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From Day Job to Full-Time Author in 4 Months

And $84,000 of Debt Paid off in Less Than a Year

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From Day Job to Full-Time Writer in Four Months

By Matthew Thrush

Most people dream of living their lives with freedom and passion, doing what they love. Some have cracked the code and are not constrained by the restraints and limitations placed on us by society and maintaining the status quo.

We’ve been conditioned from birth to live, act, and work a certain way. We go to school, to college for a degree that we’re told is required to secure a job only to discover you’ll never use any of it and now are in tens of thousands of dollars in debt, to then spend the rest of your life working to capture those illusive retirement years, when you can finally relax and enjoy life.

Working grants you freedom and your independence, right?

But too many of us have forfeited our dreams for Life Support. We’ve given up our freedom for comfort and perceived stability.

If we’re not pursuing or living out our purposes on this earth, something inside of us revolts and nags at us, until we submit to its call or medicate ourselves to the point of silencing it. If these words are resonating with you, making you feel uncomfortable and offended, or curious then allow me to share a story with you.

 

 

The Story

There was a man who worked as a technical writer for one of the world’s largest web hosting companies. The pay was decent and the benefits were good. The job allowed him and his wife to start a family, move closer to their relatives, and start their lives together as a newly married couple.

But all was not well with this man. His dark skeleton was over $84,000 of debt that he had accrued over an eight-year stint, no job, with dwindling prospects. He went eight months without a full-time job until he landed the one with the web hosting company.

So when he says life was good, he meant it. He now had a steady income coming in that allowed him and his wife to start paying off his copious amounts of debt. She got a new job as well and they doubled the attack on the debt until they succeeded in paying it off in eleven months.

 

 

What Happened Next?

This story is not of the miraculous recovery from paying off over $84,000 of debt in less than a year. This man’s story is of how he knew something was missing in his life and how he finally pursued it. This man made the goal to quit his day job as a technical writer to write novels full-time by the end of the year. He made this commitment in March 2017. That gave him ten months to achieve his goal. He did it in four.

The man I’m telling you about is me. I worked a great day job. It allowed me to provide for my family, save for a 401(k), build my resume and experience, and write (technical writing was still writing to me). But it didn’t fulfill me. Why?

Because I’ve always had a deeper calling and passion inside of me ever since I was a young boy.

That was to make a living as a full-time author and become a #1 bestseller and sell thousands to millions of copies of books. So what changed?

I had a mindset shift. I didn’t want to be one of the majority who go their whole lives without ever effectively trying to pursue their dreams. If I tried and failed, at least I would have tried. If I never tried, I’d live the rest of my life with what ifs suffocating my thoughts like they already were.

I went from working a corporate job to writing novels full-time in four months (I could have done it sooner but waited to ensure it was the right decision to make). During this time, I became a #1 Amazon bestselling author of multiple books and have written over twenty-three books at the writing of this article.

My income went from less than $4000 (gross) a month as a technical writer for the top web hosting company in the world to continuously earning over $10,000 each month doing what I love: writing books and helping people.

My hope is that my story will encourage someone who’s going through something similar or worse, or just struggling to stay motivated and feeling like a failure, to keep pushing and believing in themselves.

What follows is what I did to make that dream a reality and how you can too.

 

 

The Foundation

Before beginning any great adventure or journey, it’s important to gather the supplies you need for the quest. In the goal of quitting my day job and writing books full-time, that meant researching and understanding the market and learning what it would take to make that a reality. (I did this before I ever made the conscious decision and goal of quitting; two years earlier).

This meant figuring out if I had what it took to write full-time and if readers would like my stories. In truth, every dream is an accumulation of many life choices over a longer period of time. But sometimes specific moments in our lives are the catalysts that jumpstart us in the right direction. That was in August 2015 for me (only five months after I started my technical writer job).

I heard about a site where writers could post their stories and readers could read them for free. I was referred to it from a fellow writer as a way to build a readership and validate story ideas. I created an account in August 2015 as an experiment.

The site was Wattpad.

I had been researching what elements the best books in the market had that made them sell and become bestsellers. One of the key features was writing each chapter as if it’s the first and keeping it action-packed, with short chapters, and using cliff-hangers.

My wife purchased James Patterson’s MasterClass on writing as a gift for me around that same time. I took his course in conjunction to my research and several of his ideas and methods resonated with me and affirmed what I researched.

 

 

I took what I had learned…

…and started a new post-apocalyptic story as an experiment. I have never written post-apocalyptic stories, but I had this idea in my head for several years that wouldn’t let me go. I had just never gotten to writing it. You know how it is…that ever present friend: self-doubt. It had me in his cuffs, but I was breaking out this time.

I decided to implement some of the other things I had researched and to challenge myself. If I was going to give this new story a shot, I wanted to make sure I gave it the best I could. I chose to write this new story in first person, from a female’s perspective. My thoughts were that the majority of readers were women, and that by writing from a woman’s point of view, my story might resonate more with them. And thus, began my experiment.

[Note from Nick: click here to read about how to make your stories resonate with readers]

That first story is called 2136: A Post-Apocalyptic Novel. I posted each chapter as I wrote them on Wattpad.  I had heard of writers, who used Wattpad, getting publishing contracts or movie deals, with millions of reads and thousands of followers. I wanted that for me but never imagined it would happen quite like it did, or as quickly.

 

 

The Power of Wattpad

Wattpad selected 2136 as a Featured Story within five months of me posting it, followed by it reaching #2 in all of Science Fiction, accruing over 801,000 reads, with nearly 54,000 followers.

