How to make a living writing: The advice you don’t want to hear
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If you’re a writer or another creator, you aren’t going to like reading this. This post will piss you off, but I hope it will make you think a little about your direction and goals.
A fellow writer friend emailed me and asked how I manage to stay motivated when writing. How day by day, I write and make progress in my work. How I manage to post consistently. Juggle family life, creativity, health, and business. How I manage to wake up at 5am on days off and get to work day by day.
As if by magic, I heard this saying, to ‘outwork your self-doubt,’ and it hugely resonated with me.
I’m not going to go into imposter syndrome or feeling out of your depth. Those things go without saying.
No. I make a habit of writing. I make it part of my day. My writing is a non-negotiable activity. I must do it, and I have a list of promises I make to myself. A task list to complete that never ends.
Write X amount today. Read this marketing book. Post this content. This call to action. Create this advert. Hit this word count deadline. Complete this edit. I do not break those promises. Because when you can’t trust yourself to get your shit done, then you can’t trust anyone.
Use self-doubt as fuel. It’s the enemy, and you must crush it every time it rears its head. Be hungry for the self-doubt, and then devour it with your successes at the end of the day. Every time I hit the keys on the keyboard. Each time I cross something off my list. Every new email subscriber. Every new story. Every new fan email. It’s all one more millimetre up the mountain.
Keep the promises you make to yourself. No one cares if you fail. Only you.
And only you hold the key to your own success.
- J
About Jay Darkmoore -
Jay Darkmoore is a UK horror and Dark Fantasy writer. He enjoys the darker and more Macabre sides to story telling, and has a great time doing it.
Starting with his debut Novel in 2020 ‘The Space Between Heaven and Hell,’ a multiple POV thriller mystery novel which delves into the deepest depravities and secrets of the human mind, he has gone on to self publish anthologies and a fantasy sage.
His Podcast ‘The Darkmoore Diaries,’ tackles issues such as mental health, relationships and more ‘human’ elements of life, where as his YouTube channel supports writers in honing their craft.
He has a distinct eye for the unusual, and often can be seen enjoying cold weather in frozen lakes, and is a wellbeing and fitness enthusiast. He is two opposing sides of the same coin. The yin and the yang, the dark and the light, and he has a great time bringing both terror, and comfort into peoples lives.
What it’s really like being an independently published author
What it’s really like being an Indie Author
You have been lied to.
Forget the ‘Make $1000 a day’ or ‘How to get RICH quick with KDP’ videos on YouTube. I am telling you now. They are complete bullshit.
Think about it; why would anybody do anything other than sell books on KDP if it was that easy to make money? And not only that, if you discovered a secret money pile, would you really tell everyone about it? It’s clickbait. And I feel that you, like me, have been on that hook many times.
I have been selling books independently using Amazon KDP for around two years now. Let me save you a lot of pain in the long run and allow me to break your heart quickly.
It is not easy. It is not a get-rich-quick scheme. I have been a delivery driver, a carer for disabled children, and even a police officer. And running a business as an independent author is by far the hardest job I have ever had to do.
And yet, I and thousands of others still do it. Not because I want to get rich quickly (even though I wouldn’t mind having a few more zeros in my bank account generated from book sales), but because I must write stories. I must get them out of my head. I must see what the characters get up to and I am their guide, as they too guide me through the narrative.
So that said, is KDP a fool’s game? Far from it. Is it possible to make a living, even a great living from selling books online? Absolutely. But is it easy? Not a cat in hell’s chance.
The Three Questions
Firstly, if you want to sell books on KDP, you have to ask yourself are you prepared to invest money into book covers and editors.
Are you willing to spend money on adverts, keywords and marketing?
Are you willing to spend hours and hours not only writing a book, but editing it, sending it out to beta readers, Advanced Copy Readers, build a network of other writers and readers in the hope that with enough time, effort and tears you will eventually be able to make a living out of doing this?
If you answered No to a single one of those questions, then give up now and don’t bother. But if you answered Yes to all of them, then you are about to embark on an amazing journey.
Like the heroes in the stories we write, being an independent author is filled with a roller coaster of emotions. I remember the first time I was able to buy a meal with the royalties I got from my debut novel The Space Between Heaven and Hell. I remember my first bad review on The Everlife Chronicles. I remember the amazing interviews I have had with writers on my Instagram, and the first YouTube video I uploaded that got comments.
Self-publishing is an incredible thing to make a living from if you have a realistic mindset about it all. It won’t be overnight, and if you can’t defer gratification then this is not the career for you.
When I first started self-publishing, I devoured everything I could about the subject. Some things stuck, and others didn’t. I made mistakes. I wasted money. I bought courses that promised a quick fix. I bought budget book covers that still give me nightmares. I skipped out on the editing. I overpaid for ads. All to chase the dream.
But there is something that comes from fucking up. You get experience. You lick your wounds, and you get back up and get back in front of the keyboard and you crunch away. You will always make mistakes. You will always have more to learn, and you will pick yourself up more times than you can count and get back to it.
So for the budding author reading this. I thank you. Not only for reading my blog, but for chasing your dream in the pursuit of writing stories.
If you are looking to embark on this journey, then I implore you to read on to my next blog, ‘How to Market as an Indie Author.’