Member-only story
Truth: You’ve Got to Spend Money to Make Money
But how much money do you spend before changing tactics?
It’s become increasingly easy to be an indie-author/authorpreneur. The tools are many and diverse, and with little to no upfront costs, you can self-publish.
This is where the professional and the amateur show their colors. An amateur will do everything themselves, from editing to cover art, and put their work out there for no cost but their time. If all you care to do is get into print so you can see your work in the world, and making money off it doesn’t matter to you, why not?
A professional, however, knows that other eyes must look over your product. You’re only human, and you will miss typos, grammatical errors, and plot holes. While you can turn to friends and family to help, you recognize that professional work requires professionals. So, you spend money to hire your editor, proofreader, and cover artist.
These are relatively fixed costs in writing books. They are variable in that you can pay $200 — $2000 for a good editor, $200 — $2000 for cover art, and so on. But once you choose these people, the costs are fixed.
When it comes to spending money to make money, the challenge is frequently marketing and advertising.
