How much can you make writing & illustrating how to craft books?

I am a graphic designer. I can also draw, paint, bead, sew, garden and create merchandise with natural products. I would like to design how to craft books and patterns. I have pages of ideas in all of the above areas.

How much can you make writing %26amp; illustrating how to craft books?
It depends a lot on the audience (how many people do this craft and would care about your book?) and the publisher. The good news is that for most niche markets (like beading, painting, gardening, etc.) there are smaller publishers who publish books only in that genre, and they are usually more willing to take unpublished authors than some of the larger ones are.





Often, smaller publishers will have a series of related books - a gardening series where one book is on annuals, one on perennials, one on landscaping, one on water gardens, etc. It doesn't really matter whether you're not previously published for these, since people are buying them based on the topic and maybe the series recognition. If you have an area of expertise - say, you could add a book on gazebos to the gardening series - contact the publisher to ask about how you could get involved, write/illustrate your book, and see what they say.





If you have a truly unique idea and are good at it, like a book on "101 crafts you can make with glass soda bottles," you may get a publisher to take your book hoping customers will see it in a store and pick it up out of interest for the topic. Writing the million and oneth book on "how to draw", though, probably won't do you much good.





The pay rate varies based on the publisher, sales made, topic, and type of book, so "how much you can make" really isn't something that's easy to answer - the quick response is "not enough for it to be your primary income" until you're famous or you've got several books under your belt, though.
Reply:It depends on the price of the book, and the numbers sold. How much money you receive will also depend on the deal you cut with your publisher. I would suggest making a book entirely from leaves and marketing it to the environmental lobby.
Reply:Jim is spot on - research potential publishers and see which ones deal with crafts in a way you personally like. Of those, which ones don't have a craft book like the one you want to create? Those are the publishers to whom to submit your work. The good news is that some of the smaller presses won't require having your work represented by an agent, especially if its a local firm.





If that doesn't work out - go to cafepress.com, upload your book and price it and start selling privately. You retain all creative control, sales price etc. but also have to do your own marketing.





Best wishes.

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