If you want to make a lot of money selling books, don’t bother reading any further.
I’m not on any bestseller list, though my writing has won recognition and awards. I don’t really care whether I sell a lot of books or not. I’m not in it for the money or the fame.
If you’re a writer just starting out, or maybe you’ve been writing for quite awhile but you’re looking for some inspiration, you’ve lost your mojo, or you’re adrift without a breeze in the Sargasso Sea, my advice is to write whatever the hell you want to. Write the book YOU want to read. Write the book that only YOU can. Be a leader, not a follower. Do what you love, the money will follow – or not. These maxims have stuck with me over the decades that I have been a writer. Following your heart and being true to yourself won’t make you rich but it will make you a better writer if you concentrate on discovering the art and learning the craft of writing.
Market-driven production of consumable words doesn’t appeal to me. I write what I must, what I’m driven to write, what amuses me. Do I want readers? Of course I want readers but not at any expense. The reason I write is to understand. To express life as I experience it. I write to write better.
Writing is an art form — bumbling and imperfect — but it is more than a product to be dictated by voracious readers hungry for entertainment. Writing is a way of life, an on-going discovery, a way to experience past, future, and parallel lives.