I am probably not the only writer who has been walking around thinking that the big goal of having a blog was to get a book contract. I started blogging in 2006 at Antiquity Oaks, talking about my day-to-day life on the farm growing our own food, and I assumed that once I got a book contract, I would then be able to make money writing. Well, my third book comes out this fall, and I'm still not making money. Yes, I get an advance and royalties off the book sales, but following the advice of many authors who have gone before me, I've been spending the advance to supplement my publisher's efforts to promote my books, hoping that it would increase sales and I would ultimately make a profit. That hasn't really happened. And it doesn't happen for most authors, so I'm not alone. And even if I had not spent my advance on publicity, I still would not have made enough to live on.
But there are a lot of writers who are making money today, and they're doing it through their blogs. They are creating their own little mini media companies, and some of them have grown far beyond the "mini" stage and become small businesses with employees and other team members. It was rather depressing to meet people who started blogs far more recently than 2006 and are making a very good living from the business that they've developed.
Over the next few weeks I'm going to share with you the notes I took at BlogHer'13 as I outline the next chapter of my life.
Hi Deborah, I was at BlogHer13, too, and I am determined to make money from my blogging efforts. I am going to implement a business model (which wasn't there previously)and marketing plan, and work the heck out of it.
ReplyDeleteI have also began to ask myself daily, "What would you do if you weren't afraid?" which makes me answer the question why something hasn't been started or completed.
Blessings on your blogging and writing efforts!
So excited to hear that you were also inspired and are ready to start working with a business model. Best wishes to you!
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