You must be able to understand what a story is, decide the point of your story, work out how best to tell it, and be able to edit it until it accomplishes what you set out to do. This doesn’t come from an innate ability, but from years of work. You have to make yourself smart enough to be a writer.

Helpful electives to take in high school that prepare you for this occupation include:

• American Literature.
• Computer Applications.
• Creative Writing.
• English Literature.
• Technical Writing.
• World Literature.

Bachelor’s degree programs generally require four-years of full-time study and expose students to general education coursework and classwork in their chosen writing specialty. At this level, the most common majors include English literature, creative writing and English with a writing emphasis (composition).

A typical book author barely makes more than minimum wage. You receive an advance and 10% royalties on net profit from each book. If your book retails at $25 per copy, you would need to sell at least 4,000 copies to break even on a $5,000 advance.

Boiling it down, here’s a more narrow range I can live with sharing: an average advance for a first-time author would likely fall in a range between $5,000 and $50,000, depending on a whole host of factors, including the size of the publisher, passion of the book editor involved, author’s platform, the power of the …

Whilst they may score higher in IQ tests, this in no way correlates to writing ability. Again, writing skills are mastered. A good writer can engage their audience without having had the privilege of a good education or intelligent family.

How hard is it to become an author? While the path to become an author is easier with today’s technology and the rise of self-publishing, becoming an author takes determination, hard work, and usually a specific set of skills (which we’ll cover more on later). For some, opportunity comes easier than it does for others.