I’ve now received a few emails on the subject of my last post, so I wish to clarify:
I did not leave my job because I was going to be published. I did not leave my job because of deadlines or promotional concerns. I had, in fact, saved up enough vacation time that I would have been able to take off all the time I needed for promotion, and I met my deadline just fine in 2005 with a job. It would have been the same in 2006.
I left my job because I had the financial capability to do so, and because my current job was not one that would prove impossible to replace a year or so down the line. Period.
I don’t own a house and I don’t have kids, so my expenses are relatively small, and I’m risking very little. If I did have dependents or high fixed costs (especially considering health insurance) I would not have left my job.
I also always have a date in my mind for when I will start looking for a new job if I don’t have additional income from writing.
If you do think of becoming a full time writer, this is what I recommend:
Plan A: Find a Wealthy Spouse (with really good medical/dental coverage).
Plan B:
1) Be very healthy. Medical costs are high.
2) Don’t have kids. Kids are expensive, incur a lot of medical costs (again, hope the kids’ other parent has good health coverage at their job), and expect to go to college.
3) Cash balance or guaranteed income (book advance, lottery win, inheritance, wealthy spouse, discovery of buried treasure) of at least 150% current yearly income for two years. (150% to offset cost of agent commission, promotion, independent catastrophic health insurance for one person, and self employment tax). Two years because of the following:
4) Make sure that the job you are leaving is one that can be replaced at some future point within six months.
5) Always have a failsafe point and plan beyond which you will be looking for a job. Set the failsafe point at 1.5 years (your mileage may vary), when you still have six months of income.
6) Bookmark info about Careers @ Starbucks.
April 23rd, 2007 at 1:34 pm
I would leave my job if I had the financial capacity to do so regardless of whether I was to be published or not!
Robin and I both attended a workshop entitled “How to quit your day job” and she just posted about it yesterday.
It was basically a role playing game of how to stay off a day job. Of the 14 workshoppers, I think 6 or 7 never had to take a dayjob.
The key points were keep a high bank account and low expenses. Of course, in the game, these were sort of random things.
April 23rd, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Oh, Diana, you’re such a cold shower today. I liked Saturday’s post much better. What happened to the magic of belief in oneself, visualizing success, and living and breathing and following your passion?
Fear of failure is roughly tantamount to a guarantee that success will never come. And not have kids?! Kids are what life is all about (though it may not always seem so at the time).
[Full disclosure: my son is getting married this weekend and I have to get on an airplane for the first time since 9/11 changed air travel forever. But it will be worth it, even as all the struggles and joys and ups and downs of parenthood are worth it. Kids are more precious than any amount of worldly wealth.]
I know that you’re only trying to overstate the case in order to make it. But still, Mondays are depressing enough without having to bookmark the Starbucks website….
April 23rd, 2007 at 1:44 pm
Rats and cats and little tiny puppydogs! Why is it that Blogger makes you reenter the word verification two or three times, and then obliges you by publishing your post multiple times? Sorry for the snafu above – I’ve deleted the iteration.
April 23rd, 2007 at 1:48 pm
Blogger wants us to go insane, Bill. My problem is, I already am.
April 23rd, 2007 at 2:11 pm
BTW – What were the emails about? Shock that you would quit with only your first contract? Seriously, what business is it of theirs?
Did they ask how big your advance was?
April 23rd, 2007 at 2:12 pm
I subscribe to Plan A.
Although, I wouldn’t mind barista-ing my way to free coffee.
April 23rd, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Yep, Patrick. Treasure chests, lottery winnings, book advances… whatever it takes.
Bill, congratulations on your son’s wedding! What wonderful news. Have a great time, and don’t worry about the plane flight. It gets easier every time.
However, I disagree that fear of failure has anything to do with succeeding or not. It can also be a good motivator.
April 23rd, 2007 at 2:21 pm
I’m pretty shackled by the golden handcuffs right now – no quitting to write any time soon in my future! I wish I could be more like Patrick and only spend my money on sweaters/capes.
