# Anyone have a Plan B?



## Eric S. Kim (Oct 22, 2014)

Let's say that writing full-time as a career doesn't work out. I know we don't want that to happen, but let's just pretend. If this career path doesn't really get you anywhere, then you'd have a backup plan, an alternate career choice. What would be your Plan B?

Personally, if my writing doesn't go very smoothly, then I would perform for a major orchestra by playing in either the string or brass section. Maybe ten years from now, I'd be the principal conductor. Either that, or be a filmmaker. Anything that has to do the Arts.


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## Alain Gomez (Nov 12, 2010)

TheCasualCalifornian said:


> Personally, if my writing doesn't go very smoothly, then I would perform for a major orchestra by playing in either the string or brass section. Maybe ten years from now, I'd be the principal conductor. Either that, or be a filmmaker. Anything that has to do the Arts.[/size][/font]


That's it? No astrophysics discoveries or breakthroughs in genetics? 

I can't speak for everyone. But I do know that for many of the full-time writers here writing WAS the plan B. It's pretty tough to have it be a plan A. It's not exactly the sort of thing you just instantly earn a paycheck with.

In other words, you have to be making a living with your writing before you can decide to make a living. And if you've gotten to the point where you are making a comfortable living off your royalties you don't really need a plan B.


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## Alexander Rodgers (Aug 17, 2014)

Writing is my plan B. Trying to turn it into plan A.


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## Gone 9/21/18 (Dec 11, 2008)

For me writing is for necessary supplemental income in retirement. When I first published in early 2010, I was facing finding those needed dollars somewhere and the least onerous way was going to be boarding horses. I only have one elderly horse left and a 6-stall barn on the property. That would still be my Plan B if necessary, but I want to do it less today than I did back then. Taking care of the extra horses wouldn't be that bad, but dealing with owners would be. I know because I've done it before (managed a boarding stable many years ago). My books have brought in enough since June 2010 no Plan B was necessary, and while things aren't as lucrative in general as they were in 2011 and 12, they're still exceeding what I need by a bit, and my newest book is doing well enough to put any worry aside for at least another year.


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## Natasha Holme (May 26, 2012)

Web development. Fortunately, I love it. And I got to build my books' websites myself.


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## onguard74 (Apr 3, 2014)

No! I'm all in.


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## Wayne Stinnett (Feb 5, 2014)

I hear Walmart is looking for greeters.  

Seriously, I've lived a bit longer than most of you and have worked in a few different careers. I started writing as a Plan B, to make enough money to move Plan C to Plan A. My goal was to make enough to turn my garage into a wood working shop and build boats. That would get me off the road, doing something I enjoy.

Funny how things work out. Writing is now my career and woodworking is my hobby.


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## T.M. Blades (May 1, 2013)

Well, I already have a day job. One that is not my favorite thing, but it pays my bills none the less. So, I suppose I will just keep doing both. I am actively cutting expenses, reducing how much I need to live on to make my plans more feasible and give me a lot more wiggle room financially. You can either make more money or spend less. We'll say I'm working on both right now.


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## Chinese Writer (Mar 25, 2014)

Alexander Rodgers said:


> Writing is my plan B. Trying to turn it into plan A.


Same here, but I don't really hold out much hope that it'll become a Plan B. Too much uncertainty in this biz.


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## My_Txxxx_a$$_Left_Too (Feb 13, 2014)

Content removed due to TOS Change of 2018. I do not agree to the terms.


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## Wayne Stinnett (Feb 5, 2014)

AnnChristy said:


> After 28.5 years in the military, I'm retiring


Thank you for your service and dedication, ma'am.


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## MQ (Jan 5, 2011)

Plan B is to keep working at my day job.


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## H.G. Suren (Jan 23, 2012)

I have a job  .


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## Rick Gualtieri (Oct 31, 2011)

Thomas Fincham said:


> Plan B is to keep working at my day job.


Pretty much.


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## Christa Wick (Nov 1, 2012)

I only made the jump to FT because I had a professional license to fall back on.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

OP, have you published anything yet? How can you make plans if you don't write something and put it out there? What's your pre-launch plan? What's your marketing plan once published? Are you going exclusive with Amazon or are you going for wide distribution?

These are the things you need to be asking about or if not asking about, reading about here on KB.


