So There Pithy Writer

Recently I read an article in which the pithy writer described the odds of achieving success as an author on Amazon.  It was compared to the odds of winning the lottery.  As well it was incorrectly stated that there are at present over 10 million ebooks on Amazon.

Load of garbage.

The number of ebooks available on Amazon can be found on Amazon.  While the number is large and increasing at a rapid rate, that writer was inflating the figure by between 3 and 4 times.

Furthermore, unlike a lottery, in which everyone is hoping to be the one individual who gets the winning ticket, writing and selling books is a continual thing, and has levels of return which range from nothing, to unbelievably large.

If an author makes a few grand a year, well that can be money for food, or  a car payment.  If an author makes 10 or 20 grand a year, well that can be considered rent.  And if an author makes 40 to 100 grand a year, I guess that can be considered a job.

A lot of people work long hours for less than that.

The numbers do not have to stop there but for my purposes here, that is far enough to have made the point.

Of course everyone would like to have a one hit home run which carries them financially for the length of their life; much as the character William Forrester did in the movie Finding Forrester with his famous book Avalon Landing.

It's possible.  It's more likely than hitting the lottery.  But it does not even have to reach that magnitude in order to be financially rewarding.  So there pithy writer.