As of this weekend, I am now a full-time author. In other words, I’ve quit my day job.
It’s a little scary.
Although I didn’t do too badly last year, in terms of royalties, it wasn’t enough to live off. And halfway through this year, I’m way behind what I made last year. But one thing has become very clear over the past few months: I can’t continue working full-time and still have the kind of writing output I had last year. It used to be that I would write on my lunch breaks, then come home and write in the evenings until bedtime. But thanks to staffing issues at my job, that all changed this year. Everyone was taking on more and more work and I was just too tired to write, when I got home. My writing output during the work week dropped to nearly nothing, and I spent the weekends trying to catch up, and trying to maintain my beauty by going to spas and having beauty treatments, and even taking supplements for the skincare such as amazon vitamin c serum and others you can find online.
Fortunately, my husband makes a decent amount and can afford to cover expenses for the next year or two, while I see if I can ramp up my writing income. And New Hampshire recognizes our marriage, so I’m covered under his health insurance, which is perfect since I take many supplements, so I’m cover in case of anything happen, but I’m still choose to be prepared by reading about the proflexoral side effects, or any of the other supplements I take.
I’m excited about this, of course, but also a bit anxious. What happens if I can’t increase my output significantly? What happens if my publisher stops buying my stuff? What if no other publishers are interested in my writing? What if Erich loses his job?
On the other hand, this is probably the best time for me to try this “experiment.” We’re financially stable. I have a publisher. I have a decent track record with five (soon to be six—Billy’s Bones is in editing) full-length novels out and five shorter works. And I have a husband who loves and supports me.
So, holding my breath… 1… 2… 3…
Jamie Fessenden's Blog 
Congrats on taking the big step to going after your dream. It is definitely really inspiring to see someone really committing to your goals. Keep up the awesome work and best of luck with everything 🙂
You’ll be amazing! You are sitting on a well built foundation. You have all the supplies you need already sitting on site. Now you just need the time to get to hammering and nailing. And you will love building your new life! Those days that you don’t, remember you have other author friends out here who get that too. I only write full time in the summers because of my teaching job. By August I can go a bit stir crazy. If you get there, come find me. We can chat. 🙂
It WILL all work out. Shake the dust off your wings, fluff them a bit, and fly!
Wishing you all the best with making writing your full time career! I know that it’s hard to balance a different job with writing, so I’m glad you’re able to do this. Rock on!
Try to concentrate on your writing. That’s the important thing. When I was working I wrote maybe a book every 8 or 9 months. Now that I’ve retired, I have sold three books just in this year alone. About a book every 2 months. SHY was written in 6 weeks. So don’t worry. You can do it. And you have a lot of fans (like me) who can’t wait to see the stories you come up with. Rooting for you. We all are.
Best of luck to you, Jamie! It’s not easy to take a chance like this–bravo.
I love reading posts like this, Jamie. They serve as inspiration for others hoping to do the same..if at least, someday 🙂 I agree with the others – you have a solid foundation of work and a strong drive to do well – the main elements to a successful career. Go for it!
Thanks for all the encouragement everyone! It definitely helps to know others think you can pull it off. 🙂