by Elton Gahr

Created on: May 24, 2009

It often seems that nearly everyone wants to write a book, they talk about how there isn't the time, or they don't have the idea, or they are simply afraid to write because they don't think it would be good. What most of these people really want though is to have written a book. The process itself isn't what interests them it is the glamour of being an author.

Even those who enjoy writing and like the process of creating a book still are not really aware of what the reality is though. They assume that if they can just sell a book their lives will be easy. They think that their expectations are reasonable. All they want is enough money for their novel to quit their job and write full time.

The realities sadly do not entirely match up with the dreams. The first of these realities is the question of fame. Very few authors are famous. The reason all the authors you know of are famous is because you only hear about the famous ones. For the vast majority no one cares that the published a book.

The second reality check comes with the understanding of money. You can earn a living as a write, many people do. You can even become rich as a writer but that is not the normal state for a write. The average published author earned 33% below the national average wage. Not only that, but the top 10% of writers earned 50% of the salary. Writing because you want to earn money is a bad strategy. Wanting to earn money for the writing that you want to anyway is a far better plan.

Another reality that a writer must face is that simply selling their book won't guarantee them anything. The average novel sells about 6000 copies, first novels are typically far less than that. This means that the book you spent a year on may only sell 3000 copies, or less. Unless you write a best seller you are still going to have to work to get your second novel out and if it doesn't do better then you're risking getting stuck in the midlist forever.

The most important reality of writing though is the last one. We love doing it, and despite the understanding that it is difficult, that it won't make us rich, that we might not even be able to sell it we are going to continue to do it. The understanding that so many writers make under the national average isn't one that is fun to hear, but as writers what we really hear is that we can make a living doing what we love. Work hard, have passion, be willing to struggle and the reality of a writing is that it's possible to do what you love.

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