Authors: Simple ways to generate multiple streams of revenue from nonfiction books

As an author, it’s likely you not only want to write, you also want to make money from your writing.
If you simply want to write and have no interest in generating revenues, this post is likely not for you. However, if you want to make a living from your writing, read on.

The first thing to do is realize there are many ways for an author to make money from their writings. Book sales are obviously one way, but not the only way.

You also have opportunities through speaking engagements, consulting, coaching and information products.

To be clear, these opportunities are more readily available for nonfiction writers than fiction writers. Yet, there are a variety of ways fiction writers can generate revenues as an offshoot of their books. Just to be clear, for this post, I am focusing on nonfiction authors.

Book sales
Obviously, book sales are the first level of revenue for an author. Amazon is one of the most obvious. But it takes more than simply having your book listed on Amazon. To increase sales, you need to drive traffic to your Amazon listing.

There are many ways to do this including blogging about the book, interviews, article marketing, and social media posts.
Driving traffic is an ongoing process. The more consistent you are, the more sales you will make. It’s simple mathematics.

Speaking opportunities
Many authors, myself included, make great money through our speaking. There are paid and nonpaid opportunities. Paid engagements can be a direct result of a meeting planner or decision maker reading your book, checking out your website and online presence, resulting in them reaching out to you.

Other speaking opportunities may not be paid engagements, such as to your local chamber of commerce, but you are invited to sell books and make other offers. You can make hundreds, even thousands, of dollars in back of the room sales.

However, you do need to know how to make offers. This is a skill and art unto itself. Take time to learn how to do so and you will NEVER have to wonder how to make money ever again.

Consulting
As an author, you are considered an authority and influencers. Use this to your advantage.

Let’s say you write about team building and a company head reads your book due to needing team building solutions. If your book provides a great solution, they may reach out to you to find out about your consulting services.

To optimize your chances of having an initial conversation, make sure your website provides a list of services.

Coaching
As with speaking and consulting, coaching opportunities often result from those who read your book(s).
As a coach, it is recommended to be specific in the type of coaching you do. Simply listing “coach” or “life coach” rarely gets someone jumping with joy that they found you.

The more specific you are, the better. After all, if someone needs a presentation coach, that’s exactly what they will search under.
A few different types of coaches are:
• Financial coach
• Performance coach
• Presentation coach
• Book writing coach
• Executive coach
• Health coach

Take time to clearly define your expertise. You’ll get a much greater result.

Information products
Info products can be an incredible revenue generating opportunity. For example, my book Power Up for Profits, The Smart Woman’s Guide to Online Marketing, generated interest in several information products I have developed.

If you have yet to create information products based on the topic of your book, this may be the first area to consider increasing your revenues.

Conclusion
The bottom line is this; there is incredible opportunities for authors to make a great living from their writings. I’ve been doing so for years.

For any author to say they can’t make a living from their writing likely means they aren’t considering the many options.

Map out the various ways you can generate revenues, put a plan together on how to drive traffic and work your plan.