# writing for a living



## fibrefarmer

I've embarked on the journey of creating my first book. I finished writing it last spring, and have spent the last few months working towards getting it published. We are very nearly there and it should be out this winter.

It's been interesting, this idea of writing for a living. I'm not there yet, but this seems like a good first step. 

Anyone here supplement their income with writing? Or maybe you are a writer, and ink on paper (text on screen) is your main source of livelihood?


----------



## po boy

Good for you. Let us know when it is printed.


----------



## fibrefarmer

I've got to get funding to print it.

It's difficult because I could go print on demand which requires no capital, but looking at the environmental impact, it's actually not good. A lot of waist and greenwashing.

So I am going to try to get it printed locally on responsible paper, using as little waste as possible.


----------



## Alice In TX/MO

Is it about fiber?


----------



## crehberg

I wish I was! Too chicken, though...

Have you considered e-publishing...or are you like me...and just love the feel of a real book?


----------



## fibrefarmer

It is about textiles. Good guess .

I'm starting with a paper book for a few reasons. I see my target market as being crafters and homesteaders, and a combination of the two. So the plan is to get the book into craft and homesteading stores which require a physical book. I like the idea of supporting shops that help people live a more eco-friendly lifestyle. 

E-readers are black and white/grey. So we have to be more careful with colour photos or they won't show up well on an e-reader. Electronics have a lot more environmental damage than a paper book. And a paper book can be re-sold or gifted when the owner is finished with it. Fewer profits for me but better for the world and for people who can't afford to buy new books. 

Being in Canada, I have access to a lot of resources for self-publishing that would normally cost money in other countries. Little things like free ISBN numbers (usually $100+ in the US) and national book catalogue listings (most bookstores require this if they want to carry the book) require physical books. 

I think I'll make an ebook version next year. If I focus too broadly this year, I worry I will make lots of mediocre quality items. Or I could make one excellent quality item this year, and then another one next year. 

Also, physical books feel great!


----------



## fibrefarmer

crehberg said:


> I wish I was! Too chicken, though...


I was chicken for over a decade. I kept waiting for someone else to write this book so I could read it. While I waited I experimented and gathered information. One day this winter, someone asked me to write a little something on the topic, so I sat down at the typewriter and started writing. 5 weeks later, I had written enough for a book. I don't really know what's happened between here and then but it's been interesting.


----------



## Alice In TX/MO

Your muse is working!!

The writers I know do not make a living at it. It is supplemental income.


----------



## fibrefarmer

It looks like a good supplemental income. I have 9 more books to write and if I can create one a year then I'll be very happy. Although this next book looks to be a doozy. 

At the end of the 10 books, I'm going to take the books and all the things I've learnt since I wrote them and make one huge book. 

I see this as a supplementary income for my retirement. It may not be big, but every little bit adds up.


----------



## GTX63

Seems to work for a few folks I know of who sell their books via their own blog/web page/you tube and FaceBook.
Self published, low overhead and it gets the roots in the ground so to speak.


----------



## weaselfire

I is uh wryter! 

Traditional publishing mostly, agent, publisher, etc. You can make a good living at it, but it's as much work as any other job.

Jeff


----------



## CajunSunshine

For many writers, Amazon.com is a great platform and distribution channel. They also provide an extremely affordable POD (print on demand) arrangement. No need to house dozens (or hundreds) of unsold books in your inventory, tying up cash...

More info on how to publish digitally and in print: https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/


----------



## PRC

If you're a good writer, and want to do it for a living, take a look at content writing for web designers. As a general rule web designers don't write the content for websites. They farm it out to content writers. Then once the website is live, there is a constant need to add additional content. If you can find designers to work with, you can make a decent living at it. 

There are some other details that you'd need to know about content writing, keywords, etc. But nothing terribly difficult. Just general rules that content writers need to know.


----------



## RideBarefoot

Not a writer, but I dabble a bit in proofreading as a sideline. As you mentioned, those small income streams add up.


