Make a Living Writing Fiction: Follow these Ten Steps
By Elizabeth S. Craig
I’ve been asked by everyone from writers with day jobs to high school students if it’s possible to make a living as a writer. The answer is easy—it’s definitely possible. The next question is trickier to answer—how does one go about making a living as a writer?
Although some writers hit it big with a blockbuster book, the rest of us need to work harder and smarter. We need multiple books with multiple income streams to make it.
Here are my tips and best practices for making a living writing fiction.
I’m doing it, myself (if I weren’t I’d definitely be looking for a day job):
1) Write a popular genre that you enjoy reading and writing.
If you’re looking for commercial success, it’s best to choose a genre that’s popular with readers. There are readers who avidly follow new releases in their favorite genre, reading as many as they can get their hands on. Writing for those readers makes discoverability much easier than writing ‘a book that’s so unique, it’s impossible to categorize’ (something I’ve heard a writer say before).
But the second part of that tip is equally important—it’s vital that you choose a popular genre that you enjoy reading and writing. If you’re branding yourself to a genre, make sure it’s one you know inside and out. This will be much easier if you like reading those types of books.
2) Know what readers expect from the genre.
There are always specific conventions to follow.
Most genres have a particular pattern to them…readers expect to see the stories constructed a certain way. These conventions are helpful because they give us guidelines to follow.
It’s fine to ‘think outside the box,’ but probably better not to start out that way if we’re looking for success. It’s better to experiment after we have a more loyal readership and even then it can be tricky.
I’ve known well-established writers who flouted cozy mystery conventions and suffered poor reviews and angry readers because of it.
If you’re not sure what the conventions for your chosen genre are, step up your critical reading and note similarities in the books. Read customer reviews of these novels on retail sites to see what’s worked and what hasn’t for readers.
3) Write in series.
Readers enjoy reading series and writing in series definitely makes the process easier for authors. With series, we have a set story world, characters with developed traits, and a structure to work from. It’s a terrific time-saver and a way to quickly create more stories without having to reinvent the wheel each time we start a new book.
4) Write quickly.
If you can release at least one book a year, you’ll soon find yourself in a position to make more income.
Having several published books makes it easier to run promotions. You could lower the price of the first book or even make it free. You can give a book away to readers as an inducement to join your email newsletter list. Aside from the promotional aspect, having several published books gives us more ‘real estate’ and visibility on retail sites.
You can also write faster and more accurately by keeping a story bible for your series, noting any facts that you’ll need to know for future stories (character eye color, style of dressing, lisp, the street the protagonist lives on).
That way you won’t have to take time to reread your own books to research basic facts about your series.
Another way to make the most of your valuable writing time is by giving yourself a short prompt at the end of each writing session to remind yourself where you left off and what you plan on covering next.
5) Self publish.
I write three series, all of which started out with a trade publisher. I’m continuing two of them independently.
That’s because I realized that I was making more money by self-publishing than I was by publishing at Penguin-Random House…with fewer self-published books.
6) Publish well-edited, well-designed books.
Happy readers make for repeat readers. Make quality part of your brand.
Self-publishing, it’s said, is a misnomer. It takes a team to create really solid products.
7) Make your published books work harder for you.
- Have your books available in print as well as digital. Use both CreateSpace and IngramSpark to maximize your international reach.
- Expand into audiobooks.
- Make your books available in foreign markets and subscription services through distributors like PublishDrive, StreetLib, Draft2Digital, and Smashwords.
- Get your books in libraries through OverDrive, Baker and Taylor Axis 360, and Bibliotheca CloudLibrary through the previously mentioned aggregators.
- Accept paid public speaking gigs to talk about your books and your writing process.
8) Continue learning about changes in the publishing industry, better promotional methods, and emerging markets.
Invest time reading blogs that inform self-published authors, such as:
- The Alliance of Independent Authors’ Self Publishing Advice blog,
- Mark Williams’ International Indie Author Facebook group (must get permission to join)
- Anne R. Allen’s Blog with Ruth Harris right here.
- Jane Friedman and Porter Anderson’s Hot Sheet. (Paid subscription required.)
9) Be responsive to criticism.
Read your reviews, especially the critical ones. If enough readers comment or complain about a particular aspect of a character or your stories, consider making a change to strengthen your books and make them more appealing to readers.
10) Work smarter instead of harder with marketing to open up more time to write.
Promo can eat up time better spent writing. Make a focused list of promo areas you want to pursue and then mark the time to research, create, and implement on your calendar (Facebook ads, BookBub, etc.)
But also consider working smarter and setting up strategies that will help you in the long run without the continuous investment of time.
- Tweak keywords and keeping book metadata consistent for better discoverability.
- Link to your other books in your back matter.
- Make sure to have your newsletter signup link in a variety of places, including your email tagline, website sidebar, back matter of your books, and Facebook page.
