How to Make Money Writing
By Lynne Golodner
Isn’t this the perennial question?
I spent decades writing “on the side,” “as a labor of love,” and all the other clichés that indicated I didn’t believe it was possible to make a respectable living as a writer. Journalist, marketer, technical writer, teacher of writing, yes. But creative writer? I didn’t believe it.
Until I did.
Call it a midlife crisis if you want, but in my mid-40s, I started wondering when I would take myself seriously. I mean, I’ve always identified as a writer first and foremost, but it was the thing I did “whenever I had free time.” Which wasn’t often.
I wrote books and they got published, but none made any money. I wrote articles and essays on the side of my lucrative marketing career. And I dreamed of being an author who lived on the fat of my earnings from book sales and author talks.
When I decided to take myself seriously, I shifted my life to make it actually happen. Just like I did with my two businesses, I created a strategy and a timeline and I committed to the outcome I wanted.
I began writing every day. I submitted finished pieces far and wide. I hired a writing coach to fast-track my essays and get them out in the world. I reconnected with editors I’d met through marketing and public relations channels, told them what I was doing, and asked if there was room for me to write for them.
I approached my author career just like I did my “real” career—planning, researching, committing to a schedule, networking and finding mentors who’d succeeded at what I wanted to succeed at.
One day about two years later, I realized, “wow, I’ve done it!” Shifted my schedule, yes, and generated some income from writing. I was focusing my most creative time of each day on what I love to do—write!—and I had a book in the publication pipeline.
In fact, while I had eight books traditionally published through small presses between 1996 and 2013, I made the leap to creating my own publishing imprint and self-publishing my books for many reasons, not the least of which was that I wanted to earn as much as possible from my book sales and not give up earnings to gatekeepers.
So if you want to make a living writing, here’s what you need to know…
First, there’s earning a living writing, and there’s earning a living writing books.
I do both. I write books, and I write essays and articles. Plus, I teach writing classes and coach writers. I also still run my marketing company. Three novels in, I know what it takes to make a living as an author. and I’m well on my way, but I am not yet able to fully fund my life from writing.
The simple truth is that most writers don’t earn their living solely from their writing alone. I don’t feel bad about my mix of services. It keeps things interesting, and I have human interaction just when I’m up to my ears in frustration with my characters.
According to the
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, median pay for writers and authors in 2024 was $72,270 annually.
The Authors Guild dials in more specifically to the type of genre an author writes: full-time romance authors earn the most income from their books (median of $37K per year), with graphic novels coming second ($25K per year).
It is easier to cobble together a respectable income from freelance writing articles and business-related writing (copywriting, advertising, blogs and newsletters, to name a few examples) than it is to make it big as a book author. Doing that takes time.
Industry lore says an author needs at least five books published in the same genre to see some steady sustainable income from book sales, and it may be higher for self-published or indie authors. Either way, the more books you write and publish (and market), the more money you can earn from book sales.
Most authors don’t make their primary income from book sales, though, even traditionally-published, big-advance, prolific authors. They earn additional income from author talks, author coaching, teaching writing and other writing-adjacent activities. Some have a day job. Some run a business. Many are retired, and this is their second career after the kids have left the nest and their budgets shrink.
I was a freelance journalist for a decade, and through my scrappy hard work, I surpassed six-figures in annual income then. I did that by being reliable, eager and available whenever editors called. I also flew myself yearly to New York and Des Moines, Iowa to meet with editors and build relationships to remain top of mind when they needed a writer for a project.
I’m also good at juggling. A writer who earns a respectable income through their craft must be.
And, I never billed hourly. I still don’t. Hourly billing puts the value on your time rather than your talent. I write fast, and I don’t want to earn less because of that, so I insist on per-project or per-word fees for assignments.
I am still friends with many of the editors I worked with back then, in case I ever want to reignite that part of my writing career. Or send them a book hot-off-the-press for a review.
Some other tactics to increase efficiency and productivity toward building a lucrative writing career include writing about topics you already know or have some expertise in, creating a system for synthesizing notes and research and keeping your audience in mind as you write.
And, if you really want to make it as an author of books, commit to the journey. Know that it may take years to earn a sustainable living from your books, but you can do it. Here’s how:
- Write at least one book every year—more if you can. Don’t dawdle over plotlines or spend a decade perfecting characters.
- Embrace marketing. Even if your books are published traditionally, you’ll need to help sell those books, especially if you want a second contract from your publisher. Get good at marketing. After all, no one will sell your books better than you.
- Understand that for all the social media, networking, book talks and more that you do, advertising is where it’s at to move books and make money. You still have to do the other things, but don’t depend on any one of them to be your make-it-or-break-it.
- The best thing you can do to boost book sales and grow your income is to write another book. And another.
In the end, it’s important to not let your desire to make money writing dampen your love of writing. When I am planning a book launch, I usually can’t work on a new book project for the two months leading up to launch. I’ll be honest, it makes me so sad. I love sitting with my ideas and creating characters and watching my fingers fly over the keyboard.
But I know that soon enough, I’ll be back there, which will boost my career and grow my income.
In the end, the more you love what you’re doing, the more likely you are to succeed.
