Can You Be A Professional Writer?

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(This is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Yes, you can be a professional writer.

Every now and then I have a discussion with someone who wants to be a professional writer. I’ve decided to compile my advice to help clarify it, and of course, make it easier for people that ask me that question.

Where does this come from – since my writing is more of a side thing? It comes from:

  • Knowing professional writers.
  • Knowing people wanting to be professional writers.
  • Researching writing careers – I had considered a change I didn’t make.
  • My own experience in writing and researching it.

So let’s go!

CAN I BE A PROFESSIONAL WRITER?

Yes, you can.

WAIT, THAT SEEMED EASY

Yes, because there are many, many ways to make a living at writing. The question is more “which path as a professional writer fits you.” Most people miss the kind of obvious ones.

OK, WHAT’S THE OBVIOUS ONE?

The obvious writing career is writing professionally in areas like being a Technical Writer, develop Marketing content on websites, and so on. There’s a huge variety of them out there – and I keep finding more over time.

Then there’s writer-adjacent jobs like Editor, etc.

If you do a look on any job site and search for things like Writing, Writer, Editor, Publishing, etc. you can find quite a few ideas.

OH. SO IT’S WRITING “JOBS” LITERALLY?

Yeah, exactly. There’s lots of them out there. If you don’t want to do corporate stuff, you can find them in government, education, non-profits, etc. Just keep digging.

Again, these are jobs basically with “lots of writing.” So, you can make a living at it – some people do very well.

NICE. SO LET’S TALK THE CLASSIC “I WRITE BOOKS FOR A LIVING” JOB?

A lot of people think writing careers are just “I write books.” They’re not. In my experience a lot more people do “writing jobs” to use their writing skills. In fact, those are great jobs to do to prime yourself or support yourself on a writing career.

Now as for the whole “Write Books For A Living” type job, basically as a kind of freelancer, yes it can be done. It’s just very challenging and too many people miss the amount of effort it takes or how long it takes.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN?

A lot of successful authors, those with the big hit book or series that pays the bills, didn’t just suddenly become a success overnight. They laid a foundation, often for years.

Even if you do create a sudden mega-hit, the lead up to it will take years, if only to write the thing and make contacts.

SO HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE?

Based on what I’ve seen, if you decide to become an author that makes a living writing books, it can take years if you’re also holding down a full-time job. A decade is not out of the question.

It’s probably a lot faster if you can dedicate yourself full-time.

There’s plenty of books out there on authors. Chris Fox’s books are the ones everyone recommends (and even he doesn’t make all his money with books, but he sees to be having a blast)

SO I NEED TO WRITE FOR TEN YEARS?

No, not just writing. Writing is part of a writing career. You need to:

  • Write books.
  • Get books edited, get covers done, etc.
  • Get them published in a format people will buy.
  • Market them.
  • Market yourself with websites, newsletters, etc.
  • Set up ads.
  • Constantly improve your craft.

You can see how the more time you have the more chance you can pull it off.

SO IT’S A SMALL BUSINESS?

Pretty much. If you land a publishing deal that helps, but even then expect a lot of work (and contracts). But yeah, you’re running your own business – and even if you swing some sweet deals it’ll still be like that.

But hey, you get tax writeoffs and such if you do it write.

BUT AT LEAST I CAN WRITE WHAT I WANT

Maybe, maybe not. The thing with people who make a living writing, independently, is they seem to find a market, build a market, or target a market. If you just want to do “whatever” then the chance of succeeding is very low.

I’M GOING TO NEED TO THINK IT OVER, AREN’T I?

Yes. If you have a specific vision for your writing, then you need to do good marketing and try to find your audience.

On the other hand if you’re open to “writing whatever sells” then it’s probably more likely you can succeed. You’re going to compete with other people doing the same thing, but there are many “same things” to try.

LET’S SAY I DECIDE TO INVESTIGATE THE MARKETS, WHAT DO I DO?

Well, the Fox books are good. You can often find lots of advice online online and books on Amazon. There’s honestly so many you’ll probably want to search for reliable sources yourself.

