A guest post by Donna Fletcher

There’s no magic formula for writing and selling fiction. You can take a class that tells you if you do a, b and c, you’ll get published, and there are those writers who do x, y and z and get published. What works for one person doesn’t always work for another.

What does work is the magic of words and that magic depends on how you feel about writing fiction.

I’m a novelist because I love to write. It’s part of who I am and I can’t see myself not writing. Characters haunt me, plots nag at me and I have to write. It’s not a chore; it’s what I love to do. That love is what kept me writing while working a full time job until many, many books later and becoming a USA Today bestselling author I was able to become a full time writer.

But being a novelist doesn’t only consist of writing. Marketing takes a big chunk of time that is just as necessary as my writing. There are must-attend conferences, invites to present lectures, not to mention blogging tours and social networking sites to keep current.

You might ask is it all worth it? Can a novelist really make a decent living? Statistics have shown that only a small percentage of writers can make a living solely on their writing.

But things are changing rapidly in the publishing world with new opportunities opening up for published and unpublished authors alike. It’s the ebook revolution.

Published authors who have the rights back to their out-of-print books can now offer them for sale as ebooks. Check out Backlist eBooks. And take a look at J.A. Konrath’s blog to learn his success story.

Unpublished authors who haven’t had success with traditional publishing have turned to self-publishing ebooks. There is even a new term for it… indie author. And quite a few are making more than a good living at being indie authors; Amanda Hocking, Karen McQuestion and HP Mallory to name a few.

So if you’re thinking of writing fiction doors are opening while others close, but don’t forget…

abracadabra; you’re a novelist, doesn’t exist. It takes putting your butt at the computer everyday and writing and writing some more… that’s the first step to becoming a published novelist!

Bio: Donna Fletcher is a USA Today bestselling author of thirty romance books. Her books are sold worldwide. She is a past president of New Jersey Romance Writers and is presently the President of Novelists, Inc. a writer’s organization for multi-published novelists.