No, not that kind. You’re thinking of the second meaning of the word “amateur,” which is a person who is incompetent or inept at a particular activity. I’m referring to the first meaning of amateur; a person who engages in a pursuit for pleasure rather than for financial benefit. I want to discuss writing for the love of writing rather than for the love of money.
Charles Chu wrote a fine article in the defense of amateurs that you can read here: https://qz.com/990130/in-defense-of-amateurs/ It is well worth reading. I’ve cribbed some quotes from his article.
The first point he makes is that the word amateur comes from the Latin “amare” to love, and “amator” lover. It evolved in Italian to amatore and in the 18th century it became amateur. Its original meaning was to love something. A good thing, I think.
The writer and novelist, K G Chesterson was famous for his defense of the amateur. He wrote this in his biography of Robert Browning:
“The word amateur has come by the thousand oddities of language to convey an idea of tepidity; whereas the word itself has the meaning of passion. Nor is this peculiarity confined to the mere form of the word; the actual characteristic of these nameless dilettanti is a genuine fire and reality. A man must love a thing very much if he not only practices it without any hope of fame or money, but even practices it without any hope of doing it well. Such a man must love the toils of the work more than any other man can love the rewards of it.”
Or, as he put it more succinctly; “If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.”
However, you don’t have to do it badly to do it as an amateur. You just don’t let the fear of doing it badly prevent you from doing it.
Still, it is undeniable that these days the term amateur usually refers to a person who is less than adept or an object that is crudely made. The fact that it doesn’t have to mean that is neither here nor there. If you are going to practice the art of writing as an amateur you may well have to endure being looked down on by self-defined “professional writers” as a “hobbyist.” But amateur or professional is mostly a mindset in self-publishing. The amateur mindset liberates your creative potential by taking the often inhibiting question of “But will it sell?” off the table. As an amateur you’re not writing to sell. You are writing to write.
As an amateur you need not be concerned with creating a product. You need not even be concerned with an external audience. You can craft a story to your heart’s desire without making concessions to what experts say, or readers expect. You can make it as conventional or as unconventional as you wish. The choice is entirely yours. If your stories are worth writing, they are worth being written without compromises. Every story will find readers.
Another advantage of writing as an amateur is that you are free to do it as a pastime. You don’t need to feel like you must hammer out 5,000 words a day to be productive. You can write at your own pace. You don’t need to meet deadlines. If it is a passion, you will find the time. And even if it takes a little self-discipline to get started, once you start writing, your passion will carry you along. And if that passion fades, you need not turn it into a dreary job. You find a new passion.
As an amateur you don’t have to conform to all the expensive requirements that professional writers are expected to spend their money on these days. You can pick and choose what, if anything, you care to spend money on. Editors? Proofreaders? Covers? Formatters? Advertising? Your choice – some, none, or all. If you are planning to share rather than sell your book, you can sleep well at night knowing that even though there may be people who look gift horses in the mouth, you’re not obliged to please them.
As a pure amateur, the joy of creating a story is its own reward. Entertaining readers is a bonus. As an amateur you don’t write it for money, so sharing your work for free is the natural end of the process – if you even want to share your story.
Now up to this last point that I realize that many authors would say that what I’ve been describing is pretty much what they do already. However, giving away all your work for free seems a bridge too far for many. There are no doubt good reasons for this attitude. For example, “My sales are doing quite well, thank you.” And I am certain that there are others as well. Please share your reasons in the comments below, or submit an essay on the subject. In the meanwhile, I’ll just explain why I choose to share rather than try to sell my books.
I enjoy writing. No one has to pay me to do it. On the other hand, you couldn’t pay me enough to do all the self-promoting that selling books requires. Selling my books for free does that work for me.
I don’t have to play the game. I don’t have to do all the things we’re told to do, things like hire editors, cover artists, designers, and advertisers. As a result, publishing my books has been both inexpensive and stress free. Oh, I’ve had to learn how to do a lot of things – sometimes the hard way – but the whole experience of self-publishing has been very rewarding.
I’ve used the tagline, “No good deed goes unpunished” in my books. But sometimes they are rewarded. Over the years some of my readers have very kindly volunteered to help me make my books significantly better by beta and proofreading them before I publish them. Sharing invites sharing.
