Ask the Career Indie Author

how much money can i make writing novels santa

Ask the CIA: How much can I earn writing novels?

by • Ask the Career Indie Author

I’m still drafting my first novel, but I see all these inspiring posts online where people are earning $5,000 a month, on up to $50,000 a month. How can they do that? Do they do a lot of advertising? If so, how much do they keep? And what about expenses for editors, cover artists, and formatting?

The answer depends on many variables. A cover could range from free to $500 and up. Editing costs depend on whether you want developmental, copy editing, or both. Formatting a book could be free if you DIY, or more.

Then there’s advertising, and that depends on how good you are at it and if you’re using BookBub ads, Amazon, or Facebook. I’ve seen percentages of that from zero to 35% for successful authors.

There’s also this to consider: a great many authors pump out books, as fast as once a month. They’ve figured out the genre they’re working in, how many words to write, and are highly organized. Think of them as the Campbell Soups of the business. For their income, they’re relying on attracting a whale reader to book #1, and hoping they’ll go on to #2, #3, #4, etc. Their books are in Kindle Unlimited, and they can afford to spend more money on popular keywords, hoping to make it up in page reads.

Mark Dawson is a good example of this strategy with his 20-book-plus John Milton series (except for the writing-a-book-a-month bit; he takes more time). It also helps his bottom line that he also writes books of a high enough quality to attract a publisher for his print books, and runs the Self Publishing Formula podcast and teaching business (both highly recommended).

There are many profitable writers who can duplicate his success. Their books are good enough to attract readers. Some of them may become fans. Many, however, will not. They’ll go on to other books in the genre and they may or may not return.
Then there are the ones whose soup isn’t of Campbell’s quality. They’re supermarket house brands. We’ve seen plenty of posts from them as well.

So to answer how much money can I make writing novels, the answer depends on how well you do will depend on the quality of your storytelling, your marketing and promotional strategies, your alliances, and your luck.

stack of books

Ask the CIA: How Do I Research Historical Fiction?

by • Ask the Career Indie Author, Research, Writing Advice

I’m thinking about writing a story set in the past, but I don’t know how to research historical fiction. How much research I need to do?. Do I need a fact-checker? That could be so intimidating.

I’ve written stories set in the Victorian age featuring Sherlock Holmes and Mark Twain, and the answer to “how much research do I need to do” is “until you feel comfortable writing the story.”

stack of books research historical fiction
stack of Old books on black surface
The first step involves general reading about the time period. Read several books on the subject. This will let you cross-check the major facts and pick up ideas for your story.

Next, find books that focus on the day-to-day details of people’s lives. Think locally. If your story is set in an area with newspapers and magazines, check them out on Google Books. You can find archives on New York Magazine, Life, and more.

If you’re looking for newspaper archives, I recommend the Library of Congress, the now hidden Google newspapers site, and the British Newspaper Archive. I’ve used all of them.

You need to get a general feeling for the times, manners, relationships, but wait until you’re getting the bare bones of the story down to do the specific research in those areas. That way, you don’t fall into the procrastination trap.
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When you’ve read enough, start writing. Don’t worry about getting all the details right. You might have to insert in square brackets notes about what you need to fill in.

When the draft is finished, go back and research whatever you need to flesh it out. Remember that you can’t rewrite a blank page.

Research Historical Fiction Workflow

The process becomes a cycle:

1. General reading

2. Write the story

3. Research what you need to fill in the blanks

4. Run through the cycle again until satisfied

5. Publish

banner mark dawson website

Can I make money self-publishing books?

by • Ask the Career Indie Author, business, mini-lessons

I’m working on my first book and want to know if I can make money self-publishing it. I’ve seen people claim they’ve earned tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars with their books, and at the same time stories about how few people make even a thousand dollars at it. And can you make money self-publishing your books after you pay all the expenses?

This question pops up frequently online, and the true answer is “it depends,” and we’ll get into that later in the post.

First, if someone says they know a way for you to earn a lot of money self-publishing books, beware. They’re selling you something.

Speaking of which, did you know about my book, “Career Indie Author,” that can help you get off on the right foot for your author journey? (Yes, I see the contradiction. But at least I don’t promise you’ll get rich.)

One Path to Self-Publishing Success

Authors getting rich self-publishing books tend to follow the same path (it’s possible to not do this, but it’s harder):

* They’re writing and releasing multiple books in a series. Some write the first three or four books and use the “rapid release” technique. They publish every month, and if the initial sales are good, Amazon will put this book in front of more customers, generating more sales.

* These books are in one genre and embrace its tropes.

