I got a check in the mail for $1,000 today.
Maybe that’s not a lot to some of you – maybe you get checks for $1,000 each week or even everyday.
Maybe some of you never get checks, doing direct deposit all the time. I’ve had bigger paydays than this before if you want to factor that into it (we were paid monthly in China).
But in this case it’s a check from a publishing company, one that I did a job for. I actually got paid $1,800 for the thing, which entailed writing a book about the new healthcare laws.
I started the job way back at the end of June, or at least that’s when the negotiations began. My first major draft was on July 21 my last changes were on July 29.
At that point I sat on it until about August 13, whereupon I fiddled around on it some more until August 17. After that it was more waiting and then finally the check today…on a job that was contractually obligated to end on August 23.
Well, I got paid. I’ve been stiffed many times before as a writer, and it makes me nod to those lines in songs of bands getting the same on gigs.
Anyways, it feels good to get paid that much for writing, for the following reasons:
Maybe that’s not a lot to some of you – maybe you get checks for $1,000 each week or even everyday.
Maybe some of you never get checks, doing direct deposit all the time. I’ve had bigger paydays than this before if you want to factor that into it (we were paid monthly in China).
But in this case it’s a check from a publishing company, one that I did a job for. I actually got paid $1,800 for the thing, which entailed writing a book about the new healthcare laws.
I started the job way back at the end of June, or at least that’s when the negotiations began. My first major draft was on July 21 my last changes were on July 29.
At that point I sat on it until about August 13, whereupon I fiddled around on it some more until August 17. After that it was more waiting and then finally the check today…on a job that was contractually obligated to end on August 23.
Well, I got paid. I’ve been stiffed many times before as a writer, and it makes me nod to those lines in songs of bands getting the same on gigs.
Anyways, it feels good to get paid that much for writing, for the following reasons:
- First, I can pay my rent for another month, thus putting off a crummy service-industry-style job for a bit longer;
- Then, it feels good knowing you can get paid that much for something that to you at least, is pretty easy;
- Finally, it really makes me feel good when I read the quote from Stephen King that talks about talent:
“This, of course, is the killer. What is talent? I can hear someone shouting, and here we are, ready to get into a discussion right up there with "what is the meaning of life?" for weighty pronouncements and total uselessness. For the purposes of the beginning writer, talent may as well be defined as eventual success - publication and money. If you wrote something for which someone sent you a check, if you cashed the check and it didn't bounce, and if you then paid the light bill with the money, I consider you talented.” (Stephen King, Everything You Need to Know About Writing Successfully – in Ten Minutes)
Stephen King in 1994 (from Facebook)
So I’ve got that going for me. I’ve also got a pretty good Montana history book coming out here in another two weeks, one that’ll be well over 400 pages in print format, perhaps close to 500.
Yep, it’s got 80,000 words already, and I really think it’s the best in the series. Will I get a check in the mail for $1,000 for it?
Well, I’m hoping for a check in the mail for $5,000 for it, actually.
Yep, it’s got 80,000 words already, and I really think it’s the best in the series. Will I get a check in the mail for $1,000 for it?
Well, I’m hoping for a check in the mail for $5,000 for it, actually.
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