Every month, around this time, I get an email from Paypal that Smashwords has deposited a certain amount of money in my account. That money represents my earnings from royalties from the sales of my books. These days it ranges from $4 to as much as $11. It's hardly an income but it shows that writing books can work for people who are willing to put time and effort into it.
I'm writing another book that I hope to finish in January 2021 and another two more that I'm planning to finish before the year ends.
When I started out on this journey, my only intention was to write a book...just one book. Today, I've written seven books with another three in line.
I've talked to people who expressed a desire to write one book...like me, just one book. I tell them to just hunker down and do it. I hear all sorts of reasons why they can't do it:
- I've got no time
- I don't know how to write
- My English is terrible
- What if nobody buys it?
There are more but these are the four, most common reasons.
I thought I didn't have time either. I was spending time on Facebook during my rest hours and was writing stories in my Notes. So, I decided I'd take those stories and put them into a book. I spent time improving it, editing it, proofreading it, and poof! I had a book. Well, it was an e-book but it was the same to me. After uploading it and seeing it in online bookstores, it was a proud moment. I had written a book.
Then, sales started to come in. Not bad! It wasn't much, certainly not enough to live on but people were actually buying the book!
Then, I decided to write another one, and another one, and another one. Soon, I had seven books. My sales were between $1 and $2 and sometimes months went by without any sales. I started in 2010. By 2020, it was up to an average of $7 per month.
Do I have any dreams of making a best seller? I'd be lying if I said, no. But it's not a priority. I just write because I want people to enjoy the books.
Earning a living writing books? That would be the dream. Doing something you love and earning from it. That would be heaven.
