Imagine it’s a Friday night in September 2020. You can’t go anywhere. COVID has your entire city in lockdown. If you’re me, you’ve got unlimited internet, no kids, and a cat who wishes you’d get a hobby. You and your partner, parent, sister (or whatever) are on the couch having a drink and watching TV. It’s a rerun of a show so boring your face is melting off. What do you do?
I got into NFTs. I know, give me a break, it was 2020.
In case you don’t understand NFTs or why people love(d) them, don’t worry. No one does—and it’s not important to this story. What is important though, is that in 2020, NFTs were the height of art and technology. The art was alluring, the technology was advancing, the parties were astounding, but the very best part, the part that got me, was the stories. Stories that NFT projects were willing to pay for, and amateur writers were willing to write for.
I dived into the NFT world. I wrote a ton of short stories featuring apes in space and dragons on Mars, and if you can believe it, writing paid well. The pay was good enough that I quit my engineering job. Yes, it's true, I left my well-paying, stable career to write about apes and dragons in NFTs.
Writing fiction is that important to me, and by the time the NFT market fell apart in the summer of 2022, I had authored a Choose Your Own Adventure-type game, developed extensive worldbuilding outlines, and began directing art for a graphic novel based on my short stories. The experience was thrilling, and you can still read some of my published stories here.
But when NFT projects could no longer pay, I had to figure out something else to do for work. (1) I could return to engineering (I had offers). (2) I could continue to seek out freelance writing (I had no offers), or (3) I could pursue professional writing as an author. I naturally chose to become an author, and it's forced me into an entirely new world. NFTs were equipped with a built-in, paying market for stories, but that's gone now. As an independent author, I've had to find ways to publish my work and earn a paycheck.
Options exist for new authors like me. Since I'm focusing on stories of my own creation, I've narrowed down my options to promote my writing and gain readers. This includes (a) submitting stories to literary journals and magazines, (b) writing novels and finding an agent to sell them to publishers, and (c) writing novels and self-publishing. I don't have to choose only one of these options, but I have to do something.
How It’s Going (So Far)
I'm incredibly lucky to have written NFT stories and successfully earned a living. At least, that's what I've gathered from other authors. Because even if an author manages to crank out a bunch of stories and novels, getting published isn't easy—and earning money from it is even harder.
As of today, I haven't earned any income as an independent author, but despite the odds, which I go into depth below, I'm optimistic. Because writing is what I was born to do. Hopefully, fate and readers agree.
Literary Journals and Magazines
Publishing short stories in literary journals and magazines benefits authors in several ways. Here are a few:
Literary publications nominate stories for prestigious awards. Awards often come with publicity, connections, and prizes for authors.
Literary agents read notable literary publications. If they like what they see, they may be willing to connect me with more opportunities.
Prominent publications validate authors. I'll feel accomplished once I'm published again.
Some journals and magazines pay for writing. Payment ranges between $0.08-$0.15 per word for published work.
While these perks are nice enough to catch my attention, literary submissions don't come without obstacles. There are complicated barriers, including limited time windows, ever-changing story topics, and widely varying formatting requirements. Not to mention that journals and magazines aren't typically profitable, meaning that they suffer from constantly dwindling staff, which creates delays in hearing back from editors. And that’s if the literary journal manages to stay in business for more than a couple of years—because most go defunct. Popular literary journals and magazines, on the other hand (you know, the ones that don’t go out of business), often don’t allow direct submissions, preferring instead to accept authors’ work only from literary agents.
Yes, that’s right, I need an agent if I want to submit a story to tor.com.
Finding a Literary Agent
Literary agents aren’t a new concept in the writing world. Since the mid-2000s, traditional publishers (and prominent literary magazines, apparently) have increasingly relied on them to find authors and manuscripts. Today, none of the major publishing houses allow authors to submit manuscripts to them without an agent. This means that if I want my book published (without self-publishing), I must first attract a literary agent. Here are the benefits of having an agent:
Agents have connections to publishers and lawyers and can negotiate deals on my behalf.
Agents work off commission (typically 15%), meaning they only get paid if I get paid.
Experienced agents know what sells, and this can help me tweak my work to fit market trends.
Literary agents, however, come with some major drawbacks. First, it's not easy for new authors to find an agent. Just search for #amquering on X (Twitter) if you want to know how ridiculous attracting a literary agent can be. There you’ll find hundreds of agent-seeking authors posting about their quests. Similar to literary journal and magazine submissions, new authors say that each literary agency has unique submission requirements, ever-changing genre interests, varying time windows for when to submit, and dwindling patience and resources. I've seen many authors post their confusion about seemingly strict and illogical rules made up by agents.
So why is it so challenging to find an agent? The problem seems to be about supply and demand. While there is an overwhelming supply of author manuscripts, there is a lack of equivalent literary agents, who are often poorly paid. What's worse is that agents are paid only after they sell a manuscript, meaning they might do a lot of work without seeing any financial gain if they can't sell. If they manage to sell, they'll receive a 15% cut from the author's pay, which ranges from $10,000 to $20,000 for new authors.
I'm confident my writing is good enough to attract an agent (and earn them sales), but I'm not confident I want to participate in the traditional publishing rodeo. For one, major publishing house policies ensure agents are desperately underpaid by authors, who are even more underpaid by publishers. Meanwhile, they offer low royalties, unfair contracts, and minimal marketing support to new authors. They prioritize trends, existing bestsellers, and celebrities over quality, originality, and niche markets. They’re also slow to publish and adapt to new strategies. All the while bringing in large profits year after year.
I don’t want to have a role in that, which leaves me with one other option.
Becoming a Self-Published Author
The perks of self-publishing come at the expense of losing what major publishing houses can offer, which includes cash advances, experienced editing, and market-researched book cover design. However, here are the benefits of self-publishing my novels:
I earn the majority of my eBook sales, up to 70%. With print-on-demand, I can also offer print books and earn more than 20% on sales.
I have the final say in choosing my editors and artists, allowing me to remain true to myself and my readers with all editing and book cover design decisions.
I control the sales, promotions, and publicity of my books. This means I don't have to wait for a publisher's slow decisions and can adapt quickly.
It's not all sunshine and rainbows with self-publishing, though. As a self-published author, I am not just a writer, but also a business owner. This means I'm responsible for making all the decisions related to selling and marketing my books. And while even traditional publishers expect their authors to market themselves, with self-publishing, the onus is entirely on me. If I fail to create a strong social media presence or keep up with the latest advertising practices, I suffer the loss.
What I'm Working On
Besides learning about the author profession, I’m constantly writing. Here’s what I’m working on now:
I'm submitting short stories to various literary journals and magazines, and I’ll announce any that are published. I can speed up publication by casting a wider net on places I submit to, but I want to ensure the publications I work with will help me accomplish my goals. I'd like to be nominated for awards, get exposure to more readers in my genre, and show longevity in my writing career, which means they'll need to be a stable publication.
I’m obsessed with the culture surrounding The Elements of Style and the Book of the Month Club. Researching older books and publishing companies has taught me a lot about writing and direct marketing, and I’ll continue to blog about them here on my site. (FYI—If you’re an avid reader, here’s a list of books selected by Book of the Month. It’s great for finding popular books dating back to the late 1920s.)
I’m writing a fantasy horror novel series. It’s too green to go into details, but I like to think of it as the Librarians meets Army of Darkness, although it’s subject to change/glory/uncertain death. So it goes.
I never expected to become an author so soon in my life, especially not by writing for NFT projects. Now that I’m here, though, I look forward to the hustle it brings and the stories I’ll create.