Recently, I came across a blog post from someone in my past. In that blog post, this person mentioned she was part of some group where there was an author who has published some 100+ books in his lifetime. While this number is very impressive, it is also a sign of someone who truly understands the business of writing and publishing.
You see prolific authors are so prolific because fundamentally publishing books or other works is in itself a business. Each work can act very similar to an annuity of sorts in that the payment for any written work can be paid over the course of one’s lifetime. So, therefore it behooves a writer to be as prolific as possible to keep growing this level of income.
The simple fact is that many of the most prolific authors didn’t write every single word they had published. It wouldn’t make good business sense to do so! Rather, by outsourcing, at least some of their time to researchers or even those who help create rough drafts is a better use of their time.
How would I possibly know about this? Well, I have spent some time ghostwriting for some of these so-called prolific authors myself. Of course, because of privacy reasons, as well as Non-Disclosure Forms, I am not able to talk about whom I have helped in the past.
I also know there are several large businesses that supply ghost writing services for some of the most famous authors that you may read. Again, this is something not talked about in the writing community, but it does happen.
It is folly to compare yourself as a writer to those whom you may feel are more prolific than yourself. In fact, it is folly to compare yourself to anyone else.
As well, in regards to the ethics of using ghostwriters to help you out that is beyond the scope of this particular post.
My point in writing this is that once you fully grasp that writing and publishing are, in fact, a business, you will be better able to leverage your time and resources to become far more productive. You can’t just blame your current situation for your lack of time to get things done.
Just write, write every single day.