If no one buys your books, can you still make money as a writer?

When you pick up a book  for the first time, see your name on the cover, see the publisher's imprint on the copyright page, have its own ISBN, get it reviewed on Amazon... . 

Your writing career begins. You'll sell hundreds of thousands of copies, you'll be  on all the talk shows, there will be a bidding war for the movie rights. Well, not always. In fact, almost none. The truth is that publishing a book, especially a new book, is very difficult, especially if you follow the traditional route. There are very few publishers who publish only a few books each year, and there are many competitors vying for those places. Not only do you need to be talented, you also need to have passion, courage, motivation and enthusiasm and  be able to handle rejection. If all goes well and you get published, there's nothing more exciting than seeing your book, your kids, the project you've been working on for  two years (or seven, or 10) published.

 You see, luck is the key to everything we do. If you have these and everything, it will take you to the top. Without it, your  novel may or may not sell well, and it won't do that either. If you get an advance but can't make a profit on the advance (sell enough copies to repay the money), you probably won't be able to get another book from the same publisher. Then you start over and try to find another advertiser, maybe even another agent. I'm specifically talking  about traditional advertising here. 

Of course, there are other options: personal advertising, small media, hybrid advertising. But ultimately, no matter which path we choose, we want people to read and sell our work.