Median Book Income!

Per the Authors Guild, their Author Income survey is "the most comprehensive study of its kind in the U.S. to date." For the 2023 survey, the Authors Guild surveyed: "Thirty-six other organizations, including Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, Ingram, B&N Press, PEN America, African American Literature Book Club [...] and 5,699 published authors."

Per the 2023 Author Income survey: "[...] the median book income (including advances, royalties, and fees from licensing and subsidiary rights) for full-time authors in 2022 was $10,000 [...]"

Therefore, per the Authors Guild, in 2023, 50% of full-time writers earned less than $10,000, while 50% earned more than $10,000. 

I won't share on what side of the median I fall on, but I do suspect that "full-time" is hyperbolic, because I suspect that, unlike Harry Lesser, most writers can't write full-time on a $10,000 income - especially if they live in The Big Apple.

THE TENANTS: A Motivating Novel and Film for Writers

Here's IMDb's plot summary for The Tenants (2005) : 

In an abandoned tenement, an African-American militant writer [Willie Spearmint (Snoop Dogg)] and a Jewish novelist [Harry Lesser (Dylan McDermott)] develop a friendship while struggling to complete their novels, but inner tension rises between the two.

In the film, which is based on Bernard Malamud's novel of the same title, Willie confessed to Lesser, "Man, I tell you, this writing stuff is no joke." And in terms of the life of a writer, Willie said, "Baby, it's a long, hard, lonely life."

Carlos Fuentes, the Mexican novelist and essayist, agreed with Willie when he reportedly said:

You must have discipline for writing. It is not an easy task. It is very lonely. You're all alone. You are not in company [...] You are delving into your depths, but you are profoundly lonely. It is one of the loneliest careers in the world [...] In writing, you are alone. That takes a lot of strength and a lot of will to do it.

If you're a writer and you're having trouble staying motivated and focused. And you don't know how to handle being constantly interrupted by selfish people who don't take your writing seriously, then The Tenants may be the novel and film for you, because Willie and Lesser are two writers who take their writing extremely seriously

Qualities of the Writer: Literate, Hard Working and Passionate

 

In a piece for the Los Angeles Times, "Viet Thanh Nguyen: In praise of doubt and uselessness" (April 14, 2017), Viet Thanh Nguyen, the author of The Sympathizer, which won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, related that "acquiring technique" is only one part of becoming a writer, because possessing a "habit of the mind" is just as important. Nguyen wrote:

Becoming a writer was partly a matter of acquiring technique, but it was just as importantly a matter of [...] a habit of the mind. It was the willingness to sit in that chair for thousands of hours, receiving only occasional and minor recognition, enduring the grief of writing in the belief that somehow [...] something transformative was taking place. 

Thus, Nguyen opined that to become a writer, one must simply be literate and possess a good work ethic. But I would add that to sustain a good work ethic, a writer must write about a topic that he or she is passionate about. 

"How to Write Good"?

Advice to Writers posted "How to Write Good" (March 28, 2025), which is sixteen (16) writing tips from William Safire:

1. Avoid run-on sentences that are hard to read.
2. No sentence fragments.
3. It behooves us to avoid archaisms.
4. Also, avoid awkward or affected alliteration.
5. Don't use no double negatives.
6. If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, "Resist hyperbole."
7. Avoid commas, that are not necessary.
8. Verbs has to agree with their subjects.
9. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
10. Writing carefully, dangling participles should not be used.
11. Kill all exclamation points!!
12. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.
13. Take the bull by the hand and don't mix metaphors.
14. Don't verb nouns.
15. Never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
16. Last but not least, avoid clichés like the plague.

It appears that Safire's advice was taken from his Fumblerules: A Lighthearted Guide to Grammar and Good Usage; however, anyone who is well-read could assume that Safire was trolling, and the title of the post would lead one to assume that as well, because there many authors whom creatively and successfully violate Safire's tips. 

For example, Vladimir Nabokov "creatively and successfully" used "affected alliteration" extensively throughout his oeuvre. For instance, take these two lines from Lolita:

• Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins
• Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth

A perusal of Safire's Wikipedia page revealed that he mostly wrote non-fiction, which his tips would be more appropriate for; so, the Advice to Writers post maybe should have been titled "How to Write Good [Non-Fiction]". 

