Licensing Income…

Got Some Fun Questions After Thursday Blog…

One Basic Question first… How do you get licensing deals?

Answer: Have all your books and stories wide, with well-branded covers and good sales copy. (That kills most writers right there.) Readers will find your work and readers are often people who can do a license with you. I know that sounds too simple and takes too long, but it is the truth.

A point of interest here. You all license your electronic books to stores like Amazon and B&N and Kobo, but I am not talking about that.

Licensing for this conversation is when a company comes to you for audio, translation, merchandise, gaming, movie, streaming, and things like that. Of course, in each of those areas, there are thousands of different forms. (You can slice that magic pie very, very thin in each of those areas.)

And licensing agreements are not like the horrid traditional publishing book contracts. Not in the slightest. Never get near a traditional book publisher for any reason. Here in 2026 I can say that firmly. They will scam you and take your work. Regular licensing agreements will not.

Another question… When did Kris and I start getting licensing deals? Was it from our traditional books or since indie?

I never owned most of my traditionally published novels since I did work-for-hire and ghost novels. Kris got some deals with her traditional published books, but most happened after she got her rights back from the publisher.

I got my first option for a short story back in the mid-1990s and made a bunch of money on it and a few other optioned short stories through the first part of the new century.

Kris has options running for different things on all of her major series for movies and streaming and she does great on audio options. Back in the traditional days, we both did pretty well on translation options until we discovered our agent was stealing from us using those options. In this modern indie world, translations are less important, but still very valuable.

The reason we got licensing deals is back to question one. Our work is out everywhere.

Point of interest: All writers with Shopify stores can do their own merchandise licensing and sales. And it is great fun. And draws attention of other licenses. I am still working to get a sock license for some of our work. Trust me, I will shout if I do.

Also, keep in mind the scale. One small option or shopping agreement alone can earn you more than you make on Amazon in three or four months. One actual license can earn more than all your book sales in a couple years. And something big, like a streaming show or a movie, can go way beyond that.

Of course, until you learn copyright and trademark (which is where you make all your money), if something does come your way, you will screw it up.

And never, ever give any person who is interested in a license from you something for free. If they can’t pay a small shopping agreement fee or option fee, they are not worth your time no matter what they promise.

And one more thing. Never deal with any licensing person on the phone. (They always want to.) Always by email for everything, then print off a copy of the email and back it all up away from your computer.

Kris and I have been talking for a long time about doing an overall everything career mentorship for a few people. Everything from step one all the way through all this and way beyond into making a good living. After I tossed out those few things here tonight, maybe Kris and I again need to talk about offering that. Hmmm…