you writers might be interested in this

by Hortensia 6 Replies latest social entertainment

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  Hortensia

  http://www.alcs.co.uk/About-Us//News/News/What-are-words-worth-now-not-much.aspx

  According to research from ALCS, professional writers earn about $18K per year. I don't think I ever earned that much. I think most years as a writer I earned about $10K. I still get royalties, but that is passive income. I don't write much any more. I think the public doesn't realize that only a few writers make the big bucks. The rest have to work part-time as waiters or something similar, to support their writing hobby.

  How about the rest of you -- how's it going trying to earn a living as a writer?
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  compound complex

  Ah, different browser allows me to reply!

  Thanks, Hortensia, for posting this.

  No income per se from my original pieces, but a small income from editing. Either by the hour or by the page. What clients must go through to get their work "out there" has convinced me that publishing my own pieces has zero appeal for me. I'd sooner scribble a line of verse on a scrap of paper and nail it to a telephone pole or pin it to a public notice board (done that).

  I'm glad that you made a success of what you're good at! I'll continue being a jack-of-all-trades till I die. Whatever it takes . . .

  Best.

  CC
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  Hortensia

  Editors are incredibly important! There are a lot of substandard pieces of writing out there, from people who don't see the need for an editor.

  I have to say that I earned the most money from a book I self-published some years ago. However, it was written to fill a need in a niche market, so it isn't surprising it did fairly well for a self-published book. When I published a book with a big publisher, I found out they consider selling 5,000 copies to be successful. That's a long way from selling a million or so copies!

  I think it's wonderful that the internet and print-on-demand have made it possible for anyone to publish a book. However, if you aren't already known in your field, or you don't have a pretty awesome marketing budget, you aren't likely to sell a lot of books. In fact, one of the things publishers look for now is writers who already have an online following so there's a ready market for their books.

  I find the world of writing and publishing to be fascinating.
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  Phaedra

  for the love of the craft...

  I've enjoyed writing in the past as a reflective, creative practice and outlet for my humor. Haven't done much in the last couple of years for pleasure, but maybe someday I'll pick it up again.

  Phae
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  What is Truth?

  Hey, try a newsletter. You can get monthly payments from subscriptions which when small enough $10 or less most will keep paying. As long as you deliver great content to a niche market you can receive a recurring income for even a nice looking PDF of a few pages, a bit easier than writing a bestselling novel. Focus on something that really fills a need they might have, advertising is easy too.

  pm me if you want to do it and need help
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  LisaRose

  I have a friend that self published, she has done fairly well, she is on the fourth in the series, and goes to lots of book signings. I read one of them, I thought it was pretty good. She did have money to publish it and do publicity, plus she worked very hard at it. I think she originally invested five thousand, so it's not something everyone can do.
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  JeffT

  I've made about $1000 from various articles on business subjects published on line. I picked up some more money from other work on the internet. I've got a small publisher looking at a novel right now. I don't expect my writing to do more than supllement my social security.