Welcome to the SPF Weekly Write-Up, where each Wednesday we collect together the self-publishing news of the week so you don’t have to.

This week: how to make a living from your writing, ghostwriting is on the rise, and a list of new SP books.

How to Make a Living From Your Writing

I’m afraid I don’t have any secret answer for you here, but I do have a link to an article that’s been shared a couple of times in the SPF Facebook Community. The author was part of a survey that asked authors who had seen differing levels of success (emerging authors, those making $60k a year, those making over $100k a year) what they did in regards to their editing, their book covers, and how many hours a week they spent writing.

It won’t come as a huge surprise to find out that those making the most money are the ones who have the most books written, regularly pay for editors and cover designers, and put the most time into writing (though if they’re writing full-time, they don’t have a day job to juggle). Still, it’s an interesting article, and reinforces the fact that the best thing to do as a writer is write more books.

Ghostwriting is Bigger Than Ever

And not just any form of ghostwriting – fiction ghostwriting. Dan Gerstein, founder and CEO of Gotham Ghostwriters, believes that it’s because of the “ongoing democratizing of storytelling and publishing” – i.e. the rise of self-publishing avenues, and the public success seen by some authors who started out with self-publishing, such as E.L. James and Andy Weir (Fifty Shades of Grey and The Martian, respectively).

You can read more about it here.

Looking For a New Self-Published Read?

Then look no further than this list of 72 new self-published books released in October this year. It’s a list primary focussed at attracting the attention of a publisher or an agent, it seems, but there may be some interesting titles worth reading.

Of course, this is hardly a comprehensive list, and I’ve no idea whether it’s remotely effective in gaining an author exposure or not. But it’s there, if you want to take a look.

Tom Ashford

Tom Ashford is a professional copywriter, author of numerous dark fantasy and sci-fi novels, and the Head of Content at the Self Publishing Formula Blog. His books include the Blackwater trilogy and the Checking Out series.

He lives in London with his wife, in an apartment that doesn’t allow pets. Find out more about Tom here.