A (Not So) Glamorous Life

Two bits of news before the main post:

1) The Ash gave birth to The Baby Nick via C-section at 0323 this morning! He's a big boy (21 inches, 9 lbs 2 oz), and from what I hear from his uber-proud mommy, a real cutie! Congrats to Ash and Ryan!!!!

2) Apparently I dropped a plastic blister pack containing a 25 Pounds or Under dose of Heartgard on the floor. Dave saw it but didn't pick it up. Bosley, however, did find it and ate the entire thing. Yes plastic and all. Sigh. Luckily the extra Heartguard dose isn't a problem, but I'll give you one guess about who is now on Poop Watch '08. Her name starts with an "M" and ends with "aria is irked and grossed out."

Now onto the promised post by J. Scalzi. I've never read any of his books (I'm not a sci-fi fan) but I heart his blog. Recently he posted an entry on money and writing. Ah, yes, one of the evils that plagues artists, specifically that there never seems to be enough of it, the money that is.

His first piece of advice is priceless and sadly so effing true: You're a writer. Prepared to be broke. You know, I'm not sure where this romanticized view of writers lounging all day in their pajamas while sipping champagne and eating Teuscher truffles comes from, but it's so far from the truth that it's laughable. Folks, I sit my chubby butt in front of my laptop 10-14 hours a day (sometimes more if I'm on a writing jag) with no guarantee that I'll ever get paid for my work. My first published novella, Nocturnal Obsession, was written in three days, but some of my longer works (like my novel Sangre which was shopped around by my agent, generated interest from multiple editors, but never made it through the buying committee) took months of schlepping and revising and editing to finish--and never made me a freakin' dime. One word for that: demoralizing. But I love writing and telling stories so I just keep after it. I'm finally at a point where I'm making money but it's hardly enough to support me.

Which brings me to Scalzi's third piece of advice: Marry (or otherwise shack up with) someone sensible with money, who has a real job. I totally lucked out with Dave-O. He happily supported my broke ass for years before we were married and never complained. He seems to think my bad ass cooking and, uh, well, other skills, are a fair trade, but I'll be the first to admit that it was, at times, difficult to realize that I had zero income. Again, I was lucky because Dave never made me ask for money (like some asshat men do.) We paid our bills and then split whatever was left over as discretionary spending. By the end of this year, I hope to generate enough writing income to cover 1/3 of our monthly expenses. That doesn't sound like a very lofty goal, but for a writer, it's huge. And really I can't complain. I've had a relatively easy time of starting my writing career. I know writers who worked ten to fifteen years before finally getting an agent or publishing a book. I started at 21ish and sold my first book at 23. Not bad really.

The rest of Scalzi's post concerns good money management and tips that most people would benefit from using. Dave and I laughed as we went through them because we do all of them. We are so freakin' frugal it's almost sad at times. We don't have cable or satellite. We don't go out to dinner or the movies more than 4-5 times a year. We don't use credit cards. We've had the same furniture for years, and lemme tell you, it desperately needs replacing. But until we have the cash in hand, we're happy making do. I know a lot of people don't get that but we'd rather be happy with what we have than unhappy and stressed over bills for shit we don't need.

If you're interested in writer incomes and/or pay schedules here are two illuminating posts:

Jim C. Hines: The Money Post

Jennifer Jackson (Agent): Advances--What Are They Really Made Of?

Also I'm often asked about royalties. Here's the breakdown:

Digital (e-books): 37.5% of cover price (I heart e-publishing!)
Mass Market Paperback: 6-8% of cover price, but I've seen the number as high as 10% (depends on the number of units sold)
Trade Paperbacks: 7.5% of cover price
Hardcover: 10% of first 5000 copies, 12.5% of next 5000, and then 15% of everything else

Keep in mind that it gets more confusing when you factor in wholesale discounts for books sold to chain stores and such. Also you don't see a penny of your royalties until you've earned through your advance. Oh, and don't forget that out of your royalties you have to pay agent fees (15%) and self-employment taxes.

Sigh. Hardly as glamorous as it seems, eh? Still I wouldn't change it for the world. Well. Okay. I'd change the mediocre royalty checks--but that's it.