23 ms·

Immediately thought of "how to lose money" [1] (posted a few days ago): > 2. Write a Book > Most consistent > You might think writing a book is a great way t

Immediately thought of "how to lose money" [1] (posted a few days ago): > 2. Write a Book > Most consistent > You might think writing a book is a great way to make a bunch of cash – and you’d be wrong. In spite of the many books that will tell you how to make money writing a book, I’m here to let you in on a secret –writing a book is actually a fantastic way to lose money. I’ve written four short books and they have literally grossed hundreds of dollars. Now – hearing that I’ve sold some books might make you think you should write one also. But it’s a trap – you will spend hundreds of hours writing a book and then make hundreds of dollars in return. Not sure about you, but if I’m working for $1/hour I’m losing money fast. My latest book probably has more pages than it has copies sold – take a look here if you want a quick reference on how to get a job. Jokes aside, props for the creativity and best of luck! [1] https://www.getrevue.co/profile/andrewtye/issues/how-to-lose-money-323332 https://www.getrevue.co/profile/andrewtye/issues/how-to-lose...

acegopher 6y ago
You forgot the link... would like to read.
- blackbear_ 6y ago
  Oops, added!
Swizec 6y ago
Writing a popular book is also the easiest way to make money. While it's infoproducts not just books, I've made around $250,000 over the past 5 or 6 years with my sidehustle. If you add the dayjob/consulting opportunities it enabled, that number easily jumps to $500,000. Yes, being born in SFBA, going to Stanford, and getting on the startup wagon straight out of school would've been a better ROI, but that path was not available to me. The sidehustle did however open it up and I'm on that ride now with about a 6 to 7 year delay. tldr: Write something people want to read.
- rewgs 6y ago
  Would love a link to one/some/all of your books!
ghaff 6y ago
Interesting post from the other day about author regrets when writing books. [1] I don't totally agree. The out-of-pocket amounts seem pretty high to me--especially if you're going through a publisher. But, then, book writing for me (as a business) has always been reputational as opposed to trying to be a serious income stream in its own right. Which I think it's been very effective in doing even though I've made very little direct money. [1] https://withoutbullshit.com/blog/the-15-biggest-regrets-that-authors-have-and-how-to-avoid-them https://withoutbullshit.com/blog/the-15-biggest-regrets-that...
amelius 6y ago
Solution: put the book on a crowdfunding website and only write the book if it is fully funded.
- koolba 6y ago
  You can net even more profit if you skip the writing part after it’s funded. It’s like taking the advance from your publisher and then not calling him back.
  - tamrix 6y ago
    Solutions: only fans
sylvain_kerkour 6y ago
Thanks! Indeed it's less lucrative than freelancing or working in a big company, but so far the experience is so enjoyable that the ride worth it :)
devlopr 6y ago
I created an ebook[1] and made about $2,000 in the real estate category. Getting it written, transformed into an ebook format and in the amazon / smashworld store altogether took a christmas break 1 1/2 weeks. My secret was I didn't write more than 5% of the book. 95% came from discussion posts written over the years on one of my website forums. I still get orders.. I'm still in the top 500 small business / real estate books in canada. This was written in the 2012 and lives on. I would encourage everyone to publish at least one book. But don't actually write it yourself that's insane amount of work for the expected return. [1] https://www.amazon.ca/Ontario-Sale-Property-Buyers-Guide-ebook/dp/B0074C11QE https://www.amazon.ca/Ontario-Sale-Property-Buyers-Guide-ebo...
- andrewem 6y ago
  I hesitate to ask, but what’s the copyright status of the material written by people other than you which you’re publishing and charging money for? Did your web site forum terms say the user assigned their copyright to you?
  - devlopr 6y ago
    Interesting point and in my case yes and all writing is attributed to the person who wrote it in print. And everyone got a book and a special private forum. In a way it was a community effort of mostly old timers who were there in the beginning. I'm curious about your point of view. What is your take on these. - If someone posts something in your forum. Can you legally repost in twitter saying.. so and so just posted? - When you post in a public forum do you automatically assign the copyright as public domain by virtue of where you posted and who can see it? - Facebook owns all of the content you post (pictures/posts/videos). Doesn't this apply to all/most sites with user generated content?
    - 1strepublicusr 6y ago
      - If someone posts something in your forum. Can you legally repost in twitter saying.. so and so just posted? - When you post in a public forum do you automatically assign the copyright as public domain by virtue of where you posted and who can see it? What is the difference between them posting on your forum and them posting on their on blog/site? Both are visible to the public. If you have some policy written "anything posted here becomes public domain" when maybe but if you don't I suspect it's at best undecided and at worst, "no, it is not okay to repost"
inopinatus 6y ago
You can always graduate up to starting a restaurant to lose even more money, and for those trying to divest themselves of a billion or so I believe the usual recommendation is to start an airline, with the caveat that this strategy misfired for Richard Branson and Niki Lauda.
- PhillyG 6y ago
  The quickest way to become a millionaire is to start as a billionaire
codazoda 6y ago
Partially inspired by that post and wanting to write my thoughts about business failures, I wrote... How to Lose Money with 25 Years of Failed Businesses https://joeldare.com/how-to-lose-money-with-25-years-of-failed-businesses https://joeldare.com/how-to-lose-money-with-25-years-of-fail...
- vorpalhex 6y ago
  Interesting post, thank you for sharing.

acegopher 6y ago

You forgot the link... would like to read.

blackbear_ 6y ago
Oops, added!

