Writing Smart

One of my grandmother’s favorite things to say was, “The world doesn’t owe you a living, so get up from there and get to work.”  Seeing a pair of idle hands was something she just could not abide!  Consequently, I grew up knowing what work is, how to do it, and what it is to honor the expectations of bills, next winter’s hungry stomach, and to tidy up the clutter of daily living.  When I got out into the world, I knew all about how to work hard.

What I did not know much about was working smart.  Bob Heinlein remarked in one of his short stories that lazy men do a lot of inventing because they understand that stuff needs to get done and they are unwilling to expend a lot of energy doing it.  Quite independently I figured out that women invented a lot of small, useful devices because they are smaller than men, haven’t got the muscle mass, but they have work that still has to get done before the guys get home from playing “mighty hunter” or “grand inventor”.  (Sorry fellas, I know that is sexist, but there are just a whole big bunch of guys who resemble that description.)

For many years, as a writer, I worked hard.  I set writing hours for myself, I set goals, I sent off manuscripts and collected rejection slips.  As a result, I got to write off my postage and writing subscriptions as tax deductions but I really wasn’t making any money from writing.

Discovering Triond was a wonder and a revelation.  All that poetry that had been piling up in drawers, getting shifted around, lost and re-found during moving, the stray thoughts that play among the dust bunnies in my head, I could post them and get paid!  Pennies, to be sure, it was that I was getting.  But it sure beats Zero returns.  Technically speaking, however, I was still in the red because I had set myself a goal of making my computer pay for itself.

When fellow Trionders would send writing location tips or post articles about where to write, I started taking notes and trying out other websites.  I subscribed to a couple of ewriter ezines, I did Internet searches for “work at home”, “free-lance writers” and “epublishing”.  Sometimes these things would turn up something good, sometimes it turned up funnies or things that I looked at and said “Ew! NO WAY!”  Today, I share with you the results of my research, in alphabetical order, with commentary:

Associated Content:  Looked really good for a while; this website was where I made most of my income last summer.  Lately, it has posted less and less as requested articles, and has mostly “pay per view” stuff.  I still write for them when I can find a topic I like that they want.

Bukisa:  I only have a handful of items written for this publisher.  I had planned to use it for professional publishing: teaching how-tos and lesson plans.  I have a start on that, and will continue in that mode.

Demand Studios:  A recent find that is currently doing really well for me monetarily.  They aren’t as much fun to write for as some of the other epublishers, but they are certainly a challenge and I feel I am growing as a writer following their guidelines.

Ehow:  Again, I discovered this late last summer.  My plans for Ehow is to use it to publish craft articles.  My hitch here is that I have to wait till I have a friend who can hold the camera for “how-to” videos.  A picture is worth a thousand words.

Experts 123:  A newish epublisher, deals with questions people ask on the web.  It pays by the article–$1.10 to 1.50, and has a pay per view component.  I have only two items written for them to date.  This one is a “wait and see”.

Factoidz:  Really new to me, and I’m of two minds about it; it lists topics and questions people have asked.  I have four articles there, none having been turned down to date.

FreelancerCareers.com:  I know next to nothing about this one, I just found it yesterday.  I’m still investigating.

Helium:  A very interesting place to write for.  Helium has a number of writing options including contests, publisher requests from small magazines, debates, and option to post your own material.  It uses a double-blind peer review system; reading and reviewing is a required part of working with this site.  Currently, it is my second largest producer of income.

Redgage:  Recently recommended by a fellow Trionder.  I’m not at all sure about this one, I’ve only gotten as far as creating an account.

Triond:  My home-base writing spot where I can post my “daily journal”, silly poems, weepy depression poems, inspirational bits, and in short, where I can express myself and be read by others.  Triond pays out on the smallest amount of money, and it does it very reliably. 

Xomba:  I found this in an ad while researching something completely different.  Again, I know nothing about them, and add them to my list only for completeness.

My dear old grandma (who was long on cliches and old sayings) used to remark, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”  Cliches often get to be cliches because they are true or they work.  So my advice to you, my writing friends:  It isn’t about loyalty or anger or stomping off in a huff to the next publisher because the one you are with doesn’t pay fast enough; its about diversification.  Just like your stock portfolio (should you be so lucky as to have one) your writing portfolio should have short-term payments, payments in a lump, pay-per-view, and long-term investments.  Don’t stop with one publisher.  Don’t leave a publisher just because your particular topic is having a bad day, or your publisher is having a bad day.

It is about professionalism, writing the very best stuff you can write, learning to write in new ways about different things, about developing a specialty, and about getting those votes that go Ker-ching! at the till, and help fill up the bank account.  It is about peer reviewing, peer support, and being a good citizen of the world.  It is about getting your work “out there” where it can be noticed.