* The author is active online. Typically, they’ll have a newsletter which they build up using advertising and a reader magnet. They may also be a member of a Facebook group or two open to that genre’s fans.

* The author also advertises through Facebook and/or Amazon (I’ve seen authors succeed with either platform). He doesn’t it well enough to have a positive ROI (return on investment). Spend 50 cents and earn a dollar, that’s a 50 percent ROI, which is good. Spend a dollar and earn a dollar, that’s 100 percent ROI, which is bad.

* Some authors have an advantage. They have deep ties in their community, so they can hold a launch party. Their friends can mention the book on their social media. They can get news coverage.

* Finally, the novels are great reads.

As for expenses, it can vary from nothing to the sky’s the limit. One figure I’ve seen is about $2,000. This covers the cost of the cover ($400), professional editing ($1,500), and ebook formatting ($100). Print formatting could cost $300.

These are estimates only, and the quality of the work varies widely as well. As the boss, you’re responsible for hiring good workers and rebounding after the bad ones take your money and give you a substandard product. But that’s a another post.

Campbell Soup of Authoring

So a great many authors pump out books as fast as once a month. They’ve figured out the genre they’re working in, how many words to write, and are highly organized. Think of them as the Campbell Soups of the business. For their income, they’re relying on attracting a whale reader to book #1, and hoping they’ll go on to #2, #3, #4, etc. Their books are in Kindle Unlimited, and they can afford to spend more money on popular keywords, hoping to make it up in page reads.
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money self-publishing books mark dawsonMark Dawson is a good example of this strategy with his John Milton series (except for writing a book a month; he takes more time). He also writes books so good a publisher cut a deal with him to distribute his novels to bookstores.
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There are many writers who follow the same path with varying results. Their books are good enough to attract readers. Some of them may become fans. Many readers will not.

How well you do will depend on the quality of your storytelling, your marketing and promotional strategies, your alliances, and your luck.

should i finish my novel author drinking heavily

Ask the CIA: Should I Finish Writing My Novel?

by • Ask the Career Indie Author

I’m at the beginning of my writer’s journey, but I’ve run into a problem with motivation. Not my characters’ but my own: Should I finish writing my novel I’ve lost passion for?

I have one published novel and a couple of stories and two serials, and they are doing well. But I’m bogged down in the middle of my second novel — part of a three-book series — and I’m not in love with it. As a result, my writing has slowed down considerably, and it’s hard to get started on the day’s work.

My goal is to be making a consistent four figures a month within a few years, so my question boils down to this: Should I finish writing my novel by pushing through, or start something new? There are advantages to both, so far as I can tell.

RELUCTANT WRITER

I consulted my magic 8-ball containing the trapped spirit of Charles Dickens, and he says, “How much are you making?”

There’s no one right answer, because much of it depends on what’s going on in your head. Instead, here are a couple of observations to consider:

1. You are halfway through your three-book series. Deep enough in that the novelty of the new project has worn off, and far enough from the end so you’re not encouraged to go on. A horse returning to the home stable will pick up speed when it is in sight. The same may be happening to you.

2. Do you have a habit of abandoning projects? If so, this could be your self-defense mechanism kicking in. It’s intentions are good, to protect you from criticism and failure, but it is misguided. In fact, it is working against you. If you keep giving up on finishing, you’re learning not to finish projects.

3. By offering the first book in a series, you’ve made a promise to those readers that you’ll finish it. Literature is filled with abandoned series, leaving behind disappointed readers (*cough* G.R.R. Martin *cough*).

4. I wonder: Do you have an outline for the series or are you writing into the dark? Phrases like “bogged down” signals a flabby middle. Either the story needs tightening, or you need to rethink it.

5. Could you turn the trilogy into a duology? This gets you out of the project earlier, and at the same time leave behind a completed story?

The answers depend on how you planned this project, your work habits, and personal stuff you may be reluctant to reveal in public.

If you need bucking up, consider Agatha Christie, who ran into this trouble early in her career. She had separated from her husband, went missing for 11 days, became a national media sensation, and had a deadline to finish a book she cared nothing about (“The Mystery of the Blue Train”).

As she wrote in her autobiography:

“I was driven desperately on by the desire, indeed the necessity, to write another book and make some money. That was the moment when I changed from an amateur to a professional. I assumed the burden of a profession, which is to write even when you don’t want to, don’t much like what you are writing, and aren’t writing particularly well. I have always hated ‘The Mystery of the Blue Train,’ but I got it written, and sent off to the publishers.”

