The Delusion of Getting Paid

Aspiring writers know the sad truth about the publishing industry — the pay is lousy. If we should ever get lucky enough to be published, there is a strong chance that we will not be able to quit our day job. The delusion of getting paid like a premier author runs rampant.

The profession is tricky. We have to do more than just write in order to get paid, we have to get published, and we have to market ourselves and our book. And even then, do not hand in your notice just yet.

There are people out there who labor under the delusion that writing is a lucrative career (mainly non-writers but writers too). Financial independence is for the select few. A recent article in the UK’s The Guardian heralded more gloom causing even the most hardened among us to put down our pens.

We can write to our heart’s content but unless we are published, we are not going to see any real money. In the majority of traditional jobs, we go to work, put in the time and draw down a wage every two weeks. In writing, we could write for years and not see a cent.

Despite all of this, millions of people worldwide (myself included) sit down every day with our pen and paper (or laptop) and write our hearts out, even though we know that there is no guarantee that we will get paid for it. I assume, that most writers, like myself, write because there is always a story to be told and it makes us happy. Any money that comes from it, is icing on an already delicious cake.