Buddy can you spare a dime?

For those of you who have read my older posts you know that I received some invaluable assistance from Don Oravec, executive director of the Writer's Trust of Canada.  http://www.writerstrust.com/ In addition to a lot of great info about the publishing industry he filled me in on some of the realities of the writer's life, including the financial struggles.

Indeed, chronic lack of funding is why the Writer's Trust was originally founded by several iconic Canadian writers - to provide financial assistance to struggling writers. Don made it very clear that no one should pursue writing as a full time career if they are unable to pay the bills in some other way.

My agent, Anne McDermid, said much the same thing. She gave me the lowdown on how little income a published book actually brings into the author and that with the advent of e-publishing the returns are even worse. She passed on some rough figures with the caveat that every single case is different and you never know what might happen. But, in general - a decent selling book in Canada, one that might even have appeared on a few award lists, could bring the author no more than $7,000 to $20,000.

She said that unless the book is a runaway best seller in Canada (a very rare occurrence) those are the kind of numbers to expect. She did say that if the book is picked up by an American publisher and has a decent run in the U.S. those numbers will be much better. However, the chances of that happening are also very slim.

From older posts you might also be aware that I left a well paying career to pursue this writing dream. I am lucky to have a working spouse who covers the bills but our lifestyle has changed. With three adult children requiring money from time to time things can get pretty tight.

What to do?  What to do?

Along with about a billion other people on the planet I am learning the art of blogging with the hope that eventually, I might earn a little supplemental income. Just enough to keep my stomach securely down in my abdominal cavity and not up in my throat whenever I open my online bank account.

Dumpy Grace is proving to be an excellent learning ground. With sites like Problogger http://www.problogger.net/  and Robert Brewer's My Name is Not Bob http://robertleebrewer.blogspot.ca/ I am picking up new skills and ideas on how to grow and promote a blog.

Will I be one of the lucky ones that launches a lucrative blog? I have no idea. Meanwhile, I continue to learn all sorts of techy things I never thought I'd manage, I'm connecting with other writers and living life on the edge.

What could be better?

I dunno? Perhaps a lottery win?