This is an excerpt from How to Make a Living with your Writing, out now in ebook, print and audiobook editions.
Here are some manageable steps for how you can transition to making a living from your writing.
You can buy a printed version of the Companion Workbook on Amazon and other print bookstores.
1. Start writing regularly for public consumption
This is not journaling and this is not writing just for the fun of it. This is writing that people actually read.
It could be regular blogging on your own site, posting chapters on Wattpad, guest posting, or writing a book for publication and giving it to an editor.
Set yourself deadlines and then put your writing out into the world, because you have to get used to being read.
Yes, it's scary for all of us. You have to get over that if you want to make a living this way.
By doing this you will prove to yourself that you can write to a schedule, that people will read what you write and that you can take feedback. You will start to grow into your voice, you will relax more about sharing and you'll learn by doing.
2. Decide what your focus will be and find examples of people to model
Before you jump in, really spend some time considering your definition of success, what you want to create and how you want to make a living with your writing.
Find people who are making an income doing exactly what you want to do and research them even further. I'm just one example but there are lots of others who you can model. There are as many options as there are people! You will find your own models online and many of them will have blogs or will write on forums or answer questions by email.
Read what they've written. Buy their books and courses. Respect their time and only ask intelligent questions after you've been through all of their material.
Curate the opinions you trust with care
Don't listen to people who are NOT making a living in the way that you want to. For example, an editor working in a publishing house for a fixed salary can’t have a true perspective on what it takes to make a living as a creator. They can tell you what their publishing house wants to publish, but they can’t advise you on how to jumpstart your podcast audience, or how to sell more books as an indie author.
3. Prepare something for sale – and then actually sell it
This could be an ebook or a course or selling your own services, anything to prove that you can make some income from your writing. Your first $10 will switch your mindset and will prove you can sell. Once again, you will learn by doing and your confidence will grow because you'll discover that you can earn money in other ways.
Set a deadline by which you will get something up for sale. This is important, since so many people don't achieve what they want because they fail to put a timeline on it. Stretch yourself, cancel other plans and FOCUS.
4. Grow your audience
Build your email list over time so you have people who are interested in what you’re creating. In order to do this, you'll need a professional website and an email capture mechanism like Seva (previously ConvertKit), Aweber or Mailchimp. More learning on the job! It's important for your business longevity to have a list of people who are ready to buy. How else will you guarantee your income for the future?
Once you have these basics in place, you're ready to scale.
5. Grow the number of products you’re selling
Once you have proved the concept, you can now expand what you're selling.
This may be more books, courses, audio products or speaking or perhaps adding affiliate sales to the mix. You'll find that once you have made $100 from these methods, you will be able to imagine making $1,000 and then $10,000 in the same way. If you commit to the long term, of course.
6. Make a plan to switch your income over to writing full time
I don't recommend chucking in your day job tomorrow and attempting to make a living immediately from your writing. It's more of a slow growth curve for most of us.
Start by planning to replace 10% of your monthly income with writing.
Write down what that is for you.
Now do some sums.
If you can make $2 profit from the sale of a self-published book, how many books do you need to sell in a month to meet your target? The number might be too high if you only have one book, but what if you have three books or five books?
If you are considering other streams of income, then do the same calculation for that. For example, if you have a podcast that earns you $50 per show in sponsorship, how many episodes would you need to make your income goals? How many listeners do you need to attract that kind of sponsorship?
Once you get to 10%, then you can make a plan as to how to progress. When I reached that point, I made the decision to move to four days a week in my day job so I would be able to take my writing business to the next level. It took me nearly four years working part-time to grow my income enough to finally leave the day job in September 2011. Time flies!
7. Stop procrastinating and take action
I had an email the other day from a lady I met back in Australia. We both did the ‘Year of the Novel' course at Queensland Library in Brisbane in 2010. I was working on Stone of Fire, titled Pentecost at the time, and she was also working on her first novel. In the email, she noted that she was still working on that first book, while I was now working on my thirteenth novel. She wondered how I had managed to achieve so much in so little time.
Well, truth be told, there is no secret and we all have the same amount of time.
We get what we focus on.
The difference is that I want this. I'm driven to become a better writer every day, to put out books that will entertain, educate and inspire. I put words on the page every day and commit to this as my career, my hobby, my passion and my life.
If you feel the same way, and you're willing to put in the time, you CAN make a living with your writing.
It's your turn. Now go write!
This is an excerpt from How to Make a Living with your Writing, out now in ebook, print and audiobook editions.
Want more help?
- Read/listen to my book, How to Make a Living with your Writing, available in ebook, print or audiobook formats.
- Read/listen to my book, Business for Authors: How to be an Author Entrepreneur in ebook or print format. You can also get the audiobook read by me here!
- You can also listen to The Creative Penn podcast on iTunes here, or check out the backlist of over 350 episodes here.
- I produce regular videos on writing and the business of being an author on my YouTube channel here.
- If you'd like to learn more, check out my Books and Courses
