I am always serious about my writing... and I'm not just serious about this beautiful new book, Book One of my Kendrick Creek series, set in the blue mist of the Smoky Mountains... I'm in love with it. Such a good story! :) Of course I'd think that, but it is.... I've just sent it out to wonderful influencers and I hope they love it.
PREORDER LINK HERE, JUST SO YOUSE DON'T MISS IT!
Even when I'm a goof, I'm a goof with a purpose and that purpose is to make what I love doing worthwhile so that I will DIE doing what I love.
Writing stories. And supporting myself with writing money.
Now before all y'all write my epitaph, I'm not dying. (That I know of) I'm not sick, even... I'm just saying that writing is the kind of job you can do until the grave calls. I give you Laura Ingalls Wilder... James Michener.... Herman Wouk.... Agatha Christie.... Sue Grafton and so many more!
As long as you have your health and mental acuity, you can write A VERY LONG TIME.
Now folks might get sick o' youse, they might feel like you've told the same story for the last five years (note that I'm naming no names here) and they may eventually chuck your work across a room, just because, but in the meantime you're acquiring new readers because they haven't read all gazillion books, and do you know that there are 331,000,000 people in this country alone? And if you add in the English speaking world? Another 20,000,000 native speakers. And over a billion if you count English as a second language. That's a lot of Kindles, darling.
I remember years ago someone explaining to me that people don't buy Kindles or tablets to read. They buy them for games.
My Kindle Unlimited account begs to differ.
I could live on what I'm making on my indie books. Not live "big", but I'm not a big-living person. But I wouldn't starve and I could pay my bills on my indie books alone, so if you think those efforts don't add up over time, I'm here to say you're wrong... and don't give up!
This isn't bragging. It's the farthest from bragging, but folks aren't generally supposed to talk about publishing money. It's often kept secret which is one way of having control over authors so they don't chat and create an air of discontent. That's pretty much old news now, but it was a Very Real Thing for a long time, and maybe still is... there was even a Secret Website where you could report your income anonymously and they would share the demographics online... I am not kidding. That's how things were. This was eight years ago. So we're not talking another century or dinosaur era or historical... we're talking very recently.
When I was newly published with Love Inspired I overheard a fellow at a conference chatting about his wife's book and I heard him say, "We'll never get rich on it, but it keeps her happy."
Kind of like she was a puppy...
I hope I hid my dismay.
First, writing a book and getting it published is tough! It's no walk in the park. And yeah, starting with category books, we don't make a ton initially... but if we stick with it and produce two-four books/year, it adds up...
Here's an article link to Possible Publishing Trends for 2021
Talking money is rarely comfortable for folks because it's a private matter, but in this industry it was taken to new heights... Publishers didn't want authors talking and revealing advances, hence the "sweet" and "nice" and "really sweet" designations you see in publications.
To make a living in category and small books, you need to produce several/year and give yourself time to build a backlist. That's huge.
To make a living in big books, you need to wow a wonderful publisher and sell books... and that combo will keep you selling!
And if you want to make it in indie publishing, keep writing great stories and put them out when they're ready... folks do love to read... and they like a bargain, so my KU readers are happy... I'm happy... and my books are being read.
I have to say honestly, I'm not sure how serious it all is now. I don't pay attention because I am loving what I'm doing, writing my Love Inspired books and Guideposts mysteries and having fun with my indies... and honestly, this brings the best of three worlds together, like triangulating the location on a gps.
Money and income are important. I've had to balance finances and juggle change for most of my life, and I respect money... but I don't love it.
What I love are readers. Touching hearts. And helping people to find healing through words, through scripture, through stories... because that helped me through tough times.
And this is what I want for you, if your goal and dream is to write for a living: Don't stop.
Stay strong.
Work whatever jobs you have to to get by until you can pay your bills comfortably with writing income.
Never give up... unless you can. Because if you can, if it's not your stronghold, friends, that's okay!
I had more I was going to say but I have a cold (first bug in 11 months!!!!) and my head is stuffy and I'm going to drink tea and offer two copies of this beautiful new Smoky Mountain book... Ruthy goes Blue Ridge! And loves it. And I'm adding pics of what we're doing here at the farm to support the scholarship fund in honor of our beloved Lisa who went home to heaven August 17th.... and to raise awareness and join in the battle so many are fighting: cancer. These are a couple of our "Wreaths of Love".