It could be, in the end, you should try and finish the book. If you want to make money at this, you can’t afford to quit just because you’re going through a rough patch. Even if you push through and discover you have a bad book on your hands, you can always revise it (you can’t edit a blank page), or abandon it, but at least you’ll do it with a finished book, not the equivalent of a junked car on cinder blocks.

QR code example

Can I Use QR Codes for My Author Business?

by • Ask the Career Indie Author, Marketing

It’s useful to create QR codes for your author business. It’s surprisingly easy, takes little time, and offers another way for people (with smartphones and an app that scans QRs) to learn more about you and your books anywhere.

What Is A QR Code?

A Quick-Response code (hence, QR), operates like those barcodes you see on products in the grocery store and the ISBN code on the back of books. It contains a piece of information, but instead of long black lines of varying thicknesses, a QR code consists of black and white blocks.

What Can I Use It For?

A QR code can contain your website’s URL. It can be your home page, but how about this? Create a special page offering a free ebook or an invite to sign up for your newsletter. Directing traffic to a page that can’t be reached in any other way means that you can keep track of how many people use that code. If, later, you run a Facebook promotion or a social media blitz, you can gauge its effectiveness by looking at your website’s statistics.
Here are some other ideas:
* Send them to a page where they can read a short story
* Send them to your Amazon page where they can buy your book, or your favorite bookstore so they can pre-order a signed copy of your next book.

Where Can I Use My VR Code?

Anywhere! We have it on the front and back page of our printed catalog. We’ll put it on our next set of bookmarks. I’m thinking about putting it in our books as well.

Why Use QR Codes? Can’t I Just Print My Website Name?

You can still do that, but don’t judge people’s behavior by your own. With a smartphone, it’s easier to use a QR scanner app to reach a website than typing it in, especially if your name is difficult to spell. It’s certain a lot faster to reach pages inside the website, like “https://www.peschelpress.com / special offers” than typing it in and remember to use the right slash and the proper number of w’s.
Plus, don’t neglect the coolness factor. People like using their smartphones, and giving them a way to use their scanner is so Star Trekkie that it’s fun.

How Do I Make A QR Code?

Search for “QR Code generator” and you’ll find plenty of sites that’ll do it for free. If you can, find one that’ll let you drop in your logo for added coolness points!

keeping pen name secret

How can I keep my pen name secret?

by • Ask the Career Indie Author, Writing Advice

How can I keep my pen name secret?

There’s an old saying: “Two men can keep a secret, but only if one of them is dead.” If you want to write books that you don’t want anyone to know about, you need to keep that in mind.

On a forum recently, an author shared his success in writing. It was a substantial amount, easily six figures in a month. Naturally everybody wanted to know what kind of books he wrote, how he wrote them, what his covers look like and so on.

Using my Google-Fu, I learned his pen name, and mentioned what I did on the forum. I didn’t expect his reply: “that is incredibly invasive.” He also deleted the post.

I felt bad about this, but at the same time he left himself open to discovery. Since I can’t warn him that if I could find out his pen name others can as well, I decided to write this post to share what I did and how you can keep yourself safe as well.

Why keep my pen name secret?

Privacy. Authors have used pen names from the very beginning and for various reasons. Their work would offend important people. They are writing risque or obscene material. Or they are writing books in a genre that could embarrass publicly.

For example, “Eloisa James” is the pen name for a college professor who didn’t want her colleagues to know she was writing romances (very good romances, I highly recommend them). She has since come out of the shadows.

There are also writers working in one genre under their own name who want a pen name to separate those books from the new genre. British writer John Banville writes literary novels that have been shortlisted for major awards. He also has written seven novels in the Quirke mystery series as Benjamin Black. These are pseudonymous works, done not for privacy reasons but to separate these well-written mysteries from his literary work.

So what if you’re writing erotica and you don’t want anyone to know?

1. Don’t tell anyone. Remember the first rule of “Fight Club.” No matter how close you are to somebody, friend or relative, telling them a secret will tempt them into spreading it.

They can’t help themselves, especially if they don’t see any harm in doing so.

Suppose that you told your closest friend that you are involved in the Kennedy assassination. That’s a pretty important secret, and your friend will probably keep it because they know what would happen to you if it became known you were on the Grassy Knoll on Nov. 22. The consequences are obvious.

But what if the secret was that you were a popular author of science fiction romances involving tentacled aliens with knobby appendages and lonely young women kidnapped to be their wives? How could they not keep that a secret? It’s funny! And besides, they told only that one person, and they promised never to tell anybody either. Soon, the whole congregation knows, and your defrocked and looking for a new job.

