We were lucky to catch up with Janisse Ray recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Janisse, thanks for joining us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?
Thank you for talking about the financial lives of creatives. It’s such an important subject. I have been earning a living for myself and my small family for 25 years now. At first I took side-hustles, such as writing newsletters for government agencies, but after the success of my first book, I was able to make a living mostly from speaking engagements and workshops, often on university campuses, plus income from magazine reporting and from book royalties. As time passed, however, the gigs became harder to get–colleges threw less love at the humanities. My income usually hovered at the poverty level, around 25-30K a year (with no health insurance or other benefits), and now that took a hit. Although by this point I had published 10 books, royalties never nourished us financially, and as book sales fell, so did any hope of making a living from royalty income. I hope you don’t mind if I speak very honestly here–by 2019 I was deep in an existential crisis about my art. For most of my adult life I’ve been a full-time writer. I work hard as a writer. I put in impossibly long hours in my study, on a farm inland from Savannah, Georgia. But by the late 20-teens I felt suddenly invisible, even silenced. I had played by all the rules. If a press wanted me to blurb a book, I blurbed it. If they wanted to pay me 6.5 percent royalties, I took it. (That is literally my royalty rate from my first publisher.) I kept thinking that if I played by the rules, I might be poor in the meantime but my ship would come in. And it never did. Six months ago I had a come-to-Jesus moment. I had been supporting tons of middle-people (agents, presses, bookstores, magazines) while keeping myself in poverty, meaning that as an artist I had devalued myself. That is no longer the case. I raised my prices; I no longer work for free; I promote direct sales. I make more money now than I ever have, thanks in part to the Internet & in part to my change in mindset. If I could redo the last 25 years, I would have moved sooner to becoming not just a “writer,” but a “writer and entrepreneur.” If I had a do-over, I would recognize myself not just as an artist but as an entrepreneur years before I did.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I leverage the power of stories to save the earth one heart, mind, and soul at a time. I believe in the transformative power of stories. Stories are not the only vehicle for transformation–therapy, for example, can transform–but I believe stories are the best vehicle. How many times have you read a book and had your mind changed permanently? I’m fascinated by that pivotal place, because the dominant stories are often destructive and oppressive ones. I believe that the narrative arc of humans is naturally toward a better life: we all want to be better versions of ourselves. I write with that possibility in mind.
I write and I teach others to write. I deliver speeches. I influence. I am radically visible as a voice for the voiceless, especially the wild things of the earth. I do this through live-on-Zoom, in-person, and evergreen workshops and courses.
My motto is, Love the earth | love each other | love yourself.
My brand is all about self-actualizing, becoming the person & the writer & the dreamer & the storyteller that you have the capacity to be and the one that the world needs.
I’m at janisseray.com.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
Oh my gosh, I would highly recommend all the self-help books that you can stand to read. I got so much negative programming when I was a kid–it was about being poor, about being southern, about being a girl, about having mental illness in my family. The most awful of monkeys, shame, was riding my back from an early age. I’ve had to get lots of help to rid myself of my inner glass ceilings.
If you are a woman especially, read the money books by women–books like You are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero and We Should All Be Millionaires by Rachel Rodgers. Those lit fires under me.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
For all my adult life I have been trying to change the trajectory of environmental destruction. Boom. I want to save life on earth. And I am serious about this. Every. single. thing. I write is toward this mission, of trying to save and restore the pollinators, the atmosphere, the groundwater, sea life, polar bears, honey bees, songbirds. You name it, I want to keep it around. Grant the destroyers rest.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.janisseray.com
- Instagram: @tracklesswild
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReadJanisseRay
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janisse-ray-322ab61b/
- Twitter: @tracklesswild
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-tedyCzqnQKR5AbUOlKR1A
- Other: Substack: tracklesswild.substack.com
Image Credits
Shot of audience by Raven Zapatismo Waters Headshot by Christopher Ian Smith