Capitalizing on Your Writing’s Success and Fanbase with Merchandise and Subscription Services
At its heart, writing a book requires creative drive. Anyone can think of a basic idea for a book; it takes a real author to complete it. The writing process can be intense and time consuming, but the results are a concrete symbol of success. What comes after publication, however, is more uncertain. Many people long to become successful published authors, but the reality can be more complicated.
It is not always an easy road to becoming a high-earning author. In fact, significant royalties are far from guaranteed and rarely happen overnight. Therefore, if you are looking to earn a profit from your writing, you might have to explore new avenues. This article will look at two ways to profit from your writing outside of pure royalties: merchandise and subscription services.
Selling Merchandise
Merchandise is any item that you sell on behalf of your writing or identity as an author. This can include T-shirts, signed books, bookmarks, magnets, and any other promotional material. Your merchandise can be whatever you wish to sell and fits in with your works.
How to Design Merchandise
There are countless ways to design the merchandise you choose to sell. The easiest method will be to use a website designed to customize merchandise, such as Custom Ink or Canva. On websites like these, you will often be able to directly customize your designs for various items. Using these websites often allows you to offer a wide range of items to your fans at a lower cost.
Alternatively, you can take a more hand-crafted and individual approach to selling merchandise. To do this, you have multiple options. One possibility is to create hand-made items to sell directly to your customers. This can be crafts, personalized messages, signed books, or anything else relevant to your work. You can also make your own design by hand to add to typical merchandise.
Where to Sell Merchandise
There are multiple options where to sell your merchandise. The most common and easiest way to sell your items globally is online. As an eager author, it would benefit you to create a personal website with all your work. This website could have your portfolio, any upcoming events, and some of your contact information. You can also sell your merchandise directly on your website by integrating it with retail platforms.
If you have any in-person events for your writing, this is a great opportunity to sell merchandise. You will likely be bringing copies of your book, so bring some other merchandise as well. Since you are directly interacting with people, you will likely be able to sell more at in-person events.
Writing Newsletters and Articles for Subscription Services
Another potential revenue stream from your work as a writer is starting a subscription service, such as Substack or Patreon. On these websites, you can write and share newsletters, podcasts, videos, etc., to your followers. This allows your loyal readers to get more of your writing without having to wait for a new book. Some of these services offer free subscription options to entice potential followers before paying for a subscription.
Writing for a newsletter or article is different from writing a book. Instead of a larger work that will be published with fanfare and marketing, this is a smaller scale. This writing can be about whatever you want, and you can alternate between various topics. Your fans will be able to continue following your work between books. You might even be able to gain new followers along the way.
