# Robert J. Sawyer on Digital Technology and Writers



## Steerpike (Dec 6, 2013)

A short, interesting interview. I can't agree with everything he says here, but it gives one something to think about. Are the days of the full-time novelist numbered?

Robert J. Sawyer: Authors, Paying the Price | TVO


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## T.Allen.Smith (Dec 6, 2013)

I think there has always been, and will always be, a very small percentage of writers who can make a decent living writing full time.

Also, there has always been, and will always be, consumers willing to pay for content, and those continually searching for free. Personally, I don't see this as an issue. 

You have to be a good writer, but even then this may not be enough. There are many factors that combine to make an author a commercial success, two of those being timing & another just plain ol' luck.


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## GeekDavid (Dec 6, 2013)

Dean Wesley Smith, who himself makes a very nice living from writing, disagrees.



> This myth “You can’t make a living writing fiction” is so clearly hogwash, I shouldn’t have to include it as a chapter in this book. All anyone has to do is look at a certain fantasy writer in England being richer than the Queen. And the number of fiction writers on the Forbes List every year. And that’s not counting all the writers publishing their sales numbers each month just from Kindle alone.
> 
> But, alas, new writers hear this myth all the time, constantly, from every direction, and sometimes from longer-term professional writers.



[snip]



> So, how many writers in the United States do make a living writing only fiction? Well, that depends on how you define “living.” That’s another shocker for me. For the longest time I figured over six figures gross per year was a living. At that level there are thousands and thousands of fiction writers making that much and a lot more.
> 
> But lately, I’ve been forced by discussions with students to look at reality a little bit more when it comes to “making a living.”
> 
> ...



[snip]



> Think of us (every writer) as a huge bakery and all we make is pies. Magic pies, that seem to just reform after we sell off pieces of the pie to customers. And each pie can be divided into thousands of pieces if we want.
> 
> The Magic Pie secret ingredient is called “Copyright.”
> 
> ...



That section makes me think of our own Feline Overlord. :Wink:



> One afternoon while at a writer’s retreat I wrote a short story called “In the Shade of the Slowboat Man.” The story took me about five hours.
> 
> — Five hours to create that pie. It was rejected at the market I wrote it for, so I sold it to F&SF Magazine. Decent money.
> 
> ...



There's much more, but that's enough excerpts.


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## Jabrosky (Dec 6, 2013)

Smith's counter-argument would be a refreshing and heartening contrast to the conventional wisdom, except he seems to emphasize quantity of work produced as his ticket to commercial success. Maybe churning out so many stories at such a rapid rate might provide valuable practice for a beginner, but wouldn't it take some additional time and effort to ensure the stories are well-written?

For that matter, what are Smith's views on working on multiple projects at once? I would expect that would make a writer even more prolific in the way he means.


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## Steerpike (Dec 6, 2013)

Jabrosky said:


> Smith's counter-argument would be a refreshing and heartening contrast to the conventional wisdom, except he seems to emphasize quantity of work produced as his ticket to commercial success. Maybe churning out so many stories at such a rapid rate might provide valuable practice for a beginner, but wouldn't it take some additional time and effort to ensure the stories are well-written?
> 
> For that matter, what are Smith's views on working on multiple projects at once? I would expect that would make a writer even more prolific in the way he means.



I think it is a combination of both. If you're going the self-pub/indie route, you need good stories, of course. But volume appears to be critical. I've read numerous times that the best use of your time after publishing a story is to get to work on the next one, even more than spending a lot of time marketing. Even with traditionally-published authors, quicker output seems to be more and more in demand by the publishing houses.


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## GeekDavid (Dec 6, 2013)

Steerpike said:


> I think it is a combination of both. If you're going the self-pub/indie route, you need good stories, of course. But volume appears to be critical. I've read numerous times that the best use of your time after publishing a story is to get to work on the next one, even more than spending a lot of time marketing. Even with traditionally-published authors, quicker output seems to be more and more in demand by the publishing houses.



That's exactly what DWS says. His work pattern is something like this:


Finish Story 1.
Send Story 1 to trusted reader (editor).
Immediately start on Story 2.
When Story 1 comes back, fix any problems.
Get cover for Story 1.
Immediately sell Story 1.
Get back to work on Story 2.
Lather, rinse, repeat.

"Writers *write*" is one of his favorite sayings. He also says an author is focused on marketing the last book, a writer is focused on writing the next book.

Oh, and he says there is no better marketing for the last book than the next book. :Biggrin:


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