Wattpad is the world’s largest free ereader site. Writers can post their stories there for readers to read for free. Readers can interact with you by voting, leaving comments, adding your story to their reading list, or sharing it, etc. Wattpad has over 300 million published stories on their site and over 50 million active users each month. Only about 1% are writers; and Science Fiction is one of the hardest to rank in (Wattpad only ranks the Top 1000 in any given category).

Wattpad selects the best stories in each category to place as Featured Stories. It’s extra exposure for those authors with the best performing stories on the site. This is run by their algorithm, much like Amazon (no one knows how it works!), but some of the key factors are the amount of readers, votes, shares, adds, and comments. Those stories with the most “interaction” have a better shot at being featured.

Many great things came my way from Wattpad.

I won several writing contests, had another story featured in the Horror genre; that same story made it to the Top 35 for TNT’s horror writing contest, where the winner won $20,000 and had their story adapted to film.

I was accepted as a member of Wattpad’s Ambassador program, which grants special access to a select few people who help Wattpad manage their site, run genre profiles, and enhance the experience. I was approached to run the Science Fiction profile, as well as offered and accepted into their Wattpad Futures program, which a small handful of writers have access to.

The Futures program places ads between chapters for the best writers, and when readers click on these  30-second ads, the writers who are part of this program receive a percentage of the royalties. It’s one of many ways Wattpad helps monetize the best stories and writers.

Wattpad has also contacted me to feature my stories in joint promotions for TV shows or movies.

For example, 2136 was featured as a story to promote AMC’s The Walking Dead for season 8, as well as Pride & Prejudice: Zombies. Some of my other stories were used for promotion of other shows and films.

 

 

As you can see…

Wattpad is a powerful platform and tool at your disposal to not only help you craft and develop your skill, grow a following, but also to open doors for opportunities you might not have  anywhere else.

I’ve since published 2136 and its sequel on Amazon and it became a #1 Amazon bestseller in multiple categories and #61 overall. It’s sequel is also a bestseller, as are many of the books that I write now.

While I did not receive a publishing or movie deal from writing on Wattpad, it gave me something even better: exposure, credibility, and confidence. As with work, the best thing you can have to show your worth or ability is experience. I also believe the strongest enemy of a writer (or anyone pursuing their dreams) is doubt. Wattpad allowed me to experiment with a new writing style and idea to see if readers would like it. And fortunately, readers LOVED it.

Now I knew I had something good and worth pursuing. This is when I transitioned to chasing after my dream of writing books full-time.

 

 

The Method

Before I tell you how I did it, I want to make something clear. There are many ways to achieve your dreams and do what you love and were created to do. Writing was my deepest passion; specifically writing books.

My idea of success was writing hundreds of #1 bestsellers, with movie deals, millions of copies sold, and living a wealthy life as a consequence. This could still be a possibility, but I found something that suited me better.

Ghostwriting.

Many people, including me at the time, believe they have to sell thousands of books each month to make a good living as a full-time writer; that there is only one way to do it: write tons of books, publish often, and promote. Rinse. Repeat.

I did not do this. Instead, my epiphany came to me while watching a movie, ironically, called The Ghost Writer.

I never finished the movie. It may be a good movie, but I’ll never know. While the movie played, I spent the rest of the evening and days following researching what ghostwriters do and how I could become one. My search led me to a site called Upwork.

I reached my goal in only four months, though it could have been faster, but I chose to wait and be sure it would work. I’ve been writing full-time ever since, with no intention of going back.

My experience on Wattpad supplied me with the credibility I needed for my ghostwriting career, landing the first gig, and getting even better ones from then on. You may never know what your choices today will amount to tomorrow or years from now, but know this, every choice leads somewhere. Are yours leading to where you want to be in life?

If not, it’s time to start making different decisions.

 

 

The Fruit of the Harvest (where I am now)

I received my first gig on Upwork to format someone’s book within a few days of setting up my profile. I landed the next gig, my first one for writing a full-length book, right after that. This led to a long-term partnership with a publisher and a new post-apocalyptic series, which led to even more contracts with other clients.

At the writing of this, I have written over twenty-three novels; fourteen of which were ghostwritten for clients, with many more scheduled for the new year. Many of them became #1 Amazon bestsellers, and my recent book My Blessed Life: 9 Steps to Financial Freedom and Abundance was a #1 Amazon New Release. It speaks to the process and principles I used to wipe out over $84,000 of debt in less than a year.

I quit my day job as a technical writer within four months of setting my goal and started my dream job, which formed when I was a young boy in 3rd grade, when my teacher lent me her boxed set of The Lord of the Rings, because she knew I had a passion for reading, writing, and was seeking a challenge.

The key to reaching my goal of writing full-time was learning from those who were already there, reading as much as I could, and patience.

I knew you couldn’t rush it. I took one job at a time on Upwork with the end goal in mind.

I went from one promising side gig to the next. Each time when one door closed, another one that was even better would open. I could have quit my job and started my full-time writing career sooner but I was too worried to take the risk.

When I told my wife my goal for becoming a full-time writer by December 2017 (which was 10 months from that point when I told her) she nodded, wished me luck, but had doubts and fears.

Then it happened; much faster than expected.

 

 

That’s what happens…

…when you change your mindset, put in the work, learn as much as you can, and have a teachable spirit. There is nothing you cannot achieve if you first believe you can in your mind and heart.