April 23rd, 2007 at 2:22 pm
Another interesting point — I met an author on Saturday who said the CBA would not publish him if he planned on quitting after getting his forst contract and that they do not allow their authors to go fulltime until after their third book.
April 23rd, 2007 at 2:28 pm
People from the CBA have a thick accent and tend to pronouce ‘first’ as ‘forst’.
I know. It’s strange.
April 23rd, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Maybe I’d quit my day job too if I just published a sure-to-be-a-huge-hit book like UNDER THE ROSE!
I was fortunate to get a copy of the ARC and spent the weekend reading it. I’m happy to say it’s every bit as good – perhaps better – than the first one. It goes from poignant to edge-of-your-seat tension, and everything in between. Makes me want to be 20 again and go to Yale, or at least send my kids there (okay, so I’m never quitting my day job if that’s the goal).
Diana, you wrote another absolutely wonderful book, and I already can’t wait for the next installment on Amy’s life, loves and adventures. Great job!
April 23rd, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Patrick, I don’t know anything about how CBA works, so I can’t speak to their policies on that.
I don’t think most publishers find it their business where their authors are making their non-writing money from.
April 23rd, 2007 at 2:48 pm
The emails were just conversations about when people should quit, what was my motivation for quitting, if people can seriously manage both careers, etc.
If I had a job I really loved, I’d also not have quit.
April 23rd, 2007 at 2:56 pm
I thought it strange too, and I’m not sure if they currently do that.
And I’m not sure who the actual publisher was or if it was the Christian Book Assoc retailers, who didn’t want to sell books of people taking what they considered financial risks.
It was a strange comment. But I didn’t follow it deeper.
April 23rd, 2007 at 5:32 pm
Years ago I attended a writing conference where Catherine Ryan Hyde was the keynote. Her line that I’ll never forget: “If you have a fall-back position, you tend to fall back.”
Gulp. That meant a lot to me at the time. Still does. Fear of failure doesn’t motivate me at all. Visions of success do.
But I also understand the need to be realistic. Quite a balancing act here.
April 23rd, 2007 at 5:51 pm
Question: Do you all think planning to write for TV (daytime or primetime) sounds like a “job”? That’s my goal, but I wonder if that’s as unstable as planning to be a novelist. You’ve certainly got me thinking, Diana!
April 23rd, 2007 at 6:23 pm
i have been a lurker, reader and admirer of this blog for some time now. i know you get offended when people complain about the topic of your posts. however, this is the most pretentious blather i’ve ever read on a blog. i don’t know if you’re writing this tongue in cheek or if you’ve just become too big for your writing britches because of your success. i miss the more friendly, sweet and demure diana’s diversions of several months ago. you have so much writing knowledge to share, i wish you’d steer clear of such pretentious crap as this that does nothing but offend people.
peace,
ag
April 23rd, 2007 at 7:30 pm
Hey AG Anon,
Where’s the pretentiousness? And why should anyone be offended?
How and when to quit a day job is one of the biggest desires of many aspiring writers.
April 23rd, 2007 at 8:15 pm
Bwa, bill, cold shower.
Anywho, great advice, although it’s hard to save up that kind of money and not blow it all on a 6 month jaunt through Europe. (or maybe that’s just me *g)
I still work, but I work for myself and did something similar. I saved up not-quite-a-year’s worth of income and quit my job and moved 1000 miles away. The first year I struggled to make all new clients, and ended up spending that year of income I’d saved, so it was a darn good thing I’d done that.
Now, I have a reasonably steady stream of clients (well, as steady as freelancing ever is) but it wouldn’t have been possible if I didn’t have a plan and a healthy savings account. I imagine I’d have a similar outlook on quitting to write.
April 23rd, 2007 at 9:43 pm
AG, I cannot, for the life of me, think of what you might find pretentious about this post. I also can’t think of how you could find in it any tone of superiority. I’m giving you the straight dope here, as far as I see it, and definitely as far as I have acted. Feel free to disagree with me at will, but please do explain how any of this can be considered “pretentious” or even remotely invokes visions of grandeur. On the contrary, it’s the height of prosaic. I don’t talk at all here about how glorious it is to create words from the ether every day. *That* would be pretentious. Instead, I say, “Dude, how am I going to pay the rent and for my yearly check up?”