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## Foxolio (Jul 15, 2014)

There is no plan B!! I shall keep plodding onward, I'm generally useless at everything else.


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## Steve Vernon (Feb 18, 2011)

Plan B is what happens to you while you are working at Plan A.

Forget about what Oprah tells you. A person cannot talk or dream or visualize the future into turning out any other way than how it actually happens. The best spice you can add to that stew that you are trying to cook up is to put your head down and get busy writing. Never mind talking about it or trying to cajole it out of thin air.

What you are talking about - this dream of making a living off of writing is like winning a jackpot. Some of these folks here have already done it. Most likely they did it by writing kick*ss novels.

Me - I haven't figured it out yet. I've had a day-job all of my life and now in my mid-fifties I am hoping to get a few ducks in a row before retirement hits. Ideally, I'd love to see my writing turn into a full-time profession and then lay a government pension on top of that - but I know that I am going to have to write like the devil to get there.

Get busy, have fun, and grin while you're doing it - so that everyone who sees you doing it will think that you know some kind of secret and will buy your e-books to hopefully find out how.


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## MyraScott (Jul 18, 2014)

I can't imagine trying to start out self-publishing as a full-time income.  The only way I can see that is if you are still living at home or have someone else paying your living expenses. 

Most people can't afford to wait until writing income kicks in (if it does) in order to keep themselves housed, clothed, and fed.  Writing is the passion that fills any available time and some that isn't really available, and if you're lucky, other people want to read what you've written and pay for it.  But it's not like you can make a business plan and accurately estimate how much income you'll make on a book that you haven't even released yet. 

OP, it sounds like you have the luxury of choosing your path while someone else foots the bill for a while.  Choose wisely!


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## NoCat (Aug 5, 2010)

Playing poker for a living again is my plan B.


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## 77071 (May 15, 2014)

Not a lot of other choices right now unless my health makes a dramatic improvement!  Or I find some hither-unknown skill I can do at home from a laptop.  Yeah.  

My sales tanked for a few weeks this summer and I was like, "Well, okay.  I'll just focus on writing some more and hope they pick up in Fall."  

So my plan B is "write more, don't panic, try new things!"


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## Drake (Apr 30, 2014)

My plan is to never give up.  It's the only way to succeed at something you love doing.  If you don't love it, don't do it.


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## zoe tate (Dec 18, 2013)

My own "plan B" is one from which it's very much harder ever to make a living than it is from "the writing plan", so I need to be doing less of that, and more writing, probably.


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## Ceinwen (Feb 25, 2014)

Marry up?


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## Guest (Dec 9, 2014)

ㅈㅈ said:


> Playing poker for a living again is my plan B.


I've played online poker for years. Always, always, always, without almost any fluctuation. Break even.

I've heard it's 'Solved'. And I believe it. Winking and tapping your ear might give off joker signals in live play, but I gave that online thing too much time for too long. I seriously believe you don't have to be that intelligent to master it. And the problem with that is, you're too often playing masters of the game. Even at low stakes.


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## Twizzlers (Feb 6, 2014)

Writing is my plan B and I'd love to turn it into plan A. 

I work a day job as an insurance adjuster and I hate it. My job revolves around if the weather is going to be nice to us or not. If it hails then I'm in for a busy few months. No hail I'm usually okay.

I'm using writing now to pay down my debt and build a savings so that one day I may be able to quit and not need to earn as much.


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## bobbic (Apr 4, 2011)

Wayne Stinnett said:


> I hear Walmart is looking for greeters.
> 
> Seriously, I've lived a bit longer than most of you and have worked in a few different careers. I started writing as a Plan B, to make enough money to move Plan C to Plan A. My goal was to make enough to turn my garage into a wood working shop and build boats. That would get me off the road, doing something I enjoy.
> 
> Funny how things work out. Writing is now my career and woodworking is my hobby.


This sounds like me. Except instead of woodworking, gardening is my hobby. I'm a bit different from a lot of you; I've been writing full-time and am "celebrating" thirty years of working in writing/self-publishing, etc. But I switched from non-fiction (craft/gardening) to fiction and don't want to go back. So I guess the fiction writing is my Plan B. At this point, there isn't much else I want to do.


