat. The cost of living is at an all-time high and finding the time to write anything amid the chaos of parenthood, work, and that most elusive of things: sleep, is an act of madness. If I could drop those three jobs and just write, I’d be able to produce far more, and my mental health might take a turn for the better at the same time.
I’m not a traditionally published author, though I always wanted to be. I once looked at all the successful writers in Waterstones and imagined the houses they must live in, the cars they must drive… they probably shopped at Waitrose. It was a dream of doing the thing I loved and making a life out of it, but as with all dreams, there comes a time when you must wake up.
Those lives of eating Marks and Spencer’s Our Best Ever range are few and far between. I learned this when I started down the road of querying. Most traditionally published authors fall into the ‘mid-list’. A realm of writers good enough to be picked up by a publisher but not good enough (or marketable enough) to be given a slice of the marketing pie. Left to their own devices, these authors are expected to market their books, cultivate a following, and create a platform from which they can reach more readers all the while being paid… nothing*.
When I learned this, I began to wonder what the point of publishing houses was. If I must get a day job – or three – to pay my way and pay for marketing myself, what do I need them for? Royalties from book sales are famously low once the publisher has taken their slice, and you only get that once the book has paid out its advance.
And this brings me to the aforementioned argument.
When authors complain about compensation, they are hit, almost as if it’s part of a script, with the following platitude:
You should write for the love of writing.
Well, here’s the thing: We already do, but you can’t eat love or use it to buy groceries. I know; I tried. It’s one of the reasons I’m banned from Waitrose.
I often hear the same thing said to teachers and nurses. As if wanting to be able to live comfortably is some kind of transgression and only to be afforded to venture capitalists and Jeff Bezos.
I’m not asking for yachts or mansions (though that would be nice please and thank you) I’m just asking to be able to work one job and have all my needs fulfilled and if that job could be writing all the better.
I think this is why so many Indie authors are popping up. Indie publishing can be more lucrative than running the gauntlet of querying. You only need to look at some of the indie authors earning six figures to know that it is possibly with enough grift and there’s no bar to reach, no entry requirements of the elusive ‘market’. For me, getting traditionally published simply isn’t worth it anymore.
And so, I work. Novel after novel and one day, maybe, I’ll be able to afford an Our Best Ever Macaroni and Cheese on the regular. Who knows, I may even be able to push the boat out and get a trifle as well.
J
*This is disingenuous. They aren’t paid ‘nothing’. It just might as well be.
---
Writing as a job
Recently, I came across a fiery argument on multiple social media platforms around the topic a writer compensation. On the face of it, it shouldn’t be a hugely controversial topic – work should be paid for – but as with anything opened to mass criticism you find that many miss the point. Some deliberately.
Authors, artists, and anyone creative work hard on their projects over many hundreds of hours, so being compensated fairly for that effort should be a forgone conclusion.
But it isn’t.
Personally, I work three jobs just to keep me and my family afloat. The cost of living is at an all-time high and finding the time to write anything amid the chaos of parenthood, work, and that most elusive of things: sleep, is an act of madness. If I could drop those three jobs and just write, I’d be able to produce far more, and my mental health might take a turn for the better at the same time.
I’m not a traditionally published author, though I always wanted to be. I once looked at all the successful writers in Waterstones and imagined the houses they must live in, the cars they must drive… they probably shopped at Waitrose. It was a dream of doing the thing I loved and making a life out of it, but as with all dreams, there comes a time when you must wake up.
Those lives of eating Marks and Spencer’s Our Best Ever range are few and far between. I learned this when I started down the road of querying. Most traditionally published authors fall into the ‘mid-list’. A realm of writers good enough to be picked up by a publisher but not good enough (or marketable enough) to be given a slice of the marketing pie. Left to their own devices, these authors are expected to market their books, cultivate a following, and create a platform from which they can reach more readers all the while being paid… nothing*.
When I learned this, I began to wonder what the point of publishing houses was. If I must get a day job – or three – to pay my way and pay for marketing myself, what do I need them for? Royalties from book sales are famously low once the publisher has taken their slice, and you only get that once the book has paid out its advance.
And this brings me to the aforementioned argument.
When authors complain about compensation, they are hit, almost as if it’s part of a script, with the following platitude:
You should write for the love of writing.
Well, here’s the thing: We already do, but you can’t eat love or use it to buy groceries. I know; I tried. It’s one of the reasons I’m banned from Waitrose.
I often hear the same thing said to teachers and nurses. As if wanting to be able to live comfortably is some kind of transgression and only to be afforded to venture capitalists and Jeff Bezos.
I’m not asking for yachts or mansions (though that would be nice please and thank you) I’m just asking to be able to work one job and have all my needs fulfilled and if that job could be writing all the better.
I think this is why so many Indie authors are popping up. Indie publishing can be more lucrative than running the gauntlet of querying. You only need to look at some of the indie authors earning six figures to know that it is possibly with enough grift and there’s no bar to reach, no entry requirements of the elusive ‘market’. For me, getting traditionally published simply isn’t worth it anymore.
And so, I work. Novel after novel and one day, maybe, I’ll be able to afford an Our Best Ever Macaroni and Cheese on the regular. Who knows, I may even be able to push the boat out and get a trifle as well.
J
*This is disingenuous. They aren’t paid ‘nothing’. It just might as well be.
---
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