Leave a comment below and we'll chat about books, and writing and paychecks.
Ruthy is living her dream of writing beautiful stories and fun mysteries and running a busy and growing pumpkin farm on the side... and she's blessed to have family and friends working right along with her! Friend her on Facebook, (warning: Ruthy is conservative, bleeds red/white/blue and is pro-life, so you've got to know this going in... With Ruthy what you see is what you get, so a little preparation is a wonderful thing! You can also email Ruthy at loganherne@gmail.com or visit her website ruthloganherne.com. She'd love to get to know you better!
Ruthy, I must always be eager to read your posts because I’m up late and the first commenter for the second time. Thanks for being transparent about money. I’ve only written for a small press and indie. Neither make me rich but I enjoy it. I love the fact it’s something I can do as long as I want. Now I’d love to discuss how to write a mystery with you..,
ReplyDeleteTerri, I also write for a small press. But the fact that somebody thinks my words are good enough to publish still gives me chills! Of course it doesn't hurt that it's, like, 20 degrees out.
DeleteGood morning, ladies!
DeleteYou know talking about money was forbidden for so long and youse guys know I'm an outlier... happily.... and that I like running my own business. Having said that, I am happy to pay Beth Jamison for editing and graphics (even before I could really afford to) because the only way to get stuff out there, is to get it out there to the best of my ability.
Terri, I don't do small presses because I can do everything they do for me for myself... and that's the control freak in me! :) But also, the "I want to make money doing this" freak and it makes it easier to learn how to do things myself... and publishing is stinkin' easy right now... it's like fill-in-the-blank after you've done the tough work of writing the book, paying the editor, getting a cover done... and I use Beth for all of that because we work well together. And I use Killion for formatting because it's perfect, every time, and there are never complaints about the work. I don't like complaints. :) I like happy readers!
But having said all that, the blessing of all of this is that we have so many options now, and so many ways to make money, that it's awesome!
Now don't think badly of my small press ideas... there are a lot of folks making solid money running their small presses and I like being an entrepreneur, but they're making money you could be making. So when I weigh that up, I choose me. :)
Not like that's any big surprise, of course!
I love this, Mama! And working with you on so many projects is such a blessing. :)
ReplyDelete#MotherDaughterBonding
We are such a good team! I love that. And I love that you catch my timeline errors because the struggle is real, LOL!
DeleteGreat post as always, Ruthy. Your new series looks good. I'm glad you are writing for Guideposts, too, as I love their mysteries. Your wreaths are so pretty.
ReplyDeleteI love my mysteries! They are so much fun to write... and so many nice readers. They make me smile, Sandy, and there are two coming out soon... Patterns of Deception and Prescription for Mystery!!!! TWO DIFFERENT SERIES!!!! I am so psyched!
DeleteRuthy, this is great. Thanks. We need to think of ourselves as professionals, and carve out the time we need to do it. I'm all about the touching of lives, but how do we touch them? Through our books. And how do we get books into their hands? By selling.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of never being too old for a number of reasons. As you said, all we need are our health and mental acuity. A grasp of technology doesn't hurt. In the 2.5 years since I was first published, I've had to do things with tech I didn't know existed. And why are so many of them named after apes? (MailChimp, PicMonkey).
Some professions do have a limited shelf life: professional sports, Sound of Music Child Writing doesn't. Phyllis Whitney went into her 90s.
The other thing about writing is that your work matures as you do. The longer you live, the richer your insights into life on this earth, which can't help but enrich your writing.
Working from home today so will stop in again.
Kathy Bailey
Your Kaybee
Working on her 5-year-plan in New Hampshire
Ruthy, one thing I admire about you is your willingness to try new things as a writer. I've made up my mind. I CAN'T quit until I've mastered middle-grade dystopian. That is all there is to it.
ReplyDeleteKB
There you go! And I have that middle grade series, book one half done, but then the mysteries started so I had to put it on hold... but again, what a blessing that is, because when I do have time, I can jump back into it!
DeleteAnd being a time travel, it's a time slip and so much fun.
But Wishing Bridge first... Books 4 and 5 are coming out in the next 12 months and I hope readers love, love, love them.
