Monetizing the MFA and Friendly Friday with Leighton Creative
- Eric Sheridan Wyatt
- Jan 27, 2012
- 2 min read
How does one monetize an MFA (Creative Writing) degree?
I’ll let you know once I’ve figured it out.
Sure, there is the possibility of a job teaching creative writing (fiction, please!) at the college or high school level. Based on feedback from fellow students, and knowing my own interests and background, I think I’d do a fine job teaching fiction. But teaching jobs can be hard to come by. It only makes sense to “branch out” and find other ways to put my skills and passions to work.
And, yes, I have confidence my short stories will rake in the sort of money people think of when they hear literary names like King and Rowling and Clancy and Grisham. I fully expect there will be a series of movies and a theme park in Orlando based on the magical world I’ve created in my story, Solomon’s Ditch.
But, really.
The front of my business card for Words Matter Creative Writing Instruction, designed by Matt Crow at Leighton Creative.
For the last year or so, I’ve been planning and developing various ideas under the umbrella of my “company” brand, Words Matter – Creative Writing Instruction. Notebooks full of ideas and thoughts and “what if I” scenarios. Now that the post-MFA life has begun, it’s time to move from planning to doing.
One of the ways to move forward is with a website. The Words Matter Creative Writing website has actually been around for a while now. I wanted to get a head start, get things up and running, move forward.
I didn’t promote the site much, though. I was waiting to finish my degree and have the time to really devote to building varied income streams. It will take time and energy and effort, but I’m looking forward to trying a number of new things.
The back of my business card for Words Matter Creative Writing Instruction, designed by Matt Crow at Leighton Creative.
My friend Matt Crow, owner of Leighton Creative Visual Communications, designed my logo and recently designed my new business cards. Matt is a designer I’ve worked with for almost twenty years, now. We’ve worked as a team and he’s provided me with graphic design services for several projects during my several careers prior to becoming a writer. (You know, those legitimate jobs where I had things like benefits and a regular paycheck.)
If you are establishing a new product or “branding” yourself or you need a book cover for that blockbuster-novel-waiting-to-happen, Matt’s a guy you should talk to.
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