New “Writer Problems” Series, Topic #5: Creativity vs. Money

by | Aug 23, 2021 | Articles | 0 comments

One of the most daunting questions amateur writers face is whether they can make money following their most creative pursuits. Are they too non-commercial? Will an agent be interested? Will my work sell at all?

The question of Creativity vs. Money isn’t relevant for writers whose interests are, as Frank Zappa called it, “strictly commercial.” It’s important for me to make clear I’m not putting down capitalism or writing for money. I’ve worked as a full-time professional writer myself for 20 years, and I understand what that means.

For the purposes of this post, the real issue is “writing from the heart” vs. “writing for money.” And is there a disconnect between creativity and making income from writing?

 

Being a Writer vs. Being Paid to Write

Recently I’ve been rereading Theodore Dreiser, mainly because I read him so long ago I don’t really remember it. Yes, I am that old. 

After finishing Sister Carrie, Dreiser’s first novel, I jumped ahead to the more mature American Tragedy. I’ve just started rereading it, and right out of the gate I’m struck by Dreiser’s main consideration for his young characters in both novels—that of basic survival in an inhospitable, almost cruel urban setting. Bottom line, Dreiser seems to say, it ain’t easy out there.

This line of thought took me back to my early days trying to make it as a writer. Master of Arts in English in hand, I nonetheless couldn’t find a single teaching job, much less any position as a writer. While writing my first, second and third novels, I went through a series of jobs that would make any 20th-century author nod his head in sympathy: file clerk, escrow specialist, sales rep, marketing manager. It wasn’t exactly the resume of my dreams, and there wasn’t a single entry that contained the word writer.

Cut to 2001, when I finally got my first professional writing gig at the ripe old age of 36. I held onto it by my bleeding fingernails for 14 years—though, in truth, I did apply for a few better positions that didn’t pan out. Since 2015, I’ve been 100% on my own as a freelance writer.

 

The Real Payoff

Answering the questions I posed at the outset—“Is my work too non-commercial? Will an agent be interested in it? Will it sell at all?”—I have to say there are still some unknowns there. My novels certainly aren’t commercial, and any success I’ve had has been based on discerning readers’ tastes combined with my own marketing efforts. Agents have never come calling, and likely never will, since I’m an independent author. I’d consider working with one if they only got their commission after they made me some additional sales.

As for my sales, well, in total they’ve been relatively underwhelming. Then again, I always had a tendency to want more. I know if I had a #7 novel in the charts, I’d want it to be #1. Who wouldn’t?

I’m also in a comfortable enough position that I can still afford to pursue my muse without worrying about being out on the street some day. At my advanced age, I can see the end game, and I’ve done well enough as a manager, salesman, and yes, writer, to own a home and have a little money in the bank. When I retire from freelancing, I’ll be able to continue pursuing my muse on a modest scale, publishing books and launching small marketing campaigns for them. My lack of fame no longer bothers me, though I always want to reach more readers—not so much for the income but for the experience of knowing I’ve moved people. That’s the real payoff.

What about you? Are you a writer whose goals are ambitious and more commercial than literary? Again, I’m not putting that down as I might have 30 years ago. In our always challenging market, I’m curious to see how people approach it and what they think. Let me know in the comments.

identity

Who Are You? And What Do You Want?

Readers of this blog who are also movie buffs may be able to help me out today: tell me where I got that title about identity! I’m fairly certain there was an old movie or TV show where a character said, “Who are you? And what do you want?” But for the life of me, I...
metaphysics

Psychology Is Sort of a Hobby of Mine, or Why I’ve Always Been So Interested In Metaphysics

I chose the image above for today's blog post for a couple reasons: first, it's cool, but second, it's also kind of all over the place. And isn't that what metaphysics are all about?A quick Google search shows the definition of metaphysics as "a field of philosophy...
Twitter

6 Twitter Tips for Authors

Those of you who follow my blog probably connected with me via Twitter, whether you’re a fellow author or not. Now that I’m closing in on 25K followers, I feel like I’ve got a little experience I can share that will be helpful. And with that, here comes today’s blog...

Five Mistakes New Authors Make

Every author starts as a newbie, even if they held a job as a writer in some other capacity. The publishing business can be incredibly daunting for a newcomer: many authors work alone without much feedback, so their mistakes, while understandable, are also far too...

