Surviving as a freelancer without starving to death
I hear gutters are very comfortable. But couches are more comfortable still.
Yep, it’s a trick, all right: making a living and keeping the money coming in in sufficient quantity and with sufficient frequency to pay the bills and keep food on the table is the ultimate gig economy shuffle.
So how does one do it in an industry where the standard frequency of pay is twice a year?
Multiple income streams, not to put too fine a point on it. In a given year, I make money from: trad published novels, trad published short stories, self-published work, video game scripts, Patreon, paid newsletter, speaking engagements, teaching engagements, nonfiction, subsidiary rights whenever I can, and anything else I can come up with that pays well enough to be worth my time. (See previous newsletter for what is and isn’t worth one’s time.)
I also divide up my trad published work in ways that ensure I’m getting some money quarterly and some biannually. (The self-pub stuff pays monthly.)