The Writer-Entrepreneur: Meredith Broussard’s Superhero Writer Financial Plan
Contributor
One day I was complaining about money--and the lack of it, to my writer-friend and pal Meredith Broussard. Meredith knows many things, like how a writer can make a personal financial plan. In real life, she writes books like The Dictionary of Failed Relationships, publishes articles in Harpers about peanut allergies and the culture of fear, and teaches writing at Penn. But in those moments of leisure when friends complain that they don’t know how to earn an income as a writer, she’s been known to whip out her superhero cape and a piece of paper and start scribbling numbers. What numbers does she scribble, you ask? Numbers about how to make a personal financial plan. Numbers that tell a story about how much we want to earn, and how to get there. Numbers that in the telling, start to shift our sense of possibility. Say you want to earn $100,000 a year. (I know, most of us are saying, what writer earns one hundred thousand dollars a year, to which I say, let’s double, triple and quadruple whatever low numbers we’re used to thinking of our work being worth; that’s something we’ll tackle in future columns.) Here’s what Meredith’s pencil would be sketching. She’d write $100,000 (or whatever your goal is) at the top of the page. Then she would ask you about income streams. That’s the not-so-fancy phrase for thinking of different ways that we earn income. Such as: -Any advances coming in this year? -Do you expect royalties? -What can you expect to earn from freelance work? -Are you doing editing, coaching or consulting? copyediting or newsletter writing? What income do you expect from that? -Are you teaching courses, and what’s your salary? -Do you have a day job, or jobs? -Do you have a blog that is monetized? Do you earn money blogging, or -Do you get speaking fees for talks? -What about studio fees for television appearances? -Do you have DVDs or MP3 downloads of talks you’ve given or shows you’ve produced, and what can you expect to earn? -What are the other income streams that you can expect? When you start from this list, chances are you’ll end with a number that’s probably lower than the big number you write at the top of the page. That’s why the next step is to switch it around. Look again at your big number. Look at your income streams. Now start doodling with those 5s and 7s as you answer this question: What do I need to earn doing each of these things in order to add up to the large number at the top of the page? That’s where the planning part comes in. We’re not just accounting for what comes in and describing what’s already happened, but proactively imagining what we need and what kind of work could get us there. It’s that proactive part that we women and artists and writers rarely stop to do, or automatically know how to do. I think that’s the most empowering part Planning is key to the business side of writing, and it’s what gives us more control, because we can make decisions about how to spend time. So go on and try this one at home. Can you share what you learned? What are the different income streams that we She Writers have? And what are you inspired to do as a result?

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Comments
  • Miriam Peskowitz

    Hi Milagros, your purse-out-the-window description reminds me of the 30 Rock episode where Kenneth tosses his wallet out the window, to prove that the world is a good and just place and that of course, it will be returned to him!

    I think in coming weeks I'll tackle how we make decisions about what to do for money, but in short: reflect on what you know how to do, what experiences you've had, and what is paid decently for your budget and where you might find a clients. Make a list of possibilities and move forward. All is easier said than done, but the goal is to find work that, for you, is enjoyable and more lucrative than the usual options,and less spirit-draining. And then come back and tell us!

  • Milagros Hill

    I REALLY appreciate this article... but I am a new "writer" working on my first book and blogging. I quit my full time job for a retail gig, so I could devote more energy to my writing. But the purse strings are not even tight anymore - I might as well as thrown my pursue out the window.

    So in some regards I agree with Shelly, I don't know how much more I want to take on as I am afraid it will distract me from getting this first book done.

    Long story short, any tips for a newbie?

  • Deborah Siegel Writing

    Miriam, thank you for bringing up the "m" word (money!). For more on this topic, I'd also urge everyone to check out the two webinars that Shari Cohen did recently here at She Writes - Build Your Writing Business and Become a Writing Coach -- now available for download. Shari definitely helps make it all less daunting.

  • Shelly Holder

    I would like to know how to make money without settling into enterprises that I don't have interest in other than financial reasons. Personally, I am not interested in writing non-fiction articles, although I know there can be a large market and high turn-over. So how to make money with your individual interests and some stubborn integrity to your personal artistic visions is just as important, I think.

  • Christina Brandon

    Thinking about finances terrifies me, but it's something I gotta do. Hopefully that side of the business will get a little less daunting. Thanks for the advice!

  • Eileen Flanagan

    Thanks Miriam and Meredith for helping us to think big!