Book income isn’t safe.
The rules in our family system have often been created from experiences in the past, and then handed down through generations. More often than not, they are never challenged.
A number of those rules revolve around safety, and how to stay safe. And that includes how to create a safe income for your living.
Now, being a writer these days, with all the changes in the publishing landscape, means that you have to be an entrepreneur. Or a freelancer. You’re basically running a small, or not so small business, whether you like it or not. That’s true even if you’re traditionally published – because the publishers no longer do the marketing. You’re on your own there, and your success depends on your skills and efforts.
Now, if you’re traditionally published, money comes in about twice a year. If you’re self-published, using Amazon and other resellers, money comes in every month, which does make things a little easier.
Either way, however, the income will be somewhat unpredictable.
As indie author, you have more influence on your sales and how well your books do, but even with good marketing, you can’t really predict fads, the next bestseller, or the direction a genre takes.
It is possible that your income actually goes down until you can pivot and react to market changes. At least as indie author you can do that. As a traditionally published author, that is much harder, since it usually takes about two years from contract to book release. By then, the fad your book is riding on might have disappeared.
Or Amazon changes its payout system like it did with Kindle Unlimited last year. Some authors were badly hit, others actually saw their earnings increase.
So as you can see, royalties do not necessarily create a safe, predictable income.
Which is where your safety programming through the family system comes in. If safety is important in your family system, you will be scared away from the insecure life of an author entrepreneur. Self-sabotage might easily happen.
Your family system could push you towards a day job, or keep you in it. You may never make the leap to full-time author with a rule like that in the back of your mind.
Unless you shift it.
Which is what I do with my clients.
Here’s some tapping that can get you started:
Even though my family has a rule about safe, regular income which doesn’t encourage us to become entrepreneurs, I’m totally okay the way I am, and I now choose to recognize that rule in our family.
Even though my family rules urge me to stay in my safe day job and treat writing as a hobby, I’m totally okay the way I am, and I now give myself permission to shift that family rule.
Even though it feels really unsafe to rely on royalties as income, I’m totally okay the way I am, and I now choose to create an author business that is thriving and safe.
Your Turn:
What are your family rules about running a business?
Has one of those rules held you back?
What happened while you were tapping?
And finally – what are you creating right now?
Would love to hear from you!
Image Source: F. Moebius
PS: You’ll find my personal experiences with these beliefs in the comment section. Because I am tapping with these very sentences, I’m inviting you to join me on this journey, and share your experiences.
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