Last Friday over at Romance Books R Us, I talked about the glamorous life of a writer. I used blunt examples and I certainly don’t apologize for my choice. My life is so far from glamorous. I’m not going to continue telling of all my woes in my personal life, but I will give you a small example of how much money I rake in.
Last May a story of mine was released in an Anthology. This anthology has been well received by the reviewers, but apparently not by the readers. A year ago, I received a check for $25 as an advance against future sales. The three other authors received the same amount. I haven’t seen any more royalties from this story.
I get my statement every month and I watch our negative numbers creep lower. I might see .25 in July or August. Granted the story probably took me seven hours to write, but let’s look at how that averages out. 25 divided by the 7 hrs is $3.57 an hour. Hmm, gotta love the writer’s life.
Believe me I’m not trying to sound whiny or bitchy because I feel blessed to be published. I get to express myself through my characters and storylines. Not everyone is as lucky. I love creating different scenarios for my hero and heroine to get themselves into or out of. I enjoy the path to happily ever after. If I were in it for the money I’d a quit a long time ago.
In other news, I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this, but I signed a new contract for Submit With Me. It’s a quickie. No release date yet, but I’ll be sure to let you know as soon as I do.
Amber! I have to agree with you. Writing and publishing is work. True, work we love, but as my hubbie always says, the electricity bill still comes no matter what.
ReplyDeleteAT least in e-pub world, we get paid regularly...as opposed to print where it may nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnever come beyond the advance.
Time for them to change their biz model to 21st century. They will never be able to do turnaround in terms of payment to equal e-books, but boy, howdy, they could try to do a few things better.
Yup. Hard work. Small recompense. Anny's feeling the same way. I've been there - still holding by breath about this year as I'm waiting to find out how books are selling.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the new release!!
ReplyDeleteHere's another example for you. An entity purchased 86 anthology books in which I participated. I made a hair over $16. And THAT was a GOOD number of sales.
Money isn't to be had in anthos, but writing longer stories reduces your income quotient quite a bit. Not to mention the ePirates. Arrrrrrg and walk the plank ye briney bastards...arrrrrrrr!
It is truly a labor of love to be a writer these days, not lots of money, at least for a lot of us. So if I were in it for the money I wouldn't be here at all!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the new contract!