Notes from Chris

Episode 388

Over the last ten years, pub quizzes have become a staple of expat life for a guy named John also known as Mr. Know It All. In his adopted Polish home of Krakow, John and a few of his fellow expat friends took it upon themselves to help write questions and host a trivia night at their new local bar. For them it wasn’t just some trivia-l task, it was a labor of love.

As the years went by, John’s friends slowly began to move away from the job of writing the weekly quiz fell to him. But this wasn’t a problem. He felt his years of experience had given him a knack for writing questions, and the work was enjoyable.

Over time, however, John began to feel the strain of not having his friends to help out. He could write the questions easily enough, but he was beginning to feel the strain financially. Although he’d receive free beer whilst hosting, this wasn’t enough to cover the six hours he spent preparing and hosting.

The contestants paid to participate in the quiz, but that money went directly to the bar. John saw this as unfair, but also an opportunity. If he could take his quiz night elsewhere, he could charge the entry fee and get paid for his time, while helping another bar to grow its custom. A win/win … as it’s known in side hustle circles.

He’s not sure how the idea came to him, but John decided that he would try and sell the questions on Amazon. He had more than enough content to fill multiple books of questions, and he knew that most of the quiz-based books out there weren’t that great. This was his opportunity to do create something unique.

Taking 500 of his favorite questions, he uploaded them to Kindle Direct Publishing and formatted them through their own in-house tools. John wanted to do this without spending any money at all, so he created a cover in Canva that looked acceptable. In order to keep his privacy, John published his books under the nom-de-plume Mr. Know It All and priced them at $9.75, which he felt was competitive with other books in his market.

With the combined income of his book and his in-person quiz night, John makes between $800 and $900 per month from his side hustle, for about seven hours of work each week. This level of income even prompted John to write and publish a second book of 500 more questions.

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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing: The self-publishing platform that John used to create his quiz books
• Canva: The online design platform that John used to create his book covers

SEE ALSO:

• How to Make a Trivia Quiz: If you're interested in creating a pub quiz of your own, here are some things to consider
• Epic Scavenger Hunt Becomes 6-Figure Income: An event planner creates a competitive scavenger hunt game that takes place across Boston. Can you really make money while having so much fun?
• “Game Night in a Can” Makes $75,000 for TV Producer: A crowdfunded project to bring LA comedy to households across the country becomes a big success

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

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