# If you hit it big...



## GeekDavid (Sep 27, 2013)

...what would you do?

I mean, imagine your WIP is the next _Hunger Games_, or _Twilight_, or Harry Potter. You've hit the big time. What would you do with all that money? How would your life change? Would you start looking down on the "little people" who buy your book but don't have the talent to do their own?

Okay, the last was kidding... mostly. I doubt anyone sets out to adopt that kind of an attitude, but it does happen.

Me, I'd keep my basic lifestyle, with a few changes.


I want to move to the Seattle area. There's three big sci-fi/fantasy cons there each year, and I know one of the guys that helps run one of them.
I'd make sure I had a really nice computer to work on, and keep updating as the technology improves.
I'd probably get a new car (my current one is an 05 so it's getting old). No Rolls Royce or Mercedes or Beemers for me, though, I think that sort of flashy car is proof that the driver has an ego the size of Alaska. I'm thinking Lexus SUV for my next car anyway, so probably one of those.


Your turn!


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## Legendary Sidekick (Sep 27, 2013)

Quit the day job.

And seeing how >60% of voters in my town are fine with having a slot-machine casino not too far from my house, I'll move.

R.A. Salvatore might have stayed here when he made it big (and the town loves him for it), but I would likely move… and definitely would if the casino ends up being built here.

I don't think I'd have an ego because of success. R.A. Salvatore, Bruce Campbell, the Penny Arcade guys, Shigeru Miyamoto… these are a few people I've met in-person who made it big and were pleasant to meet. In the case of the Penny Arcade guys, it was a chance meeting at a Japanese restaurant in Hollywood during E3 2004. My brother knew who they were, so we interrupted their dinner to say we liked their work. "Tycho" offered me a snap pea. Like a dork, I told him I just ate.

My brother also ran into Elijah Wood at E3 that year, but I was too engrossed playing a game at the Capcom booth to know he was ten feet away from me! He was also a nice guy in-person (so I heard). My brother was the only one who just talked to him instead of being obnoxious and posing for a picture while making him hold a ring.

Generally speaking, successful people I've known or met (or didn't meet and played hobbit MCs) are wonderful if you treat them like regular people. The exceptions were probably jerks before they became successful.


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## GeekDavid (Sep 27, 2013)

Legendary Sidekick said:


> Generally speaking, successful people I've known or met (or didn't meet and played hobbit MCs) are wonderful if you treat them like regular people. The exceptions were probably jerks before they became successful.



Off topic, but I had a friend for 20+ years (she passed away last year, and _Librarian_ will be dedicated to her) who knew most of the original series Star Trek actors. She said only one was a jerk to her, and let me tell you, to be a jerk to a lady in a wheelchair with a service dog next to her takes some nerve.

I'll let you guess which one was the jerk, but here's a hint, you can still see him on TV in commercials.


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## Devor (Sep 27, 2013)

Depending on how big is "big," after I paid off my student loans and made the down payment on a home, I would probably want to start up a business.  Or six.  I just have too many ideas not to run with _something_ if I had the chance.


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## Legendary Sidekick (Sep 27, 2013)

GeekDavid said:


> I'll let you guess which one was the jerk, but here's a hint, you can still see him on TV in commercials.


I. Don't. Know. Who. You. Are. Talking. A. Bout.


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## Ireth (Sep 27, 2013)

Legendary Sidekick said:


> I. Don't. Know. Who. You. Are. Talking. A. Bout.



Don't. Lie. To me.

(yeah, I know, wrong character, wrong franchise... buuut I don't care. XD)


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## teacup (Sep 27, 2013)

All I want is a decent house and to be able to write for a living without needing another job. I'd like to just relax and write without any worries. I won't need a fancy car or a big house, or gold plated suit (maybe a silver one.) I'm very happy where I am now, even though it's nothing particularly special, I like it here, it's home.
When If I make it big, I don't think I'd change much at all. I'd just be free to pursue my interests outside of writing not for money, but solely out of interest.

On the other hand, world domination could be fun.


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## ThinkerX (Sep 27, 2013)

Making it big?

HA! HA! HA!

The biggest I can imagine is a making a few hundred a month, with maybe a four digit advance or whatever at some point.

But then again, most of my stuff is short story to novella length.


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## CupofJoe (Sep 28, 2013)

A farm in the hill/mountains with enough room to walk for days in woods and on hills. I want to try to be self-sufficient and basically leave the rest of the world behind so there would have to be animals, crops, and a good water supply [preferably with fish]. If there was a view of the sea all the better. The only problem would be internet access. I don't have a location in mind, anywhere from Scotland to New Mexico [okay a view of the sea will be a bit of a problem here].


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## Chilari (Sep 28, 2013)

I'd build my dream house with the north-facing library facing the Wrekin. The house would also have the land to be self-sufficient - I'd grow fruit and vegetables, keep chickens and bees, trade for meat and dairy and anything else I need (looks like that's a popular dream). Then I'd donate money to some charities. The rest, I'd invest in sustainable businesses and in particular earth-friendly energy research and development startups, atmosphere scrubbing research and so on. Keep reinvesting in ethical businesses, take some of those profits and send them to charities, in particular education charities and those ones that loan goats to people and once they've got more goats from breeding they take goats back and now that family has goats whose milk they can sell and start building better lives - those sorts of things.


