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Simon's first novel for middle grade and young adult readers, The Alchemist’s Portrait, was published in 2003, followed by The Sorcerer’s Letterbox in 2004, The Clone Conspiracy in 2005, The Emerald Curse in 2006, The Heretic’s Tomb in 2007, The Doomsday Mask in 2009, The Time Camera in 2011, The Sphere of Septimus in 2014, Future Imperfect in 2016, the Flashback series, comprising Flashback, Twisted Fate, and Parallel Destiny, in 2015, 2016, and 2018, the Shadowzone series, comprising Shadowzone, Into the Web, and Black Dawn, in 2017, and The Stone of the Seer series in 2022. He's also the author of The Children’s Writer’s Guide, The Working Writer’s Guide, The Time Traveler’s Guide, The Social Media Writer’s Guide, a contributing author to The Complete Guide to Writing Science Fiction Volume One, and has written more than a hundred non-fiction books.
Simon offers a number of services for writers, including editing, manuscript evaluation, coaching, mentoring, and writing workshops, in addition to copywriting services for the business community. He's a writing instructor for adults with the University of Calgary and offers online workshops for both children and adults. He also offers a wide variety of presentations, workshops, and author in residence programs for schools and libraries, as well as virtual author visits.
Simon is a regular presenter at conferences and festivals, and served as the Writer-in-Residence with the Canadian Authors Association.
Full details can be found on his website at www.simon-rose.com.
Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite
It’s not easy making a living as a writer. Gone are the days when book royalties alone would constitute a substantial income. Unless you’re one of those writers who can instantly make it to the top as a best seller and keep your books on the best selling list, then you will have to consider supplementing your income either with a day job and/or doing a number of other things loosely related to your writing.
Simon Rose has published quite a few books, mostly for children, both fiction and nonfiction. He has also written numerous articles and several self-help guides to assist the fledgling and the established writer hone their skills as a writer and actually make some money from it. In his book, The Working Writer’s Guide: Making a Living as a Published Author and Professional Writer, Simon takes the reader/writer through many possible means of making money and making a career out of writing.
There are the obvious suggestions: doing paid speaking engagements in various public venues (including schools if your book is directed at a young audience), and writing articles for paying publications (both print and online). Then he suggests other possible income generating sources: writing content for advertising material for different companies, content editing, proofreading and copy editing the works of other writers as well as documents for various companies. There’s also money to be made giving writing workshops, teaching writing to students of all ages, and running summer writing camps for young people.
The bottom line is that there are means to make a writing career feasible, even if you never do become a best selling author. But, like Simon says, “You may of course become very successful and not need this advice, but most authors engage in some or all of the activities described above in order to earn a living. Enjoy the journey.” And that’s what’s most important: we as writers must enjoy our writer’s journey. A great resource for beginning and established writers.
