Various Ways That Authors Can Earn Money

Writing is hard, we all know that. There was time when author would write a book in one year and then would go through various process till it gets to the store. Like -

1) Writing the book

2) Finding agents

3) Doing editing

4) Proofreading

5) Finding a publisher

6) Doing editing (if required)

7) Then marketing

Well, I tried to write as much as possible but we all know what sort of things are involved. I have not mentioned the book cover yet which is most of the time costly. Good, if you know photoshop or at least Canva.

So, after so many years and the low-entry barrier in the self-publishing world, everything has changed. Now, we authors no longer wait for a long queue to just get accepted in a publishing house. Or even agency. Everything is cut off. (Although we, many of us still like the traditional route. sometimes, the business side can be hectic.)

Now we can -

-> Make our own book

-> Complete control over the process

-> make our own cover

-> development cost is on us. We can even invest Zero dollars in the process.

-> marketing is on us as usual

-> we get to keep maximum profits too

That's what we authors like about self-publishing. We are authors, publishers, and marketers. We get to know all the aspects of our book.

So, with this, there are many

Now, without waiting much, let's see what kind of income streams are available for new-generation authors.

1) Self-publishing Platforms - There are more than 10 publishing platforms where you can upload your EVERY ebook and earn money lifetime. The top self-publishing companies are - Kindle Direct Publishing, Apple iBooks, Rakuten Kobo, Barnes and Noble, and Google Play iBooks. Either you can go directly with them (which I recommend) or use an aggregator.

2) Consultation - There are many people out there who want to learn from you. If you are a writer and have been writing for about more than one year and have a few books under your belt, then there are people or new writers who can benefit from you. They can learn something from your experience and in return, you will get paid for it. Good thing is that you don't have to be in a specific place for that. Have you heard of Zoom calls? This is the best software or AnyDesk which can help you to conduct your consultation sessions with your clients.

3) Tutorial - Now, consultation and tutoring are different. Here, they want to learn the craft of writing from you. Either you can teach them through the software mentioned above or you can record all your tutorials and upload them on Teachable, where students will pay a certain fee to access the courses. You can also use Udemy, Coursera, SkillShare, or many other platforms to host your courses. Prices vary. Choose the one which you find the best. For me, Teachable or Kajabi is the best as it gives total control over the recordings of my videos. They handle everything technical and all we have to do is drive traffic to their site and deliver a good tutorial.

4) Audiobooks - You have a book that is published on various platforms. There are two types of readers in today's world - one which likes to read like me and another one which likes to listen like my cousin. For listeners, Audiobooks are the best. People have a habit of listening to audiobooks while driving, working in their kitchen, on the train, waiting for the bus, and so on.

5) Ghostwriter - If you can write for yourself so you can write for others as well. My simple advice for authors will be to provide writing services to others. This will help you to have a stable income every month. There are many platforms that can provide you with this like Upwork, Fiverr, and so on.

This is it. There are many ways to earn as a writer but these are the top places where writers make most of their money.