Now, I’m a #1 Amazon bestselling author, writing 4+ books each month as a ghostwriter, with bigger plans for this year. What does that look like? Developing 3-5 online courses to teach people how I got out of debt, how to live a blessed life, make a living through freelancing, having an indestructible marriage, and becoming a full-time writer, and much more.

In addition, I’ve opened submissions for co-authoring with me. I’ve selected a few writers to help them reach their goals by partnering with them as a co-author; to mentor, guide, co-write, edit, tweak, and show them the ropes.

I’ve already signed on several writers and am excited to see where their careers go this year.

You see, we are blessed to be a blessing to others. What’s the point of having all the money, power, influence, and time in the world if you keep it to yourself? While I pursue my bigger goals for my writing and online course career, I’m seeking more ways to give back to others. My hope is that this post acts as one way to do that.

 

 

My Writing Process

I learned early on that if I wanted to make writing books a full-time career, I needed to treat it as one and not just a hobby.

For me, unless you’re earning enough to live off of, your writing is only a hobby unless you treat it like a full-time job. Meaning, you write every day and commit yourself to developing your craft and constantly learning more.

Back in August 2015, when I created my profile on Wattpad, I made up my mind to write every day at that point and to start treating my writing as a full-time job.

I had treated it as a nice hobby up until this point, writing in spurts. But if I wanted to make a true go at this thing, I needed to commit 100% into it like I did everything else in my life. I started by writing and posting on chapter each day, never missing a day.

For serial stories (and even standard published books) the best chapter length is between 1500-3000 words. Of course chapters can be shorter or longer, but that’s the standard proven length for optimal performance and read-through with online readers.

So that meant each day I wrote at least 3,000 words. I didn’t worry about the writing being perfect, but focused on getting the words down on the screen while the story flowed. That’s the trick to success as a writer.

Write every day, write as quickly as you can without editing, then edit when the book is finished.

[Note from Nick: click here to read our article How to Write a Novel in 30 Days]

 

 

Starting off it was tough.

I had developed bad habits over the years with long droughts of no writing to tsunamis of writing full books in a week. That kind of inconsistency is not conducive to a successful career as a writer, unless you’re someone like Stephen King or Lee Child who can take years to write a book and still sell millions. But we’re banking on the fact that we’re no King, Child, or Rowling.

They’re examples of BIG names, but the majority of indie authors making a good living will never sell that many copies, but the good news is, you DON’T have to.

After about two weeks the writing routine got better. I committed to at least 1500 words each day, but started writing over 5000+. Naturally, as my readership grew on Wattpad, this pleased readers waiting for the next chapter, which only motivated me more to keep writing faster.

That’s another good thing if you struggle to finish a book or motivation. Create a profile on Wattpad and/or do NaNoWriMo to encourage yourself to finish the book as fast as you can. You’ll be surprised at how much you can achieve with a daily routine of writing a little.

 

 

I finished writing 2136 in three months

And I wrote write the sequel in about a month. My writing speed wasn’t so much my typing speed as it was my mindset and developing a new habit of writing every day. But, I’m always looking for ways to improve and be more efficient.

I bought Dragon Naturally Speaking 13 Premium and have been experimenting with dictation. I’m getting better at it, but I know that it’ll only get better and more natural for me like my writing did by doing it every day. So far, I average 10,000-15,000+ words each day. My goal is to get that well over 20,000 on a consistent basis and write two or more books each week.

[Note from Nick – click here for our ultimate guide to using Dragon Dictation as an author]

My process for writing 2136 is the same that I use today for my ghostwriting. Write EVERY day, with a MINIMUM word count goal. For me, that has to be 10,000 to stay on track to complete the contracts I have, but for you, it may only be 500 words. The amount doesn’t matter so much as maintaining that daily routine and fulfilling it no matter what.

Some days it’ll take you a lifetime to finish 100 words, and others you’ll pump out 10,000 words in a few breaths. By writing every day you build and strengthen your creative muscle, which helps you on the hard days.

 

 

How My Books Are Doing Today

My approach isn’t typical. Most authors try to make a living by writing their own books and promoting them. I do write my own and promote them, but I spend the majority of my time ghostwriting for others. The reason?

I’m a math guy. I love numbers and can run equations and scenarios all day long. I actually do this on a daily basis. It drives my wife crazy! She just wants the high-level AND final numbers.

Because I’m a numbers guy and think analytically, I figured out what route would be best to achieve my goal the quickest. Remember, my goal was to go full-time writer within ten months. A lot needs to happen to be able to do that, know it’ll sustain, and prevent the fear that comes with quitting a day job when you have a family to provide for.

[Note from Nick: click here for a simple way to grow a readership for your books]

I calculated how much I would need to make each month for me to quit my day job.

Then I calculated how many books I’d need to sell to earn that. Then, I calculated how many books I’d need to sell to earn what I would be paid for writing a book for someone else.

It was a no brainer. Ghostwriting was the way to go for me. I’d have to sell several hundred to several thousand (depending on the price of the book and how many books I had out) to earn what I’d be paid to write a book for a client.

The other benefit that ghostwriting offers, other than a higher income upfront, is it allows you to hone your skill, voice, and craft all on someone else’s dime. You no longer have to write your one million words until you find your perfect voice on your own expense. Why not practice and hone your writing ability while someone else pays you to do it?

To me, that’s a WIN-WIN.

 

 

I like to keep things in perspective and real.

