The Good News

Anytime you see an email in your inbox titled "Congrats!" and it's from your editor, you know it's going to be a good day. My fourth book has officially been accepted by my publisher. To celebrate I wrote the first 7 pages of my next book (cross your fingers and look for it in 2008, lol). I plan to dedicate those 7 pages to my napping 2 year old. I write for a niche market, and I'm published by a specialty press. So any misconceptions that I receive an advance, a big $$ contract, or enough royalties to pay my mortgage, should be laid to rest, right here, right now. In fact, getting a book published means for me, financially, a tax write off. By the time I calculate mileage for traveling to booksignings, fees for maintaining my website and publicity, and giving away free books (I do this a lot, and I need to get help) . . . I am operating at a loss. Just ask my tax guy. His eyes about popped out of his head when he saw my first royalty check. Then he laughed. Then he stared at the check in disbelief for a full minute. He looked at me and asked, "You made $$$$ for writing a book?" And it wasn't because he was astounded with the incredibly high amount, he was flabbergasted by the incredibly low amount. And the dreaded next question. "How long did it take you to write the book?" In between everything else? Six months. Most people wouldn't work for peanuts, but writers work for pennies. Or more accurately, half-pennies. Is there such a thing? There should be. Nevertheless, I wrote 7 pages today in 2 hours--in a book that will probably come out in 2008--and I'll see my first royalty check in February 2009 . . . if I do a quick calculation, I probably made 80 cents today. A bag of peanuts costs more than that.