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## DawnLee (Aug 17, 2014)

Writing is my living no matter what happens with my fiction. If my novels don't eventually provide a fulltime income, I will continue writing non-fiction for other people. I just get a little nauseated at the thought.


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## I&#039;m a Little Teapot (Apr 10, 2014)

Writing is my A plan. Plan B is writing something different if what I'm writing doesn't pay off.


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## Twizzlers (Feb 6, 2014)

I also always figured if I could make enough to pay down debt and such I could actually work a part time job doing something I like so there si some sort of steady income and write the other part of the time instead of being forced into a fulltime job I don't like.


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## oliviajrose (Dec 2, 2014)

I work as an artist in the game industry as y career, with writing and other creative projects on the side. 
So that.


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## Wayne Stinnett (Feb 5, 2014)

bobbic said:


> This sounds like me. Except instead of woodworking, gardening is my hobby. I'm a bit different from a lot of you; I've been writing full-time and am "celebrating" thirty years of working in writing/self-publishing, etc. But I switched from non-fiction (craft/gardening) to fiction and don't want to go back. So I guess the fiction writing is my Plan B. At this point, there isn't much else I want to do.


Our garden is about 10K square feet, but the compost bin and greenhouse take up two corners. We grow about 80% of the vegetables we eat in summer and fall and can some for winter. In winter, we grow about 30% of what we eat, along with what was canned and frozen from the summer crop, making about 70% in total. We could easily ramp that up to 100% all year round if the need arises.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

If writing doesn't work out I plan to be a stegosaurus. If that doesn't work out I guess I'll stick with app development =(


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## LeahEmmaRose (Mar 16, 2014)

Writing is my Plan A. I was laid off from my marketing job a few years ago, then got pregnant within the same week. I've been a stay-at-home mom since then. We are lucky that hubby's job pays the bills. However, if we ever want to retire, I need to work, so this is it! Loving it so far!


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## Mark Philipson (Mar 9, 2013)

I'm nearing retirement age. Plans A - Z are to write until the end.


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## Censored (Oct 31, 2014)

Plan B is to continue rotting in a cubicle for another seven years until I save enough to retire early.


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## Lionel&#039;s Mom (Aug 22, 2013)

SevenDays said:


> Writing is my A plan. Plan B is writing something different if what I'm writing doesn't pay off.


Haha, me too. Plus I save relentlessly. I have a two year cushion right now, and won't rest until I have more like a ten year cushion. Hopefully I can go until I drop so I never need to dip into it, and just leave the leftovers to my kid. I honestly think I would get a day job again before dipping into my savings.


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## Kirkee (Apr 2, 2014)

Steve Vernon: Beautifully stated.

Zoe: Is there a genre you prefer to work in? Do you care to reveal some of your titles, or do you
prefer to keep this under wraps? If so, I understand. Reason I ask is because your comments are always 
insightful & sharp.

As far as plan B goes. How about Plan BB?

Many of us have been writing like forever. Have held down many different jobs: blue collar, white collar, in between
collar, etc., you name it. The reason we never seriously pursued a white collar type of career is because we figure writing is 'white collar'
enough; so we have bounced around, intentionally, in other areas of the work force.
But we write, no matter what. Because writing was there when all else fell apart; writing was there when there
was nothing else to keep us going. I won't bore the board by delving into detail.

Truth is, plenty of us can relate to this easily enough. Writing is it. There is nothing else. Never will be.
And to those who can't relate? Well, maybe you were meant to be doing something else.


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## delly_xo (Oct 29, 2014)

My plan B involves a residence underneath a bridge.
If it's a newer bridge, all the better!


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

I did my time in the "real" world. Now this is my Plan A, even thought I don't make much so far. My Plan B would be even tougher. I'm an artist (painter). Yeah. So I decided to finally go for the "one in a million" instead of the "one in a billion" it would be had I chosen painting.


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## JanMoran (Jun 17, 2012)

My first novel from St. Martin's Press is coming out in March, and I'm working on series. While I consider writing my Plan A, it's not paying like Plan A yet. I'm also a real estate broker -- both pursuits are flexible, which is good.  So if anyone wants to talk real estate and books, give me jingle


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## bobbic (Apr 4, 2011)

Wayne Stinnett said:


> Our garden is about 10K square feet, but the compost bin and greenhouse take up two corners. We grow about 80% of the vegetables we eat in summer and fall and can some for winter. In winter, we grow about 30% of what we eat, along with what was canned and frozen from the summer crop, making about 70% in total. We could easily ramp that up to 100% all year round if the need arises.


