I looked up the most lucrative authors of 2016 on Forbes, curious to see what kind of emphasis mainstream fiction has over the commercial fiction (which covers the speculative market). Here's the list (the gallery is obnoxious, so I'm putting the information here). Also, I've put the genre in which they write into parentheses so that it's easier for me to analyse.
- James Patterson (A)
- Jeff Kinney (MG)
- J.K. Rowling (YA/F/A/M)
- John Grisham (A)
- Stephen King (F/H)
- Danielle Steel (A/R)
- Nora Roberts (A)
- E.L James (A)
- Veronica Roth (YA/SF)
- John Green (YA/NA)
- Paula Hawkins (A)
- George R.R. Martin (F)
- Rick Riordan (YA/F)
- Dan Brown (A)
If you've walked through a bookstore for any amount of time, you'll see these names. What's interesting here is the sprinkling of Young Adult books (though it's debatable if Rowling's presence on this list comes from her Adult/Mystery books or continual sales of Harry Potter), but only one Middle Grade. The fact that the single Middle Grade author, Jeff Kinney of Diary of a Wimpy Kid fame, is the second place writer on this list is surprising. I mean, I know the books are popular, but that popular? That's really cool. Since they're part comic, part novel, they cost a little more, which probably factors into this a little, too, but that's impressive.
Since I tend to write in fantasy and science fiction genres, it's important for me to look at how much representation I have. With Rowling again being a question mark on this list (I'm honestly shocked to see she's still on it...especially in third place), we have Stephen King, Veronica Roth, George R.R. Martin, and Rick Riordan. Less than a third of the list is publishing in my preferred genre, and Stephen King's works tend to be more horror than fantasy, though he writes prolifically enough that he ends up in a lot of different pots. It's no surprise to anyone who's been paying attention to pop culture that Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire and its HBO series Game of Thrones has a lot of publishing momentum. In fact, Martin reported that his fifth book in the series, A Dance of Dragons sat on the New York Times bestseller list for an entire year. That's crazy.
So while it's remarkable to see some of the names and genres on that list, a quick look at the biggest authors (just shy of half of them are women, which is fantastic; none is a person of color, which is sad) shows that the consistent money is headed toward the Adult genre, sometimes called mainstream fiction. Obviously, the real money is there, which isn't to say that the quality is there (though Grisham is an excellent author...E.L. James, writer of the Twilight fan-fic turned softcore BDSM Fifty Shades of Grey, on the other hand, is reportedly not much of a writer at all). We're looking at receipts, so the takeaway is going to be skewed.
Anyway, this list is instructive in a lot of ways. With a couple of exceptions (Green and Rowling), these authors are writing, and writing a lot. Patterson puts out a disgusting number of books per year, and Roberts isn't far behind. The constant output, coupled with their brand (that is, their name), makes for strong, steady revenue. In many ways, being a full time author is finding ways to write as much as possible when taking all the other pieces into account.
The idea that I want to write more--more essays, more science fiction, more fantasy, more mainstream fiction, more young adult, more comics--comes from finally understanding that I can't view my works as divine acts of creation or the generation of my soul. They aren't children; they're books. I should write them to the best of my ability, then move on to the next. The quantity of writing that some of these writers put in is staggering. Stephen King says he writes 2,000 words a day minimum--and never less. Terry Goodkind, if I remember correctly, would write 12 hours a day, seven days a week. (He is dyslexic, too, which makes his back-breaking fantasy novels all the more impressive.) Obviously, a commitment to the craft is needed, particularly if you're like me and want writing to become the way in which you earn your living.
And I have to remind myself that these words are important to me, but they aren't the only thing that's important to me. Of all the books I've written, I think I put the most effort into Writ in Blood. (I documented my writing of that book here.) It's probably the one I'm most proud of, that I thought was the best work I could do. It also was rejected quickly and easily by every person I queried--its length put off the agents.
I have to remember that their rejection of that world, and my abandonment of it, doesn't diminish the story, the work, or whatever else my words can create. And I have to create more, even if there never ends up being any money in the writing that I do.