Also, I don’t get offended when people disagree with me. You’re wrong about that. I get offended when people tell me what I should post about on my blog. My blog. Key words.
Tell me that I’m full of shit and that you don’t need any of the things I mentioned to be a full time writer — fine. We can debate that until the cows come home.
But I *am* talking about the writing business here — the exact same subject of “when to quit your day job” is a highly popular topic at most any writer’s organization or conference you’re likely to find.
Yes, I’m using a funny tone (“don’t have kids” and keep Starbucks employment hotline on speed dial) but I’m also being honest. If I had children, I would never, EVER have quit my job, because I would expect to give my children a more stable life than the kind I lead right now. I would expect to give them better health insurance. I would be saving for their academic future.
I’m a doctor’s child, and the ability to have decent health insurance coverage is always, ALWAYS on the top of my list of priorities. If I’d been unable to secure that, I would have also kept my job.
And yes, I do have a point in mind where I either need to get another contract, or start looking for a job. Starbucks is actually an excellent choice, because it has great employee benefits.
This is exactly what I believe, and it defines exactly how I’ve behaved in terms of quitting my own job.
I’m sorry if I’ve offended you, but I *really* don’t see how I could have, to start with, and in addition, even if you find my beliefs offensive to your sensibilities, I’m not about to change them without being somehow convinced that they are wrong.
I am happy, however, to hear what might be wrong about them, since I do want to keep being able to afford my rent and health insurance premiums.
April 23rd, 2007 at 10:13 pm
Also, I don’t know whose blog you were reading a few months ago, but I have *never* been demure. Reserved? Shy? Moi? No. In fact, I doubt that *anyone* who has a blog fits that definition. I think that the moment you start posting your intimate thoughts to the googleable internet, you lose your Demureness card.
April 23rd, 2007 at 11:35 pm
Here, I can be pretentious – I went plan A, all the way, and it rocks. Granted, there were several years when I supported him/us while he started his company, but when my time rolled around, I took his awesome medical and dental coverage and planted my happy ass in front of my computer. I’m at the point now where my writing income just covers the daycare expenses for one child, but there’s no way in hell I would be able to support myself and my children on what I make as a writer.
Thanks for giving us the straight dope, as always.
April 24th, 2007 at 8:00 am
Very important post for people to think about. I quit my day job, but not until after a lot of thought and discussion went into it. By mutual agreement, we went with Plan A, but we’ve always got Plan B #4, if my spouse and I need to fall back on it.
April 24th, 2007 at 8:35 am
I don’t find this post pretentious at all. Just solid thinking on when would be an appropriate time to actually quit your job. Whether you are a writer or whether you want to pursue other avenues. Certainly people have to realize that some of this list is a bit tongue in cheek? To lighten up the topic?
There’s gotta be a balance between reality, what your dream is, and what you are willing to sacrifice for it.
However, financial stability and health insurance are incredibly important things to think about. As well as whether you have other responsibilities such as children, college tuition, retirement, a mortgage, an aging parent, etc. It is only prudent to be thinking of these things.
My husband is self-employed, and I will tell you family health insurance for the self-employed is incredibly high. Just shy of $13,000 for the year. Not something to be taken lightly. Makes you appreciate your company contributions to your health insurance, doesn’t it?
Thanks for a thought provoking post.
April 24th, 2007 at 9:06 am
Hey Jessica!
I know nothing about the television industry. But you know who does? Lee Goldberg. I highly recommend reading his entire blog, especially this post about breaking into television writing:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/22583/16526668
April 24th, 2007 at 10:37 am
ag–you’re the one writing tongue-in-cheek, eh? Demure? DEMURE? Who the hell wants to EVER be demure? Especially a woman. Bite your tongue. Or better yet…bite me.
(Guess which regular Diana’s Diversions poster I am)
These attacks are so transparent.
