Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Making a living writing...

Making a living writing...it just may be the dream of every person who considers him or herself a writer at heart...but there's a reason it's a dream. It's not exactly an easy thing to do. Nowadays the process of becoming "published" is more accessible than ever: print-on-demand has made the dream of seeing your words in print a reality for many. Unfortunately, seeing your words in print and making a living writing, well, that's a horse of a different color.

Self-publishing is a grueling business. There is so much to learn and so many mistakes to be made. If you're like me, and you're balancing the book business with the day job that pays the bills, then you may just find it exhausting. And the expenses! Ugh! Let's just say, it can be hard to keep the forward momentum going when one of your household chores now includes dusting stacks of cases of books yet to be sold into the hands of eager readers.

And yet, at the end of the day, with more money going out than coming in, and being far from able to make a living at what I love, I still live to write. That...not the success of my books or my publishing company...that is what makes me a writer.