----------



## anniew

Before retiring, I made a living writing for newspapers...covered local meetings, had a garden column for awhile, did special articles on agriculture, quarrying, logging mostly for regional publications. I also edited a horticultural regional (northeast) publication for awhile. In this line, the way to make a living is to write about things that you can use more than once. for instance, an article on a local farm in a local (county) paper, can then be used in a regional agricultural paper (several states). Sometimes, I could get an article in three different publications, all with their knowledge that it was being done, and with their consent since their readership wasn't overlapping very much.
I hustled, kept track of publications that would announce (either an article or an ad) upcoming seminars, meetings on specific subjects, or that would be promoted through local clubs/associations dealing with their specialty.
It was an interesting 25 years where I got to meet people, mainly those who were in the fields that were of personal interest to me. I also got to do some traveling to cover national conventions for one outlet meeting nationally knowledgeable people in my favored topic.
Prior to the 25 years, I worked other jobs also...nothing to do with writing, just things to make money until I got established with the publications that I wrote for consistently.
I haven't tried fiction, but have considered it. Not very seriously, however. I do proofread for a friend who does e-books. Just for the pleasure of reading her works...not any money involved.


----------



## FreeRange

anniew said:


> I haven't tried fiction, but have considered it. Not very seriously, however. I do proofread for a friend who does e-books. Just for the pleasure of reading her works...not any money involved.


Annie, I don't know much about ebooks except that they can be downloaded. I thought it would be fun to write some stories for my grands, telling them about the family since we probably won't see them more than twice a year. Do you know of any tutorials that would teach me how to do that?


----------



## mnn2501

FreeRange said:


> Annie, I don't know much about ebooks except that they can be downloaded. I thought it would be fun to write some stories for my grands, telling them about the family since we probably won't see them more than twice a year. Do you know of any tutorials that would teach me how to do that?


Basically - Just start writing, telling the stories you know.


----------



## FreeRange

mnn2501 said:


> Basically - Just start writing, telling the stories you know.


The writing isn't the hard part, except what program to write it in. I only have Word on my computer now. Maybe Powerpoint, I'd have to check. I don't know how I would get it into the right format so they could read it on a kindle, or how or where I would upload so they could download it to the kindle. I've never seen an ebook with pictures and would like to include pictures so they would recognize us the next time we visit, but I don't know if pictures are allowed. That's the sort of thing I'd like to know.


----------



## mnn2501

Write it in Word - always.
Amazon can convert Word Documents into their format. You can have pictures in an ebook.
Get it written then worry about how to publish.
You might think more about a blog than an ebook - but still start writing first (in Word)

For those who do not know:
Blog: A *blog* (a truncation of the expression "*weblog*") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts).

There are a number of companies that publish blogs, many for free but some you have to pay for.


----------



## anniew

Free Range. I don't know how to publish e-books. From what my friend has told me there is a bunch of formatting that is needed for it to be accepted, although as another poster said, maybe the publisher can do it for you (for a cost surely). 
But, I am not sure why you need it published. You could just print it off and include photos...kinda self-publish.
It is a nice idea to give to the kiddos...wish my parents had written stuff down, but too late now!
Good luck with your project.


----------



## mnn2501

No charge, you write it in Word and Amazon converts it as you upload it.


----------



## fibrefarmer

FreeRange said:


> The writing isn't the hard part, except what program to write it in. I only have Word on my computer now.


I've tried lots of different programs. The hardest part at the beginning was to write the text. I ended up using a typewriter.

Once you have the text, put it into something generic like word and then there is free software to convert it into e-books. Some converters are easier than others, but most of them seem to like word. They usually have a template you use in word, so that the formatting is correct when it's converted. But I haven't done that yet as we're focusing on a print book for the first edition. 

You can have small print runs of a book, just one or two copies can cost between $4 and $40 per book depending on what you want. The more books you print at a time, the more affordable it is. A print book makes a great family heirloom as it's not dependent on technology. Makes a great Holiday present too. 

But be careful printing your own book. There are some companies that take advantage of people. Others are great. Quite often your local print-shop can do a small run of spiral bound books for under $10 per book. 

We have my grandparent's stories typed on files that we cannot access anymore. It would help if we still had large floppy disks. But we keep a copy of the file saved on the hard drive, even though we cannot read it anymore, and pass it from one computer to another. The print version is quick and easy to access even if it's still got the holy edges from the dot matrix.


----------



## FreeRange

I checked at Office Depot and a spiral bound was going to be about $12 each. This is for a book with 17 pages. I may go that route if I have to, but I'd like to do an ebook if it is easier and cheaper.


----------



## weaselfire

Way too much incorrect information in this thread and a lot of people posting who don't know how to publish a book. Start by joining Absolute Write and go through the forums on self publishing versus traditional publishing.

