Many might think that writing a book is the American dream; they’re right. It is. But you have to understand one important thing about it:

It’s a struggle.

That’s not to say it’s a struggle to write, though. Lord knows if you want to write a book, you’re simply ‘going to do it.’ There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it. What ends up being a struggle is not the effort you put in — rather, it’s the reward you end up receiving.

You might think that good ol’ J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, Stephenie Meyer, and Rick Riordan woke up one day after their debut novel was released, and then the money started pouring in. From our point of view, that’s how it seems. One day, we walk in the bookstore, we see “Harry Potter,” and then we learn immediately that this is a ‘bestseller.’

What we don’t see is that it took two years — maybe three years, maybe four years! — for that book to really sell! How many of you would know right away when Rowling’s first book was published? Not many. Probably when you walked into the bookstore, the book had been on the shelves for a half year already. You just didn’t know it.

What this all boils down to is this: authors get paid in royalties, and if you plan on being one, don’t expect the royalties to start flooding in. It takes a lot of time to break big as an author, so be patient. Keep writing. That’s your true income.

Because if you stop, you’ve sealed the deal on never becoming the next Rowling, King, Meyer, or Riordan. Much less earn any money from it.