To just quit work and finally write my books?

It's great to take the opportunity to focus purely on writing but I would never do it with a view to making money.
As others have said, not very many people are making money. I think I read somewhere that a reasonably successful author might be making £10000 to £20000 a year.
I work in publishing, but nonfiction. Every author I work with has another job.

If DH can support you, it's probably worth the risk.
Would you be able to find another job if anything went wrong?

Also .... AI .....

I am an author - I'm multipublished with more than thirty novels traditionally published and I've won several awards.

I wrote my first book as a single mum of five and built up my backlist with a day job supporting me. I'm now retired but not quite old enough for my state pension and this year I won't earn enough money to pay tax.

This is with my books regularly selling in the top 500 on Kindle in both the UK and US. I'm probably best described as a 'high selling mid lister'. I have an agent too. But I still don't earn enough to turn the heating on this winter.

Just in case this information helps you decide what to do. In the last two years my income has dropped by 2/3 because of AI swamping the market. Writing books, even if they are excellent ones, probably won't pay your living expenses.

I'm in a writing group and our mentors are two successful authors with multiple published books each. They both had to start running classes/retreats/workshops to make a steady income because writing isn't a big earner especially not after the first couple of years after each books release.

Keep working just so you don't have a gap in your CV.

Single figures? Like under a tenner?!

Yes, you would be unreasonable. Drop your hours but keep your job

Hi, I work in the industry and 99% of authors have day jobs. Take a year off if you want but there's no future in which it will be financially sustainable to support yourself through your writing. Just make sure you have a reasonably good chance of getting another job. It's rough out there at the moment.

Could you not take a sabbatical instead?

Why do you want to go straight to self publishing? You could always give querying agents a try. Those competition wins will look great on yout query letters.

By all means quit work to follow your passions – as long as your DH can comfortably support your household and will pay into your pension.

But you need to very seriously know that there is 99.9% chance you will make no or next to no living from writing. In traditional publishing, advances are most often very low (sub £5k) and 90% of authors will never earn them out. Most authors sell only sell around 300 copies a year (in there first year only), if that – the royalties you see from that would be about £150.

You need to do it because you love it and someone is subsidising your love of doing it.

Self publishing can be a little more profitable in terms of income per copy sold, but selling and marketing is a very hard slog and the market is completely saturated.

Sorry to be bleak. I work in fiction publishing and am a published author of several novels.

I think being a writer 'full time' is probably more like a portfolio career. If you can build a decent profile and magazines etc will pay you for reviews or occasional thought pieces, or you grow a network where you maybe get invited to convene panels etc. It feels like these days writing is a bigger part of a career in related spaces as best case scenario (and I would take this with open arms if I was in a position to), or an unrelated career where you fit writing in.

As I have got older and more disposable income and my children are older (though I did this on a much smaller scale before) and that is that I just embed myself in all things literary as I possibly can with the time I have available. Sometimes that has meant the odd listen of a podcast, sometimes it means taking a few days off work to read or write, sometimes it means taking myself off to a literary or writers festival one weekend. I entered my first flash fiction competition this year.

I know those things aren't strictly all writing, but depending on where you are with the rest of your life just start building it in if it makes you happy.

That was my first thought also.

Writing the book and self-publicising is one thing, but to be successful you have to promote, promote, promote. Have you been to any talks or done any research into how to get your books published and promoted?

I think only you can make the decision!

I’m not against the idea of just following one’s dream/ having faith in oneself, but the reality is only a few of those replying to your post actually know anything about the industry (and it looks like you’ve had some interesting and varied replies from those people!)

Good luck whatever you decide!

The world always needs books and creativity, and there’s no limit to how many are needed!

Get a little part time job to keep yourself going and go for it.

I think you should consider the worst case scenario - what will happen if, for whatever reason, you have no commercial success with your books?

If that is an outcome you can cope with financially and emotionally, then go ahead.

Your success in the short story competitions is definitely something to mention when submitting your books. Were there any professionals in the publishing or literary agent world involved in the judging? If there were, that could give you a very valuable 'in' and it would definitely be worth approaching them when you have a submission package.