Short Story Contest

As we head into September, I'm struck by how quickly this year has flown by. I have a radio interview in two days and a book fair next month, and I'm sure there will be much more happening as I go full bore with marketing campaigns for Miles of Files, Jana, and...

But What If I’m Sick?

Last month my wife and I went to Thailand for a two-week vacation. This was my first real vacation in over two years, and my wife Sunny’s first visit back to her family in her country of origin in even longer. So we really needed and, I think, deserved it. And...
isolation

New “Writer Problems” Series, Topic #4: Isolation vs. Solitude

I’m a loner With a loner’s point of view —Bruce Cockburn, “Loner”   Writing a novel is a solitary activity. We all know this. And while there are some exceptions to the rule—screenwriters who work on a team in a “writer’s room,” partners who write a book...
relax

Five Ways to Relax During Quarantine

​I thought a good blog post this week would be on how to unwind—not just during our current era of quarantine and “social distancing,” but on any day off. What my wife calls a holiday. That could be any time, right? I’ve been running so hard lately, I've barely had...
punches

Roll With The Punches, Baby!

Today is just one of those Mondays. I got a letter from the IRS that said they "believe there's a miscalculation" in my return. So that big $300 refund I was planning on receiving? Fuhgeddaboutit. But hey, at least I don't owe them anything, and they're not auditing...

The Marketing Thing Vs. The Working Thing

Last week, I took a vacation with my lovely wife, and missed doing a blog post entirely. I see where WordPress has an option of writing and scheduling posts, but frankly, I was too busy doing that with my monthly newsletter. I figured I could ignore the blog for a...
self-promotion

What’s The Problem With Shameless Self-Promotion?

While I still find it somewhat hard to believe, I've been on Twitter for almost eight years. I know this not only because Twitter shows Joined March 2015 on my profile but also because, even if they eliminate that feature, I use a tracker called Who Unfollowed Me? If...
MLK

MLK Day 2023

Here’s wishing everyone a safe, sane Martin Luther King Jr. Day. For many of us, today is always something of a day of mourning: not only mourning the loss of a great civil rights leader, but also mourning the turn our great nation seemed to take in recent years....

Twitter Tips for Authors in 2023

If you follow my blog, you probably connected with me via Twitter, whether you’re a fellow author or not. In 2020, I wrote a post about Twitter for fellow writers that got a good response. Three years later, the landscape has changed, but some Twitter best practices...
rails

Going Off The Rails (But Not On A Crazy Train)

Last April, I wrote a blog post called Back on Track With a Work-In-Progress. Part of that post was to talk about the difference between a “plotter” and a “pantser” (and to describe myself as a hybrid of the two, a “plantser”). Another, less obvious motive, was to...
French

Those Tricky French Authors and Their Obsessions

Today’s blog post was originally going to be Write Whatever the @#$% You Want, Pt. III. However, after seeing parts I and II lined up, I decided to call an audible and make it something less repetitive. Somehow the SEO gods have gotten into my head. As I’ve mentioned...
scared

Write Whatever the @#$% You Want, Pt. II

In last week’s post, I mentioned a pretty well-known author who has publicly reported his publisher “wouldn’t touch” a new release, in part because a character in his novel referred to herself as “fat.” I heard this story on a podcast, and I remember thinking, “Wait...
censorship

Write Whatever the @#$% You Want

I’ve been stewing on this for a while. It’s been brewing for quite a while. I could probably write a song about it (how about a rap?), but I don’t think I will. This is more of a blog post topic, and it might even deserve a series. And that’s the title and topic of...
gratitude

Should Every Month Be Gratitude Month?

When I was a kid, I loved Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. I read it daily and collected nearly every paperback volume of the cartoon, so I could see what I’d missed since the comic strip’s inception in 1950.  Certain things stuck: quotes like “happiness is a warm puppy”...
robot

More Thoughts On Robot Writers and The Tech Dystopia

A couple of months ago, I wrote a blog post here called When Will the Robot Overlords Replace Us? Apparently, I’m fairly obsessed with this stuff, because every time I come here and empty my brain, it seems to come up again. Today is no different. Part of the reason,...