Slowing down or cutting the crap that isn't working no matter what guru said it would has been helpful. Speeding UP content and content releasing, not being precious about it. Life's too short, I have books to write.
Sure. I mean cutting down is great. However, if you cut your income too, then it becomes harder again. There are two kinds of burnout, and writers are usually having both; productivity and monetary burnout. So, people need to solve for both things, but solving for productivity is a good start.
Russell, your article is spot on. I appreciate that you wade into these waters in your articles, as so few white male writers do (I guess I'm making an assumption you identify as white male but I don't actually know this).
The collective good by definition is an attempt to benefit all of us, not just ourselves. Concern for one's community and recognition of one's responsibility for all people and nature (including the long term viability of the planet) are left behind in a capitalist system, which is only about maximizing profit. It's possible to do good just because one has a general responsibility to do so (although you wouldn't know this by looking at most of white Western culture).
I don't look up to people because they're billionaires (but I do look up to Oprah, a billionaire I think, because she seems to have had to work very hard from almost no privilege to get where she is today). It is odd to me that rich people are so celebrated in this country. And it is disturbing and tragic to me how few people in this country recognize that removing safety nets like Social Security and Medicare will only help the very rich. The rest of us will have to compete more, work harder and collapse sooner from the grind of capitalism.
Yes, slowing down is a risk. But it hasn’t been my strategic choice these past seven months or so— life happened, and this phase of it didn’t include much billable hours or the completion of creative work.
As I gear back up again, I’ll overcompensate: the next ten months will involve a lot of work, an unsustainable pace for at least some of it. But then I think I’ll be able to ease off the throttle and make “sustainable effort” more of a priority than “earnings that can sustain the effort.”
This is an exaggerated version of seasonality: you work “too hard” for a period of time, then you rest and replenish, then focus on work again.
Sounds simple enough, even natural. The trick is to discover your own pace, one that creates sustainable income at a sustainable effort. Maximizing productivity while you are in the grind is a big part of this; so is everything else we all talk about when we talk about living on our creativity.
What sort of rhythms and meta-rhythms work well for you, and how did you discover them? (Or establish and fine-tune them?)
Sure, but I'm not saying you shouldn't have sustainable productivity. I am saying that sustainable productivity is half of the issue. The other half is monetary. You can burnout from either, and most writers are burnout out from both. It's very easy for somebody to solve their productivity issues while exaserbating their money situation. Then, they are still burned out, or become burned out, because they haven't fully solved the issue.
IDK what works for me. Nothing really. I have only written one book this year. I guess really I feel like I have to get my work for the day done by lunch if I'm going to do something, maybe. Having a cushion on Substack has helped realize I really just want to mainly disassociate from the world and write whenever I feel like it, as long as I'm ahead of my schedule. I'm currently 3 months ahead of my schedule. So, as long as that maintains, I don't want to do much.
I am literally fighting this battle right now. Bc of health issues, I can only work so much, and if I push myself past that point, it just makes the health issues worse and last longer. So I need to slow down so I can keep my health issues to a minimum, but then I can’t pay bills and the stress of that causes its own set of health issues. (Turns out, chronic stress ain’t good for you. Who knew!)
Yeah, it's so hard. I'm there with you, though. I try to push it and do another launch and NOPE. can't do that, but also I need money for to live, and so circling that square is something that took literally a decade to figure out even a little bit, and I'm not very good at it still. Sorry you're dealing with this buddy. I have a lot of experience in this particular exact thing, so feel free to reach out any time, even if just to bitch about it, cuz it fucking sucks.
I feel like this past couple of years sustainability has come from better understanding my own systems and customer buying habits at the point of sale.
Eg. I know I present them with three upsells a percentage of them will buy the cheapest one, some will buy the mid tier, others will buy all three. If I present four that’s usually to money and no one buys one.
I didn’t have upsells before this year.
I also set up an affiliate link for a creator which has been generous to me.
I often wonder about MMR when it comes to affiliate links - for example if I had stan store or flo desk I could share my affiliate and potentially earn monthly affiliate income. Most of the gift guides I’ve seen here are promoting affiliate links so it must be worth the faff of pulling them together?
Yeah, for a blog gift guides and affiliate stuff is a big money driver, but only if you get a lot of traffic. It's hard b/c going forward with AI being able to search for you, IDK how that type of content will evolve or how important it will be.
It feels like the sustainability model - productivity and monetisation - is workable when you look outside of just writing. In other words, day job. I’ve been studying a lot of creatives and it seems to me that living on one’s writing is possible ONLY when accompanied by high volume writing activity (lots of books, lots of social media, lots of Substack), and then selling what you to know to other writers. There are other systems we could create. Solving problems for people does not have to be a high volume activity (speaking, coaching, consulting, training is an example of this).
Return on time invested should be a more useful metric: what activities give the biggest return for the amount of time I invest? And return can include social contribution, personal satisfaction, as well as money.
The capitalism system? That’s a whole other ball game. How do we change the system? I’d be curious in ideas for that.
I have a whole book coming out next year called How to Thrive as a Writer in a Capitalist Dystopia. If you search capitalism on theauthorstack.com you will find A LOT on it.
This is why I am a big believer in creating multiple streams of income and having ways of making money that aren't directly tied to your creative output. Of course, if those income streams only make five bucks a month, you still have the same problem.
Slowing down or cutting the crap that isn't working no matter what guru said it would has been helpful. Speeding UP content and content releasing, not being precious about it. Life's too short, I have books to write.
