Op is so right. Okadabooks frustrated me...i got to N7, 000 books sold and my books just stopped selling. After a year, I just used the 7k to buy books of Nairaland authors on their platform and removed all my books from the platform.

suffering:
People believe I should have penned books since I write a lot.

Em, no. I'm good with comments and putting my opinions into text. With at least 500,000 plus comments composed over my lifetime, the number should make for at least eight full length books consisting of 2,000 pages.

Anybody can become a writer with the proliferation of social media. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Yeah.

Thanks for the comment.

Hello guys...I want to ask the writers on here a question...What are the misconception people have of you as a writer that are not so?

Let me start with mine, so you understand my question a little better.

*People Know I'm a Fiction Writer, But Feel I Should be a Perfect Non Fiction Writer Too

I can't count how many friends and family have called me to write their CV for them, or to write articles and all that for them. I try to tell them, I am a fiction writer, a romance writer at that... I am not so good with formal writing. I just have a great imaginative mind, and can come up with stories. I tell them, I am storyteller, and some times make some grammatical errors when I am writing. They always don't want to believe me. They just believe I don't want to help them.

*They Believe Writing is a Hubby, and Nothing More

Things are slow right now with writing for me, but there was a period of time (2012-2018) when 90% of my income was coming from writing...selling my stories/books online, and writing for other people...and even getting money from my Hip Hop blog...But most people don't believe one can make a living from just writing.

My mentor (he is on Nairaland) writes mostly non-fiction, and that's all he does to sustain his family. He built his house, bought his cars, all from writing non fiction books. But a lot of people, when you tell them you're a writer, they ask, "okay, what do you really do for a living."

*They Feel I Should Be Perfect with Use of English Like Soyinka

As I said earlier, I still make grammatical errors when I write. I am not a literary genius...I don't automatically know the meaning of big words like Embourgeoisement and Consanguineous because I am a writer. There are different types of writers.

Those are main misconceptions people have about me as a writer...Please share yours.

joshkke:
If it helps anyone here, you can write short stories for kids for me at between N24,000 - N40,000 PER STORY of 8000 Words. This is not a one-time gig but is ongoing. Feel free to shoot me a pm if interested. Please, I know everyone here is talented but only really interested in writers that have punctuation, plotting for fiction, and basic grammar down pat. Thanks all.

This is great. I wish I could write children stories.

Guys that can write children stories should take advantage of this.

Bam17:


Oh, I'm anticipating. Do have a nice day

You too.

Bam17:



Just emailed you. Good morning.

No new stories, Mr K? I'm missing your stories oo

I just replied you. Good morning.

No new stories for now... But I might write a very short story soon.

Bam17:


Wow. Really? Never thought anyone would notice. I've been making them, though. Yeah. Lol. It's just that this Udene has been giving me headache. Lol.

Okay.

What app do you use in making the covers?

Nice story... Well written, and nice suspense at the end.

Bam17:
And please, if you can make a cover for me, I'd appreciate it. Really. Having a hard time making a cover that'd suit the title. Seriously

I'm also looking for a book cover maker.

By the way, who has been making your book covers before now? I always admired them and always wanted to ask.

Bam17:


Swears
Me too...

Bam17:


And that's why I wish to travel abroad. Cause I know this country isn't for me...

Great idea.

Bam17:


They should do ooo. I have a lot of story ideas but end up not writing them cause I don't see the cash coming. Even when you put out your stories to buy, people end up going for the free ones. It's frustrating, really. Sigh...

Yeah, it's quite frustrating. Even if it is 10k a month that a fiction writer makes consistently from his stories, it will still give him the encouragement to keep writing. But most Nigerian fiction writers make nothing from their works...even the ones that make money from their works, it is not consistent.

And those that make money from writing for others don't have fulfillment.

SUVs:
Yeah, its really not easy... I recall starting a story here on NairaLand, with my other account..The masked love if I could recall correctly.
The comments and positive vibes from my readers were there..I was encouraged and intrigued to write on...but these positive vibes, encouragements and intrusion was rattled by the fact that this does not help me financially...I write for hobbies, it's my passion but since it is time-demanding and time is money, I kind of find it a bit less rewarding.
Take it or leave it, an average Nigerian is committed and concerned only with things that will fetch him money.
So as rightly stated by Divipen..the lack of financial rewards to the writers is a contributing factor.

Additionally, with the intense hardship, evils and countless woes that betides the citizens of the nation in the past few years, i doubt if there will be anyone interested read stories here on nairaland, supposing a writer writes out of enthusiasm, cos we're all distracted and depressed by the hardships and happenings in our society...just speculating, though.

I don't agree... People read when they are down, people read when they are happy. People will always read, even if we are at war. I have had countless people reach out to me privately to tell me how my stories help them when they are down/depressed.

Even if the population of dedicated readers in Nigeria is small (compared to a country like America), the readers are always there, yearning for something new to read.

The problem is with the readers not getting compensation for their time...It takes a lot of time to write good stories, so, even the writers that take writing as a hobby will eventually find themselves using up so much of their time to write, and this will affect the work (job) they do to put food on their table.

If only Nairaland can share the income they generate from this section with some of the writers that bring in readers which equals pageviews, then maybe those writers will keep writing.

Money is very important for survival in this world.

Heloct:
Maintaining one's mental health as a writer is not something easy.

At all. I used to think it was just me feeling the way I felt, till I did an extensive research and found out most creative/artists people feel like this.

Salahdin:


And it's killing.

Yeah

Salahdin:



This here explains everything. I will like to add that this is not only happening to writers but all talented persons, who found themselves in the creative sphere.

Exactly. All creative people... Singers, song writers, actors, painters, writers, etc.

"But soon they realise that the views, comments, and likes don't convert to money. The confidence just keeps crashing down.... Writing is hard especially when you need money and fame to survive... I know friends that haven't touched a story to write in a long time because of the trouble at ever turn."

Divepen1, it's like you took these words out of my mouth. I feel like every true creative writer in Nigeria feels this way. It is not easy to make money solely from your stories/novels in Naija, and it can be frustrating. Because every true creative writer's dream is to become successful with his/her novel, and not freelance for other people.

My mental state? It was horrible towards the end of last year... I found myself lashing out at fans. I have decided to take a hiatus for some months. The thing is, the next words I say might be controversial, but the thing is... as a creative person, your life is always in shambles when you're creating/writing (unless what you're writing is no good). Great art comes from great pain. But what makes it worse as a Nigerian fiction writer is, you don't even make any money from your pain. So, is it really worth it?

I still get continuous streams of thoughts about story plots every day, but I shut down the thoughts for my own sanity.