The downfall for ghostwriting as much as I do is that it doesn’t allow much time for writing or promoting my own books. It’s a Catch 22. You need the income to pay the bills but you need to write more books to build up a following, a platform, and a steady passive income stream for your own stuff.

So which do you choose? How do you find a balance? For me, I spend the work-day for ghostwriting and do a little each day for my stuff and use most of that time to read, attend webinars, do online courses, or watch videos to learn. But now that I have Dragon software for dictation, my time has opened up.

As I get better at it, I’ll be able to finish my ghostwriting in over half the time AND write my own stuff, all DURING the work-day, which will allow me to reach my new goals faster and spend more time with my family. It’s easy to overlook the fact that working from home as a writer was so I could spend more time with them, and yet, get caught up in the new career and spend less time with family or the ones you care about.

It’s all about balance. But the more you focus and pour into your goals (whatever it is)the sooner you achieve it.

 

 

My Self-Publishing is Growing Too.

Several of my books have become #1 Amazon bestsellers or #1 New Releases, but their earnings, while they are getting better, are nowhere near what I earn from ghostwriting.

I went from around $4,000 from the day job to about $10,000 or more each month for the ghostwriting. I don’t spend enough time in promoting my own books to reap a larger harvest, nor publish enough, quick enough.

It’s the trade-off I’ve chosen to pursue ghostwriting. It’s too prosperous and rewarding for me not to stick with it. Plus, I’ve been getting referrals for nonfiction books a lot more frequently now for big companies. I foresee my business shifting more toward writing ebooks (nonfiction) for companies, businesses, and clients, more so than fiction.

[Note from Nick: click here to read about how to grow a business from your books]

BUT…my new goal (and NEWFOUND PASSION) for this year is to create multiple online courses to help teach people what I’ve done to get here so they can do the same and exceed me. One of the new ventures is co-authoring with new writers to help them get their names out there, mentor them, and show them the ropes.

Bottom line, ghostwriting is a HUGE, untouched market, where writers, like you and I, can thrive. 

If writing books is your dream job, then how you do it doesn’t matter. Whether you make enough passive income each month from your books or you ghostwrite books for others to make a living, it doesn’t matter.

All that is important is ARE YOU DOING WHAT YOU LOVE? If not, let’s change that. Maybe my approach is the best route for you. I’d love to help.

 

 

Additional facts | dates | numbers

Full-time writer:

  • Worked full-time as Technical Writer for cPanel, Inc. from March 2, 2015 to August 25, 2017 (2 years 5 months)
  • Offered the job on March 2, 2015
  • Left the job on August 25, 2017
  • Started first post-apocalyptic book on Wattpad in August 2015.
  • Was selected as a Featured Story in December 2015 (release date was January 7, 2016) — 4 months after first chapter posted.
  • Accrued over 500,000 reads during that timeframe (it now has over 801,000).
  • Reached #2 in Science Fiction on February 13, 2016. (Wattpad has over 300,000 million stories on its platform with more than 50 million active monthly users. The Science Fiction category is one of their largest and hardest to rank in. They only show the rank of the Top 1000 in each category)

Ambassador Program – Selected in December 2015. Started training on January 12, 2016. Asked to assist the Science Fiction category when I completed training. This program assisted Wattpad in curating their hot lists, submissions, and more administrative tasks with stories.

Futures Program – Offered to join and accepted on January 18, 2017

Beta version and restricted to only Wattpad Stars and top writers. This program is for a select few of the top performing writers on Wattpad to earn income for their stories. Wattpad places ads between each chapter on your story, and every time a reader clicks or watches that short ad, you receive a portion of the proceeds from the marketers.

Wattpad Block Party Winter Edition III – February 2017

A month-long event that highlights stories written by the super stars and rising stars on Wattpad. Each writer was featured on a given day to present a sample of their writing, a short story, or something new exclusive to the event’s readers.

TNT’s horror writing contest – Top 35 Finalist – December 8, 2016

TNT hosted in conjunction with Wattpad a horror writing contest. The winner received $20,000 and a contract to produce their story on the big screen. I made it to the Top 35 Finalists.

Other contests won:

  • Fanfic Fright Day’s writing contest – October 30, 2015
  • Fanfic Thanksgiving writing contest – November 26, 2015
  • Compete to Beat: Wattpad Contests – Contest – December 15, 2015 (Honorable Mention)
  • Star Wars: The Force Awaken Fanfiction Contest – December 15, 2015
  • Fright’s holiday horror writing contest – December 23, 2015

Go in More Depth

I kept this post high-level so it wouldn’t become too lengthy (I think I failed!), but there are many more details that went into becoming a full-time writer and what that looks like. If you’d like more information or to talk with me in more depth about my process, what I did, and for me to give you pointers or guide you in your own quest, please send me a message using these details.

I’d be happy to walk you through step-by-step of what I did for each method, so you can mimic it for your own success and journey and answer questions. 

 

Matthew Thrush is a #1 Amazon bestselling author with more than twenty-three titles to his name; including his own and novels ghostwritten for other clients. As well as writing novels, Matthew has also worked as an Arabic Linguist & Intelligence Analyst for the United States Navy (and NSA indirectly) and written articles covering topics like love, relationships, dentistry, business, IT, and healthy & wellness.

If you’d like to learn more about Matthew’s process for Ghostwriting and how he turned it into a six-figure business, join his free Facebook group here

And now we want to hear from you: Have you had any “mindset shifts” that have helped you reach your goals? What are you working on right now to get you where you need to be? Leave a comment!

