Has anyone become a full time writer?

[Lloyd]

I was wondering how feasible becoming a full time writer is.

 

[SailusGebel]

@Jemini We need your help here.

 

[gogo7966]

there is no hope for you

 

[unknownking]

most full time author I know of, are on webnovel, or probably post on multiple websites at the same time

 

[Deeprotsorcerer]

It is very feasible, but you will likely never write what you want again.

I started Love and Life and Lightning! with the expectation that I would be able to at least update every five days. I posted the first chapter on the 6th of this month. I have not updated it, despite my average wordcount hitting between 10,000 and 30,000 words a week. I have to market myself, cold pitch, and process revisions/edits of both my own work and that of my collaborators.

At the end of it all, I'm left drained and I often feel sick just looking at a word processor despite my adoration for my art.

But if you want to write professionally, you need to diversify. Here is my "professional" site. Take a look at the sample page. I started by only accepting work for Science Fantasy stories, but I quickly discovered that I could not sustain myself solely on jobs that would be fun for me. I had to diversify. That meant writing porn (I have a gay dragonshifter short a client didn't pay for if you want to look at it) sales articles, and blogs, and so many freaking and and and and ands. And that meant doing a truck-kun ton of research for topics I used to know nothing about, and wish I knew nothing about.

Did you know that dolphins pleasure themselves on baby seals, often killing them in the process? No. I'm not going to explain how that was relevant to one of my gigs.

Edit: Otters do it more often though.

 

[Jemini]

@Jemini We need your help here.

Lol. It's ironic. I'm definitely not a full time writer and not even close to being able to accomplish it. And yet, with the nature of the question asked, I believe you are quite right about me being qualified to answer this one.

The ability to become a full time writer is quite simple to define. It's when your writing is earning out enough for you to cover your cost of living.

For most people, this means somewhere in excess of $3,000 a month. I have personally only seen around 4-5 english-language webnovelists in that range. All of them have the same 3 things in common.

1. Five or more chapters per weak, averaging around 2,000 words per chapter.
2. 20 advanced chapters available at the $5 level on their patreon. Yes, 20 chapters available at a 25 cents per chapter seems to somehow be the magic ratio.
3. Chapters are very good in the area of grammar, and the spelling has at least been run through a spell-check. There may be a few spell-check mistakes where the wrong word is used, but the grammar is of at least fair quality with very few issues.

I have seen exactly 1 person who has fewer than 5 chapters per week and a patreon chapter ratio that's more expensive than 25 cents per chapter who is making good earnings. He's making around $2,000 per month. Not full-time writing level yet. I imagine he would have to up his writing an patreon chapter availability in order to cross that threshold. He's having trouble doing this, though.

I am of the opinion that this author has somehow reached the strange gap area where it's worth him taking the risk of going full time. He would suffer for a while for it, but it's possible he could go full time.

So, yeah. That's the point where it becomes feasible to go from part-time to full-time. If you somehow reach that zone where you are making 2/3 of what's needed to support your lifestyle and you just need to go out on the limb and take the risk to push out more chapters till you pull in those extra subscribers.

You can tell me from your own experience whether or not achieving those levels are feasible for you. I know it's pretty far from feasible for me right now.

 

[Deeprotsorcerer]

Lol. It's ironic. I'm definitely not a full time writer and not even close to being able to accomplish it. And yet, with the nature of the question asked, I believe you are quite right about me being qualified to answer this one.

The ability to become a full time writer is quite simple to define. It's when your writing is earning out enough for you to cover your cost of living.

For most people, this means somewhere in excess of $3,000 a month. I have personally only seen around 4-5 english-language webnovelists in that range. All of them have the same 3 things in common.

1. Five or more chapters per weak, averaging around 2,000 words per chapter.
2. 20 advanced chapters available at the $5 level on their patreon. Yes, 20 chapters available at a 25 cents per chapter seems to somehow be the magic ratio.
3. Chapters are not very good in the area of grammar, and the spelling has at least been run through a spell-check. There may be a few spell-check mistakes where the wrong word is used, but the grammar is of at least fair quality with very few issues.

I have seen exactly 1 person who has fewer than 5 chapters per week and a patreon chapter ratio that's more expensive than 25 cents per chapter who is making good earnings. He's making around $2,000 per month. Not full-time writing level yet. I imagine he would have to up his writing an patreon chapter availability in order to cross that threshold. He's having trouble doing this, though.

I am of the opinion that this author has somehow reached the strange gap area where it's worth him taking the risk of going full time. He would suffer for a while for it, but it's possible he could go full time.

