Most authors don’t earn very much money. Some do, but they’re the exception. So why do they write? In most cases it’s simply because they have a story that demands to be told, a story they are passionate about. As in all arts, inspiration drives the artistic process and without it, books have no spark. With it, magic can occur.
The amount of work it takes to write and publish a book is huge, and authors who self-publish, or have their own independent publishing company do an even greater amount of work than the traditionally published authors. Yet some figures put the earnings of the majority of authors at around $10,000 a year. Considering that a book can easily take three years to write and bring to publication, you may wonder if it’s all worthwhile. There are times when every author probably wonders the same thing, but there are times when you know without a doubt that every second of the time you’ve put into a book is worthwhile.
The first is when reviews show that someone loved the book. Even better, are the reviews that show that not only did the reader love it, but they also appreciated the underlying themes. When even one reader gushes about a book, the author knows that the time spent has been worthwhile. So whenever you enjoy a book, make sure that you let the author know by leaving a review.
The second thing that makes it all worthwhile is holding the completed book in your hand, or even more powerful, holding the final book in a series. It’s looking at the finished product and knowing that you achieved what you set out to do.
The third thing that makes it all worthwhile is when you read what you’ve written and realise that it’s actually very good, or as with happened to me recently, you read something you wrote ages ago and have just picked it up again in order to edit and finish it, and you realise that it is brilliant. You’re amazed that you actually wrote it. You wonder how you came up with all those little twists and turns and you realise that you didn’t – inspiration did. Inspiration is an unpredictable and magical creature. It is also a demanding task master, but if you follow through on its vision, the results can be remarkable. And remarkable results make it all worthwhile.
Which book am I talking about? Book four of the Diamond Peak Series, of course. It’s coming guys and it really is going to be awesome.
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