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Comment by motohagiography | Hacker News Reader

Congrats to the author, that's a huge gig.

Let's say one were 90th percentile level good, what is the out/endgame for how much money a writer can make these days? Like if you're the writing version of the most entry level pro player on a hockey or basketball team - in the big leagues, but still bottom rung of a tall ladder, are you earning average software developer income at that point?

Almost all the pro writers I've known (n=50) had one of a higher-earning spouse, independent means/inherited real estate, an editing/teaching job that they occasionally wrote through, or a grant funded position or fellowship.

Assuming it's Pareto distributed where the top %20 of writers make %80 of writing income, how much can a good writer expect to make?

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Good / great doesn't matter as much as you would think. How well you sell matters. Your subjects matter.

Great subjects like a Michael Jordan interview talking about Scotty would superseed any average/good/great writing ability.

I don't find the writing great in the 4 hour work week. But it sold well. A great writer wouldn't have added much in terms of income generated.

Marketing matters more for income.

I've published in mainstream publications, and while I see that point, arguably, the quality of writing is measured by how much it changes the mind of the reader, and not how it emulates prior art that may have been well-received by critics. I would even say that writing that doesn't change the mind of the reader is basically on a spectrum of porn.

By that measure, the 4 Hour Workweek was a great bit of writing. I like triads, so I'd say it's a balance of Topic, Timing, and Talent. Three is best, but if you aren't a contender with two, you don't have a chance. I've been thinking about returning to it as a vocation, but don't think the economics of writing make sense right now, hence the question.

Not to overanalyze, but there's probably a minimum bar for each leg of that stool. And once you're over it, investing more time and white won't move the needle.

Ok overthinking it. There are probably different "formations" of the stool. Imagine each axis on a scale from 1 to 10. A 10 topic and 10 timing can get by with as low as a 4 writing talent. A 7 topic and 2 timing can make up for the gap with a writing talent of 8.

End ramble.

I'd add that there are a fair number of corporate jobs that involve writing to greater or lesser degrees. Leaving aside tech writers in documentation, there is also content marketing such as company blogs and a fair number of people who have additional responsibilities of various sorts but who write quite a bit (including even full books) as a formal or informal part of their job.

Some of these jobs are unlikely to be at SWE level but they are mostly reasonable corporate salaries.

Yep, I know a number of freelance writers who pay the bills with content marketing. It's a tried-and-true path.

my understanding in "digital publishing" (news/blogs/magazines) is almost all the writers fall in the 60 - 120k range. and thats for a "commute into manhattan every morning" job, so you will have roomates.

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