Can You Write Your Way Towards A Billion Dollars?
There’s only one billionaire writer in the world.
Growing up, my classmates and I used to sit on the playground at school and discuss what we’d do if we had a million dollars, a sum of money that felt as unattainable as the stars. Our answers were what you’d expect for elementary school kids: buy a helicopter, rent out Toys R Us, and for the future high rollers among us, buy a mansion.
Now, everyone my age wants to be a billionaire. Somehow, being a millionaire isn’t good enough anymore, even though most of us will never see a million dollars in our lifetime. I suppose I get it. A billion dollars could grant a person the ability to buy almost any earthly possession money can buy, a reality that sounds almost too good to be true.
For some of my peers, they might actually be their reality one day. Especially those who work in tech and pharmaceuticals. But as a freelance writer, I wondered if any of us could ever become a billionaire.
Given society’s judgment of art-related professions, the question almost seems ludicrous. Let some people tell it, no one makes any real money writing.
But I’m more optimistic than most in thinking that yes, writing can be lucrative if you have the perfect mix of talent, drive and luck on your side.
But success doesn’t necessarily translate to a billion dollars.
A billion has a lot of zeros. Surely, anyone’s finger would fall off before they typed their way towards 10 figures.
Turns out, I was wrong — but not by much.
There is exactly one writer whose work has netted them at least one billion dollars (not to be confused with writers whose work has grossed over a billion dollars — for other people — or billionaires who have also written). This person is none other than JK Rowling, the creative force that brought the Harry Potter franchise to the masses.
A writer so famous, that even if you didn’t grow up on her work —like me— you’re still familiar with her influence within the world of literature. Kudos to Ms. Rowling, but in the grand scheme of things, what does on paltry spot say about about the state of the writing industry?
Well…
Your Parents Were (Kinda) Right
You’ve probably heard that writing is a terrible way to make money. Mostly from your parents, but thanks to social media, from kind strangers too. And while that’s not true — writing is a great way to make money if you don’t give up— the numbers don’t lie: writing is a terrible way to make a billion dollars.
Of the 2,604 billionaires in the world right now, only one of them is a writer! That’s not even 1/10 of 1 %! If the billionaire club operates the way that our elections do, then writers are vastly underrepresented.
You Will Probably Never Make A Billion Dollars From Your Writing
JK Rowling’s rags to riches story from a single mother on public assistance to the richest writer in the world is beyond inspiring, but this isn’t a “she did it, so can I,” type of situation.
Your writing might make you riches, but it probably ever make you a billionaire. The Harry Potter Franchise is a unicorn among YA books and films; the next one probably won’t come along in this lifetime.
But If You Do, Books + Film Rights Is The Way To Go
J.K Rowling is the only billionaire writer in the world, and she made her money through the fictional world that she created. According to Business Insider’s projections, the standard 15% royalties from her $7.7 billion book sales would have put a whopping $1.5 billion in her pockets. A 10% take home from selling the film rights of the The Harry Potter franchise was an additional $770 million.
Rowling has also made hundreds of millions of dollars from licensing Harry Potter for Harry Potter World, a theme-park based on the novels. Judging by the strategy of the one billionaire writer in the world, it’s safe to say that a popular book series and movie franchise is the key to success.
You Don’t Need A Billion Dollars To Be Happy
Good news? No one needs a billion dollars. Not even for their children and their children’s children and so on and so forth. Billionaires are essentially wealth hoarders, which I can’t imagine is good for the conscious.
And while my opinion on people who made their money without the exploitation of other people’s labor — versus creating their own intellectual property — is slightly less damning, having a billion dollars in assets is still excessive.
Especially when you consider that billionaires could do so much good, without giving up much of their net worth, but most of them just decide to sit on their money. Take, for example, the Corona Virus Pandemic we’re all dealing with right now. If all of the 2,604 billionaires gave a million dollars each, that would be about 2.6 trillion dollars towards life saving medical supplies like masks, ventilators, and other relief efforts. And if they donated a substantial amount of their income, they could single handily fund wipe out the need for government assistance.
Now, I’m not saying that they should have to subsidize the government, but when you live in a world where structures are failing your fellow man and you could alleviate their suffering without so much as a sweat, you should. There’s simply no way around that truth.
So, the next time that you ponder about the lifestyle that your writing might one day afford you, know that being a billionaire isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. You’ll likely never live long enough to spend your fortune and a good deal of the public will resent your very existence.
But that doesn’t mean that your writing can’t produce enough income to live off of, or even elevate you to millionaire status.
Final thoughts:
If you still want to become a billionaire, know that writing is a terrible way to do it. On the bright side, there are plenty of millionaire writers and almost-a-billionaire writers — James Patterson says hi.
If you can settle for that trivial existence, you might just be fine.
