6 Things To Consider If You Want To Write Books Full-Time
Ask yourself these questions before you “make the leap.”
For many people, writing books full-time is the dream. But I’m wondering… have you considered the reality?
When I decided that I wanted to make a goal of writing books full-time, I walked myself through the questions below before landing on the decision that this is a career I can do.
Should writing books be your full-time job? Or should it be more of a side-hustle?
Let’s dive into the questions so we can get you closer to your answer.
Do you want to self-publish or traditionally publish?
There’s a *lot* to consider in self-publishing versus traditionally publishing routes.
Many people want traditional publishing because of the dream of seeing their book in a bookstore. They want a book tour. They want name recognition. And believe me, I get it.
But the good news is that you can have all of this with self-publishing now, too.
Take the authors of The Zodiac Academy.
Sisters Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti collaborated to write the exploding series, The Zodiac Academy. At the time of writing this, the first book in the series sits at #97 in the entire Kindle Store. So, not only are they making serious money, but they also have name recognition, largely thanks to TikTok.
So, if traditional publishing is not the only way for name recognition or money, then what benefits does it offer?
I would say this route is for people who want a built-in team.
You will work with industry experts. And depending on how well your book does, you may get a movie or TV deal down the line. Hollywood is desperate for content, and books are ideal for them.
Traditional publishing also could mean that you publish less, depending on your genre. With self-publishing, you need to publish more to stay on top of the ranks. Traditional publishing will give you a book advance that could help to float you.
There is so much more that we can get into with these two spheres. I’m sure I will write a whole blog post on this, but for now, I hope this gives you some idea.
Are you willing to write to market?
Writing to market means writing tropes, characters, and genres that are in demand by the market.
A few examples of tropes in romance are friends-to-lovers, reverse harem, sports romance, instalove, etc.
Writing to market is a sales strategy that works.
But often, writers feel like writing to market kills creativity. In reality, it just gives you a path to follow. It lets readers pick up a book and have an idea of what to expect.
Writing to market is the best way to go in self-publishing. For traditional publishing, there is more room to be flexible with the genres.
When considering which path you want to take, this is a big factor.
Will you publish exclusively on Amazon or will you “go wide?”
In traditional publishing, you will go wide with other book retailers, unless you are publishing with an Amazon imprint.
As a self-published author, you have the ability to sign your books up exclusively with Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited program. Readers pay about $10 a month and can read as many books as they would like. If your book is enrolled in this program, you receive payment for pages read.
For many self-published writers, the bulk of their income comes from KU reads.
How much can you write and publish in a day/week/month?
If you want to write full-time, you are going to need to be diligent, proficient, and scheduled.
Often, we dream about writing full-time, but when it comes down to it, we don’t realize how much work actually goes into writing. It’s not always fun. It’s hardly ever glamorous.
You have to know yourself as a writer.
Readers are voracious, especially in the romance or fantasy genres. If you are going to be a successful, full-time writer, you need to produce regularly.
I was not good about this until I started writing under my pen name. Now, I publish about four (short) romance reads a month and I increase my profit with every book I publish.
I hope to do something similar with the books I publish under my own name.
Will you only stick with one genre or will you publish across genres?
This is not something you need to work out right away, but you definitely want to think about it.
If you are someone with interests across genres, you may want to think about pen names. You’ll want to consider what your writing schedule would look like. Can you keep up with the demand of multiple genres of readers?
Consider how many ideas you have in one or multiple genres.
A lot of writing is about managing reader expectations.
If you get started in the sci fi genre and get bored, you could risk alienating your readers. You want to write in a genre that excites you and gives you plenty of ideas.
If you are going to go full-time, you want to commit to the genres that you pick.
Do you know how much money you need to make in a month to survive?
Lastly, and possibly most importantly, you want to see how much money you’ll need.
You may not want to go full-time as a writer until you can support yourself with your words or until you have enough savings to float until you do.
Writing can be lucrative and stable, but it takes work.
You will most likely need to hustle until you get to the point where you are making a living from writing.
It’s important that you have an honest look at your financials before you “take the leap.”
Being a full-time author is a dream. And, yes, it can be a reality.
I know this to be true.
For me, it is less about convincing myself that it can be a real job than it is about strategically setting myself up to reach that point.
Maybe you still need convincing. In that case, I encourage you to read up on success stories of authors who have “made it.” The more you see it, the more you’ll believe it.
So, did I miss anything? What else does someone need to consider if they want to write books full-time?
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Jenny Bravo writes books and helps other writers through trial-and-error. She’s on Instagram (@jennybravobooks) and Twitter (@jennybravobooks). You can hang out at her website, www.jennybravobooks.com.
