I have been a professional writer for 35 years and have published 15 books, thousands of articles, and a decade of monthly columns. They have been a great career booster, creating a steady stream of clients and invitations to speak and speak at conferences.
As I was about to start my third book, an old friend came to town, a very successful man with a stock portfolio as long as his arm. “Tell me,” he asked me over the expensive lunch he invited me, “is writing books profitable?”
Of course, I laughed (somewhat hysterically), as did the carefully selected friends I repeated it to. However, the question has stuck with me over the years, and it’s something you’ll want to ponder if you’re thinking about writing a book. The unequivocal answer that has occurred to me, after years of observing the creative process and its results, is “yes and no.”
If you are talking about direct financial recovery, no, it is NOT particularly profitable. The author typically earns less than a dollar in royalties per print sold, except for ones you sell yourself, and there you get 40% of the cost of the cover, but no royalties. If it’s a print book from a publisher, the first payment doesn’t arrive until a year or more after you complete the hard work of writing the book, unless you get an advance on royalties. With an eBook, you get 100% of the royalties if you market it yourself from your own website, or generally 50% if you market it elsewhere.
However, writing IS extremely profitable in other ways. There are the indirect rewards of creative self-actualization, the pride of seeing your work in print, the feeling of contributing to the field, and the satisfaction of knowing that your ideas are reaching and helping people you’ll never meet. If it is a good book, it will enjoy greater prestige and respect from your colleagues and readers.
Is the end result not enough? I’ve also had many more tangible but indirect rewards, though there’s no guarantee that everyone who publishes a book will too. Because of my publications, I have been invited to speak at conferences and lead seminars around the world. There have been five month-long, all-expenses-paid trips to Europe, three to Brazil, and one month to Australia. Without the books, none of these groups would have heard of me. A well-received job can be a ticket to speak at conferences. It’s not the only way: some of our best and most popular speakers have yet to write a word and are still invited to speak abroad.
And no, as my rich friend would point out, the trips weren’t profitable either, due to lost income during those months away. However, the opportunity to travel and meet astrology lovers from around the world is an invaluable reward. Another indirect benefit has been the clients who came after reading my books: insightful, astrologically sophisticated, satisfying people who were drawn to my way of thinking. Since Healing Pluto Problems was published in 1986, in particular, many astrology and healing clients have come to read it. Many of them were Plutonians who had suffered the types of abuse or trauma discussed.
If it doesn’t make you rich, why do it? I do it because it’s what I have to do, because writing is as big a part of me as astrology. I write because I learn a lot in the process: ideas come together in new ways, and unexpected insights and insights pop up on the computer screen and surprise me. I often write because I feel compelled to do so, because there is some message I need to get across to people in my field. If you decide to write books or articles, you may also find that writing challenges you to further develop your mind and to express your experience, wisdom, and beliefs with a new clarity that can’t help but spill over into your teaching and client work. . Above all, writing is communication. Writing can be wonderfully thought-provoking and self-affirming, a journey of discovery about yourself and your subject.
Since book advances were never enough to cover the living expenses of the many months spent writing the books, I have developed pay-as-you-go strategies, so that the work earns money in other ways. The trick is not to waste effort: I make sure that every lecture, class, or seminar I develop fits into a book I’m working on. This article, for example, is part of a book in progress on writing for astrological and metaphysical markets. Aside from my advice column at Dell, my rule is not to write anything that doesn’t serve at least two purposes, usually as an article or online offer, as well as a chapter in an upcoming book. This system also provides immediate rewards in terms of comments and income, the cheers sustain you through the lonely and often lonely work of writing.
Note: This article is an excerpt from Donna Cunningham’s Writing Tips booklet, the text of her online writing seminars for people who want to write about astrology and healing.
