SFA – 001 What It Takes to Make Six Figures as an Author + Dispelling Myths

On our first show, learn more about our hosts, Lindsay Buroker, Andrea Pearson, and Jo Lallo, all of whom have made at least six figures a year from their book sales. They looked at the truths behind popular “make-it-big” myths and discussed what you need to do to make it big. 

Examined Myths:

• You’re going to hit it big with one book.
• You need to write super fast and publish a book a month.
• You need to write erotica or romance
• You have to do readings, signings, go to conventions, etc.
• You’ll make more with a big traditional publishing deal.
• You won’t have to market or pay for editing if you get a trad deal.
• You have to be a marketing genius.
• You need a lucky break.
• You have to be exclusive to Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited
• You need to write to market
• You need to have a huge platform before you start

What it takes:

• You need a solid backlist and new stuff coming out regularly.
  • How many books it took us to first get there?
  • You might make it on one series, but once you have more than one, you’re less reliant on any one thing.
• Focus (on a certain genre and a certain type of books) helps – most people hitting six figures got this right and, if they branched out, branched out later.
• Solid covers that fit the market, professional editing, a good well-edited blurb
• Entertaining stories in a series that people can’t put down (i.e. Chris Fox’s flagship series)
• Learning enough about the marketing – find a couple of things you like or don’t mind doing and do it well. You don’t have to do everything, and you’re probably better off focusing more time on writing.
• Treat it like a business, even before you’re making money (reinvest the money you make back into the business, schedule time to write, don’t let people walk all over you, take it seriously, don’t treat it like a hobby, etc.)
• Be flexible (things change quickly, especially where marketing is concerned. If the couple of things you’ve chosen to do stop working, find something to replace them)
• Be friendly/helpful (don’t kill yourself, but karma and all of that. Pay it forward and it’ll come back, especially if you take up this mindset in the beginning)
• Keep up on connections – lots of good things come through networking and relationships
• Keep learning (becoming a better writer, a better marketer, a better author, etc.)
• Make sure you have a way for people to contact you in case Hollywood or other opportunities come knocking (hey, it happens. :-))
• Don’t waste time (on anything. Researching, social media, TV, etc. – all of it takes away from the most important thing you can do you for your business: writing)
• Recognize that sometimes writing isn’t the most important thing, and don’t feel guilty for doing other things instead. (Family, sickness, walking the dog, emergencies, etc.)
• Be well-rounded. If you ONLY write, you’ll burn out. Take time to do other things that bring you joy. Replenish, etc.

Thank you for listening, and we hope you enjoyed the show. We’d like to thank Joshua Pearson for helping us produce the show and Stephanie Neilan for putting the show notes together. Please consider posting a review to iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts. To ask a question for a future show or to leave a comment, visit 6figureauthors.com. We’d love to hear from you!

Six Figure Authors

SFA - 001 What It Takes to Make Six Figures as an Author + Dispelling Myths

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