So I was thinking that this entire book would be about 100,000 words of nerdy writer how-to craft advice. Just Section 4 so far is about 8500 words, and I’m not done writing it yet.
OMG.
But here’s the deal: it’s only been the last couple of years or so that how to survive as a self-employed writer stuff has really started to sink in. I went from a complete wallow of a year in 2018, to a train wreck in 2019 due to a bad contract, to having said “no” to so many projects and backed out so many times that, in 2020, it looks like I’ll make a reasonable living for once.
Taking care of yourself as your own first employee is vital. Learning how to be your own best boss, and not just nagging yourself to work harder, faster, and for less pay is vital. Learning how to improve your craft without someone telling you exactly what to do every step of the way is vital.
Taking responsibility for your career is vital.
I scoffed when people told me that for years and years and years. You’ll probably scoff, too. “But I’m not worth as much as other writers!” “What, am I supposed to ask for the moon?” “I’ll do anything to get published.”
But standing up for yourself works like magic. Your work may not be great. But it’s always worth something. The people who tell you it isn’t, the “you’ll get free exposure!” people, are doling out the same spiel to people with decades more experience than you have.
It’s not about you. It’s about making a grab for whatever they can get.
A lot of the people who want you to write for them are charming assholes. I had one guy tell me outright that he was a sociopath. At the time, I was like, “But he’s my sociopath.”
Dude bragged about selling 750 copies…but reported, over a year and a half later on my first and only quarterly royalty statement, that he had sold fewer than a hundred.
If I want my rights back, I have to take him to court…and the contract is worded so that I will lose.
Sucks.
Don’t do that.