Hi Ruthy, you are always so encouraging to those of us who are unpublished. And that is one of the best offerings you can give us - don't stop doing what we love. I love writing and so I keep plugging along. And reading the Seekerville authors' books. The good news for me is that I plan to retire from my teaching job May 21, 2021 and while I'm not wealthy, the publishing money is not as important as seeing my name on books. I like the title of your latest book and am curious as how the heroine will rebuild her life and why does she have to do that. Please put me in the drawing and thank you bunches!
ReplyDeleteI am tucking your name right in, and you asked a great question... why does a highly skilled Manhattan E.R. trauma doctor need to rebuild her life in the Smoky Mountains? Life happens... and sometimes we come to a crossroads that isn't just for us. It's for those we love the most. :) I hope you love it, Karen!
DeleteAh ha! An E.R. trauma dr....my daughter's an RN and I know the pressure she sometimes feels while doing her utmost to care for her patients...So, I imagine this book is gonna be a tissue-needing story...can't wait to read it!! Plus, prayers always for you
DeleteRuthy, thank you so much for the book! Happy Valentine's Day! I've sent my info in....
DeleteKaren, aren't they great? The Seekers encouraged me all the way to publication.
ReplyDeleteAw, thank you! And you've arrived!!!! And now we keep on growing, together!
DeleteRuthy I am amazed at all you do. the work is the backbone of writing, but of everything else worth gaining in this world.
DeleteMary, don't get me mushy.... The wreaths are a labor of love and maybe a message to others about Lisa's wonderful heart and spirit and fight? Gosh, I miss her.
DeleteKaybee, oh yes! I've following the ladies for a long time! I've taken to heart all that they say and read so many awesome books - they are truly gifted authors. Someday maybe I'll be able to say they helped me get there. Ruthy's humor always makes me chuckle...
DeleteOh, the Smoky Mountains! My favorite place on earth!
ReplyDeleteWould love to win a copy!
Linda, I'm tucking your name in!
DeleteI can't wait to read your new book/series. Always love me a Ruthy book. You've offered up tons of valuable information in this post. Answered a lot of questions people are often afraid to ask, or ask of the wrong people so they receive questionable responses. Always appreciate your wisdom.
ReplyDeleteMindy, what a nice thing to say. It's always hard for folks to talk money, and I think harder in this industry because of the "rules" put on contracts... but it's crucial for anyone running their own business to have a clue about their expectations, right? That just makes sense. "You don't know what you don't know."... :)
DeleteYour new book looks so pretty, I would love to be entered in the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteEntering you, Angeline! And thank you!
DeletePraying you feel better soon. I would love to read this new series congratulations. Cancer is awful and watching someone we love suffer is so hard.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lucy! It's not terrible, just annoying but fortunately I have a lot of boxes of tissues. With lotion. :)
DeleteCancer is awful. I can't even begin to describe how awful, but I love that we had eight beautiful years after the first round of treatments... and I pray for a cure. Every single day. What a scourge of a disease.
Ruthy, thanks so much for this post. As I'm learning, writing books is NOT about the money. It's truly about creating something of meaning, something with substance, and something that will bring hope into the lives of others. If I can help people disconnect from their stresses and worries for a little while and give them some hope for their situation, then I've succeeded as an author. :) Throw my name in the hat...love the new book cover. :)
ReplyDeleteI am throwing it right in, girlfriend! There you go! And I love this cover, too... it's perfect for this book, for Jess's story. And it's a beautiful thing that our words, that blessing from God, can mean so much to others. Reason enough right there to keep doing it!
DeleteRuthy, I love your books and your posts! Always encouraging. Please enter my name in the drawing for the book!
ReplyDeleteEdwina! You're in, sweet thing, and thank you!
DeleteI so enjoy your posts, Ruthy. And thanks for talking about a 'forbidden' topic :-) There's so much chatter about whether or not a writer can make any real money with KU. Lots of people say 'no.' But it sounds like it's working well for you. And that's got to be great news for readers who want to stick within a budget that keeps them happily in the KU program.
ReplyDeleteI am living proof, Jenna! Once folks find an author they love, they read and read... so if I keep giving them reasons to read, that's a wonderful thing! :) And you know I'd never steer you wrong. Too much riding on this stuff to be less than honest... ever.
