“Just over 77% of self-published writers make $1,000 or less a year.”

– The Guardian

Apparently most professional writers don’t make anything. In a recent article it was revealed that roughly 80% of self published authors make less than $1,000 a year.

This doesn’t surprise me.

While I don’t make a whole ton off my eBook sales, I have made way more than $1,000 from writing over the past year.

Here are three reasons that I speculate most writers aren’t earning a whole lot.

Low prices.

Amazon has a flawed pricing system for their Kindle books. Authors get 70% royalties for any book priced above $2.99, while books that cost less only yield a 35% royalty. The strategy to make a $0.99 book in hopes that it sells millions is actually detrimental. While low prices are fine for short stories and novellas, making a whole book cost less than a dollar is stupid. If someone wants to buy a book they’ll pay whatever is on the price tag. A low cost isn’t going to draw flocks of people to the book.

Not treating it like a job.

A lot of  people confuse having a hobby with work. Quitting your job to sit at home and write a book about dragons isn’t a particularly good business plan. Guys like Stephen King crank out books because its their job.

Anyone who’s ever read On Writing will know that King treated his stories like a full time job. After work he’d go to his mobile home and crank out material for all kinds of magazines and publishers. He didn’t meander to Starbucks so that he could try and impress the barista with his half finished screenplay.

Poor fan base.

Sometimes I like to go back and check out various eBooks that I’ve reviewed. Out of curiosity I like seeing if they sell well. What I’ve noticed is that most of them will sell a few copies during their first month and then fizzle out. From my personal experience I’ve faced similar problems. While it is possible to crank out a seasonal eBook and make some money, people will stop buying after a certain point. If you constantly cranked out material you could probably do okay, but I doubt it would be worth the effort.

Most people imagine that there’s easy money in doing something like writing 10 Places To Meet Hot Girls. In reality there are about nine trillion of these books out there, I review dozens of them a week, and the competition is going to be fierce. Unless you have a fan base you aren’t going to sell too many copies. People like familiarity, they aren’t going to spend $10 on something they don’t know about.

While I can’t say for certain, I would imagine that most of the Manosphere guys who’ve published a book are doing alright for themselves. They have a big enough following that people are willing to pay for their written advice and expertise.

How I figure into this

I’ve spent the entire day writing articles about storage lockers. It’s dull but it pays well. After I publish this article I’ll take a 10 minute break and then start writing an article about personal finance. Once that’s done I’ll head to the gym and come home to pump out a few book reviews. While none of these projects are books, they all still involve writing and I’m getting paid more than $1,000 a year to do them.

The argument that there is no money in writing is only true if you treat your craft like a hobby. The same can be said for other arts like music or painting. If you want to turn a profit you have to put in the hours.

“You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.”

– William J. H. Boetcker

When I was in middle school AXE Body Spray was at the peak of it’s popularity. My friends and I all bought it as did did every other guy in our age range. It smelled horrible and the cans looked gaudy, but dudes kept purchasing more and more.

Why?

Because AXE’s entire marketing scheme revolved around the idea that anyone who used their product would get laid. It didn’t matter that their targeted demographic was dopey thirteen year old boys, AXE users were going to be drowning in sex. One spray and women would come flocking to you.

While the marketing campaign was stupid and illogical it worked. Tons of other brands have used similar ploys over the years. Beer ads, car commercials, and advertisements for clothes have all used the “buy are product and you’ll have sex” technique. Even, to a lesser and more politically correct extent, jewelry stores use this gimmick.

This sales pitch is effective because it promises the customer that there is a product that will give them something they don’t already have.

Does misery promote spending?

When I had a retail job I used to have to stock clothes. The place I worked at had a display for some children’s camping pajamas. The display was surrounded with images of smiling families seated around campfires and having a good time. On the rare occasions that I saw a family purchasing these pajamas they usually weren’t smiling or singing songs. The parents would be on the phone and the kids would be running around shrieking. Mom and dad got sold the idea that they’d buy the kids an outfit, take them camping, and have all their problems magically solved.

A family who was really close wouldn’t have been swayed by the advertisement. They’d be doing activities together regardless of whether or not they owned matching pajamas.

Likewise a guy who has sex isn’t going to be duped into believing that an aerosol can of perfume or case of beer is going to attract women. He already has the experience that the company is trying to sell.

Content individuals are an advertisers worst nightmare. Someone who is happy doesn’t need to spend a lot of money. They aren’t competing against someone else and they don’t need to spend money to try and cover their insecurities.

