Self-Publishing As Your Real Job? You Are Not Alone If This Is Your Dream!

There are days when I really don't want to go to my "real" job. I would rather earn my living by sharing the knowledge I have acquired in my nearly 30 years as a coach and teacher. Mainly, I just want to coach a basketball team and not have to deal with all the endless, mindless stuff teachers have to deal with today. 

I still love history (what I teach) and the students themselves. There is nothing like the look on a student's face when the light bulb of understanding lights up or the fun of interacting with your students over an interesting topic. It's just all the other stuff that has robbed the joy of the profession.

My part-time job, self-publishing, has become engaging, interesting and fun. It is even helping to pay a few of the family's bills, something that was not even on the radar when I started this venture.

The thought now goes through my mind at least once a week, "can I make a living as an author selling non-fiction to a niche market?" Should I give up the security of a profession I have performed for nearly 30 years and have learned a great deal about how to perform for one I have just taken up in the last few years?

Scary question.

I don't know what I will do in the future. What I do know is this is something worth investigating.

Can I develop a business model that will allow me to not only pull off being a self-supporting author but be successful enough that I can honestly say I was as good at being an author as I was a teacher and coach? Satisfaction is a big part of the equation to me at this stage of my life.

I look at individuals in the field of self-publishing who have shared the benefit of their trials and tribulations as they made a living via self-publishing and take heart. These individuals have done it and were willing to share their hard earned knowledge with the rest of us who would like to make it as self-publishing authors as well.

Time will tell whether or not I make the decision to take the big chance.

In the mean time, I am writing more books to sell, researching and learning everything I can about the business of self-publishing and anything related to that business endeavor.

So long as I am learning, even if it is by the time honored method of learning from my mistakes, I will share what I learn here on The Self-Publisher's Notebook.

If you are considering making this life-change, let's call it a career change to make it sound safer, please share your comments about this post in the comments section!