DeleteRuthy, The Wreaths are beautiful and I Love The Smoky Mountains Your book sound like such a great book Please enter me in the drawing for your amazing book! Blessings and Prayers coming!
ReplyDeleteSarah, thank you! You're in!
DeleteMoney is still not discussed. Right? And I remember that website. Oh my, it was under the covers, so to speak, when it started. Is it still in operation?
ReplyDeleteLove those wreaths! You do great work with your writing and your outreach to so many! I'm proud to call you my friend! :)
Book club tonight with outdoor dining at a local restaurant. It was supposed to rain, but God is so good. Clear skies and temps in the 60s. Oh my gosh. The restaurant has an overhang, but having a dry night will make the evening more enjoyable. And the patio has heaters. I'm looking forward to a night spent talking about books!
Debby, I love that you guys can get together outdoors and have book club. That's wonderful and I loved the pics from last month!
DeleteYou know, Deb, I don't know if money is discussed or not. I kind of took myself out of the conversation because I'm not looking for Big Five... well, Big Four, now.... contracts. I'm delighted with my mysteries and category romances and putting my big books out myself. It suits me! So I'm not sure, but it's an important conversation and you know I'm not a big fan of secrets. :)
It's so funny. The more authors I chat with about their biggest surprise in getting published is how little we make doing it. But I'm following your advice and getting published and getting published again and doing it again. I am determined to be able to do this as long as I can because as long as God keeps giving me story ideas, I want to share them with others. :-) Thanks for the encouragement, Ruthy. Maybe someday I can live off my book money, too. Or just pay for my kids' tuition.
ReplyDeleteAmy, a lot depends on the publisher. I think generally Bethany House and Harper Collins pay the most to authors but I could be wrong on that... And then it's kind of hit and miss among the other publishers and yeah, that can be a cruel surprise! And they can "back-end" contracts so that you get a stipend advance up front, and then the bulk a year or two later... But in my town, folks like to eat on a regular basis! I kept two jobs for my first three books... Then kept my full-time job for five years. Then went part-time for three more years. It's tricky!
DeleteBut I wouldn't trade my career for anything. I love it. I love writing. And telling stories is so much fun. :)
Hi Ruth:
ReplyDeleteYou wrote:
"I'm happy... and my books are being read."
What you wrote above is so important! It is not enough to sell books. They need to be read and they need to be very good and always getting better.
Here's why from a marketing POV:
A good book, especially one with a great ending, can sell your next book. Indeed, for a career writer, each book should sell all the other books in the backlist. A bad book, on the other hand, even if it is an author's only weak book, can kill all future sales to that reader! Obviously, the more books in one's backlist, the more that is at risk by releasing a weak book.
Moreover, the lower the price of a book, the better it must be! New readers may buy lower price indie books to try authors that are new to them. They have very little invested in these books, so they will think nothing about quitting a book at any time they lose interest. If they pay $25 for a hardbound best seller, they are very likely to read it to the end. In other words, it is risky to include a less than stellar work in a 99 cent collection of 6 to 12 different author novellas.
Here's something else I've noticed: as writers get more experience and learn the craft much better: they can do many of the right things by habit without even being aware of it. This creates an option for those authors:
1. write more books a year.
2. write about the same number of books a year but make them better than they would have to be to be published.
If a writer selects option one, she may make more money short term but her writing my get stale. Readers may tire of her books -- especially her best and most avid readers who probably buy the lion share of her books. (It is said that 20% of beer drinkers buy 80% of the beer sold. You don't want to lose this critical 20%!)
I thought of these two options when I was reading your "Finding Her Christmas Family". I thought this new book, written after you've published several dozen books, was one of your three best. I even said to myself, 'this book is way better than it needed to be, with indepth research on medical problems, and with conflict so well thought out that I could not decide which side I'd been on, the hero's or the heroine's. My first thought was, "why go to all that extra effort?' With less effort it would still be a good book, publishable, and the readers would enjoy it.
I had to conclude that you just wanted your books to keep getting better and that in turn will make readers seek out your newest books. It will also insure that your books get read and not 'lost' in a growing 'TBR' pile.
In my mind, that's a great way to build a career.
Vince