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"What sells more, fiction or non-fiction, and what should I write when starting out?"

2,952 views · Published 23 August 2018 · 5:07 · Indexed 22 September 2026

Channel: The Creative Penn · 2018 · Education

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Question from a listener - What sells more, fiction or non-fiction, and so what should I write?

There will always be 2 competing sides of the equation - the artist is inspired by what they love, the business-person wants to write for money.

I spent 13 years doing a job for money - implementing Accounts Payable into large corporates! - and so my fiction is from the heart. Yes, I like making money - but because I have multiple streams of income, I can write books my artist wants to write.

Back to the question.
Non-fiction can make more money immediately as you can spin it into other things - courses, consulting, speaking, services, that go beyond the book.
Fiction takes time to make money - but once you have a lot of books, readers discover you and devour your backlist. You might also be able to license it into other markets.

If you haven’t written anything yet, write the book of your heart. Write what you love to read and write. What do you want to create in the world? How do you want to build your body of work?

"What sells more, fiction or non-fiction, and what should I write when starting out?"

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