- Inform your newsletter subscribers whenever you have a new release.
This approach won’t appeal to all writers and isn’t right for all writers. This type of production schedule is intense and multiple releases each year can create pressure for the writer. It can take a while to see significant returns…it’s usually a slow build. But for those of us who’d rather write instead of pursuing a day job—it’s worth it in the end.
***
What other tips have I missed for writers interested in writing fiction for a living? And thanks to Anne for hosting me today.
By Elizabeth S. Craig (@elizabethscraig) February 19, 2017.
Elizabeth writes the Southern Quilting mysteries and Memphis Barbeque mysteries for Penguin Random House and the Myrtle Clover series for Midnight Ink and independently.
She blogs at ElizabethSpannCraig.com/blog and curates links on Twitter as @elizabethscraig that are later shared in the free search engine WritersKB.com. Elizabeth makes her home in Matthews, North Carolina, with her husband and two teenage children.
(Note from Anne: Follow Elizabeth on Twitter! Her “Twitteriffic” links are the best way to keep up with the publishing industry that I know! )
BOOK OF THE WEEK
Fall to Pieces: A Southern Quilting Mystery
When a quilting event falls to pieces, Beatrice works to patch things up.
Dappled Hills quilters are eagerly anticipating new events at the Patchwork Cottage quilt shop. The shop’s owner, Posy, has announced ‘Sew and Tell’ socials and a mystery quilt group project.
But one day, instead of emailed quilt instructions, the quilters receive a disturbing message about a fellow quilter. When that quilter mysteriously meets her maker, Beatrice decides to use her sleuthing skills to find the killer before more lives are cut short.
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25 PUBLISHERS YOU CAN SUBMIT TO WITHOUT AN AGENT. These are respected, mostly independent publishing houses–vetted by the great people at Authors Publish. Do check out their newsletter
Elizabeth—Thank you for the fantastic advice! A succinct, practical, do-able, down-to-earth guide for writers at all levels of experience.
Thanks so much, Ruth! Hope it helps a few writers out there. 🙂
Brava! Thanks so much.
Thanks for coming by!
Thanks, Elizabeth! Excellent tips.
I’d be interested to hear your procedure for producing audio and whether it has earned you enough to make it feasible.
I never thought about the time saved by writing series. It makes sense.
Kathy–Elizabeth will be by later to answer everybody’s comments (she’s on the road right now, but expects to be home in a few hours.) But I wanted to say we’ll be having a guest post in June from an Audible narrator, who will talk about using the the Audible royalty-share program. It does not cost the author anything up front. It’s what I use and it’s certainly been worthwhile for me.
No upfront costs? Sounds like a win-win for fiction.
Hi Kathy! Anne’s right–the royalty-share plan means no upfront costs for writers. We submit our title on ACX and then review the auditions. ACX acts as the go-between, which is nice. I make a nice sum each month, but I do have quite a few titles on the platform.
Elizabeth rocks!
While I’m not fast enough for a book a year, I did manage to do a series, which has fueled itself.
Variety is also good. I think it’s really helped that my books are now available in audio as well as print and eBooks.
Alex, *you* rock!
I’ve been hearing a lot about the popularity of space opera lately–you chose a great genre to write in. And good to hear that your diversification has worked out for you, too.
Ack! Elizabeth scored a week on Anne’s blog, so jealous!! Worse yet, I think I score maybe 38 points out of a hundred on this test (10 Q 10 Pts@). Plenty of work cut out, I can see that. Thanks for the direction, too much of which is both “to do” and eerily familiar… good thing I’m not getting too old, or stubborn, to take good advice. Or anything.
I’m loving being on Anne’s blog. 🙂 These tips won’t work for everyone, for sure, but you might be able to modify some of them to work for your schedule and your books. Hope you have a great week!
I love Elizabeth’s tips! She’s not only a great writer, but she is incredibly generous with her time and her knowledge!!
Thanks so much for the kind words, Jemi! Have a Happy Sunday. 🙂
Also one missing from the list: Keep learning new things about the craft. Very, very few writers write one book and have it sell well–it’s often preceded by ten other books while the writer learned how to write better.
An excellent point, Linda! Some of that learning will be done by reading about the craft, but much of it (as you pointed out) is due to practice.
I’d say it’s important to find other opportunities for marketing than just email lists and social media. You never know who might be a potential reader…
That’s very true, Icy. And it’s good to experiment and see what might be a good fit for us for marketing. I’m very uncomfortable marketing in person, for instance, but it might be a great fit for others!
Thanks so much for hosting me today, Anne!
Nice post, Elizabeth. Thanks for the update. I shall need to bookmark this one for later.
Enjoy your Sunday.
You, too, Jacqueline! Hope you have a great day.