Jeff


----------



## fibrefarmer

weaselfire said:


> Start by joining Absolute Write


Can you provide us with some helpful tips HERE?

A topic-specific forum like that is a bit daunting to people new to a subject. You seem to know a lot about it, so please give us a summary of what we will see when we get there. 

A forum like Homesteading today is a great stepping stone for people who want to learn about topics like this but don't know where to start. I'm glad for the recommendation of a starting place; however, the introduction you gave was discouraging. Saying that there is "way too much incorrect information in this thread" isn't going to encourage people to visit the other forum. It's more likely to make us think that everyone there is snarky and secretive. However, if you could enlighten us about what we will find there, then we know that the information there is useful to us.


----------



## CajunSunshine

fibrefarmer said:


> Can you provide us with some helpful tips HERE?
> 
> A topic-specific forum like that is a bit daunting to people new to a subject. You seem to know a lot about it, so please give us a summary of what we will see when we get there.


There is no way to condense self-publishing tips into a nice, neat summary. It's just too much to capsulize.
That's why there are so many books, websites, and forums that dispense this kind of information...

Places like Absolute Write will help you get the information you need in the shortest amount of time.



.


----------



## fibrefarmer

I just spent an hour bouncing around The Absolute Write forum. There are some interesting discussions but I'm not seeing anything there relevant to my writing career. It might be a great resource for people who have the time, but one hour is all I can give it. 

I also didn't see anything that directly contradicted what was written in this thread. "Way too much incorrect information in this thread " is a forceful statement to say without taking the time to tell us more. I was just curious if we could have some examples of why the writer held this opinion. Maybe they are an author or a publisher and have direct experience with this?

From my research into publishing, working with publishers and editors, writing for magazines, and now self-publishing, I haven't seen anything in this thread that is grossly incorrect. I've seen some things that will work better in some situations and less well in different situations.

But then again, I'm not travelling the traditional publishing path, nor the modern one. Everyone's experience differs and I would love to hear the story that led to such a strong opinion.


----------



## muleskinner2

Louis Lamour claimed that there was nothing wrong with being a writer. You just wouldn't want your friends to find out.


----------



## fibrefarmer

Anyway, I wanted to share where I am with my writing career. Today I'm waiting near my computer for the email with the proof for the book. It's the first proof with all the photos and layout, so I'm very excited sitting here pressing the 'check email' button every 10 seconds.

We've just finished a successful Kickstarter to pre-sell the book. We went with Kickstarter to raise funds for printing (local, eco-friendly printing instead of print on demand), but it was also to test the market. Are there enough people interested in this topic to justify a print run? Apparently, there are. Mine is such a niche topic, even people in hobby textiles were surprised by the response. This is wonderful news. But it's also daunting to know that I've sold 500 books before it's even printed. That's a lot to live up to. 

But I'll just keep at it until it's done. Insomnia makes for great productivity. I'm looking forward to getting the books out and starting on the next one. 

I'm also realizing I haven't written anything for a magazine in a few months. Wondering if I have time to pursue this while I wait for the printing?


----------



## tiffanysgallery

Biggest thing about writing is being organized and keeping in mind who your target audience is.


----------



## weaselfire

Been gone for a while...

First, never use a local print shop to print your book. It's not cost effective and rarely will you find one that knows what they're doing in printing books.

Second, if you only have an hour to invest in learning publishing, you'll never get the information you need. Most people who self publish lose money on it and it only makes sense in supporting your main business. If you get.paid to lecture in a topic then writing a book on that topic to sell at the lectures makes sense. It also adds credibility for your lecture business.

The biggest problem with self published books is the lack of proofing and editing. That's an expense covered by a traditional publisher that you have to cover yourself.

Self published print books rarely get picked up by distributors and thus won't appear on shelves at book stores. You might sell a few copies through local book stores but that's a very limited outlet.

The world is in ebooks. They're not hard to produce, look at Kindle publishing and Smashwords. And they do work in color.

Selling your book is 90% of the work. Writing is the easy part. Traditional publishers handle this, self publishing makes it up to you.

Marketing is the important part of earning money. Make sure the book you do will have a market before you do it.

There are a million things you can write for money. Many won't work for you but many can. Web content is rarely one of them, too many writers who'll do it for five bucks. If your living costs are so low that you can do it for five dollars, then go for it.

The only requirement to be a writer is to write. The only requirement to be a professional is to get paid for what you do.

