For Love or Money: What Both Sides Get Wrong About Writing
Two contradictory pieces of advice dominate in writing circles.
On one side, you have the old chestnut “Write for the sheer love of writing!” On the other, you have its supposed opposite: “Write purely for profit.” Both sound appealing, and both contain a grain of truth. But both will get new writers nowhere if taken as absolutes.
Let me show you why …
Let’s start with the more romantic notion; the Love of Writing trap.
If you’ve hung around writing forums for more than a day, you’ve heard some version of the following: “Don’t worry about sales. Forget about money. Just write what you love!”
That counsel holds obvious appeal. It’s liberating to think you’re above tawdry considerations like rent and groceries. It’s also safe. Because writing only for yourself absolves you of the risk of putting your work in front of paying readers.
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“But I know/am an author who writes just for the love of the game and publishes books on Amazon!” some of you will probably object.
And to that objection I will simply point out the obvious fact that authors who offer their work for sale and keep the money are not just writing for the love of writing.
But I digress …
The “write for the love” crowd is right about one thing: The age of the rock star author is dead. Gone are the days when one lucky novelist could sell tens of millions of copies and live like a pharoah. That paradigm ended with the collapse of the monoculture. If your idea of “making it” is Stephen King or J.K. Rowling levels of fame, you can quit writing now.
But that coin has another side, and it’s this: Writing purely for self-expression is, by definition, an amateur mindset. And that’s fine … if you truly don’t care about selling a single copy.
Hobbyists are free to pursue art for art’s sake. But don’t confuse being a dilettante with going pro.
That said, don’t think that the profit motive bros are off the hook. Because it’s time to dispel the Pure Profit Illusion.
These days you have a smaller but equally loud contingent preaching the gospel of pure profit. You’ve surely heard the online writing course gurus spout variants of these clichés:
“Writing is just a business.”
“Crank out what sells.”
“Move the needle on KDP, or go home.”
At first glance, this advice looks hard-headed and pragmatic. But it collapses under scrutiny.
Publishing has thin margins. If you’re only in it for the money, you picked the wrong racket. There are countless industries that deliver better profits with less heartache. And if your real motive is profit at all costs, you’re better off slinging drugs or running guns.
In fact, if someone tells you he’s in publishing for profit alone, and he isn’t a cartel boss or a pimp, he is lying.
Maybe to himself, maybe to you; probably both.
The point is, publishing profit margins don’t justify the grind unless a deeper need drives you.
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Here’s the truth both camps miss: Today’s publishing landscape is simultaneously harder and easier than ever before.
Yes, the old glamor of literary superstardom is gone. But the disintermediation of the Big Five publishers and the removal of almost all barriers to entry has created a historic opportunity. For the first time, more writers than ever can realistically earn a living from their craft. Again, we’re not talking Rowling money. But we might be talking a healthy secondary income—or even a primary income—if you’re disciplined.
The catch? You can’t treat writing as pure art or pure business. You must treat it as both.
Think about the independent plumber who runs his own shop. Or the lawyer who builds a private practice. Or the landscaper who goes from mowing a neighbor’s lawn to employing three crews.
None of them can succeed by “just loving the work.” And none of them go into it thinking they’ll get rich quick. They thrive by marrying skill in their chosen craft with business competence.
Baby Boomers hae drilled two platitudes about work into their kids’ heads:
If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.
Follow your heart, and the money will follow.
At first glance, both sayings may seem to be making the same statement. But they’re geared toward different ends. The first concerns finding job satisfaction. The second is about making money. Both give a distorted picture of work and art.
Because if you’re performing in any field at a level sufficient to make a living from it, you are going to be doing work … a whole truckload of work. More work than you ever imagined it would take to succeed. Think of how much work you estimate it will take to write for a living. Now multiply that amount by 10. That is how much labor you will need to put in before you can start earning even a significant supplemental writing income.
But don’t worry, because the old Boomerism “Follow your heart, and the money will follow” is even less true. Millions of people love ice hockey, but only about a thousand will get to play in the NHL. Really, really liking some activity is no guarantee that you can ever be good enough to get paid decently for it.
The truth is that the love of the game will keep you in it long enough to pay your dues.
If you want to write professionally, you need to internalize that truth. Getting good at the art while sucking at the business leaves the job half-done. And trying to brute force the business without love of the work leaves you burned out before you can build momentum. And don’t think readers won’t know. They’ll clock you a mile off.
The only way forward is to treat writing like a job, with all the discipline that work entails. At the same time, the love of the game is the fuel that keeps you going long enough to win.
So don’t write solely for love. Or just for money.
Write because you’re committed to mastering the craft and the business. That’s what it takes to turn words into gold; figuratively and in the literal sense.
If you like the gritty action of Berserk and the deep lore of Elden Ring, you’ll love the first epic book in my dark fantasy saga!
Brian Niemeier is a best-selling novelist, editor, and Dragon Award winner with over a decade in newpub. For direct, in-person writing and editing insights, join his Patreon.