There is also the risk that sometime down the road you and your friend will part ways. Or maybe you’ll have a falling out with your relative. If they are angry at you, you’ve given them the perfect weapon to get back at you.

So don’t tell anyone.

2. Keep your name separate from your pen name. This is what tripped up our unnamed author. For some reason, he had listed himself as publisher of one of his books on Amazon. Searching Amazon for his name brought up that book and revealed his pen name.

3. Don’t talk about your secret pen name on private forums. One reason why thought it didn’t hurt to search for his pen name was because he was discussing it under his real name. He also said he was no longer working at [major well-known company] and he was a full-time writer. He clearly was proud of his work and his success (as he should be).

The problem with talking about secrets on private forums is that it violates rule number one. Worse, you’re telling thousands of people what you’re doing, and any one of them can take a screenshot of your post and put it up on social media.

This is what happened to Journolist, a forum of reporters from national newspapers and cable channels. Started by Ezra Klein in 2007, nearly 400 reporters, academics, and authors gathered daily to trade rumors and discuss what stories should be highlighted and buried. This was collusion to set the news narrative at The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, and other major news outlets.

The existence of the forum was revealed, and copies of the messages showed how the daily news was massaged. There was much embarrassment all around, but nobody lost their job, nobody apologized, and presumably they found another place to meet that was more secure.

But the point stands: Don’t talk about your secret pen name online or offline. Period.

(If you’d like an alternative view, here’s Anne R. Allen on why it’s a bad idea to write under a pen name. While her reasons are valid, they don’t take into account people who write erotica and more explicit books. They also don’t take into account how Amazon’s Also-Boughts handle authors who write books on widely different subjects. If you’re planning on relying on marketing your books to whale readers, a pen name is useful if you’re writing in widely disparate areas.)

pennsylvania revenue banner

Do I Need A Business License to Write In Pennsylvania?

by • Ask the Career Indie Author

(Ask the Career Indie Author answers questions about the business side of writing, although I’m not above giving advice on the writing side as well. Some posts are answers I’ve given in forums with the question rewritten to protect the questioner’s privacy. Address any questions to my last name at this website’s name.)

Bill, I live in PA, so I’d like to know if you need to register with the state as a business. If you write under a pen name, do you need to register that as well?

First off, understand that I’m not an expert, and you should also confirm my advice before proceeding. Also, regulations can differ from county to county and municipality to municipality.

That said, if you are writing books out of your home, and that’s all you’re doing, you do not need to register with the state as a business. Whether you write under your own name or a pen name.

I live in Derry Township, and there are no regulations (that I know of) requiring me to register with them. And so long as I don’t annoy the neighbors by holding public events that draw massive crowds, like booksignings, lectures, speeches, conventions, convocations, papal installations, and inaugurations, I expect that to continue.

However, Peschel Press is registered with the state for another reason. We attend festivals where we sell books to the public. Because of that, twice a year we need to pay the state the sales taxes earned for those sales.

(Note: We don’t charge the customer a sales tax, but that doesn’t change our obligation to pass along the sales tax).

Nor do we pass along the sales tax when we do book signings at stores and sell books wholesale to bookstores. As the retailer, the bookstores handles that.
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Also, Peschel Press is not incorporated nor an LLC. We’re a “sole-proprietorship” (actually, my wife and I co-own Peschel Press, but let’s not worry about partnerships). Our income is reported to the feds and the state as personal income, although we do take business deductions. We’re incredibly conservative about that and keep diligent records.
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So if you sell books to the public, and you’re a Pennsylvania resident, you’ll need to go to the state’s e-Tides portal at https://www.etides.state.pa.us/Home/Index and register. They’ll send you a certificate to display in case the revenuers show up at a show (they haven’t, but I keep it with me just in case).
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pennsylvania sales tax form
In fact, I need to file for the first six months of this year!
Sales taxes are remitted every six months, so twice a year, you show up at the portal, log in, click on “Sales, Use, and Hotel Occupancy Tax”, fill out a 12-line form, and pay up (direct via credit card, or what we do, by check. We print out their coupon showing how it should be routed and mail it in.)

As a writer, you’ve added deadlines to death and taxes as the three inevitable things in life. It’s up to you to keep up to date with the laws of your municipality.

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How Can I Stop Playing Solitaire and Write?

by • Ask the Career Indie Author

Part of the problem with habits is that they happen, well, habitually. That’s why they’re habits. We do them without thinking.

So the trick is to find a tool that keeps you from doing something automatically, to engage your brain so you have time to reflect and say, “No, I won’t indulge in this time-wasting activity.”

