Ten Years From Yesterday
by Jason Alan
Quick note: I’m not begging for donations. I’m just throwing out some thoughts for today that happen to tie in with yesterday’s post.
Yesterday I received my first donation (see What Am I Worth?). After much consideration I have decided that everything I write will be free to all who wish to read it. I write poetry, short stories and commentary, and I am working on novels. Instead of putting them on amazon or some other site that does nothing for me except take a percentage, I will allow people to contribute the amount they choose through paypal.
Today I thought about how I would feel ten years from now if I’m still doing this. Would I be happy with my progress? I’ve decided the answer is yes, I would be satisfied no matter what the outcome. There are three ways it could turn out:
Best case scenario is that I have enough people paying for my books that it becomes my job. I would do all the writing and editing myself. While I’m not an English major, my spelling and grammar have always been better than average, especially after I read through what I’ve written a few times. That’s my attainable dream. My real dream is to be super hero space pirate, but there aren’t many openings for that. Maybe some day…
The worst case scenario is that I barely make anything. No need to elaborate on that. It’s pretty self explanatory.
The third is what I think will actually happen, which lies somewhere in between those two scenarios. I don’t think I’ll be the next Stephen King, selling millions of everything I put out. But I also don’t think I’ll be some bitter 46 year old blogger who never made anything of his writing career. I have a decent amount of confidence in my writing and storytelling. I also know that people are willing to pay for a quality product even when they can get it for free. So more than likely my writing will be a supplement to my regular income, whatever that may be, and I’ll continue writing in my spare time. I’m ok with that.
But I did kinda sorta tell an eensy weensy bit of a little tiny lie. I wouldn’t be happy if I barely made anything at all. I would consider myself a failure if that happened. So I will continue to write to the best of my ability and to entertain and inspire my readers whenever possible. Hopefully it will work out for me.
To cap this snorefest of a post off, I would like to thank my first and only contributor thus far. His name is Johan. He has a lovely blog mentalvasectomy.com and a delightfully offensive twitter account @mentalvasectomy. Stop over and say hi.
P.S. I hope you’ll be here ten years from yesterday so you can see how it worked out.
Jason Alan. Writer, Character. 
I appreciate your honesty and your approach. I see you post things nearly everyday–your dedication is apparent and I think you will succeed as a writer. Also, you say you haven’t really studied writing…well from what I can tell you are good with spelling and grammer and writing in general. So, keep it up! I can relate–I didn’t major in English or Creative Writing. I regret that now–darnit! Well, keep up the good work!
I used to regret not going to college (I finished high school, nothing after that), but I think that practicing something one is naturally inclined to do is the best way to improve. Thank you for the kind words and support.
That’s a bold plan! My one worry is that you will be missing out on a large source of revenue – forgetful people. I say this because I am one of them. If I want to buy a book, I’ll get it, no problem, and I’ll pay when I buy it and not think about it again. But — here I’m getting hypothetical, because I’ve never done this but I know people who say they have — if I were to download a free book, I wouldn’t want to donate because I don’t know yet if I like the book. But once I read the book and liked it, I’d move on to another book, because that’s what avid readers do, and I might accidentally skip the donate step entirely.
And that will definitely happen, guaranteed. I wonder if there’s a way to get around it. I guess at the end of your writing you could put some sort of note, like, “Enjoy the book? Please think about donating …” etc. to remind people. I don’t know. Still, I do really like your plan, regardless of the hole I may or may not have punched in it. Let us know how it turns out!!
It is something to think about. It’s a good idea to have the donation reminder at the end. It helps, I think, that two of the three novels I am currently working on are the first in a series. So at the end I would put something saying that if they want more, please donate. What do you think about that?
That’s a great idea. I just had that thought because at the end of the book I’m self-publishing I put – not a donation reminder – but something along the lines of “Did you enjoy the book? If so, there’s a sequel in the works! Go to michelleproulx.com for more details, giveaways, blah blah blah”. I figure that once people buy/download a book, they’ll keep reading until the pages run out, so why not do a little free advertising? 🙂
Yeah, if they didn’t pay for it they can’t bitch about it. Unless they’re assholes.
Keep writing, reading and dreaming. Someday, hopefully, you’ll make it.
Thanks. I’ll give it my best shot.
and I will give mine too.
Personally, I’d rather buy a book…I enjoy owning literature as much as reading it…
I plan on having it available in paper as well.
I think you’ve made the right decision. I say this, because as a writer (not quite as fulltime as I’d like), I believe writing is inspiration. Not just the regular sort, but… potential inspiration. You’ll never know how your writing will affect each mind/heart that reads it. Sometimes all they need is a word, to start a new thing that will captivate the world. You and I may never know how our writings will affect people in the next decade, but one of my chief joys is having many people see any captivating work, and be inspired to do something they had never thought to do before. Thank you Jason, for your dedication to your craft.
Thank you for that. Your words ring true. Only time will tell how it works out for me. And speaking of thanking me for the dedication to my craft… Say, buddy, can you spare a dollar? 😉
Only time will be able to tell whether my wallet will become sick and cough something up… (wait… huh… that sounded weird but I’ll take it.)
I’ll stick my finger in it. Wait that sounded weird too…
It’s tough out there but it’s obvious you are dedicated and passionate about it. They are many published writers who aren’t nearly as talented as you and are writing and making a living. I hate to say marketing your book is such a big part of it. I may not know what I’m talking about here, but there seems to be some truth to that. What gets buzz gets read, but this doesn’t necessarily mean the writing is any good. Keep it up! P.S. I can’t sleep.
I should have started doing this many years ago. In a way, I was attempting to build an audience. I spent countless hours on myspace adding ‘friends’. Looking back, it was like building a convenience store in the middle of a graveyard. Like anything, though, it’s a learning experience. Thanks for the kind words as usual. 🙂
Of course. Don’t forget that writing is hard….about one of the toughest things you can even attempt to do.
It’s not the writing that’s hard. It’s getting people to read it without being all spammy.