Hello, and welcome to About This Writing Thing, a weekly podcast about living the writing life. I'm your host, Sayword B. Eller, writer for women, podcaster, and editor.
Today I want to talk a little about the cost of being a writer. I was ill-prepared for all that comes with the writing life, probably because I wasn't formally trained when I began. If you've been writing for any period of time you've already come to realize how costly it can be. This, as you can imagine, makes the dream of being a full time writer even harder to obtain for some. When I began writing professionally in the early 2000s, the method to get on the path to publishing was to write the book and submit it. At least, that was my understanding. Now, a mere 19 years later we have to write the book, build a following while writing the book, go to workshops to make sure we know how to write the book, attend conferences if we can (news flash: a ton of us can't), get a critique group (great idea), hire an editor to go over the manuscript, do your revisions based on the editor's notes, and then submit the book. I'm only complaining a little here. When you factor in the process for self-publishing it gets even more expensive. This is understandable, though, since all responsibilities for publishing fall on the author.
Not taking into account all the costs involved with publishing, let's just look at the "hidden" costs to being a writer. A few weeks ago I attended a Q&A hosted by the amazing Jane Friedman. If you don't know her, get familiar. She is an authority on the business of writing. During this Q&A Ms. Friedman told us about a service that has a minimal subscription cost of $4 per month. Ordinarily I would have been all over this. However, I already pay monthly for my website and podcast. Yes, I know the website can be yearly. I'm not there yet. And, yes, I'm aware that I don't NEED to have a podcast, but I really enjoy talking to you guys, so I'm keeping it.
Here's what they don't tell you when you get into this business. There are memberships to pay for, conferences to pay for, retreats to pay for, advertising, book covers (if you're indie), editing, etc. I was researching prices for book covers the other night and was stunned to find they're upwards of $800! I know I can make them myself but I want people to buy this book and, despite what we want to tell ourselves, our books are very much judged by their covers. If it look amateurish, chances are the reader will think the writing will be too.
All of these costs can be very problematic for writers who are barely making enough at day jobs to scrape by. If you don't have the money to hire an editor you're going to have problems no matter which type of publishing you're pursuing; traditional or indie.
Currently I am the member of two organizations I pay to be a part of: Women's Fiction Writers Association and The Author's Guild. Both great groups that I will move the earth to stay a part of. Next month I am planning to join at least two more: Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) and the North Carolina Writers Network (NCWN). I'd also like to join the Editorial Freelancer's Association (EFA), but that will push my membership costs to almost $300 per year. For someone working from home with zero income coming in, that's a lot.
You don't NEED to be a part of writing organizations to be a writer. However, these groups offer workshops, classes, retreats, etc. at discounted prices (or free) that are exclusive to their members. For example, since joining the WFWA I have attended several online workshops and webinars. The cost was $10. In early summer I participated in a pitch event to perfect my elevator pitch and it was free. I spent a full week (online) with other members and published authors perfecting the pitch for my book. These programs are invaluable for writers. Why? Because we should always be working to improve our craft. Always.
I'm not dropping all this to discourage anyone from writing or to stop anyone from pursuing their dreams as a writer, but I think you should be prepared. When you become a serious writer this becomes a very expensive business.
This also goes for submitting. There are a number of literary magazines that charge a reading fee now when you submit. This is to help them cover the costs of the magazine to keep it going, so I'm not complaining. Especially since my own magazine, which is launching spring 2020, will be charging a small reading fee. The truth of the matter is, very few literary magazines are making money. Their staff isn't being paid and readership is down. Unfortunately, submission sites like Submittable cost money, so to offset that cost some magazines have implemented these reading fees (usually $3-$5). Yet another hidden cost of being a writer.
So, we're paying for websites, book covers, editors, memberships, and submissions. What's next? Conferences and retreats.
