A survey of search engine entries revealed that most New Zealanders view being a writer as their ideal vocation. But for prolific author Nicky Pellegrino, about to release her 16th novel, the life of the writer is not just a dream, but a grinding reality too.
For 23 years I’ve been living the dream. I’m a published author, a bestselling novelist, I make up stories for a living. My career tops the list as the most desirable job for New Zealanders according to research done by a financial services company a short while ago. A lot of people want to be authors. So, it might come as a surprise to learn that the reality is not always so dreamy.
First of all, writing fiction is really, really hard. People who think they have a novel in them may be under-estimating the challenge of getting that novel out. There’s a general assumption that if you had enough time on your hands then you could sit down and let words pour from your fingertips. If only.
Nobody ever says to a brain surgeon, "Hey I reckon I’ve got a couple of craniotomies in me." But almost everyone assumes they could have a pop at writing.
While it may not be brain surgery, the craft of storytelling does require a surprising amount of skill. Constructing a novel that might run to 100,000 words also takes time, energy and effort. It’s easy to produce bad writing and, in fact, I do it constantly (my delete key fell off my last laptop).
Got a great idea? That's the easy part
From time-to-time acquaintances will sidle up and say they’ve got a great idea for my next novel. What they’re failing to appreciate is that the idea is the easy bit. The difficult part is showing up day after day and sitting alone in a room wrestling with characters, prose and plot to turn that idea into a proper story.
I start every new novel sure this one will be my best ever. Then I hit the middle chapters, the wind goes out of my sails and progress slows. There is always a point where I’m completely convinced that I can’t write at all and it takes determination to push through and finish (there are a lot of half-completed manuscripts out there).
Even when it is complete and as good as possible… the characters fully formed, the plot free of holes, the pace cracking along… there is every chance that your novel won’t go anywhere. To be noticed by publishers you need to have a good agent and they are hard to come by. I’m fortunate to have started out when I did because it was a bit easier then. Now I suspect I’d be getting a lot more dispiriting rejections.
Just say your book actually is amazing and your genius does get noticed. You win a publishing deal. Yay! Now comes the part that will really rip your heart out – the editing process. Someone will go through the work you poured yourself into and highlight every last thing that is wrong. Then you will be expected to fix it.
After all that, when your first royalty payment arrives, you may well assume they’ve left off a couple of zeros. For a dream job the money is truly terrible. A trad-published author gets around a 7-15% share of the cover price of each book. That means to make a decent living you need to sell a truckload. Oh, also you only get paid twice a year.
Recently the Bookseller reported that the publishing business hit a record revenue of $7.4 billion in 2025 and another record year is looming. Meanwhile most authors still earn below minimum wage. This is why we have other jobs – we teach, we write for TV, we make coffee.
One of our most brilliant literary authors, Catherine Chidgey, is also an associate professor at the University of Waikato. Leading YA author Eileen Merriman is a haematologist. I have a bunch of hustles from journalism to manuscript assessment, teaching, public speaking and hosting small-group tours in southern Italy.
Once when the juggle was overwhelming and I was burnt out, fed up and consoling myself with a large glass of chardonnay, I wailed to my husband. "I can’t do this anymore."
"Well don’t then," was his reply.
His lack of sympathy was more useful than it might appear. Because I realised that, despite all the downsides, I do still want to work as an author. There are stories in me and I need to tell them. Sure, it can be tough but there are also days when the writing flows and it feels incredible. My characters take me interesting places – often literally – as I walk in their shoes. Creativity is a kind of magic and I get to be the magician. That’s pretty special.
And then the best bit of all; my fiction finds readers. It’s a privilege to be able to create a book that goes into the world and is read by other people. For all the snarky two-star reviews on Goodreads there are countless more messages from readers to say how much the stories have meant to them. And those messages mean a lot to me.
My sixteenth novel, A Siena Love Story, is about to be launched. There isn’t much time for self-congratulation because I have another deadline. Book number 17 is due with my editor soon and so far, I’ve only written a third of it. The rest of my year is set to be a bit of a nightmare to be honest. But then that’s the reality of living the dream.
A Siena Love Story by Nicky Pellegrino (Hachette), is released on September 22.
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