41 Comments
  1. Wendy says:

    I tried Upwork back when it was Odesk. Spent hours searching for gigs and more hours doing spec work that never led to a contract. The one contract I did get (making a “Reader’s Digest” version of a memoir) , I estimated would be a 40-hour job: the client thought it would be a 20-hour job and it ended up taking 80. For a $40 contract.

    1. Matthew Thrush says:

      Hey Wendy,

      I feel your pain. I used Upwork back when it was Elance, before it merged and became Upwork. It’s a much better platform now, with many opportunities. Many of which are “invisible” to the general population.

      Meaning, clients can choose to have “invite only” jobs, that freelancers never see. And then there are repeat jobs that happen all of the time.

      There’s also “sleeper clients” who might not have paid well before, or could be new, but are ready to pay more for the best freelancer. Most clients don’t know what their budget is or what they’re looking for, even if they have long job descriptions.

      The key is making them feel you are the best person to help them achieve their goals. It has to be all about them, and not so much about your experience. I’d love to talk more and answer any questions you have.

      Upwork is a thriving environment, if you know how to tap into it.

  2. Wendy says:

    I tried Upwork back when it was Odesk. Spent hours searching for gigs and more hours doing spec work that never led to a contract. The one contract I did get (making a “Reader’s Digest” version of a memoir) , I estimated would be a 40-hour job: the client thought it would be a 20-hour job and it ended up taking 80. For a $40 contract.

  3. Diane says:

    That’s amazing bc I’ve been ghostwriting and find it poorly paying time consuming and since I’m a ghost I can’t show others what I’ve written in order to get more work!!

    1. Teresa Conner says:

      100% the same, Diane. And Upwork is where I got my ghostwriting jobs, but no one there (that I’ve seen) is willing to pay ghostwriters properly. They want cheap labour, no matter how mentally taxing writing is (and is it!).

      1. Matthew Thrush says:

        Upwork can feel like an empty void that sucks the life out of you, but that’s just an illusion. There are millions of jobs on Upwork and many freelancers earning way more than me.

        There are invisible markets on Upwork. Meaning, clients can keep their job listing private and invite only. And they also do repeat jobs. Additionally, you may see a client who has paid little or is brand new, but they may be ready to pay more for the right person to help them achieve their goal.

        The trick is making it all about them and affirming them that you can help them get there, and offer suggestions for improvement even before helping them. There’s an art to the proposal.

        Also, the budgets aren’t set in stone. What I mean is that you need to know what the client sees. Upwork makes them pick a budget. Most clients have no idea what their budget is or what they want even if they say it or act like it. So, don’t worry about that.

        If someone doesn’t want to pay your asking price and are trying to low ball you, just let them find an entry-level writer to do their work. You don’t want those clients. There are LOTS of clients willing to pay even above your asking price and their budget price, they just want someone who will get them what they want the quickest, the smoothest, and guarantee they “win.”

        It’s all about understanding psychology and the human condition. We all want to succeed, but we’re gridlocked by insecurities, past regrets or experiences, or pure ignorance (not knowing any better).

        I’m happy to help you improve your success with Upwork, if you’d like. Another great resource for that is Danny Marguiles, with Freelance to Win. He really teaches this stuff and it’s crazy how it works (even though it feels like the absolute opposite thing you should be doing)

    2. Matthew Thrush says:

      Do you mind me asking where you get your ghostwriting jobs?

      I’d love to talk more with you and get additional details. Sometimes some minor tweaking and mindset shifts (understanding what the TRUE potential is) is all you need to jump start your career and take you to the next level.

      There are a bunch of preconceived limitations that we’ve been conditioned to believe that aren’t true.

    3. Diane says:

      Hi! In reply, I have used Upwork and word of mouth. I got my best folks from Outsource but they were bought out by something else and it was skewed to the client and the freelancer got charged a huge fee plus a percentage!
      I am a coach and a copywriter. I know all about service/giving first and making my bid all about the potential client. I do warm responses that highlight the ask, blah blah. I also have interviewed as I understand the non-listed behind the scenes people who are searching. I was in that “only serious, special, super well paying clients can see you” but they bumped me because I turned down the cheap, BS, “turn around a 40,000 word book this week for $400. ” Sorry, no. Have clients become long-term ? Yes. But since they got me for cheap on Upwork, they expected cheap throughout. Did I eventually make more than their initial bid? Yes, over months and months of labor intensive writing, then offering all sorts of odd jobs to go along — like right now a lovely client whose book I wrote, I am now learning wordpress to SEO optimize her blog. That means adding hundreds of words, and all the other magic, plus she already paid me $100 to write four of these things and now I am massively expanding them, SEO changing them, and learning how to use the tags and tools of this blog server she uses. This week, unpaid (since she gave me that big $100 for four) I spend at least 6 hours, and only got one completely up and running. Steep learning curve on the formatting bit, and there is another customer having me do a similar write-up on yet a different sort of website creator. So fun. Last year I busted my ass and made 20,000 US. Not exactly saving for retirement, or paying off debt. Ah, so negative. I try not to do that – puts the Universe on notice that I want to stay that way. But I don’t. I’ve spent – no kidding – 12,000 to learn copywriting, SEO, web writing, plus writing for particular markets. I spent 8900 this year on client acquisition for coaching. So, I have NO budget for a pitch or a new program. Thinking of returning to ye ol’ day job. Thanks for reading.