Fantastic article, Elizabeth! I especially love the Story Bible idea. Timely post for me, because I’m re-reading book one before the final rounds of edits are done for the sequel. Such a PITA, too. I reread book one while writing book two, but I always get so nervous that I missed something. What do you and Anne recommend including in a Story Bible? Minute details of the plot, or only characters’ mannerisms, speech, looks, views, etc?
Best wishes for your book two!
I have a separate doc for plot details. I call them cheat sheets–everything I need to know to refresh my memory before speaking to a book club, etc.
For my story bible I’ll list bits I’m likely to forget: the name of the street different characters live on, the color/style of the glasses a character wore (before listing this, I had a pair that switched from rimless to wire-rimmed), type of car the character drives, the fact a character lost his mother in his twenties, etc.
So, basically, character habits/details (early riser, kills houseplants), character description, character beliefs (political leanings, spiritual beliefs), continuing subplots (if any), and setting details (the character’s living room, layout of the house).
Great post! I’ve a question: for authors who self-publish, what’s the process for making an audio book? Is it as simple as getting someone to read the book and tossing the audio file on Audible? (My guess is it’s not that simple, hence I ask.)
It’s pretty simple, actually, if you’re looking to get on Audible (ACX is your platform, in that case). The author can either read the file (there will be technical specifications for sound quality) or can list his book for audition. He can choose to pay the narrator upfront or choose a royalty share option.
Irvin K–We’ll be running a guest post on this subject in June. 🙂
Excellent list, Elizabeth — you’re such a wealth of practical info you share so generously. I see you mention the Hot Sheet as a source of industry news — both MWA and SinC members can get discounted subscriptions, so if you’re a member of either organization, check the member discounts or special offers on the orgs’ websites.
Thanks for the kind words, Leslie! And thanks for the tip about the discounted subscriptions, too. 🙂 Hope you have a great week.
Elizabeth, this is really terrific information. I agree with all of it and have already implemented some of your great suggestions with success. Agree completely. This stuff works. I’m adding more tips from this wonderful post to my book promo list. Thank you so much! Paul
Hope it helps, Paul! Thanks so much for coming by.
Thank you for the insightful tips and for being so generous with your hard earned knowledge.
Hope you read something that can help. Have a great week!
Thank you for these tips, Elizabeth.
To add to your list — join associations. Members are valuable sources of information about the genre and about opportunities to publish.
A great point, Leanne, thanks. I’d recommend Sisters in Crime for mystery writers (for either male or female writers).
Thanks so much for the suggestions, Elizabeth. I’m doing the first 5 or 6 actively (learned the hard way that middle grade fiction does not do well for most indies), and am working slowly on the others. I knew Draft2Digital and Smashwords would distribute, but did not realize they could get you into Overdrive as well. And Anne, I’m looking forward to the Audible post in June!
Now it’s back to the writing cave–I’ve got the beginnings of a romance series to work on!
I’ve heard that about indie MG—I think the market is ‘owned’ by Scholastic?
Smashwords can get you into Overdrive, but I prefer StreetLib and PublishDrive for distributing to Overdrive. They don’t segregate their catalog for libraries into indie and trad-pub…it’s all the same list (as opposed to SW’s approach).
Good luck with your romance series!
Hi Elizabeth and Anne – lovely informative and very useful post … so good to have put up for us. I’d probably add focus – settle in with a one track mind and write and publish … and learn … but focus on those things – settle that routine. So helpful to read – cheers Hilary
Focus is such an important element for success–thanks for that, Hilary!
Great information and helpful tips, Elizabeth.
I have to agree completely with Jemi, Elizabeth is incredibly generous with her time and her knowledge. She even patiently helps those of us who aren’t writers.
Thanks so much, Mason! And thanks for everything you do for the writing community, too. 🙂
I think being able to tap into both sides of the equation as a hybrid author makes a big difference. You’re combining an established reputation with the ability to make more money per book.
Getting paid to speak is another option. Speaking as an author is a great way to supplement one’s income.
I definitely believe that starting out as a trad pub author helped, but only at the time. Physical bookstores are so much less important these days (sadly, I haven’t been in one in ages and I used to love visiting bookstores…no indie stores near me and I read everything in Kindle format anyway, or at the library).
I’ll second getting paid to speak! Everyone interested in doing more speaking: be sure to list “speaker” in your LinkedIn ‘headline’ and set up a speaker page on your website.
These are excellent suggestions and I’m making use of many of them for my books. I’m expanding to include all of them soon and hope to sell more books because of it. Thank you, Elizabeth.
Good luck with your sales, Patricia!
Hmmm… You didn’t say anything about writing a blockbuster that makes you a millionaire overnight.:) Oh well, the other ten tips are pretty good too. Thanks, Elizabeth.
That would be the best tip of all! 🙂 Hope you have a great week, Ken.
