9.22.2016

Diversifying Your Income Stream as a Knit Designer

"You don't quit your full-time job because you write knitting books. This isn't Harry Potter." -me

When people ask me about making knitting (and now crochet) design my full-time job, I always say the above quote. Because it's true.

Can you make a full-time living being a designer? Absolutely!


But it takes a lot of income streams to make it work. I truly believe that the vast majority of designers would tell you the same thing too. Most of us are doing other things besides just publishing patterns on Ravelry - we teach, tech edit, sell yarn, write books, do graphic design or photography, etc., to make a living at this.

So, here's a breakdown of my income for January through August of this year:
That's seven different avenues I'm receiving money for my business. And pretty much all of those can be further broken down. For example, I taught at 6 different shops or guilds so far this year, and I received payment from four different companies for "commissioned patterns." In this business, every little piece adds up!

I'm currently taking the route of writing knitting books to earn a good chunk of income. As you can see, it's making up a lot of my income these days. Cozy Stash-Busting Knits was released earlier this year and Sock-Yarn Accessories came out in the Fall of 2015. Will it stay like this forever? No - book sales (and therefore your royalties) naturally go down the longer a book has been available. But, for now, it's working. And, while I do have another book currently in the works (yay!), I'm also brainstorming other ways to further diversify my income.

So, if you're a designer (or thinking about coming one, which you should, because it's the best job), how do you diversify (or plan to diversify) your income stream? I'd love to know!

And, because I love reading about this kind of stuff, here are some links to other people discussing the subject:


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