Dramatic Sales Writing

So, to bring this back to the first section of the
Accelerated Copywriting course, I realized that what
they said about how much money fiction writers (except
for the giants such as Tom Clancy) make is true.

In fact, I only touched on the problems that most
fiction writers face in trying to make a living.
Even if their books sell, they face long delays in
receiving their advances. And royalties are mainly
a joke -- if paid at all, paid after all other
publishing expenses are finished.

I recall years ago Spider Robinson complaining in
public of the small advance he'd just gotten for
a novel. And Tor's response was that no matter
how long he'd been a writer, the advance was all
they could justify based on his book sales.

And it can be even worse if you're a more "literary"
or ambitious writer. About that same time, Norman
Spinrad was offering his latest novel for an advance
of $1 -- and not getting any takers. Yet he has
been publishing critically acclaimed novels since
the mid-1960s. He tends to "push the envelope" in
ways I often find interesting but many readers
do not find entertaining.

Laurell K Hamilton -- local author of the Anita Blaker
vampire hunter series told me in the late 1990s that
she was apparently one of only two F&SF&H authors to
really establish a career in the 1990s. Of course
many others had begun publishing, but had not yet
really launched successful careers.

There are probably many more examples. I let my
subscription to LOCUS run out years ago, and have
not been to a science fiction convention for
quite a few years.

So fiction writing is NOT a good way to make a lot
of money, unless you're one of the very top
bestsellers.

Here is my sales letter on the gambling book I wrote:

more copywriting on eBay