?You are never given a dream without being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it, however."
~Richard Bach
(Note:? Sorry this took so long to post--I wanted to have this up last night but had some technical difficulties.)
?
Based on my personal experiences, there are two main ?secrets? to building an income and career in writing that I didn?t know starting out.? One is that the whole idea of overnight/get-rich-quick success is a myth.? When I began researching the careers of my favorite authors, many of them started out in financial situations most of us can find relatable.? They worked other jobs or had another business to pay for their living expenses while they got off the ground?the timeframe for this to happen ranging from several years to several decades.? I don?t mean this as a discouragement?quite the opposite?but long-term you have better chances of success by building a good foundation first.? I?m going to discuss ways of doing this later in the article.
The second was that writing has such flexibility as a career skill that there are both existing opportunities and a wide-open space to create a custom opportunity of your own.? If you need something immediate?something resembling more of a job/work-at-home format, I had a good experience going through the website odesk.com.? It?s basically job bidding/outsourcing that can work in your favor.? For example, I was able to work for a small company in California?writing copy for their website at $16/hour?from my home in Tennessee a couple of years ago.? If you maintain 3-4 part-time clients at a high rate (based on your skill level as a writer and the willingness to filter your opportunities), you could turn it into a full-time job.? The only downside I saw in this was most jobs require you to give exclusive rights of your writing to the clients (mainly to avoid you offering the same information to their competitors since it?s mainly nonfiction/technical writing), but the site did pay and on time.? Overall, I have a positive opinion of them if you?re in the stage of needing to cover bad habits like eating and sleeping indoors, and you can use it as a way to build a portfolio and experience if your primary interest is nonfiction.
When I first started writing online for income (around the middle of 2007), a lot of websites were also starving for general content.? I made several thousand dollars working with eHow, Helium, Hubpages, and similar sites that pay based on how much an article was worth from an advertising standpoint.? I started doing the math, and the realization occurred to me that if I was making $300/month with ?x? number of articles (once you wrote an article, it would continue to generate income for you every month) that I would just need ten times ?x? to get to $3,000/month.? That concept?called residual or passive income in general business circles?is something every writer needs to understand.? It?s different from job income in a lot of ways?seems insignificant at the beginning but then snowballs as you build it.? If you want more information on how that works from a math standpoint, I recommend business authors like Robert G. Allen, Seth Godin, Robert Kiyosaki, and Tim Ferris.
If you want to start out writing articles for other websites, pay careful attention to the contract agreements.? If a site wants exclusive rights (ownership) of your work, I personally see this as a red flag?especially if the pay if very low relative to the effort involved.? What is more common now is the request that your articles be exclusive to a site for a period of time?a year, for example?before you republish it with another website.? It?s still non-exclusive rights (you still own the content) but with a condition.? This stems from a common SEO (search engine optimization?basically formatting your work to where it ranks high on Google and similar searches) issue.? Since writers are often members of multiple article sites, there was the tendency to write an article for one then copy it over to the others?more income for the writers in the short term, but it created a flood of repeat information and a headache for the website owners.? Now it?s the uniqueness of your content (combined with the overall demand for the topic) that?s more valuable compared to the sheer quantity you can churn out.? I understand that change and have adapted my strategy.? If you?re just beginning to write, it?s something that you should know upfront.
Many writing magazines now have articles about building a platform and branding.? If your goal is to build a long-term career (you enjoy writing and wouldn?t mind spending 10+ years pursuing it), it would be worth your time to read some marketing books even prior to publishing your first book.? Two that I?ve found helpful are The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published and Guerrilla Marketing for Writers.? If you start early with this?even if it?s with a very simple website or blog of your own?you?ll have the advantage of building an established audience over time.? This can be done for free with a template-based site (Blogger, Wordpress, etc.), and later changed into a site with a domain name that you can choose and have maintained.? Again, this is not an overnight thing.? It?s the combination of little daily actions over the course of time.? Social networks?Gather, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.?also have advantages that can help you.? When used correctly?not abused with actions like constant spamming and overselling?they serve as a way for readers to get to know you as a person.
