The key to making a living with your writing is to have multiple streams of income, and although indie authors usually make more money with digital than print, there are ways to expand your print portfolio even with existing books.
If you have a non-fiction book that has an element of self-help to it, then consider creating a workbook version.
Use the questions that you ask of the reader and expand those sections with space for them to write into the workbook itself (as below right).
I've done this with How to Make a Living with your Writing, which has a ‘normal' book version in ebook and print, and now a Companion Workbook version. It still contains all the text of the full book, but has additional questions as well as note pages and extra space for the reader to write in.
I'm aiming to do this for any appropriate non-fiction over time, for example, Career Change lends itself well to the workbook idea, as does my upcoming book on mindset for authors.
Thinking about this in terms of intellectual property assets, one manuscript can now become:
- Ebook on multiple platforms – Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Nook and many others
- Print version of the book only
- Print version of the book as Workbook or Notebook
- Audiobook
- Multiply these by country (our books can be sold in 190 countries as indies)
- Multiply by language, if you want to sell or investigate foreign rights
So you can see how one book can be turned into multiple streams of income. More on this exciting topic here!
(2) Turn an illustrated book into a notebook version
It can be plain notebook pages with the illustrations on, but with no need for the questions that characterize the workbook idea above.
I've done this with The English Country Garden Fine Art Coloring Book that uses my Dad's illustrations. The original coloring book is square but we also have an A4 notebook version for those who like to write as well as color!
You can also take this further and create calendars and other print products as author and illustrator Meg Cowley has done. Thanks to Meg for the inspiration to create these print products in the first place! You can listen to our interview on how to create adult coloring books here.
What other products could you create from your books? Please leave any ideas or questions in the comments below.
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Other possibilities, some of which I am working on:
- school/homeschool/self-paced versions of novels with vocabulary words, comprehension questions, and extension activities in the book itself, rather than a separate study guide
- A paced "read in x days" edition for books broken into small doses intended to be read in a month, year, or other specific time period
- Your illustrated notebook could also be a day planner, swapping in a planner sheet instead of ruled lines
- Hard cover as well as soft cover options
- Large print format for visually impaired
- You can offer your workbook pages as a pdf file for those who bought the ebook but would like a space to write down their work
A couple of the books I want to put out this year would be better as coil-bound books rather than perfect-bound. While I can find POD printers who will do this (Lulu), they do not distribute through Amazon. So I may do a limited-run coil-bound for local orders and do a perfect-bound for regular distribution.
What else can we do to create more products from our existing works?
more excellent ideas :) Thanks
I am thinking of creating a "Leader's Guide" for Small Groups. It would assist the leader with discussion questions and additional content that is not in the book.
That’s a wonderful suggestion, Joanna. You may want to consider a third size.
When we (Dianna Love and Mary Buckham coauthors) received the rights back on Break Into Fiction ® (a book on writing fiction that takes a plotter or seat of pants writer from beginning to end in an easy format), we couldn’t wait to make it a 8.5 x 11 format print book due to the templates/worksheets included. The response to that particular size has been outstanding because they can copy the worksheets and fill them in over and over for different books.
We also have a program for those who buy the e-book version that offers a PDF download code for the 8.5 x 11 blank worksheets.
I enjoy your blog.
I am overwhelmed (in a good way) by all the tips on this one post alone! Thanks so much for helping us newbies get started on the authorpreneur journey! My website is not live yet, but I hope to have it launched by mid-June. Writing a book for my mom's birthday first. :)