And finally, it works, at least for me, for my goals. In the past six and a half years I’ve given away more than 44,000 copies of my books by doing little more than writing them. Judging from my odd Amazon sales and foreign sales even at $.99, I might have sold several hundred copies, at most, in the same period. I want to be read and remembered. Being an amateur author who shares rather than sells his books, has allowed me to make a far greater mark on the world, however insignificant it is, than selling them ever will.
I can’t guarantee that adopting the mindset of an amateur author will work for you as it has for me. Every author has different books, different readers, different sales goals and different dynamics. Indeed, even after 6 plus years of giving away my books and creating a modest readership, I have found it harder to reach readers by giving away books these days. The market has matured in the last six years. These days, if you’re writing out of the mainstreams, you’re all but invisible. So maybe giving away books these days will not broaden your readership. Still, you might want to ask yourself “What do I have to lose by becoming an amateur?” Or better yet, “What do I have to gain by becoming an amateur?”
What do you think? What are your goals in writing? What are your yardsticks of success? Let’s talk.
Writers Supporting Writers 
You make a good case here for writing and publishing as an amateur, Chuck. I have, over the years, given away many copies of my books, although at present none of them is free, except for short intervals at times. One of the reasons I’ve read for not giving away one’s works is that it somehow demeans it to “work for free.” Why should anyone else value your books if you don’t value them enough to put them into the paying market? Others say their books must earn back the cost of services such as cover design and editing. Then there’s the idea that “people scoop up free books, but they don’t read them because they consider them worthless.” I know that’s not true, actually.
I guess some of those arguments must have made an impression on me, because I have prices attached to all my books. I rationalize that’s to maintain respectability, but after reading your post, I have to wonder.
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Yes, those attitudes are common, and must be endured. However, most of the books I own I bought second hand. Many of the books I’ve read have come from the library. In both cases the authors received not a cent from my enjoyment of their work. Does this diminish their work? So why not return the favor, when it costs me next to nothing to do so?
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Good points, Chuck. I may eventually reconsider making books free.
I bought many of the printed books I own at secondhand bookstores, often for a dollar or less. And I worked in libraries for 30+ years, so I get where you’re coming from.
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Given how hard it is to actually make money at writing, I’m guessing that most writers are amateurs whether or not they are okay with it.
I’m not sure exactly where I fit in the spectrum. I started writing as a test. I passed that test and kept writing because I enjoyed it. Now, I struggle with the writing in part because I’m not sure what my objective is. I know that I want to continue to expand my readership, something I haven’t been able to do. And I don’t necessarily want to give away my books for free. There is a lot of effort that goes into writing and I feel like readers should be willing to pay a few dollars for the opportunity to read the result of that effort. I don’t expect to get rich from writing, but it would be nice if readers were willing to pay the cost of their daily latte for a book that likely took me a couple of years to put together.
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I’m glad you said it not me. 95+% of the self-published authors are essentially amateurs. And as I replied to Audrey, I’ve read far too many library books where the author gets nothing from my enjoyment of their work to equate reading with a payment. But then writing is still fun for me, I think… When it becomes work, I’m on to something else!
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I appreciate your article more than I can say! It’s informative and yes, applies to many writers and other artists. I began as a professional and have since turned amateur. I published my first short story in 1980 (for pay! how amazing things were back then). I went on to write something like 25 novels in various genres plus two collections of short stories. They were successful artisitically, but a flop economically, though a good many people have said I am an excellent writer. However excellent a piece of fiction is, though, it won’t appeal to everyone or even to very many. And, of course, I self-published (mostly because I never wanted to lose control of the end product, but also not many publishers were interested). I love writing, editing, doing book covers, all that stuff. I loathe promotion. So you can imagine that my labor ended up being for love, not money.
A couple of years ago, when I turned 85, I decided to quit publishing and just write for myself and for a few friends and fans. It was difficult to do; I’d had dreams of fame and fortune far too long. That’s over, and I’m happy being an amateur now. I give books away quite happily. Of course I deserve to be paid for my time and labor! But I’m not willing to do the kind of work to get to that stage. I’m happy creating, and life is too short to give up the happiness and get into the stuff I hate: promotion in all its ugly forms.