So, yeah. That's the point where it becomes feasible to go from part-time to full-time. If you somehow reach that zone where you are making 2/3 of what's needed to support your lifestyle and you just need to go out on the limb and take the risk to push out more chapters till you pull in those extra subscribers.

You can tell me from your own experience whether or not achieving those levels are feasible for you. I know it's pretty far from feasible for me right now.

This is the truth. It's also why it's very hard to break even as an indie creator of any kind rather than as a gig worker. If I could produce my webnovels instead of freelancing for Bob the furry with an expansion fetish (please keep hiring me Bob, I need your money), I would.

You are very very very unlikely to become a Wildbow. But if you're willing to take writing as a job and work really hard at it, and accept the misery that comes with selling your soul to CEOs and coomers, you can be like me.

I do not recommend it. But at the same time, I kinda do. I'm... happy, I think.

 

[Saileri]

I was wondering how feasible becoming a full time writer is.

Yeah, why. I mean, would require a bit more elaboration on that :v I'm currently both writing online and pubbing on Amazon now. I did not expect to get where I am, but I did, and I didn't get a job after finishing uni half a year ago. I just kept writing. I do earn like a pro-IT guy in my country or surgeons though.

It is very feasible, but you will likely never write what you want again.

Somehow, that's not true for me as I only write what I want and like and excites me but please ignore me as I can honestly admit it's pure luck for where I currently am. Just starting a third project which is making me hyperactive and there are at least 8 other ones I would want to start if I had time, hah.

If anyone would ask me about how? I would cite luck. And partially marketing yourself to the correct audience. Why I am lucky? Because what I love to write has a decent audience that consumes a lot of stories in the genres.

I do plan on branching out when I get some time, tho. There are many genres and styles I would love to write. Including darker stuff.

Now, back to the caves. I still have to write ~5k words today according to what I would want. And I'm slow as fuck.

 

[Simo]

Well, not full-time yet. But I did manage to go on a 1 month trip abroad with nothing but my few months Patreon income. So for now, I'm happy.

 

[SailusGebel]

Lol. It's ironic. I'm definitely not a full time writer and not even close to being able to accomplish it. And yet, with the nature of the question asked, I believe you are quite right about me being qualified to answer this one.

It's just that I remember you said that your Patreon was doing well and assumed that things only got better with time. Sorry for misunderstanding this and not checking things before mentioning you.

 

[greyblob]

It is very feasible, but you will likely never write what you want again.

I started Love and Life and Lightning! with the expectation that I would be able to at least update every five days. I posted the first chapter on the 6th of this month. I have not updated it, despite my average wordcount hitting between 10,000 and 30,000 words a week. I have to market myself, cold pitch, and process revisions/edits of both my own work and that of my collaborators.

At the end of it all, I'm left drained and I often feel sick just looking at a word processor despite my adoration for my art.

But if you want to write professionally, you need to diversify. Here is my "professional" site. Take a look at the sample page. I started by only accepting work for Science Fantasy stories, but I quickly discovered that I could not sustain myself solely on jobs that would be fun for me. I had to diversify. That meant writing porn (I have a gay dragonshifter short a client didn't pay for if you want to look at it) sales articles, and blogs, and so many freaking and and and and ands. And that meant doing a truck-kun ton of research for topics I used to know nothing about, and wish I knew nothing about.

Did you know that dolphins pleasure themselves on baby seals, often killing them in the process? No. I'm not going to explain how that was relevant to one of my gigs.

Edit: Otters do it more often though.

if you're already selling your soul, just write a harem cultivation/isekai novel, post daily, and occasional add some smut. that's it.

 

[Deeprotsorcerer]

if you're already selling your soul, just write a harem cultivation/isekai novel, post daily, and occasional add some smut. that's it.

Bet.

 

[greyblob]

Bet.

i can guarantee it. as long as the plot and characters are semi-interesting and the writing is simple and readable, you can make a few hundreds a month off 1 novel

 

[Lloyd]

Yeah, why. I mean, would require a bit more elaboration on that :v I'm currently both writing online and pubbing on Amazon now. I did not expect to get where I am, but I did, and I didn't get a job after finishing uni half a year ago. I just kept writing. I do earn like a pro-IT guy in my country or surgeons though.


Somehow, that's not true for me as I only write what I want and like and excites me but please ignore me as I can honestly admit it's pure luck for where I currently am. Just starting a third project which is making me hyperactive and there are at least 8 other ones I would want to start if I had time, hah.

If anyone would ask me about how? I would cite luck. And partially marketing yourself to the correct audience. Why I am lucky? Because what I love to write has a decent audience that consumes a lot of stories in the genres.

I do plan on branching out when I get some time, tho. There are many genres and styles I would love to write. Including darker stuff.

