Being on the list of the bestselling authors doesn't really mean you're already rich. In fact, you can still be broke. But that shouldn't make you stop from doing what you can as a writer.
Cheryl Strayed, the author of "Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail," shared her experience from receiving her first $100,000 book advance for a previous book "Torch," via Business Insider. Budding writers and aspiring published authors could learn a thing or two from Strayed's experience.
For one, the book advance that Cheryl received for her first book "Torch" in 2003 did not actually change her life in an instant. She and her husband were still in debt and almost lost their house. "I think we had $85,000 in credit card debt by the time I sold that book. I can say that now because I don't have any debt, but I was so ashamed of that," Strayed shared in an interview.
Nonetheless, it was the beginning of the change in Cheryl's life. When she got her first paycheck for "Wild," she was able to pay off her debts, which is a huge milestone for anyone who's been in that situation.
The key is not giving up. Cheryl started to see the real change a year after "Wild" was launched in 2012. In 2013, she began receiving royalty earnings, as her book became a success globally. It was even adapted into a major motion picture starring Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern.
Next lesson that one could get here is that earning money from getting published does not come easily. Setting the right expectations from taking this path as a career would help an author get by and properly plan. As Slate Magazine put it, earning money from published writings "is never a simple transaction."
