…I feel as of old that the only true enemy I have to struggle with is the unreason within myself. If I have given s[uch] things harbour within me I must with pain cast them out again.
Thus wrote Thomas Carlyle on August 27, 1833 in a letter to his brother John. I read this today, not for the first time, as I was doing some more research into the relationship of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thomas Carlyle. The article I wrote and recently submitted to BiblioBuffet (now word yet, BTW) dealt with Emerson’s first letter to Carlyle after they met. I wanted to research more about their meeting, as background for the next of these articles or to perhaps expand and re-market the article already written. But I prate.
I found Carlyle’s words to be exactly what I needed today, for again I’m on the writing roller-coaster ride. Despite adding several new articles to Suite101.com as of late, page views are not really growing (just a little, perhaps), and revenues have quit growing and are regressing. For Feb 7-9 I earned 10 lousy cents. For all my 64,800 or so words posted there in a little less than ten months, I’ve earned just over $60 dollars, not including the one contest I won. That’s less than 1/10th of a cent per word, and less than $1.00 per article in total. The Suite gurus say $1.00 per article per month is the site average. I’m sure skewing the curve on the low side.
On days like this it doesn’t seem that I should continue to write there, if at all. Why bother? Fiction is too difficult to break in. Bible studies are saturated. Non-fiction requires credentials. Poetry is a non-starter. Political essays are fun but where’s the money in that? And freelancing requires so much work and so much patience and such a long lead time to earn any money or build any platform that it doesn’t seem worth it.
The only thing that recommends writing to me is that I enjoy doing it. Is that enough?
Carlyle seems to have ridden the same roller-coaster I have, or should I say I’m on the same one he rode almost 180 years ago. That wasn’t his first time. But is it “unreason within myself” to question whether this writing thing I so enjoy is something I should pursue for economic gain, or for ministry? I don’t know. I guess I’ll spend a couple of weeks considering this.
Meanwhile I will still write articles for Suite, so long as I have subjects to write on. This afternoon I wrote and published one about construction engineering; this evening I wrote and published one about pollution prevention at construction sites. I have perhaps twenty more articles cued up, some of the research already begun or done from my regular course of vocational duties. I don’t know how long I’ll keep it up, but I will for a while.
Although my novel in progress is open on my computer. I have a new poem rolling around somewhere inside my skull, waiting to land for a while at the correct side of my brain and in the correct lobe. A friend is reviewing one of my incomplete Bible studies, and I just borrowed a book from the pastor for research for another. So Suite better start making economic sense, if it wants me to continue.
Perhaps the problem is that you're thinking of your writing as means to and end rather than a gift to others?
Are you a house painter or an artist? Settle that issue and you will have more peace. If the answer is both, that's okay; but then accept the difficulty of serving two masters…
Gary:
The artist often paints houses until his reputation translates to monetary success, if it ever does. So for me it probably is both for the present. Publication for income is still the best evidence of validation of the writer's work. I know some people disagree with me, but that's my view.
I'd self-publish Doctor Luke's Assistant and Father Daughter Day if I had $6,000 to spare; unfortunately I don't and so am at the mercy of an insane industry called Publishing.
Dave
Have you looked into Createspace (https://www.createspace.com/) for self-publishing? From what I've seen it can be a lot cheaper than $6K and fairly flexible on the terms.
Gary:
That's a good lead, and I'll look into it. I should clarify that, through print-on-demand publishing, the investment for self-publishing has gone down considerably. But in general these books are of an inferior quality, both physically and editorially. Self-publishing still carries a "I can't make it in the big time" stigma. I'm not yet ready to go down that path, though I recognize the day may be coming.
Dave
One recent book on the Climategate scandal (shennanigans by climate researchers, if you haven't heard about it) has been published through CreateSpace and is sold on Amazon. Quality seems to be fine for softcover. The authors published in February based on information that leaked in November so it's both quick and cost-containing. It's a hot topic so that will give it some legs. Check it out.