Hi Reader,

I wrote a series of books called The Power of Creativity a few years ago.

The series is about 80,000 words.

It’s all about how writers, artists, and creators can embrace creative thinking.

I gave away book one in the series as permafree on Amazon.

(You can download it here)

I asked those who downloaded book one to purchase books 2 and 3.

Or they could buy the entire series as a print book, box set, or audiobook.

I ran Amazon ads to book one so readers would download, read, and buy books 2 and 3.

I tracked my ad spend, downloads, and read-through rates each week in a Google sheet.

All this work generated a nice return in monthly book royalties for a while.

This promotion had some unintended consequences too.

The series is popular in Brazil, and I regularly get emails from Amazon stating that it wants to promote my book in that country.

Readers from Brazil also sometimes email me to say they enjoyed reading my book.

I love getting feedback from readers.

Listing a permafree book is a popular strategy for authors.

It still works today for fiction authors.

Many genre fiction authors use permafree books to sell their mega series of romance, science fiction, thrillers, etc.

But for all this hard work?

I earned about $25,000.

That’s a nice sum for an author, especially considering many authors struggle to earn over $1,000 from self-published books.

And I still get paid book royalties today.

But earning that much from The Power of Creativity took a few years.

I don’t mind hard work.

Writing for a living is a privilege.

Not everyone gets to do it.

But to be honest.

I’d change my strategy if I wanted to get paid to write today.

I’d pick a topic I wanted to write about.

Ideally within a popular genre.

I’d try and write a good book.

I’d still give away a permafree shorter book to promote it.

And I’d create multiple versions like print, audio, and large print.

(Readers consume in many different formats.)

I’d run ads.

And I’d sell direct on my site or email list.

But I’d also build a product or service, like a course, coaching, or consulting, before publishing my book.

Say something like Turn Yourself Into a Neverending Idea Machine.

I could create this course for $197, using ideas from the book.

And I’d validate it with a few beta readers or students.

Then, I’d promote my course alongside the book.

That way, if 100,000 people downloaded my permafree book…

I’d earn far more if I converted just 1% of these readers into clients or customers.

1,000 multiplied by $197 is $197,000.

And that’s before factoring in a higher-ticket offer like coaching and consulting.

Writing and self-publishing a book today isn’t easy, but it can be profitable.

You won’t do it with one book, no matter how much you spend on ads or how many podcasts you speak on.

The trick is to build a backend of related products and services you can sell.

I validated this strategy with dozens of best-selling authors I interviewed.

If I write another book, that’s my playbook.

That said, I’ve a few more profitable playbooks for writers who want to get paid.

If you’re interested in getting paid to write, I’m running a workshop for the Pro Writers where I’ll reveal them.

How to Earn Your First $3–5k Writing Online.

During the workshop, I’ll show how I’d get paid to write… if I had to start from scratch.

Tickets are just $97.

I’ll record the workshop if you can’t make it, but only for ticket holders.

The workshop goes live Thursday, August 1st at 1500 GMT+1/10 AM EST.

​Buy your ticket here. ​

Write on,
Bryan Collins