      1. Matthew Thrush says:

        Yikes!
        Sounds like a rough bit. I’ve been there before and know the struggle. Even though I’m doing well now, I still have old habits that creep in and try to sabotage me. Self-doubt and the ignorant client who doesn’t know any better or is conditioned to paying pennies for a TON of work.

        I’d give Upwork another shot. If you’d like, I could review your profile copy and proposals, and even assist in finding better clients. There are a bunch of good ones. I refer other writers all of the time when I am either not a good fit or too busy.

        Is that something you’d be interested in? And would you say you’re more a copywriter (LOTS of good potential for you there) or a fiction writer? And if fiction or nonfiction, what genres and sub-genres?

  4. Diane says:

    That’s amazing bc I’ve been ghostwriting and find it poorly paying time consuming and since I’m a ghost I can’t show others what I’ve written in order to get more work!!

  5. Daina says:

    How did you get readers on Wattpad? I’ve tried it a while ago and discovered it required a lot of social networking–you had to read and follow a lot of other people in order for them to read or follow back. Had that changed? I assume it had to, if there’s only 1% of authors now. Still, did you just post chapters and hope people come to read it, or did you do some networking/marketing?

    1. Matthew Thrush says:

      Good questions.

      My first decision was setting goals of what I wanted to achieve with Wattpad. I saw many authors with millions of reads and thousands of followers who had gotten publishing deals or movie deals for their stories. I wanted that.

      So what I did was study them and what they did. Many of them wrote stories about their success and process. I learned from them and mimicked as much as I needed that was relevant to me.

      The key to success on Wattpad is connection, as it is with anything in life. The more you give to others and connect with them, the more everyone succeeds and is fulfilled.

      So, the trick is to read, comment, and like other stories. Join and post in the clubs, do contests, and just interact. I vowed in the beginning that I would respond to every like, comment, story add, personal message or profile message, etc. no matter if it were one or a thousand.

      This really made the difference. People long for connection, to be heard, to be accepted and understood, and if you go out of your way to be kind, they notice and they will gravitate toward it.

  6. Daina says:

    How did you get readers on Wattpad? I’ve tried it a while ago and discovered it required a lot of social networking–you had to read and follow a lot of other people in order for them to read or follow back. Had that changed? I assume it had to, if there’s only 1% of authors now. Still, did you just post chapters and hope people come to read it, or did you do some networking/marketing?

  7. Lyle Nicholson says:

    This is great content. Thanks for leaving the information about Wattpad. I’ve been thinking of doing that for some time. As for ghostwriting, I doubt I’d ever do it. I retired from 21 years as a manufactures agent in Canada, where I built a 10 million dollar per year business with great commissions.

    When I retired from that business, I had only the money in my investments. I swore I would never build someone else’s business again, even for a lot of money. I love the fact that I can write, publish and see sales every day. It may be meager some days, but it came from me, my effort, my reward.

    I applaud your efforts and accomplishments, thank you for writing this long post.

    1. Matthew Thrush says:

      This was the short version! haha.
      There’s so much more to the story, but I wanted to keep it high level.
      You should give Wattpad a try. They are growing exponentially and building strong connections with publishers and producers. Plus, with over 50 million active users each month, you can really grow an audience, meet new friends, and develop your craft.

      I understand your take on ghostwriting. I had a similar dilemma in the beginning, but my dream of writing full-time trumped any desire for my books to be known and have my name on it. I do, however, want to write more of my own and increase my passive income, but I think I found my true purpose and passion: helping others achieve their goals and coaching.

      Oh! and congratulations on building such a successful empire. I imagine that was hard to leave. I’m sure it was your baby.

  8. Lyle Nicholson says:

    This is great content. Thanks for leaving the information about Wattpad. I’ve been thinking of doing that for some time. As for ghostwriting, I doubt I’d ever do it. I retired from 21 years as a manufactures agent in Canada, where I built a 10 million dollar per year business with great commissions.

    When I retired from that business, I had only the money in my investments. I swore I would never build someone else’s business again, even for a lot of money. I love the fact that I can write, publish and see sales every day. It may be meager some days, but it came from me, my effort, my reward.

    I applaud your efforts and accomplishments, thank you for writing this long post.

  9. Matthew Thrush says:

    I’ve been getting emailed a lot about ghostwriting with the same or similar questions, concerns, and curiosities. I LOVE it!

    So I created a private Facebook group where I can connect, answer, offer suggestions, or assistance in one, central location.

    If you want to join, here’s the group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/313369749194477/

    The goal is to be able to offer guidance, support, answer questions, review and critique proposals or profile copy, etc. to help you develop a career as a ghostwriter, if you want. It’ll also save my hands! haha

  10. Matthew Thrush says:

    I’ve been getting emailed a lot about ghostwriting with the same or similar questions, concerns, and curiosities. I LOVE it!

    So I created a private Facebook group where I can connect, answer, offer suggestions, or assistance in one, central location.

    If you want to join, here’s the group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/313369749194477/

    The goal is to be able to offer guidance, support, answer questions, review and critique proposals or profile copy, etc. to help you develop a career as a ghostwriter, if you want. It’ll also save my hands! haha

  11. Eva says:

    I used to LOVE the reader interaction on Wattpad and even had a featured story on there. Then on 1 April last year (I thought it was a joke) they deleted my account without warning and never replied to any of my support requests.

    Just a warning not to rely on social media alone, but to build up your own website, as I’m sure Nick will attest.

    1. Matthew Thrush says:

      That’s strange. I wonder if someone reported your account and it was deleted without prompting you.

