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To answer the original question, I believe the concern about KDP suddenly shutting down an account is way overblown. If you are not doing anything shady, chances are slim.

All my stuff is in Select because I don't like the admin/marketing side of publishing. Personal choice.

I quit my job two weeks into writing my first book, but we could live (more frugally) on my husband's salary, my health insurance was through him, we were on a per diem in another country at the time, and he told me to take 14 months and we'd re-evaluate. It worked out great, but he didn't quit HIS day job with the health insurance until he was over 70, and continued to work part time for another couple years, so we had a really good cushion. I couldn’t have made this choice during any of the years we had kids at home, in college, etc. Your age and circumstances are huge factors.

Other people with crappy jobs and no employer-provided health care, but no dependents, may choose to go the all-writing route because it is really no riskier than their day job, and they feel they can always pick up a part time or full time job.

And the pandemic changes things yet again. No right answers here, just an assessment of your personal situation.

ETA: Three years ago, when my husband finally fully retired, we sold the house in the extremely pricey area and moved to my sleepy hometown. No mortgage, a huge house, and almost everything is cheaper. Peace of mind. But I like small towns. Other people need to be in a city to write.

 

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Amazon or not, the writing biz is rarely a steady income, year after year until retirement. Or steadily uphill, year after year. (Though you can get long stretches of steady/up.) But then, as others have pointed out, "day jobs" aren't necessarily a guaranteed income year after year either.

 

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That's not really that large a variance. My own publishing income has varied, over the past 7.5 years, from $10,000/month to $80,000+/month. Up & down. (I've been both wide & in Select, and also have audio, foreign translations, and some titles traditionally published.) This business changes a lot. A LOT.

Looking back, I personally worried too much about the money angle. Unrealistically. It can be emotionally hard, though, because it's all on you, and yet some of it is out of your control. Especially if you have others who depend on your income. Something to think about.

 

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Nothing is stable in this world as far as income, and hasn't been for about three decades. Back in the day, you could get a job and work at that company for the rest of your working life. These days, you can't guarantee you'll be anywhere six months from now. Writing as a career has never been a stable job for more than maybe one percent of those pursuing it.

As others have said, getting a KDP account closed isn't the nightmare you think it is. It happens when people screw up, or keep screwing up after warnings. Those big name authors who lost their account? Due to their own mistakes, arrogance and actions. None of it came out of the blue, despite what they say. Keep your actions clean, don't associate with those who take risky actions, and you'll be fine in that regard. And don't forget, any retail site can refuse to sell your work, at any time, for any reason (read those TOSs you signed closely).

As to those who tout giving up everything "frivolous" and saving? I've lived far too many years where there were no luxuries, where scraping up gas money and another dollar or two for enough groceries was the norm. Doing without everything. No new clothes, no new car (or new to us), no new furniture. Watching everything age and fall apart, knowing you can't afford to replace it. Hoping the car makes it another year, or that repairs won't cost more than a few dollars. It's demoralizing. It's depressing. It makes you feel even more worthless when people spout off about "just give up that Starbucks", when you've never had a Starbucks anything, and likely never will. Instead of offering ways to get things done, finding a way to work around not having money, you get lectured about saving money you don't have.

That's not to say that there aren't often ways to cut back, to scrape up money, but it's truly not feasible for every single person and it's not helpful to insist it is, or to hint around that people are lazy, or stupid, or lying about their situation.

Well said. On all counts.