Ev BogueAt Think Coffee on The Bowery, finishing up the edit on this in the sunlight of Manhattan.
I'm not sure where I'm headed next, but it'll be somewhere. A few coffees, great meals, and a beer in the afternoon -- this is all I need.
I get a lot of questions about how I make a full-time income as a writer, so consider this an update.
--
When I was first becoming a writer, the advice I got from professional writers was one of two things.
- Don't be a writer, you'll starve.
- Work your way up the corporate ladder, send a manuscript to a publisher.
The more I practice being a professional writer in the world, the more I realize that the conventional wisdom about how to be paid to do the craft is all bullshit.
How to be a writer in 2011:
I only need a small group of people to support me. The number I'm aiming for is 333.
The math is simple:
333 x 25 x 12 = $100,000
333 is the number of people subscribed, a number I'm closing in on.
$25 is the subscription price per month.
12 is the number of months in a year (hopefully).
Add e-books to this stream of income, and I'm making a little more.
Then I don't need to stress so much about being a writer, experiencing my world, telling it to you.
I don't need to impress a bazillion people. I don't need a book deal. I don't need to be featured on the bestsellers table in Barnes and Noble. I don't need to answer 333 emails a day from people I don't know. I don't need an A-list blog with 80,000 people reading it every month. I don't need to create a massive organization in order to distribute hand-printed copies of my work.
Why have I been so quiet on the open Net lately? Because...
I only need 333.
This, for me, is enough.
If you're a writer, you can do this too.
The Letter is my work. It's where the intimate, immediate, and deep thoughts are sent, when I have them, straight to your inbox. The Letter is a direct connection, from me to you.