How to Make a Living With Your Writing: Your author ecosystem
In Part 1, we went through all the ways you can make money with books, and in Part 2, we’ll consider some other ways that your writing can bring in multiple streams of income. But before we get into the detail, it’s important to understand how developing an ecosystem can amplify your revenue streams if you focus on building for the long term.
What is an author ecosystem?
An ecosystem is basically a network, and in this context, it’s all the things that work together to sell your books and bring in multiple streams of income in other ways.
If you build an ecosystem, it will become much easier to make money. It will all work together in the background, compounding over time as you continue to write and increase your body of work, and you should be able to track how each aspect feeds into your revenue streams.
My non-fiction ecosystem for Joanna Penn
The central hub is my website, TheCreativePenn.com. Since 2008, I’ve created articles, videos, and my podcast as content marketing to attract people to the site, as well as sharing on social media. Traffic to my website results in book sales, affiliate income, sales of my courses, and sign-ups to my email list through my Author Blueprint.
The Blueprint has an email series which in turn links back to my books, and to affiliate links, courses, and the podcast. The podcast brings in Patreon subscriptions, advertising revenue, and affiliate income, plus also sells my books and courses.
Most of my paid speaking engagements have come from people finding me through my books and podcast, and if I needed to, I could easily turn on a consulting or coaching revenue stream by emailing my list.
On the book sites, my free ebook, Successful Self-Publishing, drives revenue through sales of the print and audiobook versions, as well as leading people into my other non-fiction books and courses, plus all my books contain affiliate links, and links to my other books and the podcast.
Everything links to everything else, so if I drive more traffic to my website or sales of my books through paid advertising, it amplifies the whole ecosystem and results in more streams of income.
Jo Parfitt, author of 30+ non-fiction books, says, “Spin whatever you create as many ways as you can. If it starts as a live workshop, turn it into a book, into an online course, a workshop, a residential course and then, of course, articles and blogs that become your marketing funnel. In other words: exploit yourself!”
My fiction ecosystem for J.F. Penn
The central hub is my website, JFPenn.com, which has pages for each of my books with links to the various stores and how to buy direct, as well as an email sign-up for my free thriller ebook at JFPenn.com/free.
The automated email series introduces readers to my books and after a period of time, includes an offer to be part of my Pennfriends team for Advanced Review Copies.
I have a permafree first in series, Stone of Fire, on all the ebook stores which is easy to advertise and brings people to my books. Some buy others in the 11-book series, or some of my other fiction, and some also sign up for my email list.
My Books and Travel Podcast has a call to action for the free thriller, and I mention my books as part of the content so people check out my fiction if they’re interested. I’m also expanding into affiliate links for the BooksAndTravel.page website and I’m considering other revenue streams around the podcast, as well as non-fiction related to my research.
Design an ecosystem for the long term
This ecosystem approach will amplify almost all of the income streams in this book, so it’s well worth considering for your situation.
Jeff Elkins, The Dialogue Doctor, says, “I multiplied my income 10-fold in one year by opening new options for revenue. I was shocked at how those options built on each other. As the new options grew, the old ones grew as well.”
Of course, if you’re just starting out, it’s hard to imagine a future state where everything amplifies in this way, but if you think about it strategically early on, you can build something that will grow and expand over time. As you go through the rest of the book, consider the various income streams and how they might amplify each other. This will make it easier to make money as your ecosystem grows.
If you’re further into the author journey, consider what your ecosystem looks like right now. Is it integrated in multiple ways so that each part drives revenue?
Start with where you are and consider what you want your ecosystem to look like in five or ten years’ time, and take action toward that.
Questions:
• How does an ecosystem work to drive revenue in multiple ways?
• What does your ecosystem look like now?
• If you carry on as you are for the next five years, or ten years, what will your ecosystem look like?
• What do you need to change to ensure it works for you over the long term?
Resources:
• Your Author Business Plan: Take Your Author Career to the Next Level — Joanna Penn
