I am cheap. (Frugal is a kinder word.) I reuse birthday candles. When my husband turned 67, I didn’t have a seven so I used an 8 instead. (He thought I didn’t know how old he was.) I passed this trait on to my son. One day, I noticed that he had a lot of dirty tissues on his bed and asked why he didn’t throw them away. He replied, “I’m letting them dry out so I can use them again.”

My frugality has carried over into my writing. It’s not my career, but a calling. And with a calling, I have to wonder if a financial investment is worth it.

I’m not asking if I’m worth it because it isn’t a question of my value, my worth. And I’m not asking if the investment will pay off financially. Chances are it will not. I don’t expect my books to become best-sellers. Given the number of hours spent writing, my hourly wage for the books I’ve written is pretty low. (I don’t want to know how low, but it’s in the pennies. Maybe.)

The question, “Is it worth it?” reflects a series of other questions. Will it make me a better writer? Will it make the book look better? Will it make the book more readable for the buyer? Will it get my writing into the hands of those who can benefit from it?

With every investment I’ve made in my writing vocation, I have asked one (or more) of those questions.

I am about to publish my fourth book, which is four more books than I thought I would have published ten years ago. All of them are self-published, which means I have to make decisions that I might not have if I chose traditional publishing.

My first financial investment was in my second book. I had self-published my first book on Amazon and it was so frustrating. Not because Amazon KDP is so difficult to use (it is not), but because I didn’t know how to prepare my manuscript properly for the Amazon system. I knew I didn’t want to go through that again.

I needed help from an expert, and I happened across the PraiseWriters’ website. There was an option for coaching on the publishing process with Mike Fontecchio, and I signed up. It was incredibly helpful. As a result of that one-hour call, when I was ready to publish my second book, instead of the 40 hours it took with book one, the second one was less than a minute. That was money well spent.

Mike told me about PraiseWriters and encouraged me to check out the PraiseWriters library. What a wealth of resources! There were interviews with authors I had read. (How cool is that!) There were classes and workshops. And there was a faith-filled Catholic vibe that permeated everything. I knew this was the kind of writing group I wanted and needed. My monthly membership has been money well spent.

I also invested in a professional book cover for the first time with book two. I designed my first cover with Cover Creator in Amazon, and it was okay but not great. I have absolutely no artistic gifts and could not make the cover do what I wanted. I was certain I didn’t want to do that again. But Mike is an expert, so I contracted with him to design the cover for that book and the others since then. He has done a great job – and I always love what he creates. This was more money well spent.

Another investment was in both time and money. As I started on my fourth book, I needed an accountability group to keep me focused and making progress. I reached out through PraiseWriters and found a group of women who had a similar goal – to write a book in a year. (None of us actually finished our book in a year, but so much fruit came from this group!) We began meeting in January 2025 and continue today, meeting every two weeks on Zoom. The investment here was a Zoom account and my time. I think God chose the women for this group, and we have all been blessed. This is money well spent.

My latest investment was contracting with an editor for book four. I really resisted this. Not because I think I don’t need it, but because I am cheap. This would be the biggest investment yet.

My decision to use an editor was influenced by the belief that this book might go beyond my family and friends. It’s about spiritual warfare, and I know that is such an important topic. So I decided to find an editor. I asked other Catholic writers and they shared some of their experiences, good and bad. Several recommended Mary Beth Giltner, who had edited the PraiseWriters’ book, Crowned with Grace. I met with her online and we agreed on the project.

Mary Beth has been incredibly helpful. Her knowledge of Catholic teaching is great, which helped her see places where I might need to change a word or explain a theological concept. I learned when to use italics, bold, bullets, commas, quotes, and semi-colons (and when not to use them). I found that I use “it” and “they” too often, and need to explain what “it” I’m referring to. She is making me a better writer. This is money well spent.

Given my tendency to frugality, I don’t invest easily. I ask the question, “Is it worth it?” I have answered yes a little at a time, and am grateful to God that the investments I have made in my writing have born great fruit. I know this is work He has given to me, and I cannot do it alone. I don’t have the skills. But by His grace, I have been shown many gifted people who are building me up and helping me share the words He has given me with the world.

What about you? Are you investing in your writing? If God has called you to write, perhaps He is also calling you to invest.

Colleen Orchanian is an author, spiritual director, podcaster, and retreat leader. She is retired as Adult Formation Director and Director of Religious Education. She lives in Blairsville, Georgia with her husband, Tom, and son, Tommy. You can visit her site at colleenorchanian.com