Making Extra Money to Write Your Book

Writing a book is freakin expensive. Ok, the actual writing part isn’t going to cost you anything, but everything else involved with publishing your book will add up. First of all, the time to work on your book (time is money, baby). Then once the novel is finished, you’re going to have to put some money out of pocket. Little things will add up such as the massive amount of ink and paper you end up using to print out your query letters and partials to send to literary agents and publishers. Also, you’ll hear mixed things about this, but many writers hire an editor to go over their manuscripts before submitting them. And if you self-publish, hiring an editor is a must (you can receive bids on Elance after creating an editing job). Once your novel is released, you want people to find out about your book which means you’re going to likely want to designate a marketing budget. So, what are some ways aspiring writers can earn some extra cash to write, edit and market their book?

Freelance Writing

If you’re talented with a pen, put your writing skills to good use and pick up some freelance writing jobs. You can take on as many projects as you can handle and build long-time relationships with clients. Freelance job sites that you can bid on jobs include Elance and oDesk. A few sites I use to find freelance jobs include Freelance Writing Jobs and Online Writing Jobs. Both sites scour the internet and link to freelance jobs listed on Craigslist, Mediabistro and BloggingPro.

eBay

Ok, I’m a huge fan of eBay for earning extra cash. Every few months, I’ll go room to room in my house and put together a pile of things to sell. You can earn hundreds with only a couple of hours a work. I’ve sold everything from used clothing, video games, electronics, purses and wallets. It’s a great way to declutter and put some extra money in your bank account. If you got some pain in the butt stuff that’s too heavy to ship, post it in the sales section of Craigslist. Deal with local buyers to avoid the scams that run rampant on the site.

Sell Your Books

You can post your used novels, textbooks, CDs and DVDs on Amazon.com. You’re only charged a fee if any of your items are purchased. I made a ton of extra money after I got rid of most of my old books (except the faves close to my heart of course) when I purchased a Kindle. You can sell your books on eBay, but they have a tendency to sell better on Amazon and you're able to list the books for a longer time frame.

Depending on your lifestyle, there’s probably a lot of other ways you can get the extra money needed to write your book. I know people who have picked up waitressing shifts and babysat to get the extra cash they need to invest in their book. It may stink for the time-being, but the end result will be worth it.