I tend to think of retreats as something you do when you've "made it". However, the conference is a different story altogether. I mentioned that we should always be learning earlier. Writing conferences are a great place for that. I'm planning to go to at least two in 2020. The first one is $200. I'm not sure the cost for the second one yet, but it’s local so I'm hoping it will be under $100. There is a third I'd like to attend, though. In July, in California…Guess how much I'm expecting that one to be. At least $1000. What are the odds I'll be attending? Very, very low. I'm remaining optimistic, though. For now.
That's all I've got for this week. I'm sorry to post late…again, but at least I have a transcript this time! Next week I'm going to talk about how my revision process is going and what I've got coming up in the next several months. I hope you'll join me. If you like this podcast please be sure to say it by pressing the little heart below. If you want to share with your friends I won't be mad at you. If you want to know more about me you can go to saywordbeller.com and you can also find me on Twitter and Instagram using the handle @saybeller.
Thank you so much for listening. Have a great rest of the week and happy writing!
Transcript: About This Writing Thing, Episode 8
Hello, and welcome to About This Writing Thing, a weekly podcast about living the writing life. I'm your host Sayword B. Eller, writer for women, podcaster, and editor. That's right, folks, I've finally added services to my website.
It's been a while since my last episode but It wasn't my intention to be gone this long. Two weeks ago my husband and I went on vacation. I intended to be back the very next week, even had the transcript for episode 8 typed out. Then, as it happens, life decided to step in and make things…interesting.
Ask me if I've written anything in the last two weeks. Go ahead, ask me. The answer I give you is…No.
When hubby and I went on vacation I told him it was a relaxing vacation for him but a working one for me. Little tip here, if you have a spouse or significant other who likes to talk to you, don't rent a cabin without television if you hope to get any work done. The first day I was able to get about ten minutes in, the second day I managed to critique a story while he went for breakfast, but days three, four, and five I got nothing done.
What about Monday after your return, you may ask…The oldest called in need of a babysitter. What about Tuesday? Water main broke in town and my grandson was out of school. Yup, babysitter again. Then something else happened.
At around 3:30 that Tuesday afternoon my husband called and informed me that he may have just had a heart attack. After the "event" he drove himself to the hospital. He was admitted.
Thankfully, all blood tests came back negative for a heart attack and he was released the next day, but with no answers and two days to wait before a stress test I was unable to focus on anything beyond, Oh my god, what if I lose him?
A follow up appointment with the cardiologist on Monday informed that all is well with his heart. Thank goodness! Now we're just keeping an eye on him and taking things one day at a time.
My point for telling you all this? Sometimes life gets in the way of writing. As new or budding writers we hear and read interviews with writers who say you should write every day and they don't let anything get in the way of their writing, but the truth is, life gets in the way. Scary things happen, inconvenient things happen, even really great things happen to pull your focus and energies away from the page. Don't beat yourself up about it. I'm revising two books; one will be released next fall under my pen name Kimber Trace, and the other will begin submission rounds in January 2020. If that schedule gets pushed back due to life stressors throwing me off track, then so be it. I won't beat myself up because the words didn't get written. At least not today.
That's it for this week. For me, I'm using the rest of this week to get caught up and nurse this chest thing going on. I'll be fully back on the work train soon. For you, I wish you happy writing, but if life is getting in the way right now, I wish you well. Don't worry about the page, it'll be waiting when you get back.
This is a transcript for episode 7 of About This Writing Thing available at: https://aboutthiswritingthing.podbean.com/mf/play/28qrzi/Episode_7-_Making_Time_to_Write_Is_Harder_Than_You_Think.mp3
Hello, and welcome to About This Writing Thing, a weekly podcast about living the writing life. I am your host, Sayword B. Eller, writer, podcaster, and hopeful editor. I wasn't really sure what to talk about this week. I'd love to talk more about eliminating thought verbs and feel words in my narrative but I'm so scattered at the moment with writing projects, school, and trying to relaunch my small jewelry business that I hardly know what I'm doing. Writing time? HA! I've written almost 2000 words this week but it was an assignment for class, so it doesn't count in the grand scheme of things that is my writing life. Maybe, then, I'll talk about making time for writing. Or, rather, not making time.
