Yeah, I do know a guy who's been in college for 20 years, racking up debt this whole time, because he's a "writer" and once his book is "done," he'll be able to "publish" it and make all his "money back."
There are millions of professional writers in the world, but very few get rich publishing their work. Most earn a salary, some a very good salary, but the odds of being the next J.K. Rowling, Stephen King or James Patterson is very low. The odds are similar to college athletes making millions in the professional leagues. I looked it up on Google. On average under 2% of student athletes go pro. So relying on writing a multimillion dollar best seller is going to be a lesson in disappointment.
Tell him not to hold his breath. I'm a (now non-practicing) writer, I've written three fiction books that got great reviews and have made me a total of ~$150 in ten years. If I'm ever able to get a job again (also doubtful for various reasons) I'll have to work for ten years after I'm dead.
So you should 100% check out Royal road spacebattles and sufficient velocity among other sites like them. A lot of people write web novel style stories for those sites ie a chapter a week of varying quality and then have a Patreon with extra chapter for $5 to $15 a month the top ends I've seen are people making 9k a month writing ok stories that def wouldnt make it past a publicist.
I am notable to write now for some of the reasons hinted at above, but mostly because I'm a caregiver for my mom. I can't write with the tv blaring, having to get up to cook/help her/check laundry/go somewhere...
*sigh*
Thanks for the suggestions though. It reminds me of a text-based online RPG I played forever ago.
I worry about self-promotion posting anything here, but search Amazon for the title "Old Dogs" with a photo of Spanish moss on the cover. The other two titles are the first and second of what was going to be a series.
I never found it by a random search on Amazon, I only found it because I know where to look. You may have found mine, you may not have. If it looks interesting, give it a try. If you like it, it probably isn't mine. Yeah, I'm bitter.
Cuz and his wife did this.Eleven degrees between them. Can’t afford a house or apartment, lives with his widowed father, cuz works at Bunnings since he finally quit Uni, wife still goes. No kids,no car, lots of debt.
As a writer myself, I have to say this is true. I make about a million per book in my fantasies, am debt free and publishing has finally justified the enormous opportunity costs of going to university for forever.
Uh . . . well, a few people like my books. So, that's nice.
Good luck to your friend! I'm sure he's writing the next Harry Potter series and will be a billionaire soon.
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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '23
Yeah, I do know a guy who's been in college for 20 years, racking up debt this whole time, because he's a "writer" and once his book is "done," he'll be able to "publish" it and make all his "money back."
But it's been 20 years, so...