Beyond Book Sales: Other Ways to Earn Income as an Author


This week at the SFF Seven, we’re asking about book-related income that is specifically not from book sales.

There was an asterisk to that, specifying that the question was in relation to the Authors Guild 2023 Income Survey, which I didn’t read. (I have Opinions about that survey, which I won’t go into.) But I assume the question comes from the survey dividing author income into book-related and not, and the person asking is wondering what the “not” might be. It’s a good question because I’m a firm believer that long-term success in this fickle business relies on diversifying income streams.

I actually have a line on my income spreadsheets that says “Other Writing Income,” as opposed to the “Book Sales” line. What kind of income is that?

  1. My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/JeffesCloset. This is how I offer mentoring and coaching to other writers. Plus, it’s a great little community that’s truly supportive and positive in a non-toxic way.
  2. Other kinds of coaching. I also offer various kinds of one-on-one mentoring and coaching.
  3. Workshops, presentations, and master classes. I love giving talks and I especially love it when they pay me!
  4. Articles and similar nonfiction writing. Love getting paid for those, too!
  5. YouTube. I have a podcast, First Cup of Coffee with Jeffe Kennedy, with enough subscribers that I earn income from the views.

First Cup of Coffee – October 18, 2022

Building a writing habit and incremental work – when it does and doesn’t work for people. Also an update on loading my audiobooks on YouTube and thoughts on three decades in publishing.



First Cup of Coffee – October 17, 2022

Quitting what doesn’t work for you and getting away from survivorship bias and reverse engineering success. Instead finding out what works for YOU & owning your process. Also putting audiobooks on YouTube.



First Cup of Coffee – September 9, 2022

A bit on audiobooks and the relativities of going exclusive with Audible vs. wide – and *how* to go wide if you do that. Also some (bad) news on the midwinter holiday fantasy romance anthology and a question for you all.



Keeping Up with the Virtual Joneses

I just returned from a week with my family on Lake Coeur d’Alene. So lovely and relaxing! During some conversation, I mentioned Ed Sheeran, and my aunt – who’d never heard of him – asked me how I kept up on discovering new music.

It was an interesting question, and one I had to think about. Finally I said that I see a lot of recommendations on Twitter. Instagram, too. People share Spotify lists or post YouTube videos. She nodded a little at my answer, clearly a bit daunted at the prospect of emulating me there. So, I sent her two Ed Sheeran albums for her birthday.

Coincidentally enough, our topic at the SFF Seven this week is “Keeping up with trends and changes in social media.” Not an easy thing to do for any of us. Come on over to find out more!