You’ve been at it for years, trying to finish that first novel. You write whenever you can find the time, which is usually in the early morning hours before work, late into the night after work, on weekends or during your vacation time. Maybe you’ve crossed that threshold and you have a book or two on the market, but trying to balance your day job with the demands of writing your next book while promoting your current ones is both mentally and physically draining. You long to quit your day job so that you can devote all of your time to writing. Whether you should take the leap or continue your balancing act is something that only you can decide. The choice you make will depend on the specifics of your individual situation. Before you make your decision, ask yourself the following questions. 1. Can you survive financially? Years ago, it was common for writers to have sponsors who supported them financially while they pursued their art. For most of us, that’s not an option. If you quit your day job tomorrow, could you survive financially? Would it simply be a matter of cutting back to make up for the lost income or would you literally become a starving artist? If it’s the latter, would you (and your family) be content living without some of the comforts of life that only money can buy? Only you can answer these questions. I would suggest preparing a budget to determine exactly how much you need to cover your living expenses. Make sure you factor in emergencies and, most definitely, health insurance. Maybe it’s possible to find a less-demanding part-time job that will give you more time to write. 2. Do you understand the realities of the publishing business? Being able to write full time, you might reason, will give you more time to hone your craft. This will allow you to produce a better product in a shorter amount of time. You must understand, however, that dedicating more time to writing is not a guarantee of success. According to Writer’s Digest magazine, the average book in America only sells about 500 copies. Attaining major success in the publishing business is a combination of luck and talent. Many bestselling authors experienced years of rejection before landing their first book deal. J.A. Konrath received over 500 rejection letters over a twelve-year period and had nine books rejected before landing a six-figure deal for his tenth novel, Whiskey Sour. Eight publishing houses rejected J.K. Rowling’s first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Dan Brown, author of the Davinci Code, is quoted as saying he almost gave up on writing. The Davinci Code was his fourth book. His first three novels only sold a combined total of 26,000 copies. Stephanie Meyer finished her first book, Twilight, in only a few months and went on to achieve enormous success. She now has more than 50 million books in print, as well as movies based on her vampire series. Twilight, however, was rejected by half of the 15 agents Meyers solicited. Just understand that focusing full-time on writing doesn’t automatically mean you’ll be a rich, successful author. 3. Do you have the discipline to be a full-time writer? If you quit your day job, writing will no longer be your passionate hobby. It will be your job. Are you psychologically prepared for that? Rather than stealing time to write when you can, you will be required to write. Do you have the discipline to write for eight hours a day, five days a week? Will doing so change how you view writing? Will the joy you now receive from creating characters suddenly become boring and mundane? Can you handle the solitary nature of a writer’s life or will you miss the camaraderie of the workplace? Before you decide that a full-time writing career is for you, make sure you’re prepared to treat writing as a job, not just a pastime. 4. What if you don’t make it to bestseller status? What’s your backup plan if you don’t land that big book deal? Can you survive (financially and emotionally) if you spend the next five or ten years focused on writing without landing on the New York Times bestseller’s list or even attracting a book deal large enough to cover the mortgage? Consider the story of John Kennedy Toole, who wrote A Confederacy of Dunces, a comic novel about life in New Orleans. Following years of rejection, Toole, who was 31 at the time, killed himself by hooking a garden hose to the exhaust pipe of his car and putting the other end to his window. That was 1969. His mother, Thelma, however, refused to give up on the book and continued to solicit publishers. Despite still more rejection, finally the Louisiana State University Press agreed to publish A Confederacy of Dunces in 1980—eleven years after Toole’s death. Toole was later posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The book has sold more than 1.5 million copies in 18 languages. Toole's only other novel, The Neon Bible, which he wrote at age 16, was considered too juvenile a writing attempt to submit for publication while he was alive. It was subsequently published in 1989, and was later made into a film. The experience of Toole and the other writers mentioned above points out that just because a book is rejected, doesn’t mean it isn’t worthy of being published. Hence, having the emotional stamina to endure rejection is a must if you expect to survive as a writer. I currently work as an in-house attorney for a large corporation. Following the release of my first book, Every Reasonable Doubt, I transitioned to a 20-hour workweek, which came with a corresponding 50% cut in pay. The reduced schedule gave me a lot more time to write and promote my books. More than a year later, I returned to full-time status to cover for a co-worker who was commencing a pregnancy leave. Due to an increase in workload, I have yet to return to a 20-hour workweek. I now have every Friday off, but it’s still tough to find time to write my next book and promote my current ones. (I’m actually writing this article in the lobby of the Omni Hotel in Atlanta, where I’m attending the National Book Club Conference.) While, it’s still my dream to be a full-time writer, I’ve made the decision not to quit my day job until I land a significant book deal. If writing is your dream job and you want to pour all your time and energy into it, then go for it. Just make sure your eyes are open when you do.
Article Source: http://www.bizymoms.com/expert-advice
When Los Angeles attorney and bestselling author Pamela Samuels Young isn’t practicing law, you can usually find her penning her next legal thriller. Pamela served as legal consultant to the Showtime television series, Soul Food and is a frequent speaker on the topics of writing, discrimination law, diversity and self-empowerment. To read an excerpt of Pamela’s books, visit her website at PamelaSamuelsYoung.com