Make Money Writing: B=Biography

In the month of April, I'm talking about ways to make money writing. B is for biography. I'm not talking about novel length biographies for people to read. (Although, that isn't a bad option since nonfiction often sales on proposal). I'm talking about something much more basic. If you click on my "About Beth Fred" page you will see a brief biography that will make you remember me. Even if it could use an update. Lots of people and companies pay for similar biographies. They're looking for something quick and memorable to use on a website. As a writer, that shouldn't take you long to write and it's quick cash. I've seen people pay $50-$500 for wiki biographies. Granted, q Wiki biography can be a little bit long than a website or blog bio, but up to $500 for that amount of words? Are you serious? If fiction isn't doing it for you at the moment, look for these gigs.

Have you ever written a biography? 

A=Article, Ads, Anthology (Make Money Writing)

During the month of April, I'll be participating in the A-Z Blogfest. My theme is how to make money writing.

A= Articles- A couple of years ago, I was between day jobs and in need of cash. I started writing articles for different people and organizations. Repeat clients were a sports magazine--I knew nothing about sports, but the mag was impressed enough with my publication credits they gave me a shot--and a real estate agent. To get started, I created a new blog and did a couple of posts on real estate to have an applicable writing sample. If you're seriously trying to snag an article, creating a similar writing sample makes it much more likely than using something in a different genre because it's already written.

A=Advertisements- Today, I got a random email from someone asking to advertise on my blog. I sent them my price sheet. I haven't heard back yet, but if I do that is extra money. This has happened in the past. I've done sponsored posts for different companies. You can actively seek ads on social media or use Google Ad Sense. (Google Ad Sense can be fickle though. For whatever reason, they won't allow my blog ad sense).

A=Anthology- Anthologies are sometimes quick cash and sometimes not so much. Some anthologies will pay you a flat fee for your story. Whatever you make, it's up front and done. Royalties are nice but can take forever to come in. The other plus of an anthology is that it gets you in front of other authors' readers, which can boost sales and build platform. I think whether you're working for royalties or a flat rate there are perks of anthology.

 

Keep On Blogging

Blogs are dead, so they tell me. The blog-o-sphere is no longer relevant. I suppose it depends on what your aim is. From a marketing stand point, blogs may not be the engine they used to be. (I'll come back to this). But for the aspiring writer, they still serve a purpose. And if your name has yet to appear on the NY Times list or the USA Today list and you don't consider yourself a hobbyist, you're still an aspiring writer.
How is a dead marketing engine helpful to a wanna be writer? It's fairly simple. Blogs must be written, usually in less than 500 words. If you write a 250 word blog post every day for a year, at the end of the year you have written 16,250 words. Like most things in life, the more you write the better you get. You will have written 365 first lines and 365 last lines. The only way to gain writing experience is to write. And your blog is a space to reflect on what you've read and your writing journey. This self reflection is so crucial to writers that it's a required part of most MFA programs. Sure, you could accomplish the same thing in a journal and if that is more comfortable for you go for it.
But you're missing out on one key benefit. Other writers. It's a supportive community full of people willing to teach you. From my blog, I've learned the three act structure, how to write a query, and grammar. I've built relationships. And this is where we come back to that dead marketing engine. The keyword is social marketing is social. The relationships you build from the blog-o-sphere can be paramount. You pick up readers but you also meet other people willing to promote you. So keep on blogging. Get those words down. Most of us have days where we cannot work on a novel and even a short story seems daunting. Open a blank post, and say "Working on a novel or even a short story seems daunting today." At least you wrote that sentence.
I've been blogging six years and it's still the best choice I made as an adult.
Do you blog? Leave me a link. I'll drop by.

Big Dreams Blogfest

It's update day for The Big Dreams Blogfest hosted by Misha Gericke and myself. Update Day is the day we all meet to share the progress we've made toward our goals.

My long term goals are to write a million words and sell 500 ebooks a month. To help me with this, I set smaller goals each month.


