Creating Residual Writing Income

Writers have the opportunity to have residual or passive income

Residual income is money that continues to come in or be generated after the initial effort. Sometimes also called passive income (I don't like that term emotionally), writers are most familiar with it in relation to royalties paid on book sales.

Of course, books aren't the only thing that earn residual income. Everything from rental properties to oil wells have this potential as well. But books and other information products are the most accessible residual income generators for freelance writers.

I've started to weigh potential projects by the likelihood they will generate royalties for me.

I've started thinking and setting goals in these terms because what I really want is financial independence - I want to be free to pick and choose exactly what I write and when. I want more time for my own projects and I want more time for other things like travel and time with grandkids.

New thinking reveals more potential

It will be awhile before I can give up working with clients - and maybe I'll always want to work with a few. After all, $x an hour, no matter how high it is is still working by the hour.

By asking myself about the potential for residual income, I'm not saying 'no' to hourly work, I'm putting it in a different frame. A frame that is moving me toward my goal of financial independence.

For example, I do a small amount of search engine optimization work. It's boring, drives me crazy, but helps with the rent. While there's absolutely no potential for royalties from that contract, my new thinking has helped me realize I could write a booklet about search engine optimization and good writing, and probably make some decent money selling it on the web.

I rarely take a percentage of ghostwriting deals because I've found what the client really wants is a reduction in my rate. However, I've started to add to my contracts something like "if, as a result of my work and/or contacts, you get a contract with a trade publisher, I will get 5%." Done this way, I get my rate, and there's at least a tiny possibility of residual income.

Enlarging my thinking about residual income

What's really happening is that I've begun to enlarge my thinking about residual income. I'm open to more possibilities, including:

• books I want to write

• more ebooks, booklets and other information products

• asking better questions of clients and their goals

• paying more attention to affiliate programs on my websites

It's a short list now, but I know it will grow. As a friend/teacher of mine often says, "Change your thinking, change your life." I'm up for that!

Write well and often,

You might want to read: Make Money Writing eBooks