A homestead forum is not the place to get information on writing for money. You really need to go to a new forum, no matter how daunting, and learn there. Absolute Write is one of the best with many people who have done and are doing what you want. Read the forums for a while, introduce yourself and get your toes wet.

Now, if you're looking to write down stories and memories for your family, forget all this. Write them down, print them up and hand them out. You won't make money, you have a very limited market but your grandkids may eventually be interested.

Jeff


----------



## mml373

fibrefarmer said:


> I've embarked on the journey of creating my first book. I finished writing it last spring, and have spent the last few months working towards getting it published. We are very nearly there and it should be out this winter.
> 
> It's been interesting, this idea of writing for a living. I'm not there yet, but this seems like a good first step.
> 
> Anyone here supplement their income with writing? Or maybe you are a writer, and ink on paper (text on screen) is your main source of livelihood?


Hi! So glad I found this post! To answer your question, "Anyone here supplement their income with writing?", my answer is in the "hopefully affirmative" category. This very evening, I am going through technical writing studies in hopes of eventually putting myself in a position to work from home as a technical writer.

Best of luck with your book/publishing!


----------



## Mistoftime

fibrefarmer said:


> I've embarked on the journey of creating my first book. I finished writing it last spring, and have spent the last few months working towards getting it published. We are very nearly there and it should be out this winter.
> 
> It's been interesting, this idea of writing for a living. I'm not there yet, but this seems like a good first step.
> 
> Anyone here supplement their income with writing? Or maybe you are a writer, and ink on paper (text on screen) is your main source of livelihood?


Hi, I as wondering if you have an update on your first book? Did you succeed in getting it published?


----------



## Kstar

I, too, have finished a book, and close to having it published. Just needs the funds to do it (I can't believe how much it is all together - ugh). Hopefully by the end of the year, it'll be out.

I love writing, but I am not expecting it to supply a full-time income or anything. If it did, that would be awesome, but in reality - most authors do not become NY Times Best Sellers.

If you like to write, there are other things out there on the net. If you have the funds and marketing patience then blogging may be for you or writing articles here or there as a freelance author.

I hope you'll have something out soon!

(Oops, just realized how old this thread was...)


----------



## random

Kstar said:


> I, too, have finished a book, and close to having it published. Just needs the funds to do it (I can't believe how much it is all together - ugh). Hopefully by the end of the year, it'll be out.


Sounds like you're using what they call a vanity publisher? Have you looked into on-demand publishing through Amazon? I don't think there's any out-of-pocket expense there.


----------



## Kstar

random said:


> Sounds like you're using what they call a vanity publisher? Have you looked into on-demand publishing through Amazon? I don't think there's any out-of-pocket expense there.


I am not looking into a traditional publisher. KDP is what my focus was set on to do it myself, but there is expense involved. I suppose it depends how you want to do it. I would like my works copyrighted first to protect my ideas ($45 each book I have). I do not want to use Amazon's free ISBN as that gives them way more rights over my book and makes it more difficult to transfer my book from Amazon to another ebook/book publishing service later as that requires a withdrawal process from Amazon's bookstore (1 Barcode and 1 ISBN – $150 ; 1 Barcode and 10 ISNBs (cheaper buy per barcode $320). Each book format requires its' own ISBN (if one book was an ebook and an audio book you'd need 2 different ISBN's) Any good selling ebook has a decent cover. Cover art can be done yourself with either Amazon's tools or something like Canva, which I hope to do, but I'm not against purchasing one, but that can cost anywhere from $5 on a cheap discount one upwards to $1,000. Many of the awesome ones I've seen are between $60 - $300. Most people choose to get an editor and for a standard size novel that's $500 - $6,000+ (depending on story size, editor experience, and type of editing) usually for a professional editor. If any other photos are added that have rights to them, that can cost more than a pretty penny. I am probably going to skip this because I don't have that type of cash. Grand totals can come out to over $4,000+.

There are quite a few costs to consider when self-publishing, unfortunately .


----------



## random

Technically, copyright exists when you publish, but registration is always a good idea. Have you considered the group option? Looks like it's $65 and you can register multiple separate works under one registration.

I don't think I would take the route you're taking, preferring to stay on the side of the least capital outlay for the greatest gain. But my concern was that you might be being misled - there's a lot of unscrupulous vanity publishers out there more than eager to take your money. It seems like you've done your homework, though, so you're not being taken advantage of.

