So, this newbie author was acting quite arrogant, proclaiming how she is the best author and how she is here to earn the big money and the only thing holding her back is the fact that the readers of this site are idiots who rather read generic isekai filled with fan service rather than true literature.
I didn't really have time to type this out on my phone. Now I'm at my lap top.
I used to do Ghost writing. I still do, technically. So Let me explain how it works, like the last time a few months ago.
Old friend of mine in the biz called me up. He usually gets an order from a publishing house for a couple stories at once so for every story he'll hire two ghost writers at about 500 a pop. IF they both finish on time, he pays each, gives both stories to a finisher who also works for 500, who then fluffs out the story to whatever specifics he needed, then he does a personal editorial review, slaps a fake author name on it, and sells it.
Sometimes his ghost writers fail to meet his deadlines.
So he calls me. I charge 6 cents a word. He wanted 50k, because he knows I make nice dense packed stories with little fluff broken bown by story beats so they are modular and easy to rewrite to specifications. Typically in that situation, since I'm costing him 3,000, he's do the rewrite and edit himself and then send it off to his client.
Most of his clients are publishing places that have steady loyal readers, They pump out a story every month or two a month or something and they get an automatic 50k sales. The Brand is what matters. So, when you add it all up, they maybe make quarter to a half million per printing.
I get 3 grand, because I'm lazy and don't need the money. You got to pay me to work and so i charge more. I underpromise, overdeliever and more importantly, I can hammer out a good 50k story in a month, easy. And I charge WAY LESS for my friend then I'd charge... say... YOU.
YOU? I'd charge you 15k. 1/4 upfront, thank you very much, and I keep the money upfront, no matter what, because you have NO IDEA HOW MANY FUCKING TIMES I GET CANCELED ORDERS. But this kid? Go on Fiverr and make your .5 cents a word and work your ass off until you get up tot he point you can get a penny a word because the market is saturated.
Now, you can go on a self-publish site. Maybe you'll make more money, but ghost writing is a steady paycheck. When I was out of work for six months my friend sent me work when I knew he didn't need it just to help me out. That sort of loyalty earns my willingness to drop everything and work my ass off for a month for a fuckin mere 3k.
Oh. I can make an extra 3k in 2 weeks at my normal job without breaking a sweat. Easy. If I couldn't write on the overnights, I wouldn't take ghost writing jobs at all. I worked it out once, I basically work for half pay to make 3k and trust me, wrtiting a book is a hell of a lot harder than my current job.
So your options are, starting out, getting .5 maybe 1 cent a word until you get a reputation where you can demand more, or self-publish and hope you make it big.
Oh. Wait. YOU THOUGHT you might be the next Stephen King?
No.
No, you are not. You will not be. You will never be. That man is a machine. He never bragged about being better than anyone, because he was too busy writing another million bucks. People who have the time to brag do not have time to write. The next Stephen King isn't on a forum bragging about anything ANYWHERE. A man like that is on a level beyond us mere mortals. You do not have the autistic level of insanity to write like him.
Because its a numbers game.
You wanna be the best? You be like him, you write 1000 stories, throw out over half, rewrite the remaining 500 to be better, then repeat that about 2 more times and maybe, ONE OF THOSE will be good. You do that for a few decades and maybe you'll reach the bottom of the mountain you have to climb.
I've written 100's of books/stories and I'm... capable and fairly good. Only... merely... sorta... kinda... good.
I'm a by the formula writer. Minimal detail, heavy on the plot, nice and dense and easily expandable with added fluff to customize it exactly as you want. Just the way a ghost writer should be.
So, you let this kid know, maybe they are better than everyone else, but if they are expecting to make MONEY in this corrupt and over satuated market, they have a LONG ROAD ahead of them.