My own experience

When I decided not to go back to school I was miserable. I was working my dead end job for 10 hours a day, going to the gym for an hour, and then heading home to work on my business until the early morning. While all my friends were partying and having fun I was getting three to four hours of sleep and spending all my time working.

Whenever I had time off I would buy excessive stuff. Deep down I was jealous and spending money was my way of getting back. Shopping was my way of trying to make myself feel better, “I have a job I hate and a side hustle that isn’t going anywhere but that doesn’t matter because I bought a bunch of new clothes. Don’t you wish you could be me.”

Now I don’t really care about impressing other people. My competitive urges have all moved inwards. I no longer want to outdo someone else, I want to beat my own benchmarks. Once I adopted my new philosophy everything started to click. My business did better, I started seeing better gains at the gym, and I became all around happier.

While buying things isn’t bad per se, if your purchases make you happy then go for it, be certain that you’re spending money for the right reasons. Buying things out of compensation or competition isn’t going to bring value to your life.

“The freelance writer is a man who is paid per piece or per word or perhaps.”

– Robert Benchley

Today I did the same task on two different websites. On Fiverr I wrote a 500 word about a restaurant. On oDesk I submitted another 500 word article, although this one was about garage sales.

While the work was similar there were a few noticeable differences.

Fiverr

• The client came to me.

I got an email saying “so and so has ordered a 500 word article with SEO.” By simply having a profile on the site I got a job. I haven’t even written that many articles, and yet someone still trusted my skill enough that they hired me.

• I got paid $4.

I wrote the article and sent it in. A few minutes later I got a message showing that the client had given me positive feedback. They even wrote that I had done a good job.

• The work was easy.

I basically had to look up some information on the restaurant and rewrite it. I had to write essays that were more difficult when I was in high school. While it was boring it was easy. After 20 minutes of “writing,” including a break to see something on YouTube, I was done.

oDesk

• I had to seek out work.

On oDesk I had to submit a cover letter, answer some questions, and provide a sample of my writing skills. I did this for five different jobs before one of them hired me. In all honesty having to submit applications and sell my own services was a bit intimidating. However, I’ve learned a lot from it.

• I got paid $2.

On oDesk my client hired me for half of what I usually earn. Unlike Fiverr, where everything is sold for a fixed price, oDesk allows clients and freelancers to set their own budgets. While I’m working for $2 now, I can easily transition to a higher rate once I get established.

• The work was easy.

When I wrote my article I was worried. I wasn’t sure what the expectations were going to be, so I didn’t know if I had done well or not. As it turned out everything was fine. My article, which on par with my normal Fiverr material, was better than the client had expected.

Conclusion

Fiverr is a lot easier, but there isn’t much room for growth. Outside gig extras or tips you aren’t making more than $4 an article. However, you also don’t have to put in any work. Clients come to you and money flows in once you’ve become somewhat established. oDesk is more difficult. You have to hustle and cold approach. It’s disheartening to get shot down and ignored. Despite this there’s room for expansion. If you want you can charge $100 an hour for your time. There’s money to be made, you just have to hustle.

“Trigger warning.”

– The stupidest phrase ever

A lot of people would be surprised at how little I use the Internet. Outside business, blogging, and a few forums I try and stay offline. I don’t use Facebook, have a personal Twitter account, or even know how Vine works. I stay out of the constant Tumblr beefs, YouTube wars, and blog conflicts. The only two apps that I really use are my alarm clock and Kik messenger.*

 The other day I was working on making a subreddit dedicated to cool things I found for less than $50. I’m a big fan of Amazon For The Poor and wanted to see if I make something similar.

Some commenter stumbled into my area and decided to mock me. I responded with an old classic, “your mom liked it.” Having never heard anything so insulting, my Reddit friend freaked out and down voted every single link that I posted. My Reddit account is a couple years old so it took him awhile to do so. An hour later the troll, who was still upset, came back and reported all my links as spam.

This guy wasted several hours of life life trying to get back at me for hurting his feelings.

What an idiot.

I must have missed out on some massive cultural shift where everyone became thin skinned. Growing up I can’t think of a single day where someone didn’t get called names or made fun of. Nobody cried and they didn’t spend hours trying to seek out some passive aggressive revenge. Instead they threw insults right back.

I disagree with a fair amount of things that I read. There are books that I’ve picked up knowing that I wouldn’t agree with the author’s ideas. I still read them. And, after I set them down, I didn’t send out any death threats.