      I’ve never heard of them not responding. I wonder what was going on for that to happen. I’m glad you had a good experience before then though. 🙂

      What do you use now?

  12. Eva says:

    I used to LOVE the reader interaction on Wattpad and even had a featured story on there. Then on 1 April last year (I thought it was a joke) they deleted my account without warning and never replied to any of my support requests.

    Just a warning not to rely on social media alone, but to build up your own website, as I’m sure Nick will attest.

  13. Tyson Eilers says:

    I use wattpad too. And I agree that the main way to gain readers on wattpad is to comment and reply and follow everyone interested in your story. I have currently been trying to write more often and have a few books I’m writing and also, if you have someone write a plot for you. Its a good way to get great ideas.

    Matthew thrush is a really great writer and I love his book so far.

    1. Matthew Thrush says:

      You’re always so kind. I’m glad you enjoy my writing. If only I could share all of the books I’ve ghostwritten with you. I think you’d like them. They’re even better than the 2136, in my opinion. (Well, the writing for sure is!)

      1. Tyson Eilers says:

        Matthew thrush: what other writings do you have, I’d love to find a way to read them eventually… Where did you write it?

        1. Matthew Thrush says:

          Most of my work is publishing on Amazon. You can find it by searching my name or going to my author page: https://www.amazon.com/Matthew-Thrush/e/B00J8VFJK8/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_5?qid=1524964401&sr=8-5

          I’ll be having several new series coming out in the next 3-6 months, but most of my time is spent ghostwriting. It’s now over 23 books that I’ve ghostwritten. If I’m ever allowed to share those with you, I’ll let you know. There are some good series, if I do say so myself. haha

  14. Tyson Eilers says:

    I use wattpad too. And I agree that the main way to gain readers on wattpad is to comment and reply and follow everyone interested in your story. I have currently been trying to write more often and have a few books I’m writing and also, if you have someone write a plot for you. Its a good way to get great ideas.

    Matthew thrush is a really great writer and I love his book so far.

  15. Tony Spence says:

    Hi Matthew,
    Loved the article. I have a time travel series I want to get started. I’ve finished the first book and working on books two and three. I haven’t found an agent yet. It’s so hard to find someone. I’m thinking about getting a professional editor to help. What do you think?

    1. Matthew Thrush says:

      Hey Tony,
      Congratulations on completing book one. You’re well on your way to a career, especially since you’re working on the next two sequels.
      If you’re looking for an agent, that’s great too. I wouldn’t worry so much about finding an agent unless you want to traditionally publish or have someone act as your publicist.
      You can make a great living, oftentimes better, as an Indie than traditional, but you’ll have to do all of the work (even though you’d have to do that with the traditional to, in terms of marketing and promoting).
      If you’re looking for an agent, you can try out The Writer’s Market 2018. It has lots of resources. Just search for agents and narrow it down to the ones that specialize in your genre and reach out.
      As for hiring a professional editor, you definitely want to. You can find them on Upwork, in the Facebook group 20booksto50k, through a site called Reedsy, etc. They should charge about 2 or 3 cents per word.
      You don’t need an editor (technically), but it’s good if you do to catch errors and make your book even better.
      I would caution finding a good one. I hired one for my 2136 series and think the edits actually caused more issues. It’s as if it wasn’t edited. So, I’ll need to have them reedited at some point.

  16. Tony Spence says:

    Hi Matthew,
    Loved the article. I have a time travel series I want to get started. I’ve finished the first book and working on books two and three. I haven’t found an agent yet. It’s so hard to find someone. I’m thinking about getting a professional editor to help. What do you think?

  17. Christine Embree says:

    This is an amazing article! Thank you Matthew! 🙂
    I especially appreciate your descriptions of how to make Wattpad and Upwork work best.
    With Upwork and choosing gigs… How do you decide what job will pay you enough? How do you set the right level of pay? As a female artist (with a Christian upbringing), I’ve been conditioned to not ask for much, and to be generous. I don’t have a great relationship with money. However, I’m realizing it’s not really fair to only work for free, thinking I’m not worth anything, when I have some unique capabilities that the right clients would probably pay a lot for.
    I’m hoping these questions are up your alley enough to answer them.
    And I have possible ghost-writing questions, but I’ll leave them for the facebook group.

    1. Matthew Thrush says:

      Hey Christine,
      Thank you for commenting. I hope you join the Facebook group. We’ve had some great discussions already and I’m doing something new right now, where I’m connecting you with clients.
      I firmly believe we are blessed to be a blessing to others and that we all thrive when we help each other. So, I get invited for jobs by clients all of the time, but either I’m not a good fit or my schedule does not allow me to take on new work.
      So…I’ve been declining them. However, I’m doing something different to try and be more generous and give more to others.
      Part of the Facebook group, The Author Roadmap to Ghostwriting, is so I can coach people, offer suggestions, tweak your profiles, discuss rate, etc. But now, I’m going to send clients to you (for those interested). It’s a cool new idea and already clients have indicated they’re thrilled. I’m hoping this helps new ghostwriters break into the market or help those struggling to find success.
      As for your rate, that depends on a few things, but technically, you don’t need the experience. You only need to show the client(s) that you are the right fit for them and that you’re able to fulfill their needs, help them achieve their goals, and that the world won’t end when they hire you.
      I can help you more with figuring out the best rate for you, choosing jobs, and so forth.
      I look forward to having you in the group!

      1. Christine Embree says:

        You’re awesome! Thank you 🙂 And I’ll definitely be looking forward to great discussions in the facebook group.

