Earning Money As A Writer

"How much money do writers earn?"

This is a question I get asked a lot.

And I always give the same answer. "I don't know. How much do you earn?"

It's funny how people don't care about asking me how much I earn but don't want to talk about their own income. Hmmm...

Anyway, I can't answer that question even if I wanted to because different writers earn different amounts of income.

When I first quit my job to write full time I was a bit worried about tax and other income related things and I had to get an accountant - and pay her!

This was scary at first because I didn't understand all the tax laws but it turned out that I didn't have to because that is what I pay my accountant for.

But when I first started writing I didn't worry about the money side of it because I was still working at my job.

It wasn't until I quit working that I went to see an accountant who explained everything to me.

All I had to do was keep an Excel spreadsheet of my income from all my different books and other sources, and of all my expenditures, and she did the rest.

At first, it's scary because writing income isn't regular.

But it does arrive in my bank account several times a month and I've learnt not think that I can spend a lot of money just because I earned it.

I have to make it last because the amounts can be so different.

And earning money as a writer means that I have to write every day, 5 days a week, and sometimes more.

But it's worth it.

And even though the money isn't as steady as having an income from a paid job, I do get regular payments every month from places like Amazon.

So I guess in a way it is a steady income.

But I still don't know how much money other writers make.

So don't ask me.