Money-Making Projects an Author Can Pursue by Keri Kruspe

Let’s welcome back monthly columnist Keri Kruspe as she shares with us “Money-Making Projects an Author Can Pursue.” Enjoy!

***

As I pursued my author career, I assumed I could make a living off the sales of my books alone. While I still believe that can be my future, a different fact of life has been creeping up on me. I may have to do other things while I’m waiting to reach (and maintain!) the bestsellers list to replace my secular income.

The reason I say this is my novels aren’t paying for the expense I put into the business. While I could stay at my banking job for the next three to five years (an estimated amount of time I’d need to keep working to bring in outside money), I’ve decided to explore other avenues that would be more in line with my chosen passion.

Finding other streams of income is an excellent idea, especially in today’s environment. Even in “normal” times, counting on a single source of income can be dangerous.

Other Money-Making Projects I Can Pursue

In that spirit, I’ve created a list of endeavors to consider. These aren’t in any order and I’m sure there are opportunities that I missed. If I have, I’d appreciate it if you leave a comment to enlighten the rest of us!

1. Editing Opportunities 

Developmental* – Developmental Editing inspects the structures working within your text, such as themes, mythology, diction and tone.

Copy* – Copy Editing is the service you need to perfect your text, strengthen your prose, and ensure consistency of style.

Proofreading* – Proofreading is the last stage: a thorough check of minor errors in punctuation, spelling, and grammar. A proofreader will not give feedback on topics such as structure or other larger editorial issues, but can put the final polish on your work.

Editorial Assessment – An Editorial Assessment is an overall manuscript review, providing feedback on the structure of your book, and characterization, plot, pacing, style, and conflict. 

Query Letter Review – A Query Letter Review analyzes the strengths and weaknesses in your agent query proposals. An editor will go through your letter and the first pages of your manuscript and offer advice on how to make them more appealing to agents.

*Monies earned can be anywhere from an hourly rate, i.e., $35.00 to $75.00 hr to $3.00 to $7.00 page.

2. Paid Articles 

There are article mills out there that will pay writers on many subjects. Some of these sites pay $4-$15 per brief article. This is for folks who have a well-rounded background and can provide a fast turnaround. 

3. Social Media Management

Not all of us are social media savvy and would love to turn this over to someone else to do. This could include answering emails, newsletter/mailing list set up and maintenance and creating media kits for you as an author or any books/series you have a need for. From what I can determine, this can be an hourly rate of around $35 to $50. Depends on if you do some mix or matching.

4. Training/Courses 

From what I understand, creating and maintaining a course will generate more money per sale than a book. The idea is to take your non-fiction book, break it up into different lessons so you can delve deeper into your idea. It’s also a great way to share what you know with others on either a one-to-one basis or a set-and-go template you maintain. 

5. Audio Books

When I’m all grow’d up… I wanna put all my books on audio. As Joanna Penn consistently touts, “Audio books are the future.” 

6. Podcasting

Something that has grown in leaps and bounds over the last couple of years is podcasting. To do this, I would suggest doing some research on your particular niche. To earn an income from this, you can charge for advertising or ask for contributions, i.e. through Patreon. 

7. Patreon Models 

Speaking of Patreon, did you know they allow readers to sponsor the work of their favorite authors? Through this sponsorship, you can earn a growing income. I had no idea they did that until now. 

8. Legal Document Filing 

Do you have a background in legal work? A lot of folks would love to help in filing the required paperwork to open a business. Not to mention court cases, landlord issues, real estate, medical records, and more. Create document packages and templates for others or yourself to fill out.

9. Become a Virtual Author Assistant

I admit I’ve used a Virtual Assistant to become published. She has a menu I can peruse and pick out things I either can’t or don’t want to do. 

For instance, I have a real hard time formatting a paperback. (I don’t have a Mac so I can’t use Vellum. I hire her to do it for me and pay her a flat formatting fee. 

More Money-Making Projects To Consider 

Here are some things you can do under this virtual author assistant umbrella:

Consulting, Planning, and Brainstorming Sessions 

Broken into 30 or 60 minutes segments.

Organizational and Admin Support 

• Formatting
• Answering emails
• Website Management
• ARC team management and tracking review
• Create Excel Spreadsheets
• Sales Tracking
• Create/Maintain Calendar
• Newsletter/Mailing List set up and maintenance
• Meme and small promo graphic creation
• Amazon Author Pages
• Uploading book details on distributor sites
• Updating book details on distributor sites
• Media kits

Marketing Support 

• Ad creation (i.e. Amazon, BookBub, and Facebook)
• Set up giveaways/contests

Decision Time on my Money-Making Projects 

Lots of stuff to choose from. I admit I haven’t decided yet. A lot of what I’ve outlined I’m interested in, but being a new author I’m nervous that I don’t either have the talent or the experience/credentials to pursue these on my own. 

But, looking back on the last year-and-a-half that I’ve been published, I find there are some things I enjoy doing and I’ll consider pursuing them further.

• I have a blast writing these articles for the Writer’s Fun Zone. Selling articles to blog sites is one avenue.
• I love reading–so I’m thinking about putting myself out there to become a proofreader and help others by giving constructive feedback. It’s something I’ve done for decades in my secular job for professional documents.
• Another thing I’d like to do is to be a consultant. I’d love to work with someone who wants to bounce ideas around. I have a pretty good understanding of the industry and the scope of creating/publishing a novel. 
• I enjoy creating visual ads for FB and BookBub and I think I’m pretty good at it. (See below examples–let me know what you think). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One thing for sure; this year I’ll stretch my creative persona by tippy-toeing into the waters of the entrepreneur lifestyle. Care to join me?

***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Keri Kruspe has been an author since the age of twelve and has always been fascinated with otherworldly stories that end in Happily Ever After. Author of Otherworldly Romantic Adventures, Keri’s first series is An Alien Exchange trilogy. An Alien Exchange is the first book in the arousing Alien Exchange sci-fi romance series. If you like sexy aliens, feisty heroines, and fast-paced action, then you’ll love Keri Kruspe’s steamy space adventure.

Keri now resides with her family in the wilds of Northwestern Michigan. An avid reader, Keri enjoys good wine, good food, and watching action/adventure movies. You can find her most days immersed in her fantasy world of writing or traveling with her hubby in their RV, discovering intelligent life here on Earth. For goodies, news of upcoming releases, sign up for her newsletter at www.kerikruspe.com.