Reasons to Quit Your Day Job and Become a Full-Time Novelist

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By David Harten Watson ’84

Published Dec. 19, 2023

Would you quit your day job to become a novelist? In this humorous new book Watson uses his own experiences to advise others. Watson quit his full-time job to become a writer for an entire month, before deciding to return to his job. Reasons to Quit Your Day Job and Become a Full-Time Novelist (Silver Sword Press) contains five chapters with valid reasons to quit your job, but 90% of the book is blank. He challenges readers to consider various questions including whether the demand for novelists is increasing and how much does novel writing pay. 

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PAW’s May 2026 cover, featuring a photo of an orange flower.
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