Commercial Writing
A little guide I made on the most common strategies for authors who want to make a living from their work.
In the past, I pursued writing as a hobby, and wrote about 1,000,000 words per year. However, I’ve decided I want to be a commercial writer.
That is, I’ve decided I would like to (self-)publish and make a living from my writing.
I have read (too much) advice about publishing. There are a lot of factors involved in success, and not all of them are understood.
During my research, I found a few general approaches:
A large volume trumps quality.
Pure Volume (do not recommend)
A Pure Volume approach emphasizes the number of titles released, rather than the quality of those works. 20booksto50K, a philosophy where you try to publish 20 books within a few months in the hope that you will develop a living wage, is an example.
Here, the idea is that a large volume of titles, even of poor quality, is enough to earn a living. People who publish “AI books” are normally pursuing this strategy.
I do not believe in this strategy and do not recommend it.
Give the people what they want, right now.
Write to Market (wish I could)
A popular type of advice for would-be commercial authors is to write in “hungry market”. A hungry market is any genre where there is a large number of readers who purchase a large number of volumes per year (romance) or where there is more interest in a genre, subgenre, or trope than their are writers filling that niche (varies).
What makes it write to market, specifically, is the idea that one should focus on what is popular or becoming popular in your market, and specifically cater to what readers are looking for, above your own personal preferences as a writer.
A writer who writes to market does care about quality, at least to the extent that readers care about it, but they view writing as a craft/job rather than a mainly artistic pursuit.
I really wanted to pursue this avenue, specifically romance, but I kept thinking “I need something for them to do while they fall in love” and ended up creating a story with a romance subplot instead.
Produce an enduring piece of artistic literature.
Magnum Opus
The Magnum Opus writer is focused purely on artistic merit, with no thoughts towards marketability. They are setting out to create a work of literature, a pure embodiment of the craft, so compelling it will be read long after their death.
The magnum opus writer doesn’t care about genre conventions, publishing realities, or reader expectations, though they might know them. Instead, they focus on their story, and the shape, pace, and approach it specifically requires.
Generally, the magnum opus writer struggles to get traditionally published, and usually doesn’t succeed in self-publishing either. They write slowly, or sometimes only one book in their entire life.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Quality Backlist (my goal)
The approach that I’m calling Quality Backlist is the the following factors are of generally equal importance:
Manuscript Quality
Each manuscript should be of the highest quality you can write, given the timeframe you have to write. You should craft the best prose, plot, and characters you are capable of creating so far in your journey.
Evergreen Tropes
The settings, tropes, and topics you pick should be able to maintain interest for at least 10-20 years.
Regularity: You should aim to release books at a regular, predictable pace so your readers know when to expect your next work.
Trad 1x/yr
Indie 2-4x/yr
This allows your readers to develop the habit of looking for your new works at regular intervals.
Serial Nature
While everyone seems to agree that having interconnected books is key, people differ on how to achieve that. Common methods are:
long (5+) series
short series with spinoffs
standalone novels with a shared universe.
Less common options include:
weekly syndication (publish one chapter weekly, ex. webnovels)
novella serials (structured similarly to a tv series)
Focus
Every work under the same pen name should focus on one type of reader experience, including the following elements:
Same or similar sub-genre
Same or similar pace
Same or similar tone
Same or similar approach
In general, you want to be able to say yes to the following questions:
Will 80% of people who liked this book like my previous book?
Will 80% of my current fans like this book?
(This is part of what makes a successful series so good from a reader’s standpoint.)
This kind of focus is important for a few reasons. The main one is that it builds your brand, the kinds of books you are known for.
When someone asks, “hey can you recommend a [your tone] [your pace] [your genre] writer?”, your fans should immediately be able to think of you.
Additionally, when someone likes one of your books, they’ll often search for other things you’ve written. If they are similar, they are much more likely to give them a try.
Backlist Size
You need a good number of works under the same pen name to make a living.
8 is probably the minimum, if you are in a very hot genre or very skilled
12-15 is probably more normal
20 is more likely if the genre is very slow, the content is very niche, or if you have an usual style or approach
The thought process is that each reader who likes one of your books is more likely to purchase another book from you. And the more they like, the more they are willing to purchase. The more titles you have, the more books they can binge through before moving on.
Conclusion
For people who can’t write to market (for whatever reason) but still want to make a living, I think Quality Backlist is the best approach, and the one I’m going to pursue.
Did I miss any general strategies?
