/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.20418300]

Is it true that’s it practically impossible to write a successful book that actually makes money? Should I just throw my dreams of being a writer out the window?

[Anonymous No.20418307]

>>20418300
You dream of money, not of being a writer.

[Anonymous No.20418310]

>>20418300
Every year a couple dozen books sell a fuck ton of copies and become "best-sellers of the year". Making a book sell 1 million or more copies is a matter of marketing much more so than anything.

[Anonymous No.20418320]

>>20418300
If Sandershit can do it then anyone can.

[Anonymous No.20418344]

>>20418307
>>20418310
>>20418320
I’m obviously just not in it for the money. I absolutely love writing and do it basically every single day, but I want my writing to actually get out there and be successful. I don’t want to waste my life writing a book only for it to be buried in a sea of other books. I want to actually make a name for myself

[Anonymous No.20418363]

A professor once told me if you want to write your books to be successful you write the same trite the market dictates. If you wanna write what you wanna write, do it while you have a job. You're so fixated in getting money and glory from your books I doubt you ever considered whether or not your writing is good.

[Anonymous No.20418399]

>>20418363
I’ve shared some of my ideas on this board and I’ve gotten nothing but mostly positive responses. I already have a job and have some money saved up (and I don’t expect to make millions of dollars off a book) but I’d like to at least make some money on the side. What’s exactly in the market right now? My story is a post-post apocalyptic coming of age story. I checked on Amazon books and the post apocalyptic genre is one of the very top popular genres right now

[Anonymous No.20418403]

>>20418300
It's impossible to do anything at all. Don't even think about writing a book.

Better yet, don't even think about replying to this. That's impossible too. Everything is impossible. Don't get any big ideas

[Anonymous No.20418564]

>>20418344
>I don’t want to waste my life writing a book only for it to be buried in a sea of other books
Too bad, because that is exactly what will happen. The only alternative is just not writing anything at all and finding something better to do with your time.

[Anonymous No.20418899]

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[Anonymous No.20419588]

Bump

[Anonymous No.20420090]

>>20418300
Here's Tucker Max explaining why you should not write a book
https://medium.com/startup-grind/why-you-should-not-write-a-book-c34d260d4550

[Anonymous No.20420105]

>>20418399
Is it about an OP female protagonist in a love triangle with two chads?

[Anonymous No.20420158]

>>20420105
Nope

[Anonymous No.20420184]

>>20418300
it'll probably be difficult, especially if you don't cater to popular markets. but that doesn't mean it's impossible. if you think you can do it you should try. personally i'm just writing for my own expression, and if something comes of it then all the better

[Anonymous No.20420280]

>>20420184
My story is set in a post-post apocalyptic wasteland. I went on Amazon and I noticed that the post apocalyptic genre is almost the #1 genre in fiction right now. Would this be a good time to start writing my story and get it out there while the market is hot?

[Anonymous No.20420297]

>>20420158
I was of course joking, but you should try and get some short stuff published in sci fi magazines first before you commit yourself to a full blown novel. It will 1) help you make a name for yourself when it comes time to convince someone to be your agent and push your shit 2) make you a better writer 3) help you network with other authors. That last one is more important than people realize because when you pitch your book, your agent will be asking things like "do you have blurbs" i.e. has a writer with name recognition read your book and said something nice about it that I can put on the back cover. Half the reason to do an MFA program is to meet professors with names or connections to those who do who can read your book and give you blurbs. If you're not going to do an MFA it is much harder to get those

All of this is only relevant of course if you're trying to publish traditionally, which you really only want to do to get some legitimacy. More and more people are finding kindle direct publishing (it pays better) to be the way to go, but you're still going to need to build a fan base before even that is going to work for you

Good luck anon

[Anonymous No.20420302]

>>20418300
>>20418344
Your best way is to accrue an online following and then turn it into sales.
>but how do I get an online following without putting out work that people see?
This is the catch 22 you just have to solve somehow

[Anonymous No.20420317]

>>20420297
>All of this is only relevant of course if you're trying to publish traditionally, which you really only want to do to get some legitimacy. More and more people are finding kindle direct publishing (it pays better) to be the way to go, but you're still going to need to build a fan base before even that is going to work for you

I guess I should focus on going the kindle publishing route, but how can I make it so my book stands out? Would writing about a popular genre help out? I was potentially thinking of making a short film based on my setting for my film class at college, or potentially creating a short 8 minute cartoon pilot based on the characters and setting of my novel. Would this help? What other ways should I go about doing this?

[Anonymous No.20420401]

>>20420280
my guess is as good as yours. all in all i think the sooner you start getting your work out there the better

[Anonymous No.20420420]

>>20420317
making short films and animation is a huge diversion, very time consuming and potentially expensive. you'd probably be better off just putting work out there, making your stuff available. if you don't mind the idea of people reading for free, maybe places like royal road would be a way to get eyes on you as an author

[Anonymous No.20420425]

>>20420317
It sounds to me like you have a setting and characters and a genre you already want to do, and that's fine, but you should focus more on becoming a decent writer in the first place rather than on this one specific idea you have. I assume you're already an avid reader, but you need to be a prolific writer too to get better, and you have to be actually good at it before anyone is going to care. Doing something like writing 500-1000 word stories every day and sharing them on /lit/ would help. Start a blog

I mean you're essentially asking for the answer to what >>20420302 pointed out. Nobody actually knows the answer to this question but there can be no doubt about it that if you're not an decent writer to begin with you will not have fans, and the way you get better at writing is by reading and writing, that is to say by observational learning and practice

Sorry if that's a boring answer. But as an example Joe Abercrombie came up with the main character for The Blade Itself while he was in college and wrote a bunch about him, submitting and publishing short stories about him until he was able to sell his book at the age of 32. Reading that series it was very clear to me that character was the most fleshed out and interesting compared to all the others which in many cases were a bit flat. Do you understand what I'm getting at? Just write and get feedback until you're good at this. If that includes a cartoon pilot, grand

[Anonymous No.20420485]

>>20418300
I make 150k a year as a screenwriter

[Anonymous No.20420494]

>>20420401
>>20420420
>>20420425
I should also mention that I just turned 23 and have over 50k saved in my savings, so I believe I would definitely be able to afford a animator to draw up a short animated sketch/pilot for my ideas to get my setting and ideas out there. I was potentially of thinking about hiring a ghost writer as well. I like to believe I have good ideas (and I don’t believe I’m the worst writer out there) but I tend to struggle with actual storytelling that feels good and organic. I’m decent at writing poetry and school essays, but I struggle to write actual good dialogue between characters. If I hired a ghost writer, would I be seen as less of a author? Part of me feels like a hack for every considering it

[Anonymous No.20420496]

>>20420485
Do you have a discord? Or any other means of getting into contact with you?

[Anonymous No.20420505]

>>20420496
I was lying anon

[Anonymous No.20420584]

>>20418300
How many hours a day are you writing now anon? If it's any less than three, give up your dreams up.

[Anonymous No.20420607]

>>20420494
nigga you're already talking about getting a ghost writer?
m8 you are never going to write a successful book if that's your attitude lmao. Practice writing dialogue, hang out with people and try and learn what normal human talking is like if you're so shit at it

[Anonymous No.20421002]

>>20420302
>but how do I get an online following without putting out work that people see?
By being a YouTuber and Tweeter and Instagrammer.

[Anonymous No.20422517]

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[Anonymous No.20423568]

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