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## Ddruid (Sep 29, 2013)

Chilari said:


> I'd build my dream house with the north-facing library facing the Wrekin. The house would also have the land to be self-sufficient - I'd grow fruit and vegetables, keep chickens and bees, trade for meat and dairy and anything else I need (looks like that's a popular dream). Then I'd donate money to some charities. The rest, I'd invest in sustainable businesses and in particular earth-friendly energy research and development startups, atmosphere scrubbing research and so on. Keep reinvesting in ethical businesses, take some of those profits and send them to charities, in particular education charities and those ones that loan goats to people and once they've got more goats from breeding they take goats back and now that family has goats whose milk they can sell and start building better lives - those sorts of things.



Chilari, we need more people in the world like you. 

I wouldn't go overboard with buying a dream house or start living in luxury (assuming that my writing career is financially successful as well as critically), but I'd sure like to live life without having to have any financial worries. I need just a little more money than I need. So I can feel some peace and security. Also, I would buy a laptop which supports games with high-end graphics. Heck, I'll probably buy that anyways.

And one thing which I'd like very much. Don't want a big mansion or farm or anything but I'd want a place where I can keep one room as an office/workshop. A room where I can officially write, draw, brainstorm, sleep or whatever. A private space which would be my secluded refuge from the humdrums of daily life and the world outside, where I can retreat to every evening. A space I can call my own. And maybe I could set up my gaming station right next to it! Then again, I'll probably not get much work done.


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## Filk (Sep 30, 2013)

wait, an '05 is an old car? So that would make my '94 Corolla a relic? Maybe I should drive it to a museum hehe.

And Chilari is right you know. The world needs more goats.


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## Reaver (Oct 8, 2013)

I'd throw the first ever MYTHIC SCRIBES REAVER'SULTRAMEGASUPERCON. I'd pay for everything... flights, rooms, food... the whole shebang.


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## GeekDavid (Oct 8, 2013)

Reaver said:


> I'd throw the first ever MYTHIC SCRIBES REAVER'SULTRAMEGASUPERCON. I'd pay for everything... flights, rooms, food... the whole shebang.



I'm there! Just tell me where and when.

Who's gonna join me in the kitchen to whip up the best party food EVAR?


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## GeekDavid (Oct 8, 2013)

Ddruid said:


> Chilari, we need more people in the world like you.
> 
> I wouldn't go overboard with buying a dream house or start living in luxury (assuming that my writing career is financially successful as well as critically), but I'd sure like to live life without having to have any financial worries. I need just a little more money than I need. So I can feel some peace and security. Also, I would buy a laptop which supports games with high-end graphics. Heck, I'll probably buy that anyways.
> 
> And one thing which I'd like very much. Don't want a big mansion or farm or anything but I'd want a place where I can keep one room as an office/workshop. A room where I can officially write, draw, brainstorm, sleep or whatever. A private space which would be my secluded refuge from the humdrums of daily life and the world outside, where I can retreat to every evening. A space I can call my own. And maybe I could set up my gaming station right next to it! Then again, I'll probably not get much work done.



That's pretty much what I would do. Since I have terrible hay fever and can't do yard work (don't even like doing yard work, so I don't miss it), I'd probably get an apartment or condo, set aside one room as "office" to do my writing in, and spend my days weaving new worlds.


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## Motley (Oct 8, 2013)

If I just made it a little bit big, I'd get 10 acres somewhere off in the woods, get some cats and a great dane and write most of the time while letting my kids grow the rest of the way up outside of suburbia.

If I made it a lotta bit big, I would get 100 acres and have an authentic, but small, castle built for us complete with spooky waterway through the dungeon... err... basement and I'd let the SCA people come hold events and do fighter practice on my lawn.

I also have a dream to develop a semi-rural pocket community of 'get you on your feet' cottages with a community garden and a true neighborhood feel. About a dozen 1-2 bedroom cabins for (well-screened) people getting off welfare or such. Encourage chore swapping and involvement and such.


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## deilaitha (Oct 8, 2013)

Legendary Sidekick said:


> , Bruce Campbell, … these are a few people I've met in-person who made it big and were pleasant to meet.



I LOVE BRUCE CAMPBELL!!!!

If I made it really big, I probably wouldn't change my lifestyle that much.  I would still comparison shop, refuse to spend $500 dollars on a purse.  I might not be as tight with the budget as I am now, but in general I think it would only be a little more spending than it is currently.  I think the vast portion of all that money would be split up between investments, church giving, and donating to FASD research and prevention programs.  

As for the fame itself, I would try to use my notoriety to increase awareness of FASD.  My adopted sister's birthmother binge drank all three trimesters and the effects are devastating. I would definitely try to fund a campaign to caution all women to avoid any teratogenic substances during pregnancy.  The most common cause, and the only completely preventable cause, of congenital birth defects is prenatal alcohol exposure.  
I'm not a teetotaler or anything, but alcohol consumption during pregnancy has a huge range of effects.

I would probably (I hope) stay very much myself and still associate with the same people I always have (though I might make new friends in the literary community).


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## Chilari (Oct 8, 2013)

Did I mention I'd buy a sword? I'd buy a sword. The second one down of these.

Motley: I like your idea of a leg-up community. That sounds nice.

I think if I made it really big I might also try and rejuvenate Wolverhampton. It's a run down city with a lot of abandoned buildings (including some which used to be so beautiful) and I'd buy them and do them up and sell them cheap to people who wanted to live there or have a business there, not to people who would want to hold and sell or rent out. One of the empties in the Chapel Ash area I'd keep and either redo or demolish and rebuild, and I'd build a library that's specialist in history - local history, British history, ancient history, world history, archaeology and so on. Anyone could join, for a small administrative fee, and they'd have free rein on hundreds of thousands of beautiful books and journals with all sorts of amazing information, and they could study and so could I because I'd be within an easy drive of it unlike Leicester where I have an alumni library card for my old uni library but can't visit often because of the 2 hour drive.


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