#Authoring Episode 13: Managing the Ebb and Flow of Author Finances with Jen A. Miller

Whether you’re making most of your living from writing books or using it as a side hustle, you still must contend with some sticky financial issues: how to manage large(ish) checks with long dry spells in between, how to pay taxes when they’re not automatically deducted for you, and how to pay for, you know, life when those authoring checks aren’t enough to live off of.

Journalist and author Jen A. Miller has figured this stuff out better than most: She has been freelancing for more than 15 years and has developed systems for dealing with the uneven flow of money and paying taxes—which she shares with us in this episode. We also talk about how she balances books (like her memoir Running: A Love Story) with her work as The New York Times’s running correspondent and her less glamorous, more lucrative gigs creating content for business publications and universities. She spills many of her secrets to making a very comfortable living—even during the current pandemic—but you can get even more in her indispensable e-book Notes from a Hired Pen: How I Made $135,000 in One Year of Freelancing.

Resources:

• The Money Book for Freelancers, Part-Timers, and the Self-Employed 
• Jen A. Miller's official website
• Running: A Love Story 
• Jen’s running newsletter for The New York Times 
• Notes from a Hired Pen