  18. Christine Embree says:

    This is an amazing article! Thank you Matthew! 🙂
    I especially appreciate your descriptions of how to make Wattpad and Upwork work best.
    With Upwork and choosing gigs… How do you decide what job will pay you enough? How do you set the right level of pay? As a female artist (with a Christian upbringing), I’ve been conditioned to not ask for much, and to be generous. I don’t have a great relationship with money. However, I’m realizing it’s not really fair to only work for free, thinking I’m not worth anything, when I have some unique capabilities that the right clients would probably pay a lot for.
    I’m hoping these questions are up your alley enough to answer them.
    And I have possible ghost-writing questions, but I’ll leave them for the facebook group.

  19. Linda says:

    Hi Matthew!
    Thank you for such an enthusiastic and well written article. Up work and Wattpad here I come!

    Yet I see not everyone is as enthusiastic. I’m a realist – too long in the tooth to be anything else…..I know it’s going to take time to achieve the sort of outcomes of which you speak. I also know my own worth and am not prepared to play for peanuts.

    I’m quite happy to write for free, so Wattpad won’t ‘hurt’ financially. If I’ve understood you correctly it will give me the one thing I so far lack – readership; a virtual ‘list’; the beginning of my ‘tribe’. Priceless in my view!

    I’ve started ghostwriting and really enjoy such work. I’m not making much money out of it – but then I’m not asking for much. Why not you might wonder?

    I’m writing primarily to help little known charities get their ‘story’ out there and raise donations – see When Families Fail’ by Steven Mudusu and Linda Wilson on Amazon. My ‘ghost’ has started becoming an apparition!

    I figure ‘coming out of the shadows’ in this way will help raise my profile too. The ‘tribes’ supporting the charities will hopefully also become my followers.

    I have a USP that is also starting to attract attention from some quarters, helped by recent high profile parties being exposed for their misdemeanors. Professionally I’m a Clinical and Forensic Psychologist (retired). People who have been victims are wanting to tell their stories. Having spent years ‘storytelling’ to the courts, I have to say I know I’m quite good at it (client, lawyer, case outcome and judge feedback). But it’s also opened the door to another world – fiction. I’ve been approached by a Publisher to write a crime fiction series.

    I’ve not made any money for myself yet, but I think the path ahead is now looking a little less bumpy. Just using the Wattpad ought to be a great help. Not so sure about Upwork, but I’ll give it a go. My pension pot ran out a long time ago – could do with a few jobs to help pay the bills…..

    If ever you’re looking to JV with a Clin Psych, don’t hesitate to give me a shout!

    Kind regards,
    Linda

  20. Pete Mason says:

    I am releasing my memoir, Radical Shifts, on December 14th of 2019. It will be a paperback, ebook and audio book. It tells the story of my journey as a rock musician to Christian musician and then Catholic priesthood for 10 years and then back to rock with my Christian band Myztery with my wife Cyndie.

  21. Claire Travel says:

    What a great article! I’m inspired to hurry up and finish my 1st of what I plan to be one of Nick’s 3book boxed sets. I’m passing your article on to a 1st-time writer who’s asked for help on what to do next. Thanks!

  22. Ray says:

    Matthew:

    Quick question for you on Wattpad:
    I have considered it, but have read that plaigiarism is rampant out there and that writers are not offered any kind of protection from it, and WP doesn’t follow up on complaints from writers whose work has been copied and sometimes posted right back on the site…as owned by someone else.

    Have you experienced this?

    The problem is twofold legally, the worst part being, someone can steal your work, and turn around and claim you actually stole it from them…

    So I hesitate to put fiction out there (which, I feel has a higher, more innate value than NF writing because it’s so much more unique…)

    We all know the theft of nonfiction is widespread across the internet in the freelance writing arena, but that’s a much more grey area in terms of the original source material…and who owns it That’s why you quote sources.

    A fiction author has to be much more legally conscious… And I don’t like the idea of years of my labor being casually stolen…

    1. Nick Stephenson says:

      I wouldn’t let it stop you – at the end of the day, someone could just download your book from Amazon and copy it if they wanted to, so this isn’t any more risky than authorship in general (and it pretty much a cost of business these days). It should be fairly easy to prove you wrote the book though, and there are standard DMCA procedures to follow in the case of someone copying your work.

    2. Matthew Thrush says:

      Thanks, Ray.

      I appreciate the question. There are pirates everywhere and it’s just something we’ll always deal with until we put all our assets on the blockchain. I have experienced this myself.

      Take it as a compliment that your work is good. 🙂

      As long as you have files to prove when you created something, you’re good to go for proving your ownership and rights. Also, if you file a copyright with Library of Congress (United States) then you’re definitely covered. Plus, when you publish your book on Amazon or Wattpad, it’s timestamped.

      The main benefit I found from posting on Wattpad was building up a fanbase, testing out my writing, stories, and styles, and building confidence. They have programs on there for the best writers (those with stories that go viral). If you get picked up for one of those, you can make money on your writing. Also, they have partnerships with producers and publishers, plus run their own publishing group too.

      Many options for skilled writers. As for me, I started off writing fiction and that made me multiple six-figures as an author and ghostwriter, but when I pivoted to nonfiction writing for experts, thought leaders, and business owners to build million dollar book ecosystems for them…my business exploded.

      As you go, you’ll discover your sweet spot.

  23. Amanda King says:

    Interesting post. I suppose we all end up having more or less the same issues.

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