Freelance fiction: get started writing novels for money

by angela.booth on October 20, 2006

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Can you make money writing novels? Yes, you can, but you need to approach it in a methodical fashion.

Realize that you (probably) won’t sell your first novel
Look on your first novel as a learning experience. You may be able to sell your first novel, but chances are that you won’t. Most first novels are just unsalable. However, writing it will teach you HOW to write a novel.

You also need to write your first novel to convince editors that you can stay the distance. Writing 5000 words of a short story is one thing, writing 60,000 to 100,000 words of a complete novel is something else again. Convincing editors that you can do it will convince you, too, because page 500 can look like an impossible dream when you’re on page three.

You may sell your first novel after you’ve sold your fifth
Once you’ve sold a novel, you’ll be able to sell others. Many publishers will give a writer a multi-book contract if the writer is writing in a popular genre like romance or mystery. So, don’t be too depressed about writing your first novel as practice - when you’ve written a few of them you may be able to sell your first effort, with some revision - you’ll know how to revise when you’re further along in your career.

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