Jen's Writing Journey

Nathan Bransford has been running a series this week on how writers can make money. One of his posts led me to a 2008 editorial on how authors might sell books at a low cost (or even give them away) to market their ancillary activities, such as live author readings.

This all makes me wonder whether we need to return to the old-school model of artists and their patrons. A writer would receive a stipend (or just send all of their bills) to a wealthy patron who would cover their expenses so they could just write and share their writing.

Would writers thrive under such a system? Would patrons exert influence over our finished work such that we would feel like “the man” was keeping us down? How would we share our work beyond our patrons?

Read the editorial here, and check out Nathan’s posts on his blog.

Related Posts:

• Writing Roundup, February 2, Groundhog Day Edition
• Book Review: Overcoming Underearning by Barbara Stanny
• Writing Roundup, June 24
• Writing Roundup, June 10
• Writing Roundup, May Day-ish Edition

Woo hoo. The groundhog saw his shadow today. That should be good news for the folks throughout the country buried in snow.

I am also debuting a new section in the roundups: money. All of us need to manage our money, whether we are dealing with the feast or famine cycle of freelancing, building a writing business on the side, or using our writing skill to earn extra money for a family feeling the effects of the recession. So, I’ll find a couple good posts on money management each week.

The Business of Writing | Craft | Fiction | Freelancing | Platform | Money

The Business of Writing

• A Dialogue on Publishing Between Randy Ingermanson and Bob Mayer: I’m apparently Bob Mayer’s new biggest fan, because I have now included his posts three weeks in a row. If he would just stop posting such great stuff… Anyway, this is a great discussion about the future of publishing. Personally, I think POD is going to be the only logical way to distribute midlist printed books. What do you think?
• Bestselling Ebooks, 2/1/2011: Publishing Trends’ first ebook bestseller list.
• 10 Traits of Successful Writers: A great reminder of the traits you need to cultivate on yourself if you expect writing success.
• A Bloody Ebook Conversion Project: A step-by-step look at the conversion of print book to an ebook.
• An Open Letter to My Local Bookseller: Book stores can’t really afford to annoy their patrons. How do you feel about the loyalty card and upselling craze when you buy a book? Or do you even buy books at a store anymore?
• Mind Meld: The Future of Publishing:Another look at the future of publishing. Do you think it’s on the mark?
• Agency Agreements: Rachelle Gardner gives a lot of information about what you can expect when you sign with an agent.

Craft

• How to Avoid Being Fooled by Bad Writing Advice: Jane Friedman discusses one of the problems with online writing advice: you need to draw in readers, and you are less likely to draw in readers without some sort of controversy or grand proclamation. This is the same problem with the evening news since it became a profit center rather than a public service. There is too much hype and not enough well-reasoned commentary and objective fact.
• Do Writers Need Writing Degrees? Tips for Aspiring Writers: This is a tough question. I have a journalism degree, and I am thankful for all of the lessons I learned while in school. However, one of my closest friends and a successful writer, does not have a degree. The feedback and the focus on writing while in writing courses is important, but if you have the talent and the willingness to learn on your own, you can likely achieve success without formal training.

Fiction

• Storm of Words: How a Story Is Like a snowstorm
• What Is IT Really Like to Be Published? A good portion of my writing time is spent daydreaming about what it will be like to be published. (Yes, my non-fiction has been published, so I have a pretty good idea of what it to come, but we’re talking fiction here. I still haven’t crossed that bridge.) What do you think it will be like when you are published?

Freelancing

• How a Little Dog Can Remind Us: Writers, Please Get Paid: We provide a service, and we deserve to get paid for that service. As simple as that.
• From Superwoman to Slug: A Freelance Work Cycle: A nice look at hte continuum we writers can find ourselves on. Super-mode can burn us out, and slug mode doesn’t pay the bills. Jennifer Mattern discusses how she tries to find balance.
• You Probably Already Do Know Your Next Client: Leverage your personal and online networks to find new clients.

Platform

• The Key to Successful Blogging: Do Something: Apply this advice to anything related to building your platform: do something, anything. It is unlikely (though possible) that you can make a mistake with your social media use that will damage your brand. Be careful to avoid costly mistakes, but don’t sit around waiting until you can do it perfectly.
• What Are Your Blogging Tips: Great ideas in the comments section here. The best, IMO? Making an editorial calendar. You’ll quit wasting time trying to figure out what to write about.