For whatever reason the Internet has become infested with socially inept morons. Look at the comment section on almost on almost any popular website. It’s a hive of trolls trying to bash the author and state their grievances.

If you’re going to comment on somebody’s work pretend that you’re in their house. You don’t own the space, you’re a guest in their world. If you went to someone’s house you wouldn’t spout off about how you disliked the furniture. And if you did you wouldn’t try and “get even” with them after they kicked you out. Despite this I see waves of trolls knocking everything that doesn’t fit their tiny worldview.

There are articles that lay out an entire blueprint for achieving wealth. They’re free to read and the author gets no compensation for them. In the comments section the only subject that anyone will discus why they disagree. The book How to Get Rich costs $11 and is filled with actual advice on starting and running a business. The author, Felix Dennis is a mogul and one of England’s wealthiest men. He dedicated his time to writing down all his formula for success.

Here’s one of his haters review of the material:

“I WANT MY MONEY BACK and MY TIME TOO which I wasted trying to find some advice from this so called rich guy.

Series of Contradictions !

1. First you say, Take Risk
Second you say Don’t. For capital, don’t go to a banker they are sharks, Don’t go to Finanacers they are bad, try to get money and work done the poor way struggling around with your friends. WHERE IS THE RISK ?

2. You says Hire smart people, nurture smart people, respect them and then fire them when required. WHAT’s LEFT ? Whats the difference, Whats new ? WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY ?

3. Another advice You can get rich by Luck. I think thats what happened with this guy

I have read 5 chapters and yet to get a real ADVICE, which I can use.

And on top of that VAGUE poems which means nothing but add ambiguity to the topic in hand.

All big words and no substance. I really wonder if this guy is rich or just trying to become rich by SELLING THIS book. Next time I would rather see the bank account of the guy.

I was fool enough to buy the guy’s Poem book also.”

The “so called rich guy” who has owned multiple private planes, 18 Rolls Royces, dozens of custom made statues, books that date back to the 1600’s, 14 mistresses, and over $100,000,000 dollars in cocaine is trying to scam others with his $11 book. All of his advice was too simplistic for a barely literate troll who wasn’t even able to string together a coherent phrase.

In conclusion: people who troll are socially inept morons. Their egos prevent them from ever having their beliefs challenged, and they discredit anyone who fails to conform to their worldview. If anyone calls them out or does anything to upset their fragile belief system, they’ll snap and go haywire. They’re 21st century extremists. Draw a cartoon they dislike or write something they don’t agree with and they’ll go berserk.

While mob mentality and trolls don’t really bother me, they do serve as a reminder as to why I avoid most social situations. I have a naturally misanthropic outlook on society and it always saddens me when I’m proven right.

*Shoot me your handle and I’d be happy to message you.

“I generally blog between 5:30 A.M. and 7 A.M. I will from time to time add something during the day, but for the most part blogging is an early morning activity for me.”

– Fred Wilson

I’ve I’ve mentioned before, blogging is a terrible way to make money. I made more in a week at my warehouse job than I did in an entire year of running this site. With that said, blogging still has quite a few perks.

Here are just a few of the benefits that I have reaped from the past year of blogging:

• Higher self confidence.

Blogging is the male equivalent of being a girl on Facebook. Writing an articulate guide to making money or reviewing a book about 20 rep squats is a man’s version of posting a selfie. People compliment you for it and page feed your ego. This might sound a little silly, but there are nights when I boost my confidence by taking a quick peak at my site stats.

• Free stuff.

Believe it or not, but people send me stuff. eBooks, real books, testosterone cream (which I’ll be reviewing in the near future), and free samples of different supplements. I’m actually experiencing a book overload at the moment and will probably spend Saturday reading over everything I’ve been sent.

• New friends.

Believe it or not, but most of the people online are actually pretty cool. While I haven’t met a ton of readers, the one’s I have are all pretty awesome. Also, you get to correspond with other bloggers and various interesting people. It’s a lot of fun.

• Work experience.

I recently took a web content test on oDesk. I ended up scoring in the top 10%. While a lot of the questions were simple, I think most people could figure out stuff like “what is a blook,” I attribute some of my success to all the hours I’ve spent blogging. Through trial and error I learned a lot about keyword density, and SEO content. Last year all that stuff was a mystery, now I intigrate it into all my posts.

While blogging doesn’t pay, it does have its merits. It’s a confidence booster, a great learning tool, and a fantastic way to network and meet people. I highly recommend that you start a blog.