Fiction Author: 3 Reasons To Develop A Ghostwriting Income Today

If you’re a fiction author, you know it takes time to develop a steady income. You need to write and publish consistently, on a schedule. You need one or more fiction series, as well as a mailing list of readers and fans.

Most novelists take years to develop an income. What if you could develop a side hustle of fiction ghostwriting? You’ve got valuable skills: you can get paid for them.

Are you a fiction author? You have skills

There’s a thriving market for ghostwriters, especially for fiction.

Here’s why: Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP.) Amazon isn’t just an online store. It’s a massive global machine, which can be leveraged to buy and sell just about anything. Traders buy ghostwritten books; they market and sell them on Amazon.

If you can write a novel in a popular genre, you can make a steady income. You don’t even need to write a complete novel. Some ghostwriters make a good income selling concepts: ideas for novels. A concept may be accompanied by an outline, but the buyer is paying for the idea. He’ll hire someone to write it: another ghostwriter who costs less than you do.

So, dear fiction author, let’s look at some reasons you might develop a ghostwriting income.

1. Quit your day job, and focus on writing

You love writing, but you’re exhausted at the end of a working day. Sadly, becoming a full-time writer seems impossible.

Here’s the thing about ghostwriting. Clients tend to be repeat clients. They’re traders and marketers, rather than writers; their focus is on leveraging Amazon to turn a profit.

Once they have a couple of steady clients, ghostwriters can replace the income from their day job quickly, so that they can become full-time authors. Then they have time for their own writing, as well as ghostwriting.

Time is always an issue, especially if you’re not producing an income.

2. Prove that your writing time isn’t wasted (silence the doubters)

Authors struggle to find time to write.

When they do find time, beginners may battle resentment from partners and family members. When an author’s family believes the author is wasting time (“why do you bother? You’ll never make money”), it’s so stressful that it may be impossible to keep writing.

It’s easier to give up your writing than battle family opposition. You tell yourself that you’ll go back to writing later, when the kids are grown, or after retirement.

When you start a ghostwriting side hustle as a fiction author, you get paid: that silences the doubters.

Ghostwriting has another huge benefit: it means you’re earning while you’re learning.

3. Boost your writing skills and craft: learn and earn

Some fiction authors write for years on end. They don’t make a cent: it’s a wonderful hobby. On the other hand, if you need to make an income from fiction, ghostwriting can do that.

When you write fiction, there’s always more to learn to develop your craft. If craft matters to you, that’s a good reason to develop a ghostwriting practice: ghostwriters earn while they learn.

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