January 2012

Writing For A Profit Split

When Does It Make Sense?

Are there any circumstances under which you should agree to ghost write or re-write a book on a profit split rather than a cash-up-front basis? I would personally do it under only one set of circumstances. If the book in question is written to appeal to an easily definable niche market, and if there is an easy and inexpensive way to appeal to that market, then it might be worth my time to take on that project.

Self-Publishing Through Lulu

It Depends On Your Goals

If you want to try to make a living as a writer, you can do it by writing articles, you can do it by writing SEO content or website content or by several other methods. One of the least likely options is that you will make any significant amount of money by writing books. Why? Because most books don't ever find a publisher, and most of those that do find a publisher don't receive an advance, and most of those that do receive an advance don't ever earn enough royalties to pay back the advance (yes, you read that right- the advance is a loan!) and most of those that earn enough to pay back the advance don't earn their authors more than beer money when all is said and done. So if you write a book, beer money is what you're working for- with a few exceptions, such as a book with a clearly-defined niche audience eager to buy it, or a book so brilliant and so lucky that it beats all the odds and becomes a hit.

Self-Publishing Through Lulu

It Depends On Your Goals

If you want to try to make a living as a writer, you can do it by writing articles, you can do it by writing SEO content or website content or by several other methods. One of the least likely options is that you will make any significant amount of money by writing books. Why? Because most books don't ever find a publisher, and most of those that do find a publisher don't receive an advance, and most of those that do receive an advance don't ever earn enough royalties to pay back the advance (yes, you read that right- the advance is a loan!) and most of those that earn enough to pay back the advance don't earn their authors more than beer money when all is said and done. So if you write a book, beer money is what you're working for- with a few exceptions, such as a book with a clearly-defined niche audience eager to buy it, or a book so brilliant and so lucky that it beats all the odds and becomes a hit.

Turning Down Work

Just before I sat down to figure out my blogging topics for the week, I made a phone call to a prospective client to talk about the work she wanted me to do.  Now, I didn’t have a very good feeling about this client in the first place, because her email was totally incomprehensible to me.  I had no idea what she was asking me to do, but hoped she was simply not comfortable writing emails.

Autonomy

The Best Thing About Freeelancing

The biggest advantage to being a freelance writer is the sense of autonomy. As a freelance writer, I don't have to play office politics with anyone, ever. I never have to laugh at a joke I don't actually think is funny. I don't have to keep my mouth firmly shut while my boss shares his offensive political opinions. I don't have to attend sales meetings or look at motivational posters.

Pulp Blogging?

Flash Fiction Possibilities

In the last two weeks I've been talking about the venues that used to exist for affordable writers to make a living by writing cheap adventure fiction. I said at the end of one of those blogs that the days of the pulp writer were probably gone forever. But I can think of one context in which they could possibly come back, if somebody with the right resources put the effort into it.

 

That context is blogging. People are very busy these days, and the pace of life is fast. Even a conventional short story is probably too long for most people. The blog format, however, is ideal for flash fiction- two hundred and fifty to five hundred words, serialized and updated frequently. The kind of thing you could read in the subway on your way to work, or maybe on your lunch break.

Charging Per Word May Not Work

Many freelance writers charge by the word, probably because many content mills and other places writers get their starts pay that way.  For the most part, pay by the word can be a successful and profitable model, but there are times that writing a word will take much longer than other times, and you need to be able to account for those times when you are billing a client.