Writing an online novel is a fantastic opportunity to make money from home. You get to set your own hours, don’t have to deal with annoying office politics, and can earn money while you write. There’s also the potentially lucrative option of making money from a lucrative licensing deal if your work is deemed popular enough.
If you’re new to the world of online writing, the question naturally arises: how do I get started? Luckily, the answer is simpler than you’d think. All you need is a computer, an internet connection, and a little bit of inspiration.
The Perfect Outline
To get started, you simply need to come up with an idea for a story. It doesn’t have to be unique, and it doesn’t even need to be well-thought-out. In fact, you can usually get away with something much simpler. You can even use a simple framework like a list of characters or an event timeline to help you organize your ideas.
But once you’ve got your idea down on paper, you need to start fleshing it out. Start by doing some research, looking into what else is out there, and seeing what resonates with your storyline. You can also use your outline to help you figure out chapters and their titles. You don’t need to have a perfect title for each chapter – you can always change the title later –but having a title that fits for the content of each chapter helps keep things concise and easy to follow.
Once you’ve got the basic storyline and outline figured out, start writing. Write a few drafts before you’re satisfied with the story. It’s easy to go back and tweak things later, so don’t worry about perfection at this stage. Just get the story told properly.
When you’re writing, keep the above points in mind. Make sure you’re sticking to the plan, and that you’re not overly-ambitious. You can always go back and revise, so don’t worry about hitting the mark exactly. Just make sure that everything feels connected to the bigger picture.
The Role of My Own Writing Choices
Another important thing to consider when writing an online novel is how your own writing choices fit into the story. You can choose to have your characters speak in 1st or 3rd person, for example, and each one will affect how the story plays out. You can also choose to use male or female pronouns for the main character, which can change the entire feel of your story. If you decide to use 1st person, for example, you’ll be writing in the character’s point of view, which will give the story an objective, more documentary feel. If you decide to use 3rd person, you’ll be putting yourself in the scene, which can be more engaging for the reader. It’s important to keep in mind how you want the story to come across, and the role that your personal writing choices play in that. In terms of marketing, you’ll want to think about using keywords in the right places in your content. Remember, your story will be read by a wide audience, so ensure that your content is easily discoverable by a search engine.
Marketing Plan
Now that you’ve got your fiction work posted online, you need to start thinking about marketing. It’s important to establish a budget and a plan before you start spending money on ads, because you’ll end up losing money if you don’t know how much you’re spending. You can use tools like Google Analytics to track the results of your adverts and establish a baseline for comparison in future. Establishing a marketing plan and sticking to it is essential if you want to be able to repeat the process and make money from your writing. It’s also important to find ways to promote your work that don’t cost money – such as social media – and to look for the value in other places, as much as possible. Keep your expectations realistic, and don’t get discouraged if your first attempts at marketing aren’t paying off immediately. It’ll take some time to find the sweet spot for your particular story and brand, so be patient.
How Do I Actually Make Money As A Result Of This?
Once you’ve got your story published, it’s time to start thinking about monetizing it. You can make money in a number of ways, such as:
- Sale Of Merchandise
- Monetization Of Media Rights
- Licensing
- Ads
- Affiliate Marketing
- Donations
The type of merchandise you’ll be selling will depend on how much you want to make, and won’t require too much thought – you can usually find what you’re looking for online. For example, if you’re looking to make a quick cash-out, you can sell t-shirts with your novel’s logo on them. If you want to make the most money, you can sell designer wear, such as hoodies and sweatshirts with your novel’s logo. If you want to be able to generate more revenue, you can even opt to sell posters, magnets, and hoodie sweatshirts with your logo on them.
Another way to make money is to monetize media rights. This often entails the creation and sale of media products, such as online courses, e-books, and audio recordings. It can also refer to the use of a product or service in order to generate advertising revenue, where the revenue is shared with the product’s creator or supplier. For example, you can sell and license the use of your story’s key locations and imagery in order to gain revenue from ads served on these pages. You’ll also want to look into the kinds of e-books and online courses you can create around your story. If you decide to go down this route, take your time selecting the right media partner, as this can be an important decision. It also doesn’t hurt to do a lot of research before choosing a publisher or marketing partner.
Another way to make money is to go the licensing route. This entails the use of copyrighted material for purposes other than and in addition to what they were intended for. This can be anything from using a character’s name in a context that isn’t trademarked, to using a character’s physical appearance in a way that isn’t approved by the copyright holder. For example, you can use a character’s likeness in a commercial without having their permission, or you can use copyrighted music in a way that isn’t licensed for use.
But perhaps the most lucrative route to take is to go down the ads route. Google Adsense is a widely used advertising network that places ads on web pages. You can use Adsense to earn money online by allowing them to serve ads on your website. You won’t receive any payments until your account reaches a certain threshold, so keep that in mind when planning out your budget. Once you’ve reached that point, you’ll receive payments every month for any ads placed on your website. It’s important to note that you won’t make any money without having a substantial amount of traffic, so focus on building a following before you try to make a profit. You can use tools like Google Analytics to track the results of your adverts and establish a baseline for comparison in future.
If you decide to go the ads route, it’s important to keep your expectations realistic. You won’t be able to use this method to make a full-time living from online writing, but it can provide a decent supplement.
Last but not least, we have affiliate marketing. Essentially, affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing, which involves the relationship between an affiliate and a merchant. When an affiliate promotes a product or service for an entity other than themselves (typically a vendor, hardware store, or shipping company), they earn commissions when a sale is made. For example, let’s say you write an article about hiking gear on your blog. You then decide to include affiliate links to various brands of shoes and apparel, which you believe will help your readers find what they’re looking for – you’re searching for information, while also being offered a small commission if they make a purchase after clicking on one of your affiliate links.
If you decide to go the affiliate marketing route, you’ll want to carefully consider the types of products you promote. You can use tools like Google Analytics to track the results of your adverts and establish a baseline for comparison in future. Keep your expectations realistic and don’t get discouraged if your first attempts at promoting a product don’t result in significant revenue. It’ll take some time to find the sweet spot for your particular story and brand, so be patient.