Swizec 6y ago

Writing a popular book is also the easiest way to make money. While it's infoproducts not just books, I've made around $250,000 over the past 5 or 6 years with my sidehustle. If you add the dayjob/consulting opportunities it enabled, that number easily jumps to $500,000. Yes, being born in SFBA, going to Stanford, and getting on the startup wagon straight out of school would've been a better ROI, but that path was not available to me. The sidehustle did however open it up and I'm on that ride now with about a 6 to 7 year delay. tldr: Write something people want to read.

rewgs 6y ago
Would love a link to one/some/all of your books!

ghaff 6y ago

Interesting post from the other day about author regrets when writing books. [1] I don't totally agree. The out-of-pocket amounts seem pretty high to me--especially if you're going through a publisher. But, then, book writing for me (as a business) has always been reputational as opposed to trying to be a serious income stream in its own right. Which I think it's been very effective in doing even though I've made very little direct money. [1] https://withoutbullshit.com/blog/the-15-biggest-regrets-that-authors-have-and-how-to-avoid-them https://withoutbullshit.com/blog/the-15-biggest-regrets-that...

amelius 6y ago

Solution: put the book on a crowdfunding website and only write the book if it is fully funded.

koolba 6y ago
You can net even more profit if you skip the writing part after it’s funded. It’s like taking the advance from your publisher and then not calling him back.
- tamrix 6y ago
  Solutions: only fans

sylvain_kerkour 6y ago

Thanks! Indeed it's less lucrative than freelancing or working in a big company, but so far the experience is so enjoyable that the ride worth it :)

devlopr 6y ago

I created an ebook[1] and made about $2,000 in the real estate category. Getting it written, transformed into an ebook format and in the amazon / smashworld store altogether took a christmas break 1 1/2 weeks. My secret was I didn't write more than 5% of the book. 95% came from discussion posts written over the years on one of my website forums. I still get orders.. I'm still in the top 500 small business / real estate books in canada. This was written in the 2012 and lives on. I would encourage everyone to publish at least one book. But don't actually write it yourself that's insane amount of work for the expected return. [1] https://www.amazon.ca/Ontario-Sale-Property-Buyers-Guide-ebook/dp/B0074C11QE https://www.amazon.ca/Ontario-Sale-Property-Buyers-Guide-ebo...

andrewem 6y ago
I hesitate to ask, but what’s the copyright status of the material written by people other than you which you’re publishing and charging money for? Did your web site forum terms say the user assigned their copyright to you?
- devlopr 6y ago
  Interesting point and in my case yes and all writing is attributed to the person who wrote it in print. And everyone got a book and a special private forum. In a way it was a community effort of mostly old timers who were there in the beginning. I'm curious about your point of view. What is your take on these. - If someone posts something in your forum. Can you legally repost in twitter saying.. so and so just posted? - When you post in a public forum do you automatically assign the copyright as public domain by virtue of where you posted and who can see it? - Facebook owns all of the content you post (pictures/posts/videos). Doesn't this apply to all/most sites with user generated content?
  - 1strepublicusr 6y ago
    - If someone posts something in your forum. Can you legally repost in twitter saying.. so and so just posted? - When you post in a public forum do you automatically assign the copyright as public domain by virtue of where you posted and who can see it? What is the difference between them posting on your forum and them posting on their on blog/site? Both are visible to the public. If you have some policy written "anything posted here becomes public domain" when maybe but if you don't I suspect it's at best undecided and at worst, "no, it is not okay to repost"

inopinatus 6y ago

You can always graduate up to starting a restaurant to lose even more money, and for those trying to divest themselves of a billion or so I believe the usual recommendation is to start an airline, with the caveat that this strategy misfired for Richard Branson and Niki Lauda.

PhillyG 6y ago
The quickest way to become a millionaire is to start as a billionaire

codazoda 6y ago

Partially inspired by that post and wanting to write my thoughts about business failures, I wrote... How to Lose Money with 25 Years of Failed Businesses https://joeldare.com/how-to-lose-money-with-25-years-of-failed-businesses https://joeldare.com/how-to-lose-money-with-25-years-of-fail...

vorpalhex 6y ago
Interesting post, thank you for sharing.