Writing for passion and profit

THE LONG GAME

Having a child as a teenager changed a lot of things for me. I knew I wanted to write, but I also knew that I had to make money to take care of my daughter. That meant I didn’t have the luxury of time. I had to figure out how to make money as a writer and figure it out fast.

But even knowing this, knowing that I had to be a provider at the age of eighteen, I still stayed patient. I had a clear vision of who I wanted to be and wasn’t willing to compromise that vision for anything. What I also had was a plan.

Even though I started writing my first novel in university, I knew being an author was a long game. It would be years before I finished my novel and longer before it made me enough money to sustain myself and my daughter.

How would I bridge that gap?

As I was figuring out how to make my first dollar as a writer, I took on other jobs. The jobs I chose were always part time, simple jobs where I wasn’t expected to stay late or didn’t need to bring the work home with me, literally and figuratively. Even after I graduated university and could’ve applied for higher paying jobs in more professional fields, I didn’t.

I had a strategy: I knew I wanted to make money writing but I also knew I needed to stabilize my income. The part time jobs allowed me the flexibility and the mental energy to write every single morning. Establishing that routine helped me to learn and grow at a faster pace. The part time jobs paid just enough for me to pay my bills and put food on my daughter’s plate. It was a struggle, but it was also part of the plan to eventually become a full-time writer.

The next step to my strategy was figuring out what writing service I could offer to make some money. To offer services, I had to build some kind of credibility. People (potential clients) needed to know I could actually write, so I started a personal blog, then wrote for free for some well known, Canadian music sites. Those posts became my portfolio and now I was ready to pitch my services.

The first dollar I made as a writer came from writing a bio for a local rapper. He paid me 50 bucks. The amount really didn’t matter. He could’ve paid me $5 and it would’ve had the same affect. What getting paid for my writing did was give me the confidence to keep going. It let me know that my writing had monetary value. That validation alone was worth millions.

I continued to bypass full-time jobs for years while I built my writing career. While I was still working on my first novel, I learned more about offering different writing services. I learned about copywriting and offered my services to agencies. These were typically advertising agencies who had multiple clients that required a consistent stream of content. I took online editing courses and offered editing services to clients I found on my own. Then I learned about ghostwriting and that’s when the larger checks really started coming in.

In the six years it took me to write my first novel, I established myself as a full-time writer. I didn’t need any more side jobs as a janitor vacuuming and mopping eighteen floor buildings, or cleaning cars, or selling bingo tickets. By 2014, all of my money came from me putting words together.

Freelancing paid for my first downtown apartment. It sent me on my first real vacation. But now that my goal of becoming a full time writer was a reality, I shifted to my true goal: published, full-time author.

Freelancing is great, but it’s a hustle. You’re always chasing your next dollar at the same time you’re getting clients to pay for the dollar they owe you. My first novel was already out and I was working on self-publishing my second, but I knew where I wanted to be.

After releasing my second novel in 2017, I came up with another strategy. Instead of freelancing on shorter contracts, I’d take a long contract. One that was at least six months. I connected with a recruitment agency and they hooked me up with a contract that paid six figures. That changed everything.

I gave up most of my freelance clients. The single contract was enough to stabilize my income and still live the kind of lifestyle I wanted to live (downtown Toronto was a vibe). The money also gave me the time, freedom, and mental capacity to take my time writing my next novel. I knew this one needed to be my best, and so not worrying about where my next dollar was coming from freed my mind and elevated my creativity.

It took three years and about ten drafts before Boys and Girls Screaming was finally ready. When I pitched it to who would eventually become my agent, he read it in one night and signed me the next day. Two months later, I signed my first publishing deal. Mission accomplished!

Over the next year, I would sign two more publishing deals: one with Scholastic and the other with Tundra/Penguin Random House. These are literally dream publishers for me.

I started writing my novel in 2007 and signed my first publishing deal in 2021. This is what commitment to your goals looks like. Even knowing I had to put food on the table for my child didn’t prevent me from patiently pursuing my mission.

This is the long game. I’ve received everything I’ve asked for and worked towards, it’s just taken this much time to get here. And now that I’m here, my sights have shifted to my ultimate goal, which is to touch the world with my words. I want millions of people to still be reading my books in ten years, in twenty years, in a hundred years. And since I’ve been spoiled, I expect I will receive this gift, as well.