Book Writing and Financial Independence
Books and Financial Independence
What the heck is the connection between book writing and financial independence? This is exactly the question that I am going to address with a panel of guests we record with for The What’s Up Next Podcast later today. Although the link seems tenuous, I am convinced that there is more to this symbiotic relationship. There are no shortage of FIRE oriented books. There are also no shortage of financially independent people who write.
But this begs the basic question. Why?
The Why of FI?
For some, (book) writing is the why of FI. I sit firmly in this group. Although I identify with my life as a doctor, I have always felt that writing was also an important part of my purpose. Blogging, book writing, podcasting, public speaking. They all were atrophied parts of my life that were squeezed into a state of submission by a busy work schedule.
The connection between book writing and financial independence is that I didn’t have the time or space to devote to these activities until I could pull back from the busy schedule of doctoring.
I think there are many examples of this in the FIRE community. Bryce and Kristy from Millennial Revolution come to mind. If I remember correctly, early retirement helped give them the space and time needed to write their first novel.
The Road To Financial Independence
Book writing and financial independence may be even more tightly connected. Several have used revenues and notoriety from their books to vault them towards financial freedom or to set up passive revenue streams.
A successful book writer puts in concerted effort during the creation and initial marketing stage, But eventually autopilot takes over. Often success with other online ventures can boost sales even further. Sam from Financial Samurai wrote a book about engineering one’s own layoff which still provides monthly income. Jim Dahle’s White Coat Investor is another that comes to mind.
While it may be hard to write for one’s sole income, it can definitely provide cash flow that can continue for years.
Education/Social Mission
Certainly, we would be remiss if we did not mention the social mission. This movement was somewhat founded by Vicki Robbin and her now famous book Your Money Or Your Life. She provides a stunning example of the connection between book writing and financial independence.
Above and beyond cash flow, above and beyond the pure joy of writing, many want to pass on what they have learned on their financial independence journey. We feel a pull to communicate, connect, and help our fellow man.
Creating a text of all one’s knowledge and lessons learned fulfills this purpose perfectly.
Final Thoughts
People write for many reasons. The connection between book writing and financial independence is not surprising. For some, it is the why of FI. For others, it is a viable path to extra income and building wealth.
By far, though, in this community, the reasons run deeper. We write to connect with our fellow journeyer. We wish to educate, and empathize, and celebrate as a community.
One day at a time, one win at a time, one page at a time.
I was thinking about this topic the other day but I was thinking about a slightly wider question – why do we still have books at all? In today’s age when video, audio and photography content can be easily produced (not forgetting articles and blog posts) the enduring popularity of books might, at first, appear to be surprising.
I think there is an element of writing a book still being a bucket list item similar to perhaps running a marathon, travelling the world etc… For many people writing a book is still one of their life goals.
But I agree that I think it is the “pull to communicate, connect, and help” that is the driving force behind all of this book production and consumption. Producing a book can act as a distillation and framing of one’s knowledge and expertise in a subject area, at once capable of acting of an explanation of how things ‘came to be’ as well as being a manifesto of how things ‘ought to be’.
HH