In the business world it's known as double-dipping: getting two or more streams of income from one source of work. Authors, especially those who write nonfiction books, have similar opportunities after their books have been published. Yes, the best thing you can do is to start writing your next book, but in the meantime why not take advantage of the knowledge you've gained researching your earlier work?
Self publishing gives you complete control over what you do with your content, so you should be looking to leverage that when you can. Sharing your knowledge is what writing is all about, but no one says you have to do always do it for free. Try these techniques for getting in touch with people interested in your subject matter for creating extra income as well as unusual book marketing opportunities.
Become a Speaker
Especially useful for nonfiction writers, the speakers rounds can be an excellent source for supplemental income. Have you written a book about gardening? Offer your speakers services to gardening clubs in the area. The same goes for quilting clubs, writer's guilds, and any other group that meets to discuss a topic pertinent to your book.
Host Paid Webinars or Courses
Instead of running around trying to find groups to hear your talks, record the talks and offer them online for a price. If you've got an evergreen topic that will always be useful, or if you've found a new innovation that makes your talk unique, your videos can be a solid source of residual income for a long time to come.
Mentor Writers
If you've mastered the process of getting a book from first word to published work, you've learned something that millions of people want to know. Hire yourself out as a mentor for one-on-one sessions, or teach classes at a local college or community education center.
Become an Affiliate
Amazon has an affiliate program that allows people to sell their goods on their own websites. When someone clicks from the website onto the Amazon site, Amazon pays the site owner a small percentage of the purchase price. The kicker is that the site owner gets a cut of the price of everything the buyer picks. If someone buys your book, then goes on to do his holiday shopping, you've got a big bonus coming. Set up a low-cost website or blog and add your affiliate links to get a bit of a bonus every time someone buys your book. Link to your webpage in all your marketing instead of the sales page on Amazon.
Write Articles for Niche Magazines
Name a topic and you can find a niche magazine that covers it. They all need material every month, and the information in your new book is the ideal place for them to start. Offer to write a piece based on one of your chapters, if your book is nonfiction. Using this gambit and breaking up your book into many chapters, you'll earn extra income from the new articles, plus an increase in sales from readers who like your work and want to read more.
Keep the Faith and May the Force be with You!
