Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters How much do gunwriters make?

My guess is it ain't easy making a living being a gun writer. I hope guys like Mule Deer make a pile. Because I like reading most of his stuff and I'd miss it should he decide to make an honest living. If good writing the like the kind people pay one to do was easy I'd be doing it and so would a lot of others.

That's JRS territory..

If that's who I think it is, he's wasted a ton of talent. I used to gobble up his stuff, and then his articles became fewer and fewer. It's a rare occurance to see his work now. The guy is brilliant though, no doubt about it.

I've found that unless you *love* to write, it can become a real drag very quickly. I've gotten to where I won't write a peice unless I feel I really want to get a point across........which means I write something about once every six months at this point. The process of writing doesn't do much for me unless I'm really passionete about the subject at hand.

Brian.

Brian,

Fortnately, I have almost never found a type of firearm or hunting that isn't fascinating in some way. Or almost anything else.

Aside from National Geographic, I sold a number of articles to other "general interest" magazines over the years. Eventually, however, the editors of gun/hunting magazines kept asking for enough stuff that writing for other markets just didn't make sense.

But as a 70-year-old friend who had written for a bunch of markets over the years once told me: "You'll never have to worry about putting beans on the table."

The other side of it is that I am basically unemployable at any regular job.

How much to gunwriters make?

That's a little like asking how much you save by reloading.

After a frustrating day at work, it's good to get a bit of good news from the fire!

[/quote].not so hard to take for writing an article that writes itself through repetition.

[/quote]

I am not a writer. The simple reason is that it is hard work, requiring talent. I do write letters of reference for students each year about this time. To write good ones (and if you agree to write one, it should be a good one) that don't sound like they're carbon copies of each other causes me to break a sweat. As much as I would like them to, a reference letter has NEVER written itself for me.

I have never suffered from lack of motivation to write, as it is easy to scribble a constantly growing list of topics that I can write in a single sitting. What I do then is leave it for a few days to a week, then reread it to find the flaws I can't see, when the initial "draft" completed.

From here I see weakness in detail or opportunity to add, clarify, extrapolate or whatever. I hate the pic's and captions part as I am not a photographer, even though I take photos. A good photographer sees the shot before he aligns and snaps the shutter. I know what I want, but am rearely stisfied with what I do.

This is where the editor is of extreme value. He see's your work with fresh eyes and can "see" the background shot, the detail shot, the color splash he wants for impact. I constantly am pleasantly surprised to see my work in print, because a good editor can make me better than I see myself. (Now I do know that the Graphic Designer puts this together, but usually they need or get, guidance and direction from the editorial staff).

I do not do well on consigned articles, because it is not in my head, not my train of thoughy, and personal motivation. I like to write what I know. If I get an editor that wants me to draft my thoughts and present for approval, he just lost me. I know what I can do, and have hundreds of articles and a book published to prove it, so hate being the "apprentice" yet again, in my life. Done way too many of those.

I would like to be unemployable, my wife thinks I am. Too strong headed and opinionated which I dearly love and am reaching patent level. A man of no fixed opinion is not a man I would share a bottle with.

Also get a lot of inspiration to write when I see new chums struggle at the range. Next year is my 50th since I fired my first shot and there is a lot of repetition in disaster. All provides great oppotunity to write and cover topics not published for some time or omitted by the mainstream writers.

If I had a good editor to work with, I could be better and far more prolific. I need the outlet to write. It is never a problem to produce the articles but a frustration to see drivel printed and that same editor tell you he is not interested in "new" writers, even if you have considerable background. "He" doesn't know you, and that is enough to close the door.

The gun writing industry goes through phases with a die off of regulars which changes the crew. I have seen it a couple of times over the last 40 years and I see it about to occur again. This will be the time to move.

Every aspect of opportuntiy is an consideration for marketing, especially for the self employed.


John

I thought I'd take a shot at this one, so to speak.

The recent furor in Wisconsin put teacher's salaries in the spotlight. The *average* teacher in Wisconsin is making over $70,000 per year. That includes great benefits (very cheap or no cost health insurance among them), a generous holiday package, almost bullet proof job security and the entire summer off.

Teaching our kids is important work, but that kind of compensation is over the top, IMO.

