25+ Pros and Cons of Being an Author (Explained)

An author is a person whose written work has been published. Along with producing published work, people who write are considered authors when they originate ideas and content of their written work.

Authors research and write books, scripts, storyboards, plays, essays, speeches, manuals, specifications for publication. For the different types of books and published writings, there are in the world, there are different types of authors that write them.

Advantages of being an Author	Disadvantages of being an Author
More experience in life	Rejection
Costs nothing	Be our own salesperson
There is no age limit	Competition
Fame	Sporadic income
Planning own schedule	Criticism
Excellent money	Lack of Job Benefits
Mostly impressive	Shrinking Industries

Advantages of being an Author

More experience in life

People believe that writing is about inventing life and reinventing what you have already lived. One gets to explore things under the guise of research. One keenly observes happenings in own life and around. Notice minute things, understand nature.

Most of the writers are deep thinkers and they are often the best silent observers. They understand things better and they are rarely found in a dilemma.

They can pen out the consequences of each and every decision. Ask them about any topic known to them, they will put out an elaborated opinion about the subject rather than a shallow answer.

Costs nothing

All one needs is a pen & paper or a typewriter or nowadays a computer.

Though there are expenses like going to literary events and buying books, one may have to attend courses, seminars, or other paid events to generate an idea. Sometimes they have to travel or live at a certain place to bring depth to their writing.

There is no age limit

If one starts writing late, may think they have missed the boat, but one hasn’t and, if one gets in that boat, rock the boat. Obviously, publishers and theatre companies are looking for the next boom but never mind.

You can be a boom. There are many adolescents, who have authored marvelous books. As an author age, he can keep getting ideas and continue to write.

Fame

One might become quite well-known for their novels, or even famous. Some novelists, like Stephen King and J. K. Rowling, have become household names.

If one becomes a famous novelist, their name will be considered by millions of people to be synonymous with good, page-turning reads.

Planning own schedule

As a novelist, one will have a great deal of freedom regarding when and where one work. If one sleeps late, he can write late at night. If one is an early riser, one can start work first thing in the morning.

One can work the schedule as per their own choice, from any location chosen. This can give them more latitude when it comes to juggling all the to-dos of daily life.

Excellent money

If our novels sell well and we gain a large readership, a career as a novelist could give us a lucrative income.

When we have millions of fans who are not only reading every word we have ever written but who are also waiting with bated breath to buy our next book, we will do very well financially as an author.

Most impressive

Every problem will be small for a writer. If a writer goes through many problems in his life, he will often write them down which will definitely lead to analyzing the situation and finding the solution.

During the course of their career, they will have a big fat bunch of solutions to every possible problem.

Disadvantages of being an Author

Rejection

Waiting to hear back from an editor can be almost as long as waiting on ever, the only difference being the pain is spiritual rather than physical.

Most prefer not to send out stories indiscriminately because the more knockbacks we get, the more they dent our confidence. Finally, we have to reject half of our own work, saving us from rejection from others.

Be our own salesperson

Most writers are awful at selling. Image is everything, so we should probably socialize and develop a space for ourselves.

As an illustration of how important a great image is, the author meets journalists and requests to write about him. Nowadays, writers are expected to blitz social media.

Competition

Whether we are traditionally published or self-published; the Market for novels is crowded and competitive, with everyone clamoring for attention. The market is full of novels, whether digital or paper, from publishing houses of various sizes or from authors who self-publish.

It’s very difficult to attract readers to our work, especially if we are just getting started.

Sporadic income

As a novelist, our income might be more sporadic than steady. Indeed, it is difficult for many novelists to make a living wage for a living.

If we are traditionally published, we might get an advance on royalties, but then we must earn out our advance before we start getting those royalties.

Whether we are traditionally published or self-published, our books must sell at high enough rates to earn a dependable income. We must be able to produce novels on a consistent basis.

We can’t just write when our muse is in the mood. To become a successful novelists, we must write even when we are feeling less than inspired.

The completion of any project is entirely dependent upon our ability to stick with the story, so we must have a great deal of focus and discipline.

Criticism

No matter how many fans we get as a novelist, we will always have people who dislike our work, whether readers, critics, or both. We will need to maintain a thick, tough skin when it comes to negative reviews and criticism of our novels. We will have to deal with criticism if we are a novelist, and we must do so graciously.

Lack of Job Benefits

Job benefits such as health insurance and retirement plans can be worth a lot per year. As per data available online, 68 percent of writers and authors were self-employed in 2020.

Self-employed workers almost never get job benefits from clients. It means that many writers have to arrange and pay for health insurance, retirement plans, and other important benefits on their own.

Shrinking Industries

As per data available online we expect the total employment of writers and authors to increase by 6 percent from 2020 to 2030. This growth rate is significantly lower than the projected national average of 14 percent.

A number of media companies that have traditionally employed a lot of writers has been shrinking for years and is likely to continue shrinking over the coming decade.

It could result in the elimination of many salaried writing jobs, forcing more writers to work as independent contractors who must compete with one other for assignments.