In this season, we’ve done a series of research episodes, where we comb through the internet to find out answers to how this whole money and writing thing works. Today we are presenting the results of our research on a bucket of stuff we call “everything else”:
- eBooks and self-publishing;
- Newsletters and Patreon;
- Speaking; and
- Online courses.
As always, we have put the sources for our discussion below. This is an introduction on what you can expect to take into account when you’re considering pursuing these as income streams. The bottom line is if you’re planning for this to replace your day job income, you will need to put a lot of time into it – more or less exchanging one day job for another. And that might be fine, but you should just get ready to hustle.
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Find us on Instagram @marginallypodcast. Meghan’s on Twitter @meghanembee, and Olivia’s @roamingolivia.
Theme music is “It’s Time” by Scaricá Ricascá.
Have a question you’d like us to try to answer, or a topic you’d love to have us cover? Interested in being a guest? Contact us here. Thanks for listening, and get to work!
In this episode:
Back episodes we reference (our own):
- Episode 43: Four Questions on Writers & Money
- Episode 44: Our interview with Jane Friedman on the business of writing
- Episode 46: Was there ever a golden age of short stories?
- Episode 53: a big roundup of business books
Jane Friedman’s classic blog post on authors’ income surveys
#amwriting podcast episode 128
Editorial Freelancers Association rate chart
About eBooks
royalty options through Amazon
Monetizing Newsletters
Medium article with practical advice
Paul Jarvis on how to use a newsletter to monetize
Substack and an article about what it does
A graph about who gets paid most on Patreon
Article about what you should know before you start a Patreon (on The Write Life)
Alleycat article on what you should know before you start a Patreon
On Speaking
Post by Laura Vanderkam on public speaking as a craft
All American Speakers – list of speakers
How to find speaking gigs when you’re starting out and get paid for it
Society of Authors guidance on speaking fees
Indie bookstores charging for authors to hold signings