It’s always been fairly simple for me. I think people are what they are. They may pursue other careers to make a living, but they are always drawn to what they are. I’ve been constructing stories since I was old enough to rememb…
It’s always been fairly simple for me. I think people are what they are. They may pursue other careers to make a living, but they are always drawn to what they are. I’ve been constructing stories since I was old enough to remember being read to. Charlotte’s Web, Runaway Ralph, The Hobbit, The Chronic-(What?!)-cles of Narnia. All started me down the path of storytelling. My mother even subconsciously named me after the profession of storytelling.
So, my motivation is primordial. That doesn’t mean that I’m always doing it right or even well. I fail daily. But I also try daily.
All that to say, there is no true metric for a writer. He or she simply must write.
But I do have some arbitrary metrics. And they’re financial. Stephen King says a successful writer is one who sells what he writes and with that money he pays the bills.
I have a fantasy of selling everything and buying a sailboat. Maybe just living and writing in the Caribbean. But maybe sailing to even more distant shores. With my family of five, I’ve whittled down the monthly expenses (assuming debt-free ownership of the boat) to about $3,500. That’s $42,000 a year net (about $50,000 gross). So, that’s my target as a writer. About what a school teacher makes, but being able to work on my own terms.
I honestly believe that if you write what you naturally enjoy writing and get better and better at it, you will eventually have enough readership to support your writing. At Substack’s average $7/month subscription, you only need fewer than 600 paid subscribers to earn that $3,500. And with the rule of thumb that you will have a roughly 10% paid subscriber base, you need 6,000 subscribers. That’s doable.
I love how specific your measure of success is - having that sailboat to reach towards. Best of luck with closing that gap.
As you say, the current models available to writers are very exciting. The idea of being able to start making a living with a relatively small number of supportive readers is a big sea change - very different to both traditional publishing AND to how online monetisation of content has worked for the last decade+. The problem is scale that affects video creators on YouTube operates quite differently here on Substack.
I’m encouraging my children to start now (11 and 9) to build a Substack and YouTube channel (and whatever other outlets interest them). By the time they’re in their twenties, they could conceivably generate enough income (as young single people) to be able to make life choices not bound by dollars and cents.
It’s different starting when you’re older (I’ll be 49 this summer), but not impossible. There is also a bit of earned experience that informs your craft and your business savvy. But starting as soon as possible is always the best choice (like investing).
I like to break down my motivational goals to dollars and cents. It can be a deterrent or a prod to get me going. Depends on the time of day.
I seek that 1000 super fans goal. Any career is possible if you have that. And with my super expensive lifestyle of owning a home, kids, wife, livestock and fur baby hungry mouths to feed it surely increased my goals of day, a decade ago when it was just me, myself, and I.
So, to quantify my measure of success, autonomy, and security, I would require no less than $75k/yr gross. But, taking into account we are moving to a more desirable location that will mean a higher tax bracket and mortgage, etc. My wife would never let me quit my very secure (permanently work from home, yay) job unless I was safely earning $100k/yr and for an entire calendar year. Of which I do not blame her. It one thing to reach the goal. It is quite another to rely on hundreds of strangers to help you sustain it monthly. We know this from the Patreon she currently has had for over 5 years that accounts for about 1/4 of what I bring home a month. Yay for supplemental income. But that number fluctuates much too much to rely on a set amount every month. Some months it’s 4 digits but every now and again it’s just 3 digits and then we’re in trouble. No way to live...but I digress...all this to say, as a person who lives in spreadsheets both for work and personal stuff, I can relate...
Most likely, the only way to maintain a somewhat balanced budget as a writer is to diversify. Much like stock investing, having several income streams is the only way to maintain some sort of “income” as a writer. I’m branching out into editing, recording a new album, writing screenplays, performing locally, and doing house concerts. We’ll see how these hustles coalesce into something realistically equivalent to a salary.
I used a cheat code earlier in life: I joined the Marines. As a lieutenant colonel, I make roughly $140,000 a year and when I retire in two years, I will net about $4,000 a month in perpetuity. That was my Plan B and it’s worked okay over the years. So, my sailboat dream isn’t too far-fetched. But I would like to see my pension doubled by my writing efforts. Time will tell.
Writers write.
