Users who’d like to become authors // please join the discussion

Dear readers,
Are there any users here who are currently thinking about starting out as authors here on crazypatterns ?
If so, please chime in here in this thread so we can give you some tips.
A few things to know first:
https://www.crazypatterns.net/de/anleitungen-verkaufen
Of course, we have even more resources—no (future) author has to do this all on their own.

@Former users and current authors,
what was your experience like?
Tina shared a few thoughts on this in the other thread.
This should be an interesting topic.

@Users who wanted to become authors but didn’t end up doing so:
What held you back?

Hello,

I’ve already designed two things myself.

Unfortunately, so far I haven’t dared to write the pattern in a way
that would make it suitable for selling.

I’m also a bit inexperienced when it comes to the legal side of things.
Taxes and so on.

Since I work full-time and my husband is unable to work due to illness, I don’t
know how things work with the tax office.

That has kept me from writing patterns in a way that I could
sell them.

Best regards, Heike

Dear Heike, a tax advisor or your local tax office can help you with these questions. I’m sure there’s a way to handle it.

Why not just try writing out the pattern on your computer? Then you’ll know if you can handle it and if it’s “your thing.” If so, talk to a tax advisor. They’ll definitely know how to handle the tax and legal aspects.

I’ll share my story here again :)

Like most others, I started out just crocheting from patterns. At first, I only made amigurumi and very simple hats and scarves.

Whenever I saw a nice pattern, I just had to have it!

At some point, I wanted to crochet a comic book character for a friend and couldn’t find a really good pattern anywhere—except for one, and that one cost over 10 €.
That was too much for me—I wanted to try it myself.
And I managed to do it! I was so proud that I typed out the pattern in great detail—all I really had to do was publish it. I even made a second character—to match the first one!! So I looked into how to go about it and was quickly disappointed—they were licensed characters and therefore couldn’t be published! Like most others, I looked for loopholes, but I can tell you: there aren’t any. So the characters remained one-of-a-kind pieces...

Still, I was now eager to write patterns and designed my very first original character!
  The pattern was finished, and then came the next setback: After thinking I could just do this “on the side,” I realized that wasn’t possible. I needed to register a business (or something similar)!
I decided to let it go…

But barely a week later, I ended up calling the city and the tax office anyway. It didn’t sound that bad after all…
  So, I went ahead and did it—I fought my way through all those stacks of paperwork… It was quite a paper war at first, but once you get through it, everything’s fine :) Now I’m here and happy that I took the plunge!
And as you can see, I’ve continued to grow.
I don’t just make amigurumi anymore—I make all kinds of things!

  If you’re interested in this topic but feel unsure, feel free to ask here in the forum or send me (or certainly other authors too :)) a message. The authors here are a great team and help each other out when needed. Plus, the CP team is always available to answer questions! (There’s also a separate forum here for authors where they can ask questions. You get access to it if you have your own patterns :))

Even though I’m not getting rich from this (I reinvest all the money I earn here into yarn, which I use to create new patterns and crochet things for underprivileged children), I really enjoy this side job and don’t regret a single second of it :) 

Good morning!

Tina has already “covered” the commercial and financial law aspects, as well as the topic of “licensed products” (and here I can only add that I really advise everyone against releasing Pokémon, Minions, Mickey Mouse, and the like in pattern form—whether free or paid—onto the market... sure, they attract customers, but it won’t be long before the first wave of cease-and-desist letters hits—which will be very painful for the authors, as it could financially ruin them).

For those with a full-time job, it’s also worth noting that you first need to clarify whether your employment contract allows for a side business. This may actually be prohibited by your employer.
And dealing with your health insurance provider is crucial, because there are time and monetary limits to consider here as well.

Once you’ve overcome all these “obstacles”—which seem like obstacles when you’re facing them, but in reality aren’t—all that’s left is to take good photos (check out the tips on this in the forum!) and create clear patterns, and hope that you’ll appeal to your customers’ tastes....

Very few people get rich from their patterns; it’s a lot of work, but if you enjoy it, it’s a great thing :)

LG

The previous posters have already covered all the key points.

I’d also like to recommend the WKO (Chamber of Commerce) to any Austrians who are interested. When I decided to start writing patterns, the very first thing I did was contact the office for the relevant federal state.
The staff there were very friendly and knowledgeable, and they were able to give me precise answers to almost all my questions. And if not, they referred me to the appropriate office that was then able to help me.