Money

• 4 Types of Tax Deductions: A bit of tax-time deduction info. I hope it helps you with your taxes.
• 7 Financial Tips from Money-Smart Young Women: Can these tips help you increase your financial success? One of the most important for writers, I think, is to pay yourself first. When you receive a payment, split it into three categories: money to pay quarterly tax payments, salary for yourself, and money to reinvest in your writing business. We get to pay ourselves twice, if you think about it. Salary is good, but investing money in your future is even better.

Related Posts:

• Writing Roundup, June 24
• Writing Roundup, June 10
• Writing Roundup, May Day-ish Edition
• Writing Roundup, April 18
• Writing Roundup, July 22

This is a somewhat belated response to Christina Katz’s discussion of ethics for writers.

Many of us begin our writing business on the side, whether we are freelancing in our off hours or working on our novel on nights and weekends while we pay the bills with our day job. In fact, some financial experts recommend that you start a side business to diversify your income stream in case something happens with your primary employment.

Moonlighting is not a bad thing, as long as you make sure you are not crossing any ethical boundaries.

1. Check the HR manual. You likely have rules governing how you conduct your outside business. Follow them so that you safeguard your primary employment. You may need to turn down any work for a competitor or notify your supervisor of your outside venture.

If you work for a newspaper or magazine, you may need to offer your story ideas to your employer before querying other publications.

2. Keep your businesses separate. Don’t work on your writing during office hours unless you are allowed to do your own personal work during down times.

If you need to do interviews, you can use your lunch hour or take advantage of your time zone. We on the west coast can interview east coasters in the morning before work, and those of you back east can chat with us after your work day ends.

3. Don’t invite conflicts of interest. If you are writing about a topic related to your day job, you will be best served if you disclose your relationship with the industry. You are likely an expert by virtue of your employment, but you might be biased, and your readers deserve to know that.

What do you do to ensure that you approach your day job and your writing business with ethics?

Related Posts:

• Writing Roundup, February 2, Groundhog Day Edition
• Writing Roundup, July 22
• Writing Roundup, June 24
• Writing Roundup, June 10
• Writing Roundup, May 9

On any given day, we have one full loaf of bread and about six bags with just the heels gracing the shelves of our refrigerator. I decided to quit wasting those slices of bread, so I resolve to always eat the heels on every loaf of bread.

What does that have to do with writing?

The heels of the bread are a small pocket of waste that is easy to address. As I look back on 2010, I see tons of little pockets of wasted time that I could have used to write and otherwise further my writing career.I would bet that you could say the same.

I am still seeing how I can best use those pockets of time, and I’d love to hear about your wasted moments and how you can capture them in the coming year.

If you are looking for guidance, here are a couple courses you could take:

No Matter How Busy You Are, You Can Find Time To Write! by Kelly L. Stone (Note: This course starts today, so act fast.)

Writing and Publishing the Short Stuff by Christina Katz

As an alternative, both of these writers have published books that you might find useful.

Related Posts:

• Do Writers Need Patrons?
• Writing Roundup, February 2, Groundhog Day Edition
• The Ethics of Moonlighting
• Committing to a Writing Life
• Guest Post: Working from Home? Well, Get to Work! by Pamela Hilliard Owens

This week, Christina Katz discusses commitment and how it actually frees writers to make choices that will further their careers.

I know that I have struggled in the past to be committed to this career choice. And I spent a lot of my uncommitted time feeling guilty because I wasn’t writing. Turns out that guilt is not the best motivator for me. I just retreat farther and farther from the thing making me guilty, which means I ended up not writing at all for four months. And I didn’t allow myself to do anything fun, because I was supposed to be writing, not having fun. So I didn’t even get to enjoy it.

But I’m back on the wagon now.

I re-committed to my fiction writing by taking a short story class earlier this year. That class ended with a short story that is in consideration by seven literary journals. (Yes, I believe in simultaneous submission, and I sought out journals that were respected, printed my genre, and allowed simultaneous submissions. As soon as it is accepted by one, I will alert the others so they do not waste their time reviewing it further. That’s just common courtesy.)

The course I took is now available as a self-study course. I recommend it, but I also advise you to make sure you keep up with the writing habits Geoff and Steve teach. The class will only help you if you open it, use it, and stay on track–you know, commit.