Can you do it halfway? Take a 6 month career break to write? It sounds like you have most of the work done so it could be the best of both worlds. If that wouldn't work then honestly I would give up work and write but you know best if that's the right choice for you.

Can you tell us more about your series? I love thrillers! Would you be allowed to post again if you do self publish so we can buy it or do MN not allow that?

Good luck with whatever you decide to do and I hope one day I'm reading your books!

I'm a published author with my fifth novel coming out soon. It took years to get an agent and land my first two-book deal with a big five publisher, but I didn't make enough to live on from those first two books. You'll have very little chance of making anything from self-publishing since the market is flooded.

If you want to write, go for it, but I'm another one who suggests combining writing with part-time work. When I wrote my first novel, I got up at 5.30am every day for a year and wrote for an hour. I know many authors who would write when their young children were in bed. Others write in their lunch breaks or on the commute.

Be aware if you're writing in the crime genre, it's hugely competitive. To be in with a chance, new authors need to bring something fresh that stands out enough for readers to want to dive in.

The market is especially flooded with the ‘Molly inherits a cafe from Great Aunt Gertrude in Cornwall , and decides to run it to escape cheating fiancé Finn, and on her first day in Cornwall her car breaks down, and mysterious, brooding-eyes Judd comes to her rescue, but she’s sworn herself off men, forever, but those caramel-coloured eyes…’

This is an all or nothing option OP. What about going part time at work and writing in the other time? Then you haven't got the pressure of loosing an income or leaving a role and potentially struggling to find work again if the writing doesnt pan out.

This! I am a published author btw. It's a huge risk to give up work. I have been able to go down to 4 days a week though

Look be real. Everyone and their dog thinks they can write a book. No one thinks it’s my dream to be an amazing project manager / cleaner / care worker / pharmacist / council worker.

what would you say to a friend who has a decent voice that says they want to stop working to become a pop star ? Yoy would say …….

Another voting for not giving up your day job. When you retire, you'll have all the time in the world. By all means, plan and keep notebooks and revisit, revise, get up early, as others have said, just to keep the dream alive. But the world is too uncertain just now to risk unemployment.

I write horror.

Today I'm outselling plenty of Stephen King books on the Kindle store.

I've still made under a tenner.

I'd only quit the day job if you have a husband who's minted and will pay your pension equivalent happily.

As a single parent, I'll carry on working two paid jobs alongside.

One shot at life x

Can you do a sabbatical 3-6 months to give it a really good shot ( would be in paid) but gives you a job to return to if you need it?
if you have worked a long time employers like this sometimes
hope it goes well - would love to read them !

I listened to a Mel Robbins audible recently- can’t remember exact title- but it was a series of interviews with people who were stuck with different aspects of their life. One guy wanted to give up his teaching job and run a wine bar. Her coaching encouraged him to break down the dream into actual achievable blocks and focus on doing those, block by block and seeing where it took him. So for you the key thing is you actually need to write on a regular basis. You could start off by say committing to Nanowrimo which is writing a certain amount every day in November, or sign up for a creative writing course or anything really that moves you forward a little. You may decide that you don’t enjoy spending a lot of time writing, or the pressure to do it with a financial end goal spoils the creative aspect, but that’s all knowledge to move forward with.

Really the key issue is you need to explore new ideas, see where they lead you. It’s easier doing that with the safety blanket of a job. The reality is very few people make much as an author. My friend is a published writer albeit for slightly niche genres, and she has to supplement her modest income through teaching at creative writing courses and encouraging sales through endless publicity. You should certainly go for it, but I’d be hesitant about giving up your job.

Omg don’t do this! Terrible idea. I’m a published author and it’s rough out there. Even if you get a book deal, they’re generally peanuts these days, and most books flop. I quit when I got my first book deal (after I got the deal) and I wish I hadn’t. In retrospect I was terribly naive thinking I could make a career from this. Write in your spare time. Carve out some hours in your week and protect them. Get into the groove of writing regularly, and soon it becomes easier. Or go part time?