Writing a Book: Talent vs. Grit

Reportedly, Colum McCann, the writer of literary fiction, guaranteed that a writer with 80% talent coupled with 100% desire will be "so much better" than a writer with 100% talent but with only 80% desire. McCann:

The writers who are prepared to keep going [i.e., gritty writers] are the ones who are going to make it. I can guarantee that a writer with 80 percent of the talent and 100 percent of the desire will be so much better than the person with 100 percent of the talent and only 80 percent of the desire. It always works that way. 

We posted previously that Angela Duckworth wrote in Grit that grit can be a better indicator of success than "talent" or IQ scores, because talent that's multiplied by effort equals skill, which when multiplied by effort, God willing, equals achievement. 

In addition, Duckworth shared four keys to possessing grit [as a writer]:

1. Develop a Fascination

In other words, write about something that you’re passionate about. Otherwise, you may become bored with the physical writing slash typing process.

2. Daily Improvement

Improving daily may not be sustainable, but if you've written for 30 minutes every day for a week, try to write for 45 minutes, which, once again, may be more sustainable if you're writing about a topic that you're passionate about.

3. Write about something that serves a greater purpose.

In other words, be an altruistic writer.

4. Growth Mindset

In other words, don't have a limiting mindset. For instance, if James Franco can write a book, God willing, you can too!

The Fear of Writing

Richard Rhodes, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, reportedly opined that fear, not talent, stops most people from writing. Rhodes said:

"If you want to write, you can. Fear stops most people from writing, not lack of talent, whatever that is."

In addition, Rhodes implied that possessing passion is more important than treasuring talent. Rhodes said:

[...] You’re a human being, with a unique story to tell, and you have every right. If you speak with passion, many of us will listen. We need stories to live, all of us. We live by story. Yours enlarges the circle.

And I would add that a number who people who do overcome their fear of writing are reluctant to share their writing - out of fear. 

Similes and Metaphors: Keep it on the Body

Kimberly King Parsons related that a teacher advised her [during her MFA studies at Columbia University?] to “Keep it on the body.” In other words, Parsons was advised to connect every metaphor or simile to the human body. Parsons asked:

Why compare something rust-colored to a brick when you could compare it to a spleen? Why put a plane in the sky when you could put a floater on the back of somebody’s eyeball?

Parsons opined that “Keep[ing] it on the body [...] builds bodies and worlds simultaneously." 

You may not want to use this technique exclusively, but peppering your writing with metaphors and similes that are inspired by the human body could add some muscle to your writing, but you might have to reexamine your bio.

Writer vs Actor

What's the difference between an actor and a writer? Per Joan Didion, unlike an actor, a writer can perform alone - while an actor, even in a so-called one-man show, needs a director, a producer, a lighting designer, etc. Didion reportedly said:

I wrote stories from the time I was a little girl, but I didn't want to be a writer. I wanted to be an actress. I didn't realize then that it's the same impulse [...] It's performance. The only difference being that a writer can do it all alone.

Writers: Don't Sell-Out

Previously, I've posted about the importance of writing about a topic that you're passionate about. Otherwise, you may not be able to sustain the discipline to finish writing a book. 

And Jennifer Weiner, a #1 New York Times bestselling author, advised that one should not sell-out. In other words, one shouldn't write with the sole intention of appealing to an agent or publisher. Instead, write "the story you want to tell". Weiner:

Don’t write something just because you think it will sell, or fit into the pigeonhole du jour [i.e., that's trendy]. Tell the story you want to tell, and worry about how to sell it later.

Writing is a Job - Not a Hobby

If you're writing inconsistently, maybe you're not taking your writing seriously (enough), which may be due to you looking at your writing as a hobby and not as a (dream) job. Don't you admire people who say, "I love my job!"?

Rosellen Brown, the author and (adjunct) professor, strongly advised that to succeed at writing, one should "approach it as a job":

It’s a job. It’s not a hobby. You don’t write the way you build a model airplane. You have to sit down and work, to schedule your time and stick to it. Even if it’s just for an hour or so each day, you have to get a babysitter and make the time. If you’re going to make writing succeed you have to approach it as a [dream] job.