Then you want to write like crazy.

ANY OTHER ADVICE?

Do your research, stick with it, and connect with as many authors as possible to learn.

Steven Savage

Random Thoughts On Commuting

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(This is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

I live in Silicon Valley. I commute (usually by car as I have someone to carpool with), and have been in a variety of commuting arrangements. This has led to Me Having Thoughts on commuting.

Oh and hearing about my friends in various cities also dealing with commuting has led to More Thoughts.

As The Bird Flies is Nothing

Though I shouldn’t be, it’s fairly obvious if you do any commuting and have gone over the best strategies, actual distance means nothing. It does not matter if something is closer or father in far, far too many cases.

This is, of course because roads, traffic jams, highways, buses, trains, etc. all change how you get from one place to another. Things may be “close” but boy one narrow street or one lousy bus schedule eliminates the value of “close.”

Can We Have More Buses?

You’ve doubtlessly heard about how fifty single-use cars can be replaced by one bus. I’ve taken to counting how many unfilled buses worth of traffic are in traffic jams. It’s very educational.

Mostly, it’s educated me to “how many damn cars do we have here.”

Bus lines can get weird, of course, because of the assorted challenges of setting them up. But whenever I see traffic jams in areas that we know tons of people are going to be in, I want to give more buses a try, especially for local traffic.

Oh, Hey, Trains

The “train family” (trains, trams, subways) are great forms of public transport. You can haul a bunch of people, and the good ones allow you to eat on board and make a fun trip of it. The latter is a hint, public transport.

Anyway, I may want to see more buses, but trains are vital to good public transport for sheer volume. Honestly, more places need to ask what people’s schedules really are to maximize their use.

Oh, and on that subject, more high-speed limited train schedules. You know the kind that only hit major stations and thus allow for fast trips to major hubs?

The Amplification Effect Of Public Transport

One thing I’ve become painfully aware of in Public Transport is that certain locations vastly amplify the ability to use public transport. This is because many locations allow access to multiple forms of transport, but also that some forms of transport let you use other forms of transport.

If your apartment is near a train station that takes you to a major bus terminal, you know what I mean. Or if you can get on a bus that passes two major train station. Or a tram that gives you multiple options of where to go.

When dealing with commute, don’t just ask about your transportation options. Ask what options those options give you.

Man, All The Cars

Sure, we know the US is way, way too dependent on the automobile. But my latest commute has me going through some thick traffic, even though it’s pretty reasonable. When you see how crowded roadways get – and think of all the options – it’s hard not to feel many cities kinda messed this transportation thing up.

The car has become something so ingrained into our life, there’s lots of economic power behind the car, that it’s hard for us to think of other ways to travel. We kind of need to.

Hell, the environment aside, the sheer stress of the modern commute should annoy people into action.

More Work From Home

Working from home won’t solve every problem of transportation. I know some jobs make it hard, but you know, we really need to encourage more work from home. I’ve been lucky to be able to do it on many of my jobs, and its a sanity-maker.

And it’s great for reducing traffic. Just imagine if the traffic in our big cities went down by, say, 20%. Think about it.

Random Rants Over

Well that was cathartic, but I’d like to hear your thoughts on the modern commute and ways to deal with it.

Steven Savage



Steve’s Books For April

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(This is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Here’s a complete list of all the books I have available for folks interested in creativity, geekery, worldbuilding, and careers. I figure I’ll post this every month or so for my readers!

Fiction

  • A Bridge To The Quiet Planet: A Tale Of Dead Gods And Living Stories – Kindle, Print

Culture

  • Her Eternal Moonlight: Sailor Moon’s Female Fans In North America, An Unauthorized Examination – Print, Kindle

Worldbuilding – Core

Worldbuilding – Specific Subjects

Creativity

Job Search And Careers

Geeky Careers

  • Focused Fandom: Cosplay, Costuming, and Careers – Print, Kindle
  • Focused Fandom: Fanart, Fanartists, and Careers – Print, Kindle
  • Convention Career Connection – Print, Kindle

Free Stuff

Steven Savage