Authors, is writing a book a good way to get college money?
Thursday, July 15th, 2010 at
11:49 am
Nikita K asked:
I always wanted to write a book and i heard that anyone can do it at any age, but do the publishers take alot of the money from sales? Can i make alot of money for college?
I always wanted to write a book and i heard that anyone can do it at any age, but do the publishers take alot of the money from sales? Can i make alot of money for college?
Tagged with: College Money • Money For College • Writing A Book
Filed under: Student Loans
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It all depends on if your book is good or not. I hear a bunch of people on Y!A saying they’re writing a book. They’re all ages, sure, but their storylines aren’t actually that good. If you have something you think is original, you should first do research because I’ve read many storylines that have already been written.
Before worrying about getting it published and getting money for college, write a story line and ask around seeing if anybody’s already made it.
Now I must say, people that only write books to get money usually make horrible quality ones and they never get out. Even if they do, it’s a total bust.
If it’s good and it actually does get published (don’t get your hopes up) and people actually buy it, congratulations. You have part of your college costs right there, it all depends on whether people would want to buy it or not.
If you have another job to pay for college while you write, edit, submit, and wait for your book to sell…yes. Don’t plan on a book paying for college if college is your immediate concern. I wrote 2.5 books while in college, tried to get 2 of them published without success. If you’re looking for a book to pay for college, get a part time job and go to college or get a part time job and focus on writing.
didn’t mean to be too harsh but the cold, hard reality is you shouldn’t look to getting a book published as a primary means to finance college if you haven’t had previous publishing success.
Nope. Realistically, it will not be your first book that sells to a publisher. It will more likely be your third or fourth. It will take about two years to find a publisher and then you’ll have to wait two or three years before it’ll be released (yes, they are scheduling that far in advance). Then you’ll have to wait 9 months after the book hits the shelves to get your first royalty check.
Hmmm. You could be working on your doctorate by then.
I’d say getting a job at a newspaper might be more profitable than writing and publishing a book, not to mention more study time while you’re in college.
Being an author is not a “get rich quick” scheme/plan. If you’re writing for the money then you need to rethink your plan. When people do financial well because of a book they’ve written and had published, or a series of books, they’re more surprised than anyone that they now have a positive cash flow.
So to answer your question, no–writing a book is not a good way to get college money.
Nikita,
No. Not unless you’re on the NY Times best seller list. Authors make from 10-15% on each book sale. A book that sells for $18.00 will net the author about $2.70. The money comes in when the publisher offers a huge advance, they make a movie out of it, or both.
Here’s some advice I give to everyone who asks this question.
Writing a book takes more than just sitting down and putting your idea into words. There are a lot of things that you have to consider.
You need a good grasp of the English language. Spelling and Grammar. You will also need to check and recheck your work. Editors are very expensive these days.
You need to know how to write an effective ‘query letter’ to a literary agent.
Can you write a synopsis that will hold the interest of the agent, and want to make him or her ask for the first three chapters of your work?
Do you know how to outline?
You’ll need to know how to format your manuscript. This includes the fonts that
most agents, editors, and publishers want. You will need to follow submission guidelines just as they are laid down for your submissions. Anything less will result in your manuscript sent back or destroyed unread.
Do you know what Point of View is? (POV) Do you know how to write in First Person Point of View? The can’s and can not’s?
Do you know how to write dialogue? How to format dialogue?
It’s a good idea to know some of the publishing laws. The use of names and places.
These include
oDelivery Of Satisfactory Copy
oPermission for Copyrighted Material
oGrant Of Rights
oProofreading and Author’s Corrections
oAdvances and Royalties
oAuthor’s Warranties and Indemnities
oCopies to Author
oOption Clause
Do you know how to get a ‘word count?
Do you know what a prologue is? An epilogue? Do you know how both of them are used and why?
Do you know what the word ‘genre’ means?
You’ll need to know how to use the proper ‘page set up’ for your work. Margins, indents, paragraphs.
Are you prepared to do a lot of ‘research’ involving your work? Many professionals such as, doctors, lawyers, nurses, public accountants, judges, architects, bricklayers, engineers, and police officers read, too.
Do you know what a plot is? A sub-plot?
Can you take rejection and constructive criticism? If you’re easily hurt in the feelings department, then this hobby is not meant for you. Critics will tear you apart or build you up. The best writers in the world “King, Patterson, Koontz, J.K. Rowling, and many others” have been torn up one side and down the other. You can’t please everyone.
If you decide to hire an editor, remember: Your manuscript will be double spaced, which means there will be twice as many pages. A 600 page novel could cost you around $1800.00, some even more depending on what the editor charges a page.
These are the things you must know to work at your craft. But don’t let these things deter you from writing. There are books in libraries and bookstores that can teach you all of these things. Buying these books (if you want to be a serious writer) is the best thing to do. Why? Well, because you can use a yellow marker to highlight all the points of interest. Then you can use the front of the book to make page references to those markings in order to check back on them at a later date, when you need to.
You’ll need to get a copy of Writer’s Market for the current year. This has literary agents whom you can send out query letters to. Some of them allow email queries.
I wish you the best of luck!
Publishers sometimes take up to 85% of the money from sales, but then they do spend a massive amount on preparation, printing, promotion, distribution etc.
It would also have to be a damn good book. They read mountains of submissions and publish about 10%.
There are faster, easier and less stressful methods of getting money for college.