Self-Publishing as a Professional Path in 2026
Self-publishing in 2026 is a real professional path, not a consolation prize. Control and speed in exchange for owning the whole job.
Tag: Author Business
Writing is the craft. Selling it is a business, and most authors treat that half as an afterthought. These articles cover the money side of being an author: pricing, contracts, taxes, and income streams. Treat your writing like the business it actually is and it starts paying like one.
Author BusinessSelf-Publishing Income: Where the Money Comes From
Making real money from self-publishing is misunderstood. The income rarely comes from sales; it comes from the book as a business asset.
AI AdoptionYou’re Renting, Not Owning: What the Anthropic Shutdown Teaches Writers
The U.S. government switched off Anthropic's most powerful AI models overnight, proving in a single stroke that nobody who uses AI actually owns it. If your business runs on a rented tool, whoever controls it can change the deal or…
Author BusinessSpeaker bureaus and the conference circuit: how a book actually gets you on stages
A book is the credential that unlocks speaker-fee tiers, from free-with-a-meal all the way to $5,000-to-$20,000 keynotes. The path runs through speaker bureaus, conference networks, and a one-sheet most authors botch. Here is which bureaus take ghostwritten authors, how the…
Author BusinessDirect-from-author book sales for authority experts
Every Amazon sale hands over about 65 percent of the cover price and your customer list to a company that competes with you. A direct sale through Shopify, Payhip, or your own site keeps the margin and, more importantly, builds…
Author BusinessMaking a Living as a Self-Published Author: What It Actually Takes
For two decades I ran computer operations at Trader Joe's, came home drained, and had nothing left for the writing I wanted to do. I had the skills and the ideas but not the bandwidth. Making a living from self-publishing…
Author BusinessThe Art of Ghostwriting: Voice, Pricing, and the Whole Process | Sustainable Success with Chris Salem
The March 21, 2019 Voice America interview: ghostwriting as method acting across six to twelve simultaneous voices, 50-cents-a-word pricing with 25 percent down, why one keynote pays the book back, the process from free consultation to handshake termination, and why…
Author BusinessHow to Monetize Your Writing: Freelancing, Content Mills, and the Hustle | The Exceptional Scribble Show, Episode 249
The February 19, 2019 hour on monetizing writing: ghostwriting demand explained through celebrity books, the gig economy, content mills at a dollar an hour versus one contract worth 75 of them, LinkedIn outreach and reference chains, the it-takes-work phenomenon, the…
Author BusinessIs Fear Fiction or Nonfiction? Confidence, Cold Calls, and the Dancer Who Almost Quit | The Exceptional Scribble Show, Episode 242
The December 18, 2018 hour on confidence: publish the imperfect first book, the freelancer as salesperson, approaching agents through conversation, Richard Branson's accept-and-figure-it-out, fear as fiction, the pretend-no-savings mind game, Bonnie's 80,000 words at 78, the pop-and-lock dancer nobody clapped…
Author BusinessProfessionals Get Paid: Rates, Deposits, and Building Your Tribe | The Exceptional Scribble Show, Episode 238
The November 2018 hour on the professional line: turning passion into a scheduled career with a defended writing space, why the author sells and the book follows, book signing realities, the Fiverr goldmine used safely, negotiate-down-never-up pricing, rate floor math,…
Author BusinessWrite First, Edit Later: The Professional Writing Session | The Exceptional Scribble Show, Episode 205
Part two with Sage the Poet, broadcast as a nor'easter closed in: why writing and editing at the same time causes writer's block, the scheduled professional day, 12,000-word workdays via dictation, light outlining with story and character arcs, daily promotion,…
Author BusinessCISA, Ransomware, and Why Backups Belong in the Closet | 3Ps in a Podcast
The November 2, 2015 episode with Artis and Mike: T-Mobile's churn math, Apple's record year, the Help! My Boss Is Wacko launch, the $350 million Eastern European cyber-mafia statistic, why only closet-stored backups survive ransomware, phishing and spear phishing explained,…