April 24th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
Oooh! Great link, D! Thanks!
April 24th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
“Plan A: Find a Wealthy Spouse (with really good medical/dental coverage).”
This worked really well for me.
April 24th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
Thanks for posting the link on the TV writing blogger, Diana — that’s my son’s career plan (he’s only 14 now, but thinking ahead), so I’ll pass it along to him.
And I so agree with you on the impact children have on the decision when and if to quit the day job. I’ve heard several writers claim it’s good for your children to see you chase your dream, and use that argument to justify giving up the hated but lucrative day job and downgrading to a life of humble means. IMO, SELF-sacrifice in pursuit of a dream is all well and good, but chasing your dream at the expense of your children is self-centered and wrong. Just my opinion.
April 24th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
I agree Phyllis. Of course, you can ALSO pursue your dreams, you just have to work that around the kids. Look at you! Look at so many examples. So many working writers getting up at 4 in the morning, writing until they have to get the kids up, packing lunches, going to work, coming home, helping the kids with their homework, and then starting all over again the next day. They are my heroes.
What I will owe my kids is definitely on the non-negotiable list for me. I can live on ramen noodles and go really light on the health insurance and be a starving artist, but I didn’t sign my hypothetical children up for that.
A great many writers I know (some making a lot of money writing) still have their day jobs, whether becuase it’s something they love, or they like the benefits, or they have a higher standard of living or more financial obligations (to kids or whatever).
April 24th, 2007 at 6:50 pm
Ok, I’m going to weigh in on the KID thing here, since I have one and often behave as one.
You are implying that ANY form of self-employment is a risk to a child. You are incorrect in doing so.
The decision of whether or not to quit your day job has nothing to do with children if you are smart about money. This does not mean living on ramen and depriving your child.
My wife quit her job when our son was born…
Was that a risk to my son?
I don’t think so. In fact, it was the most important thing we did! If only I could get her to write!
Yes, kids add to the expenses. Things like school districts affect where you live. That’s all.
And don’t tell me that day jobs are more stable. I’m at an office where several hundred people are being told their jobs are moving to a different part of the country. Move or lose! Nice stability…
So, yes, with the right combination of book contracts, investment income, and possibly a part time or menial job, I would quit my current job, regardless of the age of my son.
And if the first book contract isn’t big enough, it just goes to increase my investment income so the next one doesn’t have to.
April 24th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
I’m sorry if it came across that way. this was MY formula for determining to leave my day job. It’s what I did, it’s what I know, therefore, it’s what I recommend. I’m stating here that MY level of self-employment is unsuitable for child rearing.
If you’ve got a stable source of income from a variety of sources (lottery winnings, investments, etc.) then you aren’t really relying on your freelance. Independently wealthy (or semi-independently wealthy) is a different situation. Certainly, if I were a multi-millionaire, I wouldn’t be thinking about rent or health insurance so much.
However, I would also consider SE a great deal higher than mine (the number I set was 150% my other income) to be unsuitable, if merely due to the cost of decent health care. For example: periodic premiums for catastrophic individual health insurance costs as much to me as the cost of very swank full coverage family plans at my previous place of employment. If I were trying to cover a family, as Hip Mama mentioned, I’d need a significantly larger amount of money. If I’d wanted one that provided maternity benefits… the price tags begin to get astronomical. Thus the “really healthy” clause.
Had I some chronic illness, I would also not have left my job, as I would have needed more coverage.
Really, it’s all about the health plan for me. I was crunching numbers on that for quite a while before I gave my notice.
You need to set your own level, taking into account what you require regarding fixed expenses for dependents, health needs, property, etc. Since I have very little of this, it doesn’t enter into my figures at all. And yes, having very little of this makes it easier to take the risk. If the answer to B2 had been different, so would the answer to all the rest.
Also, not all forms of SE are created equal. There are many, certainly, which provide a high level of stability. Plumbing, for example.
