My Funding Options as an author

Hi! Dominique Gibson is back with another post for today. So, I thought about doing this post since yesterday considering that my marketing course at SNHU has just ended (Finding and Reaching an audience), I thought it would be a good idea to share some of my funding options that I plan on doing in the future. Even though I love being a self-published author, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to explore other avenues when it comes to finding other options to fund my work besides what I am doing now. I decided to share what I wrote with you, hoping that it would give other writers out there to explore ideas as well when it comes to funding their work.

So here is the original post I sent on my discussion board for my class. Enjoy!

Since I am a self-published author with a full-time job as a toddler teacher, one of my goals to fund my writer’s platform is to save enough money from my full-time job to invest in my self-published books. But having a writer’s platform to save enough money from my full time job to invest in my self-published books. But having a writer’s platform can be expensive at times and it would be hard for me to juggle between spending money on my self-published books vs. saving a nest egg for a rainy day. This is why I tell aspiring authors (or at least the ones that read my blogs and my newsletters) that having more than one stream of income is the only way to get out of financial freedom.

I am no exception to the rule.

So, despite the fact that being a daycare worker/toddler teacher is one of the lowest paid industries in the entire world (You can assess the link here if you are interested in learning more), I still plan on getting a degree in Early Childhood Education with a license in Special Education while I continue to work my job and write books. Why? Well, (1) I love my job and (2) I’m guaranteed a paycheck every two weeks so I won’t have to worry about paying for my essential needs (Food, Gas, Light, etc.)

Having a degree in Early Childhood Education with a license in Special Education is just one funding option. Now, onto my other ideas for other alternative sources of funding (So far):

1. Book Coaching/editing: I signed up for an online course in book coaching last year after my job closed during COIVD-19. My goal is to finish the course to become a certified book coach and start coaching other writers through their manuscripts in my chosen genres (Women’s fiction, romance, and young adult). The problem is finding clients who write within these genres to earn a living from it. I’ve thought about using LinkedIn, Fiverr, or Reedsy to promote my services.
2. Patreon – I have been tinkering with this idea for a while now. I think that using Patreon as a side hustle is not such a bad idea vs. me doing a kickstarter or IndieGoGo campaign. With Patreon, I can do a lot for my paying customers without having to stress too much about doing everything all at once. My goal with this would be to send a short story or a chapter except to my readers every month.
3. Writing a nonfiction how-to book to teach as an online course – I have been thinking about this for a while as well. I want to write a how-to book on my creative writing process to sell online and then create an online course using teachable to do it. Since I like to teach and write, I would see this as a viable option for the future.
4. Traditional Publishing – Yes, I know that this isn’t a reliable funding source like the others but I have considered this as a side hustle vs. making a full-time income out of the deal. Since traditional publishing is not guaranteed because I could lose a contract at any time, I would stick with my full-time job in addition to self-publishing my work on top of traditional publishing. I would still have guaranteed income (job) while still making money on the side for my published work.
5. Adjunct/College professor (Whether in creative writing or in Early Childhood Education) – I saved this option for last because I know there aren’t that many teaching jobs in creative writing vs. early childhood education but it’s still an option nonetheless. I recently just applied for a position as an adjunct professor in Early Childhood Education to make some extra income so I’m just waiting to see what their decision is going to be.

P.S. I received a response back from from the position I applied for a couple of weeks ago. They declined my offer. Oh well, time to explore my other funding options.

P.P.S. I will be sure to give you the comments I received from this post in a later post. Check back soon.

Dominique

Dominique Gibson knew she wanted to be a writer ever since she sat down at her plastic table and started writing stories out of sheer boredom at eight-years-old. Several years later, she decided to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in Fiction Writing from Columbia College Chicago. After pursuing a degree in Early Childhood Administration, Dominique decided to go back and pursue a degree she had always wanted: An MFA in Creative Writing which she is now pursuing at Southern New Hampshire University. For more information, Check out her website at: https://dominiquegibsonauthor.com/2018/06/23/the-journey-begins/