My Goals for March Were:
Get through a second round of edits on thesis novel (I put this aside).
Sub 2 stories to Woman's World (I wrote and subbed 2 stories but 1 subbed story was from last month & one story from this month remains unedited).
Make Hope Button for Blog
Hit 1000 Twitter followers (This didn't happen but I realized it's hard for me to engage on Twitter because my feed is a giant ad. I'm working on finding readers instead of writers to add to my feed).
Get Mailing List Going & Sign 50 Subscribers (This did not happen and sadly it's probably the most important).
Publish Before Hope Dawned (My cover artist is not responding to me but I did get edits made and sent it to my editor. It should be ready to go once I have a cover).
Write a free short for mailing list (Didn't happen)
Write submission package for So You Think You Can Write (I wrote an outline but I'm missing 2 plot points. I'm 20 pages in, but I won't sub until I have 50 solid pages).
Visit 25 blogs/week (This rarely happened)
Loose 10 lbs. (Actually, I gained weight)

Writing that helps me realize I accomplished a lot in March, although I didn't accomplish everything.

My Goals for April Are:
1. Do Pilates EVERY day.
2. Get off candy. (I've been off Coke-Cola 10 days)
3. Finish a draft of His First Lady (50 pages of this will be sub package for So You Think You Can Write).
4.Get Mailing List Going
5. Sub 2 woman's world stories
6. Get this client edit done
7. Visit 15 blogs/week.

What did you accomplish in March? What are your Goals for April?

DIY MFA Review: A Civil Contract

Georgette Heyer introduced the Regency era into romance as a category. (Jane Austen and others wrote Regency romance, but they were writing it as contemporary romance while they lived.)  Heyer wrote Regency as historical romance and wrote 50 novels in her lifetime.

A Civil Contract was required reading for my romance classics class. And wow has romance changed since the 60's. Yeah. I did not love this book. It's an arranged marriage between Adam (a Viscount whose father died leaving him with no money and only a name) and Jenny (a rich girl with no title). Jenny gets a title. Adam gets money. Everyone is happy. Almost. Except Adam is in love with Julia. A middle class noble girl, if you will. Her family cannot afford for her to marry a broke guy, but she is not as broke as Adam. But Julia is willing to be broke for Adam. Or so she says. Julia is a drama queen. And Jenny is a sweetheart. Almost too sweet. It's like everything she does is for Adam to the point I felt like slapping her and saying get some pride. But whatever. It takes Adam the entire book to figure out that Jenny genuinely loves him and Julia is a dramaqueen. And when he does? The book ends. Ah. But that might be okay. No, no. This book has to end in the most throw-a-book-against-a-wall moment of all times. Jenny realizes that Adam is annoyed with Julia's behavior but his feelings for her will probably arise again, and while she is not the wife of his dreams, at least she's the wife he shares his life with.

WTF? That's my happy ending? Are you serious?

So what makes this book a classic then?

Well, it was published in 1961. It's been more than 50 years and it's still prompting *a strong emotional reaction*. Although, I'm not sure it's the reaction you want. I will never read this author again (unless I'm required to do so. Then again, I probably wouldn't have read this to begin with if I hadn't been required to).

*Note the words a strong emotional reaction are for me, not you! This is an aha moment for me!*

A-Z Theme Reveal

The #A to Z theme reveal is hosted by A-Z Challenge. And it's the day we all announce what we will be blogging about come April.

And I think you will like my theme. From articles to zeal, I'm going to be talking about how to make money writing. Ha. (I'm not even joking.)

Are you doing A-Z? What's your theme?

Matching Hearts: Writing for Woman's World #5

Okay, first of all, the story this week is super cute! I mean super cute! It was like syrupy sweet dripping off the page. If you haven't checked out Woman's World you may want to do that. In this series I'm breaking down WW stories into plot points in hopes of conquering the style and writing my way to a publication credit and an $800 paycheck! (I did this with novels in 2013 with novels and landed a book deal--it was a crap deal--but I did it).

B: Casey is grabbing her luggage at the airport, when she meets a man at the airport who says that he bag she's holding is his. He's surprised they have the same luggage tag. He bought a lime green one because no one else would have it. She figures out they purchased it at the same store in a small town. (1/6 pattern)

M: They talk about how unlikely it is they both live in the same small town and have never met until now. They are both in Boston visiting family. They part ways not knowing if they will see each other again. Then Casey spots him at the airport returning to Eastport(the small town). He says his flight came in earlier but his luggage didn't and he's hoping his luggage is with her. Both of their luggage come off the carousel together. (Slight more than 4/6)


E: They leave together to begin a tour of Casey showing him around Eastport as he is a newcomer. The tour will begin with a lunch date. (Less than 1/6 which I thought worked really well.)