Thanks so much for these tips Elizabeth – it certainly gives the unpublished writer something to think about! I’ve bookmarked this page for future reference – I think I’m going to need it. 😉
Hope it helps, Debbie, and thanks for coming by!
This is all such good advice, Elizabeth! Behind it all, I think is that the author has to do a lot of careful planning to make a living. That is, you have to have an overall business plan. What a useful post!
A business plan…or at least sitting down every week or so and saying, “What’s working? Where am I doing best? What can I do to have more reach?” Thanks for coming by. 🙂
I loved this post! Thank-you so much for sharing such valuable information. I was especially interested in #7, digital and foreign marketing. You opened up a whole new world and ideas to me. I am so excited.
Thanks, Kate! I’m amazed how well I’m doing now, internationally. My tips are to use PublishDrive and StreetLib and use IngramSpark (in conjunction with CreateSpace) to cover foreign markets in both digital and print. Good luck!
I’m honestly surprised more people don’t self-publish. The book is in the market forever, there’s no battle for shelf-space, and I think you get paid more. Is it because self-publishing isn’t as glamorous? You haven’t been vetted by a publishing company, so your book isn’t worth readers’ time?
I know that writers should be careful with tip #9. There’s a difference between an aspect of a story that’s hated by a large portion of the readership and the story would likely improve if it was eliminated, and a vocal minority of readers (possibly trolls) who just like whining about this one thing that either doesn’t matter or is even a good part of the story.
I think some writers need the initial validation that they are good enough to be published. But they can also receive that from readers.
#9 is tricky, yes. It needs to be a vocal majority, I think, and something that will work for that series/story/writer. But I do have a cautionary tale with that: readers were upset at the interference of my sleuth’s son in one book (sleuth is an octogenarian). I conveniently laid up the son with a broken leg in the next book. Everyone was upset that their usual conflict was absent. 🙂
But on another, more successful note: a good number of readers complained about profanity in my earliest books. It was easy for me to stop writing it and now I get many reviews on my ‘clean reads’ and how the grandparents and grandkids can read the same books. Responding to various complaints won’t be right for every writer or every book. But it might be worth considering.
It really depends on the story. For example, some of my books have a bit of profanity in them (just the occasional word, not a whole bunch), because it makes sense for the main character of that story. Others have no profanity because the main characters of those books are a lot more straight-laced, upper class, and “proper” than the character prone to occasional swearing. Taking the swearing out of her books would be removing part of her character, which I don’t think is worth it.
You’re right, Sarah, it definitely depends on the book…and, as Anne states, the genre. My octogenarian sleuth does use profanity, but I tell, don’t show it. 🙂 “Myrtle cursed as she realized she’d left chicken tenders in the oven four hours ago.”
I want to second what Elizabeth says about profanity here. My mother wrote a cozy at the age of 88 that was certainly not shocking, but had some colorful language and the reviewers were furious.
So If you have anything in your book that’s remotely NSFW, you need to make it very clear with your cover art, title, etc, that your mystery is NOT a cozy.
The no-profanity rule seems to be as strict for cozies as the HEA ending is for romance. We need to be very careful to follow genre rules.
I think the marketing is the hardest part for me. I think this list can really help writers hone in on what has the best chance for success. Thanks!
Marketing is tough for everybody, I think. Hope this helps!
Do you only speak to female authors? This is my first time here, although I have collected numerous copies of your blogs. Don’t blog myself, it seems to be pointless. Still, as a 78yrs old male what would I know. I simply write, full stop. Not very good at marketing either. Still, it’s a bit of fun writing funny short stories. I’ll talk again after I have digested your 10 tips?
John J McCarrick
Hi John! The advice is for every writer. I don’t think you need to blog, as long as you have a functioning and updated website. Good luck with your short stories!
John–This post was written by Elizabeth S. Craig, a bestselling mystery novelist who was our February guest blogger. I write the majority of posts, but my blog partner, Ruth Harris posts once a month on the last Sunday of the month..
We three are, indeed, humans with two X chromosomes, but I don’t understand why you would assume we only write for women.
We also host male guests. Our guest on March 12, Mike Sahno, is of the male persuasion. He wrote about how to self-publish if you write literary fiction . I don’t think he intended that to be a gender-specific post, either.
The book I wrote with superstar author Catherine Ryan Hyde, HOW TO BE A WRITER IN THE E-AGE, has sold many thousands of copies to people of all genders.
Do keep in mind there’s nothing wrong with being a hobbyist writer. Not everybody who plays golf has to go on the pro tour, not everybody who sings needs a recording contract, and not every writer has to write as a business If you’re happy with your writing projects “as is”, don’t change a thing.
Most writers have day jobs. Elizabeth is showing us in this post how you *can* quit the day job and write full time.
But that’s not for everybody. On April 2, I’ll be writing about the role of the “slow writer” in this fast paced business.