You're my favorite writer/entrepreneur by far. I've never seen the often uncomfortable reality of earning potential as a writer laid out so well before.
A general problem in the writing community is no one wants (or knows how) to talk about money. The way you've laid it out here makes it clear as ice water to understand.
Reading this made me think of 2 big lessons I've learned as a writer since I got started back in 2017.
The first is it's hard to optimize for profit in the beginning.
Most people start writing because they "have to". They have a story they NEED to share (that was me) or ideas and experience that NEED to be passed on.
I'd argue few are thinking about the business in the early stages of their writing career -few even think about it as a career to start-.
This happened to me in the beginning.
I wrote a non-fiction book, then wrote my sci-fi novel Cereus & Limnic, not thinking at about how to make money. Then when I decided I wanted people to actually READ my work, I started going down all these writing wormholes.
I dabbled in freelance writing (a dirty word for you, I know). Ghostwrote a military biography. Made a few courses (that flopped). Tried the Writerpreneur/Influencer thing (but it didn't fit comfortably for me. This was after Ship 30 last year). None of these alone felt like a great match for my life, goals, and interests.
The lesson?
I had to focus on what I do best, which is a combination of many of the different writer categories you described.
Now I do a few Writerpreneur style things (like posting on social often). I also have a free newsletter. I have a few small courses and my books to sell. I also offer ghostwriting services and creative coaching.
It helps to be flexible these days.
The second lesson I thought about was having a diverse set of skills to complement my writing is great to speed the compounding process along.
Like a well-timed NOS boost in a Fast and Furious movie, having the business skills is a must.
But branching out into other mediums like podcasts, music, video, video games, etc. has helped my story find its way to more readers better than I ever could have by just writing more words.
I've probably sold no more than 50 copies of my novel since its release in Jan 2021. But the podcast version has been downloaded nearly 16K times in 69 countries.
It's low money - low status right now, but I'm already starting to see compounding effects.
Thanks for making this one free. Always appreciate your wisdom and expertise.
I appreciate how in-depth this article is! Thank you for sharing your experiences. It's easy to accidentally fall into magical thinking in the writing world, but your clear breakdown is a good reminder that the process, like most, is predictable.
Hey Nicolas! As a fellow writer, I truly appreciate your insightful article on navigating the path to financial success. It's great to see you sharing your knowledge with the writing community and helping us all grow together. Thanks for paying it forward! 😊📝
[The Biz] Writer Career Paths: 9 Ways To Make $1M With Words (Part II)
This made it easy for someone in the beginning of their digital writing journey to know that I was on the right track.
I also just find your writing good to study for my own best practice - the way you use dot points for example.
It cleared up the free vs paid newsletter decision and a lot more.
Thanks for writing this man :)
This is so in-depth! Thanks.
What would you say Dan Joe's niche is?
Hey Nick, I don’t think anyone in the writing universe has packaged this like the way its presented. Thank you and look forward to reading more.
Good post!
"But there are 0 Non-Fiction writers who have crossed $100M from book sales alone."
If he's not already there, I think Nassim Taleb could be a candidate for this.. wouldn't you consider him a Non-Fiction writer?
You're my favorite writer/entrepreneur by far. I've never seen the often uncomfortable reality of earning potential as a writer laid out so well before.
A general problem in the writing community is no one wants (or knows how) to talk about money. The way you've laid it out here makes it clear as ice water to understand.
Reading this made me think of 2 big lessons I've learned as a writer since I got started back in 2017.
The first is it's hard to optimize for profit in the beginning.
Most people start writing because they "have to". They have a story they NEED to share (that was me) or ideas and experience that NEED to be passed on.
I'd argue few are thinking about the business in the early stages of their writing career -few even think about it as a career to start-.
This happened to me in the beginning.
I wrote a non-fiction book, then wrote my sci-fi novel Cereus & Limnic, not thinking at about how to make money. Then when I decided I wanted people to actually READ my work, I started going down all these writing wormholes.
I dabbled in freelance writing (a dirty word for you, I know). Ghostwrote a military biography. Made a few courses (that flopped). Tried the Writerpreneur/Influencer thing (but it didn't fit comfortably for me. This was after Ship 30 last year). None of these alone felt like a great match for my life, goals, and interests.
The lesson?
I had to focus on what I do best, which is a combination of many of the different writer categories you described.
Now I do a few Writerpreneur style things (like posting on social often). I also have a free newsletter. I have a few small courses and my books to sell. I also offer ghostwriting services and creative coaching.
It helps to be flexible these days.
The second lesson I thought about was having a diverse set of skills to complement my writing is great to speed the compounding process along.
Like a well-timed NOS boost in a Fast and Furious movie, having the business skills is a must.
But branching out into other mediums like podcasts, music, video, video games, etc. has helped my story find its way to more readers better than I ever could have by just writing more words.
I've probably sold no more than 50 copies of my novel since its release in Jan 2021. But the podcast version has been downloaded nearly 16K times in 69 countries.
It's low money - low status right now, but I'm already starting to see compounding effects.
Thanks for making this one free. Always appreciate your wisdom and expertise.
So much vakue in this article.
I appreciate how in-depth this article is! Thank you for sharing your experiences. It's easy to accidentally fall into magical thinking in the writing world, but your clear breakdown is a good reminder that the process, like most, is predictable.
huge man. super helpful. thank you.
I enjoyed reading this. Thank you.
Hey Nicolas! As a fellow writer, I truly appreciate your insightful article on navigating the path to financial success. It's great to see you sharing your knowledge with the writing community and helping us all grow together. Thanks for paying it forward! 😊📝