Wrong Reasons to Want to Be An Author

In no particular order

1. Because you hate your day job – Much easier to figure out a different day job. Writing is not an occupation you can just ease into
2. To Get Rich Quick  – nobody gets rich quick in books. Often decades go into making the ‘overnight successes’ you hear about
3. To Get Rich – very few authors get rich
4. To Get External Validation – much better to chase Likes on Instagram. It will cost a lot less time and energy
5. To Have less Headaches – Oh, you would not believe all the headaches you have to face as an Author
6. To Have more Predictable Income – surely, at this point you are joking. There is absolutely no predictability for authors
7. To Prove You Can Write. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone. And even if you did, there are a lot more predictable and rational ways to do it than to try and sell books
8. To Get a Publishing Contract. A Publishing Contract does not solve very much. You get external validation – and that’s pretty much it
9. To Discover Yourself. If you want to discover yourself you are much better off backpacking through Europe if you’re under 30 or Eat Pray Love’ing your way through Asia if you’re over 30
10. Because you are retired and have nothing to do. Might be the least ‘wrong’ reason on the list. Still not a good reason to become an author
11. To impress your wife/husband/mistress/boss/boss’ secretary. It doesn’t work that way – less than 1% of authors get a Publishing Deal or otherwise find success. Many, many better ways to impress people
12. To get over a mid life crisis. Buy a Porsche – much cheaper in the long run

It’s really important to not jump into writing books without thinking thinks through. It’s a very tough and very demanding profession. Yes, it’s a PROFESSION and it takes years and years of experience to be good at it. It’s also a profession with very little predictability, a surprisingly low percentage of successes, and inherent undependability

Tread carefully