Bowing to you, kind sir. LOL. We don't grow nearly that much, although I'd like to. It's too hot here in central TX a lot of the time, or weird weather the rest of the time. I've often thought that having a garden is the BEST backup plan, ever.


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## Sonya Bateman (Feb 3, 2013)

Chris Fox said:


> If writing doesn't work out I plan to be a stegosaurus. If that doesn't work out I guess I'll stick with app development =(


This is the BEST plan! Let me know when you're a stegosaurus.


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## A.E. Williams (Jul 13, 2014)

My plan "B" is bourbon...

A.E. Williams


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## Redacted1111 (Oct 26, 2013)

Plan A was being a housewife, so..... Yeah.  
Plan B should support me unless the industry shifts too quickly for me to adjust. When I think about the kind of money people with "jobs" make, I feel pretty damn lucky.


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## JV (Nov 12, 2013)

My wife works in the med field. So, if it doesn't workout, which it has, but, if it doesn't...well, her income covers it. So, I guess I'd keep plugging away at it until I found my groove again.


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## NoCat (Aug 5, 2010)

ShaneJeffery said:


> I've played online poker for years. Always, always, always, without almost any fluctuation. Break even.
> 
> I've heard it's 'Solved'. And I believe it. Winking and tapping your ear might give off joker signals in live play, but I gave that online thing too much time for too long. I seriously believe you don't have to be that intelligent to master it. And the problem with that is, you're too often playing masters of the game. Even at low stakes.


I paid my way through college and beyond with poker, both live and online. You do, in fact, have to be intelligent to master it, but intelligence isn't enough. Being able to risk, to know when the right time is to do something, to trust your gut, to have a gut worth trusting, plus all the math and calculations that you must do, as well as being observant (even online there are tells)... all that is needed to play poker and win consistently. It's a grind and exhausting, even as a winner. Which is why I prefer writing.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Um..... no.

Writing for me is the same as living -- you don't make a plan for if you stop living.... (Well I guess you do -- it's called a will, but that's for other people, not yourself.)

This isn't to say that those who plan to write to make a living or build a business have anything wrong with them.  Whatever motivates you and makes your life work.

I do, however, think it's a bad idea to treat your writing like a lottery. To think of it as a gamble that will rescue you from the life you've got now, and that you will need another ticket if it fails to strike.  The life you've got now is your life.  Sure, plant seeds, invest, make plans, but don't think of those as gambles. Those are evolutionary steps.  They change your life now as well as later.

And because of those changes, it's never a loss. It ALWAYS works out.  Just not in the way you expected.

Camille


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## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

Long-haul truck driver. Dead serious. It's been my dream job for the longest time.


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## DGS (Sep 25, 2013)

I'd start walking the docks.


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## Christa Wick (Nov 1, 2012)

Hugh Howey said:


> Long-haul truck driver. Dead serious. It's been my dream job for the longest time.


Ehrm...Wayne Stinnet just escaped that and, 'fess up, it's been your dream job because you would be getting paid while continuing to build worlds in your head. Unlike your time as a yacht captain, you wouldn't be getting ear poked and having to interact with crew and passengers for most of your long haul work hours.


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## katrina46 (May 23, 2014)

I have a lot of 401k, so I'm going to get a six figure check someday no matter what happens, but I might be too old and decrepit to enjoy it if book sales don't pick up.


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## rjspears (Sep 25, 2011)

I like my Plan A, my real job, but love the idea of Plan B , writing, becoming my Plan A someday.


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## dgrant (Feb 5, 2014)

For us, I think writing was right around his Plan T or Plan U. (Plan 9 from Outer Space?)
Peter's been a lot of things over two continents now, but this now lets him work while working on walking. He wasn't quite out of options, but it's been a long and winding road. 

Me, I keep on punching a time clock, bringing home the health insurance. Marketing his writing is Plan...G? J?... I lost count. Life keeps changing the rules of the game, and True Love is a curveball I never saw coming until it was there, and we were picking out an engagement ring.


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