How I spent over $24,000 on my (trad) book so far—BUT!
+September Meeting TODAY + Indexer Recommendations
Welcome to fall!
Wednesday, September 25 · 5:00PM PST, 6:00 MST, 7:00 CST, 8:00 EST
Google Meet joining info: https://meet.google.com/wsw-pyuf-bzj
Update: Premium Content for Subscribers!
After doing this group for more than 2 years (starting before I moved to Substack), these notes are getting longer and more intensely researched. This group will remain free and I’ll include links/resources/meeting notes for free, but once a month I’ll offer some premium content. I’ve lowered the subscription price to the lowest monthly amount I can, at $5, and it’s $40 for the year.
How this group has helped people so far (for free!):
I personally hooked up 5 people with agents!
At least two group members (three including me) have received Sloan grants of around $50,000 each. Check out the member testimonial below!
Testimonial:
I just found out I did indeed win a Sloan grant! And it all started with hearing about it from you during an ANBIP meeting last April -- and then I don't think I ever would have figured the application out without your subsequent help and advice. THANK YOU. This money is absolutely vital to keeping my family afloat right now and it wouldn't have been possible without you and your generosity of time and information.
(I hadn’t even asked for a testimonial! But I’ll ask now—if I’ve helped you, please let me know! And if you have any suggestions for being more helpful, I’ll consider them!)
Anyway, I’m not trying to gatekeep anything, and I’ll answer your questions as best I can during group meetings. If you’ve donated to one of my favorite charities or want to see any premium content this time without spending anything, email me, and I’ll forward it to you, no questions asked. I feel weird charging, but these notes take forever with the surveys, links, charts, etc. And I’m told offering premium content will keep the group more sustainable in case I get bored once my book is done.
September notes:
Is it book festival season or something?
Here in Wyoming, we just had the Meet the Author Festival, and we have the upcoming Bookmarked Literary Arts Festival and the Jackson Hole Book Festival in October. That’s just before, but distinct from, the Jackson Hole Writers Conference.
I’ll be at the Bookmarked Festival doing a reading and possibly the Jackson Hole Writers Conference too!
Google AI answers (I know…) says October has the most book festivals and that many nonfiction books are published in the fall and winter. I found this list of major book events by month to check out, but that list looks pretty Texas-focused. Here is a list of major book events by state.
Need an indexer?
In a previous meeting, Mindy said that it’s well-agreed upon that one needs to hire an indexer for a book (and, it’s apparently not something a robot should be doing!) Luckily, my contract states that my publisher will be setting that up and paying for that. But, if you’re self-publishing or your publisher doesn’t do that (check your contract!), Mindy has generously shared some recommendations for indexers! Google sheet here, screenshotted below.
FEATURE:
How I spent over $24,000 on my trad book so far
“Never pay to publish.” I know. I know. Both self- and traditional publishing are free.
However, there are costs associated with producing a good nonfic-nonmem book. As Jewel says, “There ain’t nothin’ for free.”
Let’s consider your other creative pursuits, whether hobby or professional. Once you reach a certain level, can you honestly say you never spend money on them? Bone-hunting and cleaning are free, technically. All you need is some time to hike and water to clean…then in some contexts, you may legally need a tag, like an $8 interstate game tag. Water to clean them is free-ish, but you need large containers to keep them. Just get some $15 totes for the water, then I got myself a pressure washer, some hook things to get the horsehair out of the horse brain cases (thanks, nesting rodents!), some $15 fish tank heaters for when it gets too cold for the bacteria to do their jobs, molecular modifier so the rot buckets don’t stink so much, food-grade peroxide, horn polishing supplies, and specific skull hooks—
Doing “free” activities in a way that gets you the best results—including financially—is not necessarily free. There are a lot of ways your book can benefit from some spending. Some are necessary, in my opinion.
Of course, this is much more of an issue in self-publishing. A trad publisher will usually take care of many upfront costs like layout, cover design, and indexing, and you can use your advance and/or grants to cover the other ones. Because of the size of my advance and grants, don’t worry; I’m still well in the black (profiting) for Carcass: On the Afterlives of Animal Bodies! And the book isn’t even out yet.
Here are some of the things that ate away at some of my upfront money:
Agent fee (15% of advance)
Fact checker
Otter (transcription software)
Science checkers
Travel for research
Travel for conferences (but I gave talks at the conferences, so the tickets were free)
Developmental editor
I did the math on this, and I found I had spent just under $24k, but I’m sure there were a few things I missed, so I’ll round up. It’s probably more, even.
Want to know how much I spent on each thing? I’ll share them in the next premium post.
To be clear, some of my grant money was offered specifically for fact-checking, science-checking, and travel. However, I’m told that some grant winners only list “salary” as 100% of their proposed costs. I don’t know how much people tend to spend on the costs mentioned above or how common they are.
Here are some things I have not (yet) spent (much) on, but some traditional-publishing authors do:
A nice website
Query or manuscript review (Recommendations: Barbra Rodriguez and other developmental editors that offer this service)
Website subscriptions like Query Tracker or Publisher’s Marketplace
Classes, craft books, tutorials
Other software/subscriptions like Scrivener, Grammarly, Canva Pro, and Adobe products
Illustrations/Cover art
Other IP you don’t own but want in your book (like photography; I’ve heard some people pay for song lyrics?)
Other types of editors, like sensitivity readers
Touring and promo material
A publicist
Author photo
Lots of books, such as comp titles
Potential indirect costs:
Paying for your own health insurance (because you’re usually not on staff)
Formal education (I will still have a lot of student loans after this!)
Time cost (lost salary, paying for things you’re now too busy to do yourself, like housing repairs, childcare, etc.)
Subscriber bonus:
In the premium newsletter, I’ll share:
Exactly how much I pulled in to fund the book
Where exactly that money came from
How much I spent on each cost
Was the spending worth it? (Pretty much!)
More funding advice and resources
Another pie chart!
How you could (maybe) get even more
What does this mean for hybrid and self-publishing?
Give it a few days or maybe a week. I have written it already, but I might want to add some stuff.
Regarding the total number of dollars I’ve accumulated for the book, I’ll tell you if you want. Just beware, if you subscribe to the premium content and you see it, it’s apparently super sensational for various opposing reasons—it has resulted in some saying, “Stop bragging about getting so much,” some saying, “Aren’t you embarrassed to make so little at your age,” and some saying, “You’re obviously lying, that would never happen!”
How are authors supposed to fund all this!?
Here’s a recent Funds For Writers post, which notes what grants tend to fund and why many authors don’t get them. Quote: “Bottom line, you must prove you are a writer to apply for a writing grant.” (A writer=someone who has written. Not someone who just wants to be magically famous.)
Here is a post from
about applying for grants:And a workshop on getting grants as a writer (last I checked, this was waitlisted, but they say the might offer some more sessions.)
I ran out of room, so I moved some tips to the premium newsletter. Please refer to the archive, as I have several posts about funding already!