Also, painters paint. Leaders lead. Runners run. Teachers teach. Mathematicians (mathers?) math.
It’s always been fairly simple for me. I think people are what they are. They may pursue other careers to make a living, but they are always drawn to what they are. I’ve been constructing stories since I was old enough to remember being read to. Charlotte’s Web, Runaway Ralph, The Hobbit, The Chronic-(What?!)-cles of Narnia. All started me down the path of storytelling. My mother even subconsciously named me after the profession of storytelling.
So, my motivation is primordial. That doesn’t mean that I’m always doing it right or even well. I fail daily. But I also try daily.
All that to say, there is no true metric for a writer. He or she simply must write.
But I do have some arbitrary metrics. And they’re financial. Stephen King says a successful writer is one who sells what he writes and with that money he pays the bills.
I have a fantasy of selling everything and buying a sailboat. Maybe just living and writing in the Caribbean. But maybe sailing to even more distant shores. With my family of five, I’ve whittled down the monthly expenses (assuming debt-free ownership of the boat) to about $3,500. That’s $42,000 a year net (about $50,000 gross). So, that’s my target as a writer. About what a school teacher makes, but being able to work on my own terms.
I honestly believe that if you write what you naturally enjoy writing and get better and better at it, you will eventually have enough readership to support your writing. At Substack’s average $7/month subscription, you only need fewer than 600 paid subscribers to earn that $3,500. And with the rule of thumb that you will have a roughly 10% paid subscriber base, you need 6,000 subscribers. That’s doable.
So, there’s a motivational goal. ✍️ ⛵️ 🏝️
I love how specific your measure of success is - having that sailboat to reach towards. Best of luck with closing that gap.
As you say, the current models available to writers are very exciting. The idea of being able to start making a living with a relatively small number of supportive readers is a big sea change - very different to both traditional publishing AND to how online monetisation of content has worked for the last decade+. The problem is scale that affects video creators on YouTube operates quite differently here on Substack.
I’m encouraging my children to start now (11 and 9) to build a Substack and YouTube channel (and whatever other outlets interest them). By the time they’re in their twenties, they could conceivably generate enough income (as young single people) to be able to make life choices not bound by dollars and cents.
It’s different starting when you’re older (I’ll be 49 this summer), but not impossible. There is also a bit of earned experience that informs your craft and your business savvy. But starting as soon as possible is always the best choice (like investing).
I like to break down my motivational goals to dollars and cents. It can be a deterrent or a prod to get me going. Depends on the time of day.
I seek that 1000 super fans goal. Any career is possible if you have that. And with my super expensive lifestyle of owning a home, kids, wife, livestock and fur baby hungry mouths to feed it surely increased my goals of day, a decade ago when it was just me, myself, and I.
So, to quantify my measure of success, autonomy, and security, I would require no less than $75k/yr gross. But, taking into account we are moving to a more desirable location that will mean a higher tax bracket and mortgage, etc. My wife would never let me quit my very secure (permanently work from home, yay) job unless I was safely earning $100k/yr and for an entire calendar year. Of which I do not blame her. It one thing to reach the goal. It is quite another to rely on hundreds of strangers to help you sustain it monthly. We know this from the Patreon she currently has had for over 5 years that accounts for about 1/4 of what I bring home a month. Yay for supplemental income. But that number fluctuates much too much to rely on a set amount every month. Some months it’s 4 digits but every now and again it’s just 3 digits and then we’re in trouble. No way to live...but I digress...all this to say, as a person who lives in spreadsheets both for work and personal stuff, I can relate...
Most likely, the only way to maintain a somewhat balanced budget as a writer is to diversify. Much like stock investing, having several income streams is the only way to maintain some sort of “income” as a writer. I’m branching out into editing, recording a new album, writing screenplays, performing locally, and doing house concerts. We’ll see how these hustles coalesce into something realistically equivalent to a salary.
I used a cheat code earlier in life: I joined the Marines. As a lieutenant colonel, I make roughly $140,000 a year and when I retire in two years, I will net about $4,000 a month in perpetuity. That was my Plan B and it’s worked okay over the years. So, my sailboat dream isn’t too far-fetched. But I would like to see my pension doubled by my writing efforts. Time will tell.