Smart Financial Tips for Writers

It's that time when we writers start thinking about our plans for the next year. This includes how to manage our finances. I am lucky enough to have a great guest blogger this time, Brittany Fisher, a Certified Public Accountant who has spent more than 20 years working in the accounting field. After gaining extensive knowledge of personal finance, taxes, and financial literacy, Brittany decided to start her own site, Financiallywell.info. Here she hopes to help anyone who may benefit from her advice and expertise. Check it out after you read her article. 

  

Managing your finances as a writer can be tricky, especially if you do freelance work and have several invoices and payments to keep up with. Getting organized is essential, and you can choose from a variety of apps and online tools that will help you stay on top of both your money and your assignments.

If you’re ready to turn your writing into a full-time job, it’s important to keep your finances in order so you can build up a savings account that will give you peace of mind as you work on turning your dream into a career.

Here are a few things to consider when it comes to managing your finances as a writer.

Treat Your Writing like a Business

 There are lots of career options available to skilled writers; you might choose to write engaging copy for businesses to share on their websites or in ads, or you might take on freelance jobs that allow you to do something different with each project.

However you choose to start your career, it’s important to treat it like a business so that you can stay on top of your responsibilities to the IRS. Starting a business comes with several steps that vary depending on the state you live in, so do a little reading on how to start a company with ZenBusiness.

Keep Track of Your Income

Forming a business structure can help you keep your personal and professional funds separate from one another, which is an essential step, but it’s still important to have a reliable way to keep track of your income, especially if you’ll be doing freelance work and sending out invoices to multiple entities.

You might utilize accounting software that allows you to easily input your expenses and income or start a filing system in your home office where you can keep important paperwork organized and easily accessible.

It’s also a good idea to keep a detailed spreadsheet that lists all of the paid projects you’re working on, their due dates, and their invoice number.

Create Multiple Income Streams

Whether you want to do freelance work or ghostwrite children’s books, it’s a good idea to keep multiple streams of income going, as most creative careers have ups and downs. It can be challenging to manage smaller gigs while working on a big project such as a novel, but doing so will give you peace of mind that you’ll always have something going, even during slower times of the year.

You might set up an account on a freelancer site so you can keep an eye out for jobs or create a profile on a professional social media site like LinkedIn so you can network and make connections with like-minded people who can benefit your job search. You can also connect with other authors via their websites.

Create a Budget for Marketing

No matter what type of writing job you’re going to take on, it’s important to create a budget for marketing your projects and skills. Writers often have to tackle advertising and PR for themselves, and the process can become costly if you don’t have a solid plan in place first.

Do some research on the type of marketing you’ll need to do for yourself, such as creating book trailers and social media ads, printing promotional materials, hosting book signings, or putting together a portfolio of your best work. This will give you a good idea of how much you’ll need to spend in a given year.

Working as a writer can be a very fulfilling job, but it’s important to protect yourself by starting a business and keeping careful track of your income streams. With a little planning, you can turn your dream job into a successful career.

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