Internet Blockers: There are two types.

1. There are blockers that build a wall between you and the internet, like Freedom.

2. There are blockers you install on your browser (Chrome, Firefox, Brave, etc.) that blocks sites that you list.

3. There is also a third technique, but this only works if you are logged into a particular site (because you like keeping track of your games and rankings):

Log out.

This happened to me. I was playing one particular solitaire site a lot. I loved it there. Cool green background. Beautiful card backs. One particular game that I frequently won.

I used browser blockers, but it was easy for me to “forget” to turn it on. So I’d play.
Until I logged off.

Now, it still deals a hand of solitaire, but against a background I don’t like, with cards that aesthetically offend me, in a game I have no interest in playing.

You know what? I haven’t touched the game for a week. I see the ugly hand, click away, and get back to work.

(Sometimes, however, I waste time on something else, but this is still better than before).

pearls before swine internet work entertainment
I agree, Rat.

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Typewriter Reset

Ask the Career Indie Author: Which incomplete novel should I finish first?

by • Ask the Career Indie Author

(This question popped up on a forum, and I liked my answer so much I thought I would share it with you. I won’t identify the sender, and I rewrote the question to hide any identifiable information).

⁠I’ve always wanted to write novels, and I was going great guns for awhile. I have two mysteries that are nearly finished, and five more that range for a full outline to a couple of chapters.

Then life intervened, and I had to put my writing dream on hold.

I want to get back into it, but I can’t figure out what to do next. Should I finish my books? Which incomplete novel should I finish first? Should I develop my website and build up a group of fans instead? Or all of the above? I’m paralyzed with indecision, and at the same time, I feel like I’m sending my books out to be slaughtered.

What can you suggest to get me out of my slough of despond and whip my books into shape as part of a successful business plan?

joseph campbell quote incomplete novelYou need to answer this questions first: What do you define as success? Money? Personal fulfillment from seeing your novels out there? The applause from your fellow writers?
⁠That answer determines your orientation.⁠

Personal Fulfillment

You have a vision for your books. You may listen to beta readers. You may learn from books and courses, but you have a unique vision and you want it out there.

⁠Solution: Read your books (if you haven’t) and heed your inner voice. It’ll tell you what you think about them. Decide on which one you want to finish first and commit to doing that one thing. (Don’t calculate how much work you need to do, because if you’re already thinking that way, that’s what you’ll do. But if you’re an artist, you’d be better off listening to that inner voice.)

⁠But before you start, commit yourself to finishing it. Straight through. Finish the draft, perform any revisions, and get it done. This is not negotiable.

If you set it aside, you will be teaching yourself never to finish it. Yes, I’ve heard the let it cool advice. I also know it doesn’t work for me. I have too many books cooling that I haven’t gotten back to. Like, 20-year-old books.⁠

Money

Your question came in two parts. You wanted to know which book to finish, but you also asked for a business plan, so this answer is different.

⁠I don’t know what kind of books you have, beyond their genre, but if you want to make money, there are three ways to go about it:

⁠SERIES BASED ON YOUR WORLD: I hope I don’t have to explain this.

⁠SERIES BASED ON YOUR GENRE AND PERSONAL BRAND: You write one-offs, but they’re all techno-thrillers. Or second-chance romances. Or Agatha Christie-like mysteries involving wealthy families. Or Westerns.

⁠NOVELS IN WHICH YOU’RE THE BRAND: You write such distinctive books, and you’re willing to put yourself out there and build your image so that in later books, your name will be larger than the title. Think Terry Pratchett, Tim Holt, and Liam Moriarty.

⁠In all of these, it may take several years and multiple books plus advertising and marketing chops to build momentum. Unless you already have a wide circle of friends and relatives willing to give you a boost, media connections, or good publicity skills, you need to think long-term.

⁠This also means working on your prose and developing a distinctive voice and intellect that is uniquely you. You need to set yourself apart from the book-a-month writers who rely on constant marketing and advertising to attract readers who can’t distinguish their world and stories from the thousand other writers in their genre.

As for your uncompleted books, take a hard look at them and see if they fit into one of the three models. If they don’t, you may have to set them aside. Don’t feel bad! You know you can write a novel, you just need to write a novel people will want to read. A novel that declares what it is easily (title, cover, blurb) and will get someone to say, “I choose you!”

⁠The one thing you have on your side is time and support. Mary Higgins Clark started this way, getting up an hour early and getting each book out one at a time. J.K. Rowling did it, too.

So can you.

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