I'm sure that's better compensation than 95%+ of gunwriters receive. Now, if they were to switch to writing romance novels... lol

Interesting read guys. You know, i'm in the 1st of MD's categories--the occasional freelancer. Just got motivated by a hospital co-worker, and decided to try my hand at it. Been a bit fruitful over the years. The hardest part was selling my 1st piece--a 2-pager about shooting woodchucks in MD. I sent it to 3 editors and kind of gave up after that...until i saw Fur,Fish,Game Magazine on a shelf somewhere. Sent it to Mitch Cox there on a whim and he bought it for $75.

As a freelancer, IMO the hardest part of it all is learning to accept "overediting". I wrote for a few mags over the years, and finally quit as they were just cutting too much of the stuff i was sending them that often took me some time to "create". That's a tough pill to swallow after a few articles are published even when word counts were down. Never had that problem with Dave Brennan at PS and John Anderson at TVHM. There were only a couple actually that I remember. Writing on speculation is a tough business. I've got at least a few stashed away that never made it to press. Probably will be adding to that pile all too soon too.

I'm somewhere between JB's first and second levels, I suppose. I write a half-dozen pieces a year, but at least one editor buys everything I send, and then seldom changes as much as a syllable. (The good Dr Ken Howell would probably say we are both less precise with our language than we ought to be!)

I write what appeals to me, and am also not as good with an assignment that's just outside the flickering glow of my mind's campfire. Many of my projects also involve a great deal of range time. Upwards of a thousand rounds isn't uncommon, and occasionally as many as three thousand. That takes multiple trips, obviously, and has to happen before any of the writing and most of the photography can even begin.

I write every day (this is writing, of a sort) but not necessarily about shooting or reloading. I also have other interests such as fishing, golf and simply puttering around the house or garden. Then again, I don't need a writing income and have the luxury of choice when planning my day. In all, I may be the happiest guy on the planet in that regard.

MD,
You mention the talented guy that can't get motivated to produce. When he does it is a great read. Do a few gunmakers come to mind? Very talented people that are broke.
Butch

Yeah, I have known gunmakers like that, including one very talented stockmaker. They show up now and then in other professions as well, but it's hard to pretend you're something when you're not doing it. I've known a few ranchers who lost the ranch because they wouldn't do the necessary work.

That has seemed obvious to me. I've often meant to tell you I admire your use of the language itself. Useful factoids about gun stuff are of course good, too but your ability to string the right words together to convey knowledge and opinion often makes your article the first (in whatever magazine) I read.

Regards, -R44

Thanks very much, Ranger!

My neighbor is a 'known' expert for the shooting related fraternity. When he shows up for assistance or help, I can always tell when he has a good 'write off' case going on by the bounce in his step. He also authors some too.

When he starts complaining what all the 'boot' is costing him, I just look at him and grin big time, .

Sometimes I benefit from the 'boot' too, !

Generally teacher pay scales reflect the cost of living in an area. For example, in New York City, where a 1 bedroom apartment in a neighborhood that is safe will run $2,000 month or so and food is higher than in many other localities; therefore, the salary levels are higher. You got to pay them enough that they can live in the area.

In Charleston SC (where you live), teacher salaries (2010-2011 school year) for a Bachelors degree start at $34,040 and go to $52,,385 after 29 years. A PhD will start at $42,485 and go to $69,295 after 29 years. These numbers are from the Charleston School District�s web site).

So, a good gun writer can make what a PhD makes after 29 years. A good gun writer teaches us the benefits of their experiences and testing so we can better enjoy our sport; a good school teacher teaches the kids how to live productive lives and contribute to society.

Make no mistake, I enjoy gun article and benefit for them immensely, but not all school teachers make big bucks either.

A JB article of a few years ago started out with a tale of JB's brother inhaling a piece of spaghetti. I think the topic of the article was the interesting things you find out when you experiment. I'm pretty sure I laughed out loud at that one.

On the topic of loving to write ,the use of words.. I will never forget a line some writer used that has stuck in my head all these years.

He described the ways some folks pined over certain long discontinued guns like various Colts and Winchesters- no matter how mediocre that individual model may have actually been .... He called it "waxing eloquent in sizzling stanzas of poetic reverence" ...

I don't know who wrote it, it may have been Jim Carmichael or Dave Petzal, both have a love at times for the absurd....

For either of them, that would be a phrase hammered out of wrought irony...