full time

Posted by admin | December 15, 2020

Another event has made me think about the future and my desire to do more with my writing. A writer friend and mentor has been laid off from his primary source of income and he is going to use this opportunity to write for a living. He’s actually been thinking about doing this for a while, but now his hand has been forced. While I wouldn’t want to be forced into this situation, I do wonder what it would take for me to position myself to where he is.

One thing I think about is the “get rich quick” scenario. That was part of what drove me to write in the first place. Call me naive, but I thought I would write a novel and money would rain down on me. The reality is it has become another expensive hobby. Albeit very enjoyable, but still expensive. I do still think that maybe this next one (Whispers Within releasing 1/5/2021) will be my big breakthrough. Or maybe I’ll hit the casino and walk out with a truckload of cash. In any case, I would need a safety net before I can just walk away from my job.

Another thing I think about is to write part time until I retire and then write full time (which is what I’m doing). Again, I’m thinking of a safety net in having a 401k to fall back on in case I’m still scraping by with my writing. But that means my readers must wait a little longer for the sequels or even just the next collection of stories. Hopefully, you all are patient!

Notice that I’m working on having a safety net. I’ve been told that to become profitable in the business of writing, you need to cut the cord and venture out on your own. I have a friend doing this right now. Not sure if she is making enough to live on, but she is a bit more successful than I am with her sales. She also released a thirteen-book series in about five months, so she deserves the success. Check her out here.

Another problem I have is that I have some other expensive hobbies and I care for some expensive animals. Jynx, Milo, and Zailey are expensive. Between medicine, food, treats, and toys, I can’t afford these creatures! I don’t know how many times I’ve threatened to give one of them the boot at the slightest of irritations. I’ve told my wife that when one dies, hopefully at an old age and of natural causes, that we aren’t replacing them. After losing two and a proper grieving time, then we’ll talk about getting another animal.

Thus, this is the future I have planned out. What do you think?