Imagine sitting in your home study at your mahogany desk surrounded by books and penning a Pulitzer prize-winning novel. If you’ve told your family or friends about your dream of becoming a writer, they may have given you the “starving artist” lecture, dashing that dream.
Writers, in addition to fine artists, are often assumed to be struggling to put food on the table, let alone making a good career from their words. Fortunately, there are three effective ways to finance your writing career, so you can keep the dream alive.
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Search for Grants
As a writer, you’re an artist. That means you can apply for state and federal artist grants. The money received from the grant needs to be used specifically for your writing and never needs to be repaid—a major plus. Contact your state’s art council to apply for an artist grant.
When filling out the application, you’ll need to be as specific as possible about what you’ll use the money for: whether a trip to the Jackson Hole Writers Convention or a weekend at a writer’s retreat deep in the Adirondacks.
Ask for a Loan
Small business loans aren’t just for bakeries and boutique clothing stores. Your budding writing career is also considered a small business and is worthy of installment loans. Use your power of the written word to create a business plan that will draw a good loan.
Contact your favorite local bank, and tell them about your business and your need for a loan, handing them the business plan when asked. If you impress them enough with your business savvy and quality writing, they’ll add to your funds to help finance your writing career.
Dip into Savings
Before you quit your day job and start focusing solely on writing the next Great American Novel, make sure you have enough money saved up. A brand new writing career can be slow to earn you the income you may be used to. Make sure you have at least three months (though six to twelve is best) worth of emergency funds saved up to cover slow times or unplanned expenses. This way, if you don’t start making huge wads of cash right away, you can use your savings to finance your career in the meantime.
Now that you have a plan in place, there’s no reason not to start your writing career. Whether you’re set to fill a book with haikus about evergreen trees or pen a series of crime drama short stories, you’ll have the time and money to live the dream.
What other ideas do you have to finance your writing career? Share them in the comments?
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