Making a Livable Income Selling Books

You may not have an active desire to “get rich”, but if you have made writing and publishing book a large part of your life, you want those books to make money.

Why?

Because it costs to write and publish!

It is possible for you to make an active living as an author. Here’s the catch, you won’t make that living writing books. One of my favorite authors who isn’t actually “known” for his writing is Myron Golden. He has 2 books that he has published since 2018. Those 2 books make him $

Yes, a month. How would it change your life to make that much money a month selling books?

Hee’s the thing, making that much money a month on books is possible, but it’s going to require a few things you haven’t thought about. YET!

1. Talk less about the fact that you wrote a book and more about the value of your book. Why? People will spend thousands of dollars a year to gain value. For example, gym memberships, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and massage memberships make millions a year because they offer value. If you reveal the value of your book. It doesn’t matter what kind of book you’re writing! It has a value that you should be revealing to your clients!

1. Find your audience and sell them your book (in bulk!). Stop selling to family members. Stop selling to friends. Stop selling to other authors. They aren’t your market audience and won’t make you money consistently or sufficiently! Find your market audience and sell them your book in bulk. Here’s some ideas that may work for you. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but should help to get your gears turning.

   • Children’s book can be sold in bulk to schools, day cares, and mommy-and-me programs.

   • Romance book can be sold in bulk to women’s groups, relationship conferences, and women’s travel groups.

   • YA and Middle Grades books can be sold in bulk to middle/high schools, reading teachers, and summer reading programs.

1. Sell events then sell your books. This is one of the best ways to scale your book business. You wan to get people to really buy your books? Combine number 1 and number 2. Find the value of your book and find the audience who needs that value, then book/sell events where you can teach that value and sell your book at the same time.

The catch here is that you need to be pretty good at number 1, have number 2 down pack, and be bold enough to work out number 3. You can absolutely make a living through writing book, but you must also have marketing strategies and a plan to scale your book business.

Selling books will work for you, if you work it! And here is an outline to help you scale, elevate, and revitalize your book sales in 2025.