Good luck with the venture!


----------



## RibbyR

Being a freelance writer full-time is something I've wanted forever. I finally gave up my career in real estate to become full-time in Feb. of this year. While the money is obviously not as good, I wouldn't change it for the world. I don't have young children at home (they are pretty much grown, one works as a translator at https://thewordpoint.com/services/certified/cеrtified-transcript-translations - so his job is similar to mine) so it is easy in that sense. My biggest difficulty is making myself sit still long enough to write. In real esate, I was off tramping through the woods and going on showings all day long...now, I sit all day so it is a big change.


----------



## Vixen

I wrote a book, finally finishing in 2019. It was science fiction and delved into high level artificial intelligence, human interactions and a world ending event. Then the pandemic happened and a real-life, end of the world scenario began to unfold in front of our eyes. A science fiction parallel felt dry and thin by comparison and nothing came of many requests and letters to agents, etc. Fast forward to 2021. I welcome any personal experience anyone may have with epublishing. The whole concept is daunting to me.


----------



## starrynights

Vixen said:


> I wrote a book, finally finishing in 2019. It was science fiction and delved into high level artificial intelligence, human interactions and a world ending event. Then the pandemic happened and a real-life, end of the world scenario began to unfold in front of our eyes. A science fiction parallel felt dry and thin by comparison and nothing came of many requests and letters to agents, etc. Fast forward to 2021. I welcome any personal experience anyone may have with epublishing. The whole concept is daunting to me.


I wrote a story 2 yrs ago and when a call for submissions came up I submitted it to the magazine. It was accepted and printed in an international magazine and I got part of the cover. My advice to you would be to write about something you know well. Have you actually experienced in any way what you are writing about? Don't jump in too hard and fast.


----------



## bman

Got the journalism degree but never made much money at it since every housewife in the world thinks she's a gifted writer, despite having no formal training. The surplus of writers guarantees you will never make good money doing this. Additionally, anything worth writing about has already been written. The world needs more gifted researchers who are interested in truth, rather than writers who regurgitate what's already been written down. Good luck!


----------



## Vixen

starrynights said:


> I wrote a story 2 yrs ago and when a call for submissions came up I submitted it to the magazine. It was accepted and printed in an international magazine and I got part of the cover. My advice to you would be to write about something you know well. Have you actually experienced in any way what you are writing about? Don't jump in too hard and fast.


_Have I actually experienced in any way what I’m writing about?? _ Thank God, no! It was _Science Fiction! _It included an alien invasion (not the one from south of the border, the one from space). I have personal experience with technical and industrial scale energy production that I sought (valiantly) to use in a way that would entertain without getting *too *technical or long-winded. I wrote many letters to agents seeking representation to a traditional publisher to no avail. The whole process was a disappointment that I have attributed to the (_spit_) pandemic for the previously mentioned reasons. The first chapter of my book was also published as a stand-alone story in an SF webzine as well as a couple other stories. Favorable mention but no leads elsewhere.


----------



## Bekebe

But don't you care deeply about the subjects that people pay you to write about? If not, couldn't you simply change your niche?


----------



## Barbituratik

To be clear, publishing is the fundamental way to get paid for writing. There are numerous methods to do so, but there are no ways to support yourself until your essay is available for purchase. Short stories can be profitable, but there aren't many places to sell them. So it's best to avoid expecting short stories to provide a living income. Consider them an addition. Getting your name in front of readers, editors, agents, and publishers is even more vital. Additionally, you might generate a modest additional revenue by publishing a decent volume for the essay writing service reddit.


----------



## Danaus29

Barbituratik said:


> To be clear, publishing is the fundamental way to get paid for writing.


Clear as mud. Can you elaborate?


----------



## Vixen

In the beginning, I don’t believe I ever actually considered selling my book. I was simply driven to get the story out of my head and down on some sort of reproducible media. After years of revision, obtaining a copyright and polishing the tale, I began to think it could possibly be marketed to a publisher. That part of the endevor proved elusive however, so here we are. I suppose I am no less for failing to publish; after all the book is still there and complete. I can say I learned a great deal about grammar along the way as well as increasing my vocabulary so it wasn’t a lost cause. Private reviews have been largely positive and I think it could be published someday, but probably not in a traditional manner. Everyone has a different perspective. Your life situations and requirements for your efforts may vary.


----------

