DISQUS

L.L. Barkat · 2 years ago

Okay, I distinctly remember Riess, Crouch, Winner and Crosby answering this question (can you live as a writer?) at the Calvin Festival...

You can get their answer here (it is both less hopeful and more hopeful than one might expect)...

http://llbarkat.com/justsayno.html

Mary E. DeMuth · 2 years ago

My first agent, Chip MacGregor, said he'd never met a great writer who wanted to be published who wasn't eventually published. So, take heart, all. Hone your craft.

As to money. It takes a while to make a living. The better income is to write for magazines, the Internet, and periodicals because that income comes in at regular intervals. Books? Well, first you need several books you've written that have "earned out" their advances. And you need a few contracts to keep you writing into the future.

Most books don't break out. Most sell less than 5000 copies (which usually means you wouldn't earn out your advance). The key is quantity.

I'm getting close. Four books behind me, one releasing in July, five more ahead of me in the next two years. I'm guessing I can make a living in 2008, perhaps. We'll see.

Susan · 2 years ago

I'm reading all of this - and understanding very little of it and can therefore leave no helpful comments because I don't understand the need or the desire to write and publish - perhaps teaching or counseling, now that might be a different matter! to me - writing is still torture

Every Square Inch · 2 years ago

"Keep a credit card for emergencies. But put it inside your freezer in a bowl of ice. "

Marcus - I've heard of a lot of ideas to mitigate impulsive spending but this is a new one! Have you actually done this?

"And we’ve decided not to let that depress us. God is good. Life is good...Our lives can glorify God even when we don’t keep up with the Joneses."

I want to encourage you about this - there is God glorifying faith in possessing that outlook. When you live with joy and contentment even if others have more material possessions, you're saying that God is a treasure better than material wealth. You are honoring Him by saying "there is nothing I desire beside you" (Psalm 73:25)

Marcus · 2 years ago

Susan, some people might say you are lucky that you don't feel the need to write. Though as a teacher, I wrestled with similar financial issues. At least teaching had a base salary.

ESI, I've never actually done the ice thing. However, I do keep all of my credit cards bound together with a rubberband in one of our cabinets. For me, the annoyance of having to fish the credit card out is enough. (I should add that my wife has plenty of restraint and carries all of her credit cards without using them. But I think she's a rare bird.)

Marcus · 2 years ago

And, ESI, thanks for the encouragement and the verse. I know this cognitively. It's letting go of the greed and envy in my heart that is so difficult--especially when so much of our society depends on consumerism.

Susan · 2 years ago

Oh, yes, as a teacher, I feel similar financial pressures. And yet, the flexibility it allows is not a bad trade off for the money it doesn’t pay.

I wish I did feel the need to write though, or at least just did not hate it so very much. I can manage small things – like an occasional blog entry – but manuscripts and grants – I always feel them to be a huge burden – something that must always be birthed before the gestational period natural for me is done – so I stay in constant trouble at work for not being prolific enough.