JPF Home Page Forums Hangin' with Harriet

Love this chapter. I may be the slowest snail in the race, and maybe shouldn't admit this, but it never OCCURRED to me when I wrote my first few songs that there *WAS* any money to be had in songwriting.

Now while you all laugh...

I've spent 10 years as a published author, *hoping* there might be money in it. I didn't want a lot really... I didn't expect a lot, unless I got lucky enough to land a national, huge contract a la J.K. Rowling. I don't doubt my ability or my stories... I just know it's really, really hard to be discovered.

Along that journey, my 1st publisher went bankrupt, shorting me out of half my teeny-tiny earned royalties... and landing me in a situation that wound up costing me much more money than I ever dreamed it would, in buying my own books back. (Long, convoluted story I won't go into here.) For my second book, my friends and I formed a co-op, which was wonderful and cost much less money than my first go-round. The co-op is flourishing now, but has stopped publishing books. For my third book, I don't know yet how I'll fund it, or whether yet another publisher will want to take on something mid-series (the third is to be part #3 of a trilogy). I have fans write me every week asking where that third book is. I really want to finish it, and am working on it, and looking into creative solutions for printing it. But do I have any hope at this point of earning back more than the cost of printing? Not really. My experience has shown otherwise. It's a labor of love. A lot disappointing, and discouraging, but I'm still going, because I love my story (and so do other people, from the letters I get), and I want to share it with the people who want to read it.

At this point, I look at anything in the artistic business and say MONEY?? you think I can make MONEY?? and laugh out loud.

So far, it looks like the shift to music has the potential to COST me even more money than the book world has. Joy! But will I let that risk put me off? No. It's in my blood, and demanding to be let out. Whether I am any good at it or not, whether I ever get back a dime I invest in it or not. I've learned that the "big money" IS actually out there... but at what cost to my soul? To my family? Hmmm. I'm willing to work terribly hard--yes. But I'm not willing to sacrifice the success of my family, the love of my children and spouse, or other immaterial but so-much-more-important things to get my hands on that elusive "big money."

So there you have it.

Is that integrity?
Actually, I don't think I'd know how to sell out if someone printed detailed directions. LOL. Not that I'd want to, anyway... sigh...

Linda