Today, I’ll talk about something I don’t discuss much. The challenges of an off-grid author can be daunting, but they are manageable. More so, living life as a traveling off-grid author is an interesting adventure.
My wife and I began our journey in 2020.
It was January. We lived in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. News broke about a pandemic devastating New York City. We were renting a 4-bedroom house, a church parsonage. The pastor informed us the church wanted to use it for ministry and gave us three months’ notice.
In February, COVID hit Pennsylvania. The state shut down completely. The governor closed all government offices and most businesses.
By May, the social distancing guidelines were lifted and we could go out in public again. Theresa and I had spent three months researching vehicles even though we couldn’t buy one (thank God the church extended our lease during that time). Even if we could, we couldn’t get a vehicle tagged due to the closures. When the door opened, we purchased a shuttle bus, got it tagged and insured, and built it into an RV. On July 4, we hit the road. That became our personal Independence Day.
Downsizing to a Campervan
While Theresa and I enjoyed living in the bus, we didn’t much care for driving it. We parked it at my parents’ house in East Texas and bought a Chevy Express. The bus became our living quarters, our home base (later, we turned a shed into a tiny house), and we built the van into a tiny house on wheels.
We bought this van in January 2021, converted it to an off-grid tiny home on wheels, and have been driving it since. We’ve driven it all over north, central, and south Texas. We’ve also been all over the south and eastern parts of the United States. For a couple of years, we vlogged small-town historic walking tours on our YouTube channel.
Authors in Grocery Stores
One of the challenges of managing the YouTube channel was a program I found early in 2023 called Authors in Grocery Stores. I joined the program and started selling my books in Kroger stores around the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
The last video we posted was a little over a year ago. It might seem we’ve abandoned it, but not really. We’ve just had some challenges.
At first, I scheduled appearances once a week. When I found out I could do more than that, I began scheduling appearances in the same store for multiple days, usually Wednesday through Saturday. I sold so many books that we could live on the income, with only a few minor speed bumps.
My wife agreed to support me while I transitioned from freelance writing to managing a full-time author/independent publishing business. At the time (early 2023), I was trying to sell my books online.
I joined Authors in Grocery Stores in January 2023. During the summer, I ramped up my involvement. Heading into 2024, I was poised to go all in on the program and hit the ground running. The program director informed me in 2023 that East Coast grocery store chain Harris Teeter was joining the program. The timing was perfect because my wife and I were planning a trip to Pennsylvania in the spring. I became one of the authors who piloted the Harris Teeter program.
Harris Teeter proved not to be a good match for my books. While in Gettysburg in May 2024, I set up Meet the Author events in four stores in Maryland (there aren’t any Harris Teeters in Pennsylvania). Driving back and forth daily to and from those events proved to be fatal because gas is about $1.00 per gallon more expensive up there than in Texas, and I sold fewer than I would have back home. Lower book sales and higher expenses created a cash flow crunch for our return trip to Texas in June. Nevertheless, we booked some events at Harris Teeter stores in Virginia and South Carolina on the way home.
To make our lifestyle work, some sacrifices are in order. I’ve also learned to manage our resources better. Some of the things we consider when we book a Meet the Author event in a community include:
- Travel distance from our home to the store (every mile adds to our expenses and cuts into profits).
- Is there any place we can stay in town for free? (Some communities have public parking spaces and others do not. Some Walmarts, Cracker Barrels, and Bass Pro Shops allow travelers to stay overnight in their parking lots. Others do not. If these accommodations are not available, we look for a nearby state park, Corps of Engineers campground, a city park, or some other low-cost camping alternative. These are sometimes difficult to find, but not always.)
- Travel distance from our campsite to the store.
- Size and demographics of the community.
- How many other grocery stores are near the considered venue?
- Size of the store (I like Marketplace stores, but I’ve set up in Signature stores and even older Krogers that don’t have a lot of competition).
- Time of the year (this is important because, like any business, there are seasonal peaks and valleys. During weeks and months when people are less likely to purchase books, I tend to stay closer to home).
Other business expenses include marketing, inventory, and vehicle maintenance. Additionally, I must share revenue with Kroger for allowing me to take up floor space.
Book publishing involves many expenses, and books are not a high-ticket item. I’ve got to sell a lot of books to make it profitable. In 2024, I’ve sold more than 1,200 books—well above what most authors do over several years. While 75 percent of my income has come from book sales, I’ve supplemented my income with freelance writing. Going into 2025, I’m considering ways to increase author profits and phase out freelance writing.
3 Ways I Plan to Supplement Book Sales Income in 2025
I’m grateful to have picked up a generous patron who values my work. Those familiar with art history know that many authors and artists have survived through the generous support of patrons. At one time, authors and other artists made their living through patronage. While that is still available for many authors, I prefer to trade value for value. That’s why I’m adding three offers for 2025.
- Newsletter subscriptions - In 2025, I’m offering exclusive content to paid newsletter subscribers. This content will include textual and audio presentations of my books (fiction and nonfiction), poems I’ve written through the years, and other exclusive content. I’ve already begun adding the text and audio narration of Garden of Eden Anthology, the first book in the Biblical Legends Anthology Series. For just $5 per month or $50 per year, you can read and listen to all my books on Substack.
- Sponsorships (business and personal) - Individuals and businesses who want more perks can support me with higher levels of commitment and receive additional benefits. These include a comp subscription to the newsletter's premium content, autographed copies of new books upon release, sneak previews of works in progress, listings on the Acknowledgements page of newly published books, direct access to me through a Discord channel as well as periodic Zoom meetings, and more. For businesses, I’ll use my skills to write blog posts and other content. For more information on individual and business sponsorship packages, contact me by clicking the button in this post.
- Group coaching for writers who want to write and publish a book - While signing books in grocery stores, I meet many people who say they want to write a book and don’t know where to start. Having written and published more than a dozen books in multiple genres (fiction, poetry, and nonfiction), edited several for other authors, and ghostwritten a few, I know the process backward and forward. If you’d like to write a book and don’t know where to start, I can coach you through it. I’ll be launching a weekly Zoom group coaching call for upstart authors. If interested, reach out and let me know.
Message Allen TaylorI’m looking forward to 2025, growing as an author, scaling the business, and helping other authors get started.
Where You’ll Find Me This Week and Next
Starting tomorrow, I’ll be in Burleson, Texas. I’ll be set up at Kroger located at 1631 SW Wilshire Blvd in Burleson during the following dates and times.
- Wednesday, December 11, 2024 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Thursday, December 12, 2024 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Friday, December 13, 2024 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Saturday, December 14, 2024 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Next week, I’ll be at Kroger located at 1950 N. Goliad St. in Rockwall, Texas during the following dates and times.
- Monday, December 16, 2024 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Tuesday, December 17, 2024 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Wednesday, December 18, 2024 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Thursday, December 19, 2024 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Be sure to let your reading friends and family know.
With that, I wish you a happy holiday season. This will be the last you’ll hear from me until January, unless you are a premium subscriber.
This post was first published on Substack. All images the property of Allen Taylor