You’re not going to be famous, probably.
Can I say that, is that allowed? Has anybody’s hopes and dreams been hurt? Common knowledge is most authors sell very few books and earn little in cash money. That’s less than 1,000 books sold in a year or lifetime. And you know what, that’s ok. I’m cool with that, and most likely, you are too.
I doubt most of us went into this month thinking we were potential billion dollar franchises. If you did, your kind of delusional. It’s fine, those people never seem to survive the writing process anyways.
We tend to participate in NaNoWriMo because it’s our passion. Telling stories is our thing and we’d probably be doing it one way or another. It’s fortunate that we’re alive and writing today where there’s access to Amazon and Kindle. There are no barriers stopping us from putting our works into the world and for people to read them. If you think back to a few years ago, that wasn’t the case.
The truth of the matter is even New York Times Bestsellers have second jobs to keep them afloat. I know that’s a weird thought, but it’s reality. The life of a full-time author is a lucky one to have. It’s not glamorous, unless you’re James Patterson who doesn’t have to make another book again and still have a vault of money to swim in. Then I see your points, that’s glamorous. And I want to swim in money too.
I don’t want to discourage others out there, it’s just the way the world spins right now. If you can sell enough books to make this a full-time job, you’re living the dream. If you’re making enough to pay for some gas and groceries, you’re living the dream. If you’re creating book after book regardless of sales, yes, you’re living the dream.