I re-committed to my non-fiction writing by signing up for Katz’s Pitching Practice class, which I am halfway through. Three weeks in, and I already feel more confident writing query letters, and I think I have come up with some solid ideas I can sell. Pitching Practice doesn’t come up as often as Katz’s other classes, so when you see it, sign up.

What does commitment mean to you as a writer? What have you done to commit to writing as a career and a lifestyle?

Related Posts:

• Do Writers Need Patrons?
• Writing Roundup, February 2, Groundhog Day Edition
• The Ethics of Moonlighting
• I Resolve to Eat the Heels of the Bread
• Guest Post: Working from Home? Well, Get to Work! by Pamela Hilliard Owens

Today I welcome professional writer Pamela Hilliard Owens. Pamela is sharing her advice on one of the hardest things about freelancing: making sure your work-at-home lifestyle actually includes a bit of work.

Working from Home? Well, Get to Work!

As I write this today, it has been snowing all night here in Michigan and there are several inches of snow on the ground. But why should I worry? I don’t have to warm up my car, navigate snow-covered streets, beware of careless drivers, or arrive at work late (again). I work from my home office! I got up, watched all of the “winter watch” warnings on the local morning news, did my yoga practice, got dressed, ate breakfast, and was at my desk ready to work at 9 am; all without any mess or stress.

Working at home gives you flexibility and freedom, but it comes with its own set of challenges; not the least of which is learning to properly structure your time so that you actually get some work done! Depending on your situation, you can work early or late—matching your work hours to your natural biorhythms.  Or, you can work in several spurts—a few hours at a time.

It is just important that you decide on what schedule works best for you and stick to it.  It will take discipline and the ability to keep distractions to a minimum. In the situation I just described for myself, if my children weren’t already grown and on their own, I would have not been as happy with the snow as I am. My children would have had a “snow day” and been home all day moaning: “I don’t have anything to do!” If you have school-aged children, I hope you have made contingency plans, just as if you had a “real job”, because you still have work to do.

Each work-at-home situation is different.  If you work almost exclusively online, you may be able to rearrange your work hours when necessary. If you are under deadline, you are under deadline, no matter what.  Only you know what has to be done and when your projects are due. But only you have the ability to set your own schedule.  Just remember that you still have a “boss”; but as I always say, I work for the best boss in the world: Me!

After a career of 35+ years in education, collaborative sales and sales management and marketing, I started my own freelance writing and editing business in July of 2008. My company, Writing It Right for You knows that “It Matters How You Say It”! I work with individuals, graduate and post-graduate students, and businesses throughout the United States, Canada, the Middle East, India, Russia, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom on a variety of academic and business writing and editing projects.

My specialties include working with graduate students–especially ESL students, anything involving education, ghost-writing and working with authors, writing web content, social media marketing and networking, direct sales, and writing and editing various papers of any length involving research and/or APA citations. I also do affiliate marketing and maintain more than three personal, political and business blogs and guest blog for several clients around the world.

My office is open Mondays-Fridays 9am-5pm US ET; I can be reached at any time by phone, fax, Skype, Gtalk, Yahoo IM, and email. I am a full-time, mature and experienced researcher, writer and editor; my office is fully equipped with the latest hardware, high-speed Internet, FTP and MS 2007 Office Suite. I am also proficient in Web 2.0 apps and social media.

Related Posts:

• Do Writers Need Patrons?
• Writing Roundup, February 2, Groundhog Day Edition
• The Ethics of Moonlighting
• I Resolve to Eat the Heels of the Bread
• Committing to a Writing Life

Today, a lot of us are off work. A day off can be a good time for catching up on housework, relaxing, or catching a movie. Or it can be a day that you sample the life of a full-time writer, putting in a much longer writing shift than is possible on a day that you work.

In addition to making a huge dent in your word count goals, you can learn a lot about yourself.

• Do you get bored holed up in your writing area all day?
• Does your family intrude during your writing hours?
• Do you work better before or after you shower and get dressed?
• Is your writing space comfortable enough to put in a full day’s shift?
• Will you need to work on your motivation and discipline to be able to make the transition to full-time writer?

Working at home can be a huge challenmge, even when you are doing work that you love. Trial runs on holidays will help you develop the skills you need to be successful when the time is right for you to move into that lifestyle.

Related Posts:

• Do Writers Need Patrons?
• Writing Roundup, February 2, Groundhog Day Edition
• The Ethics of Moonlighting
• I Resolve to Eat the Heels of the Bread
• Committing to a Writing Life