A lot of you might be reading this hoping to find out how much it costs to self-publish a book, and we’ll get to that (or you can simply wait for part 2 of this blog!), but I’m aiming for transparency here so I want to touch on some other things first.
For me the impact, and in some ways struggle, of being a writer goes well beyond the financial costs. I’ve had to make a lot of sacrifices to my personal life in order to pursue this as a future career.
Without boring you with my life story, I was once a super-fit guy with a semi-decent job for a government-funded agency, a long-term relationship and two pet rabbits.
As I write this, ten years later, none of those things are true anymore. One of the rabbits has somehow survived – he’s sitting below me right now – but everything else has changed.
The tipping point was that I got ill with a flu-like virus, just at the time when a recession hit. Looking back, I didn’t give myself enough rest, and my body started to systematically shut down. My job was going to be cut along with a third of the agency’s total budget and I had an opportunity to take voluntary redundancy. Hoping to get some rest, I took it.
Unfortunately, my body never fully recovered and my immunity, in particular, seems to be permanently hampered. I work 4 days a week in an administrative role and I would struggle physically and emotionally to do any more than that. I don’t want to exaggerate this. I am still “fit” compared to a lot of people my age, but that’s because I live a structured and healthy lifestyle. I don’t do a lot else.
The point of all this is that you could say I was forced to be a writer. I was always writing, but now I don’t really see any other way to change my life for the better, so it’s definitely made me commit. But there are consequences to committing. Financially, I can’t work less than 4 days and I only manage this because I moved to a poor area in order to survive on part-time wages and, of course, to be able to pursue my writing goals.
It’s a struggle to work and write. Obviously, this struggle has an emotional and psychological impact too, although I’ve certainly toughened up over the years so I can cope with that.
I know you could read this and think, well none of that is a “cost” of writing, but really it is. I’ve undoubtedly had to make selfish decisions to continue writing. If I wasn’t writing, I would have tried to start another career, earned more money, perhaps had a social life. You have to be healthy to write, switched-on, aware, or you simply can’t produce quality content.
I am not alone in this struggle, and it’s no surprise that so many stories (including mine) are about perseverance, overcoming adversity, change and growth. I’m also aware that many people have gone through far tougher experiences than I’ve ever had to, so I’m lucky really. It’s important to realise and appreciate that.
I’m sure you have a story too. Don’t be afraid to tell it.
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