Writer’s Cafe, part of the Kindle boards sponsored by Amazon, is an inspiring place. It’s populated by all sorts of writers who share their experiences in the self-publishing world. What is amazing is that so many people, who may have never had the opportunity to get their books published, are now earning from their work.
I’ve spent most of my working life in the business world. I’ve managed businesses and run one of our own. What we learned from having our own service business is that you are most certainly married to your business. It is your life. What I don’t want in retirement is that commitment. The way we earn now has to be much more flexible. I’m a little jaded, perhaps.
What I want now is to be free to associate only with the people I choose. For the most part, that doesn’t include anyone who might be a customer of a traditional business. Don’t get me wrong; most people are OK. It only takes one idiot to ruin the whole day.
I don’t know how many times I expressed my hatred for our business. It usually wasn’t about our regular customers. It was more often the occasional person who needed our help and then was critical of what we did. It seemed the more we jumped through hoops, the more dissatisfied they were. There’s just no pleasing some people. I no longer think that the customer is always right. I think modern businesses coddle customers and that policy is a disservice to us all.
To get back to Writer’s Cafe. If you browse through the posts, you’ll find authors of all kinds there. Of particular interest are the threads about earnings. While most people there don’t tell exactly what their income is, they do leave hints.
The authors who admit that they are living off their sales are worth reading. What they will tell you is to write, write well, and promote what you’ve written. Rinse and repeat. No secrets. This is likely true in any endeavor.
There are nuances, of course. What you write has an effect because certain genres are more popular than others. That’s not surprising. A scan of the shelves in the nearest bookstore will tell that story. Overall, though, it’s a viable way to earn a full or part-time living. It also provides a source of passive income. Write a book and sell it forever. Sweet.
Does everyone have a book in them? Maybe. It costs nearly nothing to try. Once the book is finished, then there might be some costs for editing, cover design or advertising, but not in the beginning. There’s little to stop you from starting that book that is begging to be born.
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