Sure. I mean cutting down is great. However, if you cut your income too, then it becomes harder again. There are two kinds of burnout, and writers are usually having both; productivity and monetary burnout. So, people need to solve for both things, but solving for productivity is a good start.
Russell, your article is spot on. I appreciate that you wade into these waters in your articles, as so few white male writers do (I guess I'm making an assumption you identify as white male but I don't actually know this).
The collective good by definition is an attempt to benefit all of us, not just ourselves. Concern for one's community and recognition of one's responsibility for all people and nature (including the long term viability of the planet) are left behind in a capitalist system, which is only about maximizing profit. It's possible to do good just because one has a general responsibility to do so (although you wouldn't know this by looking at most of white Western culture).
I don't look up to people because they're billionaires (but I do look up to Oprah, a billionaire I think, because she seems to have had to work very hard from almost no privilege to get where she is today). It is odd to me that rich people are so celebrated in this country. And it is disturbing and tragic to me how few people in this country recognize that removing safety nets like Social Security and Medicare will only help the very rich. The rest of us will have to compete more, work harder and collapse sooner from the grind of capitalism.
100%. This is truth.
Yes, slowing down is a risk. But it hasn’t been my strategic choice these past seven months or so— life happened, and this phase of it didn’t include much billable hours or the completion of creative work.
As I gear back up again, I’ll overcompensate: the next ten months will involve a lot of work, an unsustainable pace for at least some of it. But then I think I’ll be able to ease off the throttle and make “sustainable effort” more of a priority than “earnings that can sustain the effort.”
This is an exaggerated version of seasonality: you work “too hard” for a period of time, then you rest and replenish, then focus on work again.
Sounds simple enough, even natural. The trick is to discover your own pace, one that creates sustainable income at a sustainable effort. Maximizing productivity while you are in the grind is a big part of this; so is everything else we all talk about when we talk about living on our creativity.
What sort of rhythms and meta-rhythms work well for you, and how did you discover them? (Or establish and fine-tune them?)
Sure, but I'm not saying you shouldn't have sustainable productivity. I am saying that sustainable productivity is half of the issue. The other half is monetary. You can burnout from either, and most writers are burnout out from both. It's very easy for somebody to solve their productivity issues while exaserbating their money situation. Then, they are still burned out, or become burned out, because they haven't fully solved the issue.
IDK what works for me. Nothing really. I have only written one book this year. I guess really I feel like I have to get my work for the day done by lunch if I'm going to do something, maybe. Having a cushion on Substack has helped realize I really just want to mainly disassociate from the world and write whenever I feel like it, as long as I'm ahead of my schedule. I'm currently 3 months ahead of my schedule. So, as long as that maintains, I don't want to do much.
I am literally fighting this battle right now. Bc of health issues, I can only work so much, and if I push myself past that point, it just makes the health issues worse and last longer. So I need to slow down so I can keep my health issues to a minimum, but then I can’t pay bills and the stress of that causes its own set of health issues. (Turns out, chronic stress ain’t good for you. Who knew!)
All I know is: I am exhausted.
Yeah, it's so hard. I'm there with you, though. I try to push it and do another launch and NOPE. can't do that, but also I need money for to live, and so circling that square is something that took literally a decade to figure out even a little bit, and I'm not very good at it still. Sorry you're dealing with this buddy. I have a lot of experience in this particular exact thing, so feel free to reach out any time, even if just to bitch about it, cuz it fucking sucks.
Great article Russell.
I feel like this past couple of years sustainability has come from better understanding my own systems and customer buying habits at the point of sale.
Eg. I know I present them with three upsells a percentage of them will buy the cheapest one, some will buy the mid tier, others will buy all three. If I present four that’s usually to money and no one buys one.
I didn’t have upsells before this year.
I also set up an affiliate link for a creator which has been generous to me.
I often wonder about MMR when it comes to affiliate links - for example if I had stan store or flo desk I could share my affiliate and potentially earn monthly affiliate income. Most of the gift guides I’ve seen here are promoting affiliate links so it must be worth the faff of pulling them together?
Yeah, for a blog gift guides and affiliate stuff is a big money driver, but only if you get a lot of traffic. It's hard b/c going forward with AI being able to search for you, IDK how that type of content will evolve or how important it will be.
Good point. I hate online shopping so I’m like the perfect avatar for a curated gift guide
You can probably still get some value out of it if you find big ticket items and get like 20-30% commission, but that shit is all about volume.
*too many not to money 😵
It feels like the sustainability model - productivity and monetisation - is workable when you look outside of just writing. In other words, day job. I’ve been studying a lot of creatives and it seems to me that living on one’s writing is possible ONLY when accompanied by high volume writing activity (lots of books, lots of social media, lots of Substack), and then selling what you to know to other writers. There are other systems we could create. Solving problems for people does not have to be a high volume activity (speaking, coaching, consulting, training is an example of this).
Return on time invested should be a more useful metric: what activities give the biggest return for the amount of time I invest? And return can include social contribution, personal satisfaction, as well as money.
The capitalism system? That’s a whole other ball game. How do we change the system? I’d be curious in ideas for that.
I have a whole book coming out next year called How to Thrive as a Writer in a Capitalist Dystopia. If you search capitalism on theauthorstack.com you will find A LOT on it.
Awesome! Love your work, Russell.
This is why I am a big believer in creating multiple streams of income and having ways of making money that aren't directly tied to your creative output. Of course, if those income streams only make five bucks a month, you still have the same problem.
for sure.