Now, back to the caves. I still have to write ~5k words today according to what I would want. And I'm slow as fuck.

I think amazon seems like the best way to make money.

 

[Deeprotsorcerer]

I think amazon seems like the best way to make money.

Kinda. Sell manuscripts to the "authors" that sell on amazon. You'll be guaranteed a paycheck while they might break even on their expenses. Go on Twitter and other social media outlets and tell people that you're a quill for hire, if you're very decent, or just a little bit charismatic, you'll find your first few gigs, then half of the rest might find you.

 

[Bartun]

I was wondering how feasible becoming a full time writer is.

I think it would be extremely difficult to make the big break as a full-time writer, you need thousands of people buying your books to be able to afford living out of it. But if you really want to live from your art, be it writing or drawing, you need to understand that you will probably not be doing what you want, but what your clients want.

I started writing a few months before the pandemic, staying extra hours at work just to be able to use the company's computer. I foolishly thought I could write something during the half-hour I had time to write. I managed to write a few pages though.

A few months after the pandemic hit I was let go from the company, I received a sizeable amount in compensation that allowed me to live for almost a year and dedicate full-time to writing my story. I managed to write a lot, although most of the time I spend it researching. There are times when your mind is blank and you can't write anything, so I did some drawings instead. I'm proud of what I've created, however, I don't regret the time and the money I had to spend, not for a second, I did what I wanted, how I wanted it, and it motivated me to continue, I must admit it was the only thing that held me together during all this time and even if I never make the big break, I want to share it with the world.

But bow the money is mostly gone so I need to look for a job again, something really difficult to find in a poor third-world country. I was working part-time from time to time and lived as austere as I could to make the money last longer. But I will write while I still can.

 

[Lloyd]

Kinda. Sell manuscripts to the "authors" that sell on amazon. You'll be guaranteed a paycheck while they might break even on their expenses. Go on Twitter and other social media outlets and tell people that you're quill for hire, it you're very decent, or just a little bit charismatic, you'll find your first few gigs, then the half of the rest might find you.

I mean just write litrpg or isekai and you should do well on amazon I would think.

 

[Deeprotsorcerer]

I mean just write litrpg or isekai and you should do well on amazon I would think.

You could. The problem is time. The time between writing and publishing on Amazon and the time between readers purchasing your work and you getting paid. I have bills due on the 1st, and I am not currently willing to gamble my safety margin on a shot in the fickle market. My clients pay upfront, a lot of the time they do so in full rather than within the standard 30 day due date after the percentage upfront charge.

If I sold something on Amazon today, I would have a sorta kinda chance at being paid enough to justify the effort, and in the meantime, I just "lost" three or four clients.

I suppose you could say the reason I haven't made a serious attempt yet is cowardice. My current situation is safe.

I do have plans to make the leap to Amazon publishing under my own name though, but the going is slow as it contends with everything else I'm doing while I'm not at work (including haunting these forums, it is very addicting).

 

[Bartun]

It is very feasible, but you will likely never write what you want again.

I started Love and Life and Lightning! with the expectation that I would be able to at least update every five days. I posted the first chapter on the 6th of this month. I have not updated it, despite my average wordcount hitting between 10,000 and 30,000 words a week. I have to market myself, cold pitch, and process revisions/edits of both my own work and that of my collaborators.

At the end of it all, I'm left drained and I often feel sick just looking at a word processor despite my adoration for my art.

But if you want to write professionally, you need to diversify. Here is my "professional" site. Take a look at the sample page. I started by only accepting work for Science Fantasy stories, but I quickly discovered that I could not sustain myself solely on jobs that would be fun for me. I had to diversify. That meant writing porn (I have a gay dragonshifter short a client didn't pay for if you want to look at it) sales articles, and blogs, and so many freaking and and and and ands. And that meant doing a truck-kun ton of research for topics I used to know nothing about, and wish I knew nothing about.

Did you know that dolphins pleasure themselves on baby seals, often killing them in the process? No. I'm not going to explain how that was relevant to one of my gigs.

Edit: Otters do it more often though.

Damn! I thought you were good but never imagined you were THIS good! I wish I had the money to afford your services :(

 

[Deeprotsorcerer]

Damn! I thought you were good but never imagined you were THIS good! I wish I had the money to afford your services :(

Bah! Flattery! (but thanks) You could do just as well, you're a strong writer. You just need to sell yourself to whoever is buying. Nonfiction pays the fastest. Literally email 30 blogs/startup companies/online magazines and if one hires you, your foot is in the door.

And don't despair if none do, keep pitching. Sometimes none of my pitches convert for a week, sometimes half do. It's a very feast-or-famine lifestyle, which is why it's important to maintain a healthy savings account.