Art is not a stable enterprise. Though it may appear more stable on a day to day basis, because I know, according to contract, my employment for the next two years, while my friend’s place of work just laid off half their staff w/o notice last Friday, my friend is more likely to find another job very quickly, whereas openings in my industry are not as easy to come by. I know a lot of writers who have struggled to land new contracts after being “laid off.” Sometimes for years.
Patrick, your wife quit her job. You, to my understanding, didn’t. Isn’t that Plan A?
And of course, these are all concerns I’m dealing with for the past year and for the next one. When situations change, I will change with them. When SB and I are married, when SB starts living up to the Plan A promise, when I’m finally diagnosed with carpal tunnel…
April 24th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
My comment came across much harsher than it was meant.
That’s the hard part about his conversation. SO many darn variables.
I went under the assumption of if you had hypothetical children then you had a hypothetical SB making some cake, making it very similar to my situation.
My only point was that kids are not really that different from other expenses that need to be considered other than they are also a time factor.
Pre-existing medical condition is another, like you say.
I agree that medical coverage IS one of the challenges and from what I hear, the coverage and group rates available to artists is still pretty weak.
This is such a difficult conversation because everyone has different needs, expenses, and ways of handling money.
Your example is very similar to what my plan is. Some of it is included in the way I operate today. I am prepared to be laid off and have other potential jobs that I keep tabs on.
But I see this same philosophy in writing. Take you for example – you have, basically, contracts that will pay over the next two years. You are meeting your deadlines.
In this situation I would be writing other books in between, so I would be shopping WELL BEFORE the current contract runs out. (I’m not implying you aren’t. I have no idea.)
It’s a tough conversation and there is no right or wrong answer.
There are so many ways to do it right and equally as many ways to do it wrong, but you don’t know until you try.
At the time my wife quit, it turned out that I wasn’t making enough to support us. Ooops.
April 24th, 2007 at 11:24 pm
Patrick, I wasn’t slamming self-employed parents either — I am a self employed parent. My business is a law practice. The distinction I make isn’t between self employed vs. working for a large corporation — it’s between keeping a day job (regardless of whether that day job is working for yourself or working for someone else) where you have a proven ability to earn sufficient income to support your family, vs. pouring all your financial resources into chasing a dream that may or may not come true, when that commitment leaves you less able to provide for your children, both materially and in terms of available time.
Kids aren’t just another expense item to consider, because they have the legitimate expectation of being supported by their parents. My comments are really a reaction to a speech I heard some time ago from a now-successful author, describing how she quit her high-paying job, yanked her her daughter out of private school in her senior year of high school, sold the nice house, moved to a crappy neighborhood away from all her kid’s friends, and stuck her kid in a public school that wasn’t a very good environment, all so she could follow her dream to be a writer. She was bragging about it, touting herself as a role model for her daughter, and commending herself for the sacrifices she made for her writing career. Seemed to me she wasn’t the one making the sacrifices. That’s the kind of situation I was thinking about when I wrote my post.
If people are depending on you to be the bread winner, then I think bread comes before art. If you have only yourself to support, starving in the garrett may indeed be noble.
April 25th, 2007 at 6:30 am
Phyllis – I agree with you in disapproving of what that author did. But that is you and I. Who are we to judge? Maybe the daughter was on board with it.
I will NEVER commend someone for ’sacrificing’ for a writing career. That’s a SILLY art myth.
I WILL commend someone for achieving happiness and making smart business decisions.
I also realize that some people work better under pressure – fear of failure – living in the garrett. I do not, so that kind of starving pressure would KILL me.
I don’t find it noble. I hear that story and think of all the ways she could have done it better – wait one year – save up more money – etc. But that is just me.
I’ve changed jobs two times to reduce stress and give me more writing and family time. And yes one of those times was a significant paycut.
Again – this is a tough topic because of ALL the variables.
One question – Why do so many lawyers become writers? If I had known that, I would have gone to law school.
April 25th, 2007 at 8:58 am
LOL, Partick — seriously, I think it’s because there’s so much writing involved in law — most lawyers do more persuading on paper than they do in the courtroom. And also, people who write well tend to do well in law school.