I'm Nicole Dieker. I've been a full-time freelance writer since 2012, and I published my first novel, The Biographies of Ordinary People, in 2017.
You might be familiar with my work at The Billfold, The Write Life, or Lifehacker. I've also written for Reviews.com, Popular Science, Wing World Magazine, and more. (So many more.)
I know a lot about earning money as a writer. I earned over $87,000 from my writing in 2016—that's gross, so I didn't get to keep all of it, but we'll talk about taxes and business expenses on the podcast.
We'll also talk about how to pitch, how to build relationships with editors and publications, how to conduct interviews when you're on a tight deadline, how to track (and grow) your income, how to track (and manage) your time—and for those of you who want to be authors as well as freelancers, how to write and self-publish a novel.
Happy New Year! Let's talk about how to set writing and money goals for 2018.
I mention "Biographies Volume 1" and "Biographies Volume 2" in this podcast; I'm referring to my published novel The Biographies of Ordinary People: Volume 1: 1989–2000 and the forthcoming Volume 2: 2004–2016.
I also try to guess whether Vol. 1 has sold 500 copies yet. Turns out it's sold exactly 500 copies, as of my most recent "This Week in Self-Publishing" column. WOO-HOO!
(Yes, the numbers look like it's only sold 499 copies, but the 500th copy sold IN THE COMMENTS.)
You'll hear me mention a paid subscription in this episode; this podcast was originally released under a freemium/subscription model, but I have since decided to make it free for everybody. ❤️
