Sometimes investing in yourself is worth the money

I recently received a comment on one of my other articles that got me thinking. The comment mentioned how interesting it was to hear about how I spent money in my writing career, rather than how I made money, which is the focus of so many articles on Medium.

I’ve published my fair share of articles about making money through writing, but I’ve also written about my experience paying to attend writing conferences, paying to have my query letter critiqued, and paying for writing software. When it comes to valuable assets that will add to my writing capabilities and help me learn more about the craft, I don’t shy away from investing in my writing business. You see, that’s what I see my writing as — a business. I know that I am not necessarily to the level of some of my favorite authors and content creators just yet. I am not yet able to support myself full-time from my writing, and I’ve yet to sell a book or a course or an article to a major publication, but I take my writing seriously.

And I think you should, too.

The idea of money only flowing towards the author through royalties, purchasing of publication rights, and book deals is, in reality, a bit of a pipe dream for most. There are ways to make money through writing — ways to make good money, in fact — but there are also valuable investments you can make into yourself and into your writing’s potential, and that type of investment is almost never a bad thing. 

So since I have (unintentionally, I might add) started somewhat regularly writing about the ways I spend money as a writer, I thought I would include some of the best investments I’ve made into my own writing career that have been worthwhile.

My writer website

Creating a writer website is not exactly the most exciting thing writers have on their to-do list, but I’ve found that it’s super helpful. Having a writer website is a way to control your online presence. You won’t be dependent on sometimes finicky social media sites. You can keep your website in line with your brand as a writer, and it serves as an easy place to direct anyone and everyone if they have questions about your writing. It’s also another thing I’ve written about in an entirely separate article— it’s that important (at least from my perspective!)

There are options for creating a website that won’t cost you when you first start, but in almost all cases you’ll end up putting at least a little bit of money toward your website. At a minimum, you’ll likely want to at least purchase a custom domain name so that instead of putting myname.mywebsiteprovider.com on your business cards, you can put myname.com or mynameauthor.com.

If you’re wary of putting money into a writer website, don’t be. You can have an amazing website with minimal investment, and still further your online presence and come across professionally.

Writing software

I don’t think you need writing software to be a successful writer, but there aren’t many options out there that are completely free. Even a pen and paper requires the initial expense of the notebook and the pen!

That being said, you can invest as little or as much money into your writing options. Google docs, for example, is an excellent option for a basic word processing software that will get the job done — and it’s free with an account (though, if we’re getting technical, since it’s web-based, you’ll at least need to consider your options for internet — most of which are not free.)

I haven’t invested in writing software that I use for the initial drafting of my writing. I usually stick to Google docs, Microsoft Word, or the online place I’m going to post my articles (like Medium, Substack, or my blog.) But I have found writing software to be incredibly helpful when I am going back and editing longer, novel-length writing. So I’ve put some money into Fictionary (my software of choice) to help me tighten up and edit my books. It’s an investment, at $20/month, but I’ve found that it’s worthwhile (and it’s great that I can use the software for a couple of months, then pause my subscription until I’m ready to edit once again.)

Editing for my book & submission materials

I have yet to hire an editor for a developmental or copy edit of my manuscripts, but that doesn’t mean that I’ve shied away from hiring editors for other purposes!

I’ve struggled in the past to find good beta readers to read my novels and give me feedback on where the story could use some improvement. Sometimes finding beta readers is hard — not everyone has a big writing community at their dispense, and, even if they do, those in their writing community might not be the right beta readers for their book. That’s where paid beta readers come into play.

Similarly, I’ve found it helpful to pay a few bucks to have a literary agent or traditionally published author read over my querying materials like my query letter and synopsis. It helps a lot to get an extra set of eyes on everything you’ll be sending out into the publishing world in hopes of getting a request — it’s a world that’s pretty difficult to squeeze into, after all, so why not strengthen your chances?

Writing professional development

This is a big one — and something that is, oddly enough, sometimes overlooked.

Professional development for writers can come in many forms, but I will say that the type of professional development I have invested in has more to do with learning craft, networking, and hearing from professionals. I have yet to invest in the type of courses that promise you’ll make ten thousand dollars in a month or balloon your email list from 100 to 1000 subscribers in a day. I’m sure there is value in those types of courses, but I’m more interested in investing in professional development that will teach me the tools of the trade, yes, but also feed my writerly soul.

So what does that mean for me?  Attending writing conferences, spending time with other writers in a creative environment, watching masterclasses, and figuring out where in my schedule I can make the time to actually practice the art of writing.  I’ve never been more inspired to write than after attending the Pikes Peak Writer’s Conference and filling up my writing tank. I’ve also enjoyed hearing from famous writers who have decided to share the actual craft of writing with their fans on YouTube, Masterclass, or through workshops at libraries and writing associations.

One of my big goals for this year that will fall into my category of writing professional development is that I plan to take some sort of writing retreat. I don’t know yet if that will be just me taking a long weekend into the mountains to listen to writing podcasts and write thousands of words while I’m tucked away from the world, or if that will be me and a few friends renting a cabin in the desert where all we do is write, eat, and lounge at the pool, but it’s going to feed my writerly soul and inspire me endlessly, regardless.

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Writing can be an incredible way to make money — this past year, I’ve made more money with my writing than I have in the past ten years combined — but that doesn’t mean that your writing career isn’t in need of some investment, too. With careful, thoughtful planning and budgeting, you can strategically invest in yourself and your own writing in ways that will make for unimaginable returns in the future. Don’t be afraid to invest in yourself and your writing, because it’s almost never going to be a bad investment.

Previously published in The Writing Cooperative