I?ve seen a range of statistics, but I?ve read that between 70-80% of people in America have at least entertained the idea of writing a book.? Right now the overall economy and the publishing industry as a whole are in a lot of upheaval?leaving many aspiring writers at a loss on how to even get started with the process.? There are both advantages and disadvantages to the paths of traditional publishing and various forms of self-publishing?and my opinion is you should keep yourself open to both sides.? If you have a connection in the industry, definitely pick their brain and get as much insider advice as possible.? If you?re in a situation similar to how I started out (didn?t know anyone and the first person in my family to graduate college), the combination of joining online and local groups can help a lot.? Talk with a lot of people and check out multiple sources?I?ve sat in meetings where the ?expert? in the room gave what I knew from experience was bad advice, but when you don?t know any better it can be easy to dive into something based on someone?s word.? Even with anything I share with you, be sure to verify it outside of me?with as fast as things change (companies buying each other out, etc.), what may have been a good opportunity at one point may not be later.
If your goal is to pursue traditional publishing from the very beginning, I would recommend looking into the books and resources available through Writer?s Digest?well-known for its Writer?s Market books with listings of publishers and literary agents.? These books can walk you through the process?how to do a query letter, the expectations of publishers, etc.? Depending on your work?and more recently your existing platform and audience?there is a waiting process for agents and publishers to get back to you.? If you look at things from their perspective?especially if it?s a company that?s concerned about their own survival and bottom line right now?rejections aren?t personal.? In financial terms, not all authors who are given an advance for a book end up breaking even?which makes any new writer seem like a gamble.? The more you can show a traditional publisher by doing your own initial research (rather than expecting them to do it for you), the greater chance you have of standing out from the slush.
Before I get into self-publishing, there?s a common scam?somehow technically legal?of vanity publishers making themselves out to be traditional publishers.? If you?re asked to submit a manuscript?only to soon after (Did they even have time to read it?) get a glowing response of how you?re going to be a best-seller and how much they want to help you?but you need to send them large sums of money first?you hopefully see where this is heading.? There?s a similar scam with people posing to be agents.? Just be careful in general?check companies out with the Better Business Bureau website and have an objective person in your life that you can run things by before you make a decision.? This is also another reason to be part of online and local writing groups?you can ask other writers if they?ve ever heard of or dealt with the company or person.
Over the course of the past few years, legitimate self-publishing has been getting a lot of attention?and you?ll find people with a variety of opinions on it and often good reasons behind each perspective.? I?m self-published and love it for its efficiency--as a series author I currently don?t have to wade through any red tape to get something done, and I make more money per sale than many traditionally published authors.? This is done by working with major companies like Amazon, Apple, and Barnes & Noble either directly or as close as possible.? Secondary sources for POD (print-on-demand) publishers would be CreateSpace (owned by Amazon) and Lulu.com (has better terms for international writers).? For ebooks, Amazon has Kindle Direct Publishing (look for the ?Independently Publish With Us? link at the bottom of their main page).? You can get carried on both Barnes & Noble's website and iTunes through Lulu.com.? Barnes & Noble also has the site PubIt.com specifically for the nook.? All of these companies work on a percentage of your sales and won?t ask you for money upfront (with the exception of if you wanted to purchase a physical proof copy of your book prior to selling it?which while a good idea is still technically optional).? Before you make any decisions, look over as much information as possible on these websites so you understand the terms and guidelines of each company.
Regardless to which path you take to publication, your work isn?t over.? Traditional publishers have tighter budgets compared to the past, so even with the mutual interest in your success they are not an unlimited marketing piggybank.? If you?re self-publishing, you need to sit down and create a budget (I use percentages) on where you want to direct the money from your sales.? Sitting down with an accountant and/or a professional tax advisor is also a good idea?ideally long before things get bigger.? If you develop good habits and a system at the very beginning, you?ll save yourself a lot of future headaches.
I enjoy the marketing/sales aspects of being a writer?getting to meet readers in person, talking about what I?m doing, etc.?but I?ve had to work at it.? There?s a major shift between working on a computer for hours at a time and suddenly being around a lot of people, and every writer is going to be different in finding a balance between the two.? I?ve learned this from small businesses in general, but over time you can build a team around you that can help you in your weak areas.? Getting out of your comfort zone?being nervous but going forward anyway?does get easier over time.
I hope you?ve found this overview helpful, and I want to encourage other Gather authors to share their experiences as well.? If you have any specific questions, I?ll try my best to answer them.? Have a great night!
Tricia
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you found this post helpful and would like to keep up with this group, here are the links:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
?
Author & Series Links:
Where the Oasis Blooms is the fifth novel in The Hannaria Series and will be available to view in rough-draft format until final publication this fall.? Here is the link to previous chapters:
You have successfully submitted a report for this post.
Source: http://books.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981595142
howard stern howard stern free shipping day free shipping day golden globe nominations 2012 war in iraq war in iraq
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.