I've always had a ton of excuses for not writing consistently. For eight years my excuse was the very emotionally and psychologically taxing job I had, though I did finish two novels and begin a third while employed there. Then, in August of 2018, I suddenly found myself without full time employment. After walking through a daze for a couple of weeks (those of you who've been suddenly terminated probably know what I'm talking about), my husband said, "why don't you do what you've always wanted to do, get your writing career off the ground?" This, I thought, was a great idea. Scary as hell, but great none-the-less.
But there are problems with working from home that I didn't expect. The most prominent being, the excuses and time sucks don't stop.
I remember thinking almost daily on the drive to work that I would love nothing more than to be at home all day. All that writing time would be a dream. I forgot that not everyone else believes that writing is a "real job". This presents a whole new set of problems that we'll get into in a minute.
First, though, I want to talk about how my lack of confidence as a writer led to me making a decision that took away from my writing. All I wanted for so long was to be able to write full time. But the problem with going from making a fair amount of money a year to making none is the guilt that comes along with being a burden. Writing, my friends, is a long game. You don't decide you're going to be a full time writer and all of the sudden find yourself in the money. I have yet to make a dime off my writing and I've been doing this full time for a year.
I should add here that, much like my novels, I don't plan my life. There are writers who make extra money by submitting freelance articles and editing (a realm I'm entering), but that takes away from the actual writing we're all dreaming of doing, right? We all want to be Stephen King or Nora Roberts, James Patterson, or "insert 1% writer name here", but what we don't realize is that those are Cinderella stories.
Change my mind. I'd love for you to.
Back to my point. My lack of confidence in my ability to make writing work led me to entertain a second dream I'd been working on for several years, that of being a small shop owner. The opportunity presented itself (as MLM's often do) in the form of budget-friendly jewelry. I thought to myself, I can do this, build up enough business to launch the part of the business I'm really passionate about and write while I'm doing it. Let me tell you, for seven months this jewelry business took a lot of time away from my writing. I didn't identify it as a means to sabotage my writing until it was far too late. Besides, I do really enjoy selling pretty costume jewelry, so if I can find a way to balance both businesses it's a win-win for me.
But, alas, there are other things that we stay-at-homers allow to interfere with our business time. People think we're just sitting at home so our time is their time. This is something I struggled with for almost the whole first year of staying at home. Need someone to run an errand? Call Sayword. Need a babysitter? Call mommy. Driving home and want to chat because you're bored? Call Sayword.
I seriously had to put my foot down. Getting people to take what I do as a serious job was a struggle I hadn't quite anticipated. I'm not going to sit here and tell you everyone stopped calling or stopping by. That still happens. But the frequency in which it happens has really declined. Now, instead of just dropping by my daughter calls to see if I'm finished working for the day (most of the time) before coming over with the grands. That, my friends, is progress.
I am in an MFA program and that does take some time away from my writing but the creative writing program is nowhere near as time consuming as the grad program in history. Oh yeah, for those who don't know, I am an almost fully trained historian. Lol. It really helps with the research aspect of writing, though I haven't written any fiction dealing with my specialization yet. Weird.
Now we're entering fall again. Thank goodness. And I've got a lot of fires burning, so I need to be deliberate with scheduling my time. I bought a planner. Making it a habit is a process but I'm growing to appreciate the process.
I'm going to stop talking now. This is a short episode because I need to get back to work. To all you dreamers out there, keep dreaming. Staying at home is my favorite thing. In fact, I like it too much. Family and friends are now calling me a shut-in. Not good. Keep dreaming, keep pushing to make the dream come true, but be aware there are obstacles and you may be the biggest one.
Until next week, then. Happy writing!