What I did do, though some people thought I shouldn’t have, was to take all my books off the interet, off Amazon, off Smashwords. My web page now has only my twice-weekly blog on weird words of the English language. So I guess you could say I’ve disappeared myself.
But that’s fine. I’m doing what I want to do. Writing one book, editing another, and plotting for a third. My best wishes to you and all writers.
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Thanks! I used to paint, and for 4 or 5 years I sold my paintings, mostly on the internet. I quickly came to realize that if you want to sell, you have to give the customers what they want — not necessarily what you want. Eventually I decided that I was willing to give up the money I was making as a starving artist for the freedom to paint just what I felt was my best work. The same with my books — I write them for me. I think that is what all artists should do, if they can — make it theirs, without compromises, as you are doing.
I’m 71+ and I don’t know how many more stories I have to tell. Writing is fun, dreaming up stories is hard and getting harder. My wellspring of ideas for painting dried up, and so might my wellspring of stories. So it is great that you still have stories to tell, and the energy to bring them to life. That’s cool! Keep it up!
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Amen to your post!
Writing for the love of creating a body of work is as rewarding as any other reason and I salute your time and effort in putting those feeling so succinctly into a blog.
For you never know how those words with resonate amongst others for all manner of reasons. I cite the case of a friend of ours who returned to drawing (in this case WWII aircraft) I complimented him on his work and he thanked me (Fantasy ‘epics’) and my wife (poetry) for the example of our differing dedications which inspired him- Definitely a ‘who would have thought it?’ interlude.
Ah the ‘epics’ are calling I must be away.
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Enjoy living in and relating your epic fantasy adventures!
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I posted a link to your blog on mine and I commented it. As it does not show how the other reblogged posts do, I am writing herebelow my comments.
I also consider myself an amateur writer, a less known, niche writer. Yes, I am trying to be as professional as possible, from the quality point of view: I attended a few courses because I could not afford more yet, I read everything possible on creative writing, trying to adapt what suits me.
However, I want to be read more than I want to be rich. Yes, it would be nice to recover at least the publishing and associated costs, but if it doesn’t happen, I can live with it. I have a profession – I am a retired economist, having worked for 22 years in European Integration and management of EU funded projects. I don’t starve living from my pension, even if I can’t afford luxuries.
I keep saying that writing is my passion, not my profession. In the moment it will feel like a job, I quit and start doing something else enjoyable. I love writing, researching for my stories, learning new things, getting out of my brain the stories and sharing them with my readers.
I observe the deadlines for submitting to contests and magazines, but I publish books when they are ready. 10 up to now, the 11th upcoming. I have already some fans, some book recommendations, including on Goodreads, some literary prizes. But I still mostly give away my books instead of selling them.
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Thank you for sharing my essay, and sharing your thoughts and experiences. I truly believe that to get the best art out of any creative project, you need to take making money out of the equation. That’s what day jobs are for. I think our mindset is the best mindset for self-publishing. Make fun not money.
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So, attempting to hunt down either Chuck Litka or Trent Lewin and not sure who’s who. (see the slug at the top of the page when clicking on Chuck’s name)
A million novels (+/-) a year are published, mostly by non-professionals. Who would ever want to compete in such a market? And soon, AI will be adding their fodder to the mix. Trading words for $ is a dwindling proposition. I agree, write to please yourself, write to personally grow your skills, write to leave a legacy for your kids or friends or whatever.
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Thanks for pointing that out. It’s fixed now. Chuck Litka is the author of this post, and you can find his blog here: http://clitkabooks.blogspot.com (Trent Lewin, while not involved with this post, is also a terrific author as well. :))
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Thanks for your comment. I think that we need to face the fact that the ebook market has changed considerably in the last 10 years and adjust to it. Making money in indie publishing is a business, and a cut-throat one at that. If you just want to write and be read, you have to find your niche and they have to, somehow, find you. Sharing your books has worked for me, but there are no doubt other ways. Hopefully others will share their way as well.
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-grin- I’m definitely an ‘amateur’, but I wouldn’t mind a bit of fame and fortune along the way. 😉
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