David Maybury | Blog

Back to normal service tomorrow.

John Scalzi has ten practical money tips for writers looking to make a career out of writing. Scalzi has written a lot about money and writing on his blog - and the points he’s making are interesting:

1. You’re a writer. Prepare to be broke. Sad but true. And even more unfortunate is the news that even Edison died broke and he was a genius.
2. Don’t quit your day job. Best way not to be broke (see above point). You know it makes sense.
3. Marry (or otherwise shack up with) someone sensible with money, who has a real job. Scalzi has come under fire for this one. Personally, I couldn’t agree more. Having a partner who is smart with money has saved my ass more times than I can count.
4. Your income is half of what you think it is. This is one of those things that should be obvious - not that I had ever thought about it. There is one nice thing about Ireland - writers don’t pay taxes on money earned from creative works.
5. Pay off your credit cards NOW and then use them like cash later. How many have fallen for that trap?
6. Don’t have the cash for it? You can’t have it. Reluctantly I agree. No matter how shiny it is…
7. When you do buy something, buy the best you can afford — and then run it into the ground. This point just makes sense, whether you’re a writer or not.
8. Unless you have a truly compelling reason to be there, get the hell out of New York/LA/San Francisco. I’d make a case on this for Dublin too - except that I live there.
   
9. Know the entire writing market and place value on your own work. Charge what you’re worth, not a penny more or a penny less. If you don’t know what that is - ask the union.
10. Writing is a business. Act like it. Wear a shirt and tie to work? No. Just take it seriously.

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Something else worth reading: Harvard papers are to go online - free.