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I joined the Chapin Chamber of Commerce this week. I used to belong to it, but they weren’t very receptive to folks who worked from home and had no brick and mortar storefront. Very old school. Well, four years later, two years of COVID later, and two chamber CEO’s later, they are welcoming everyone with an entire category of work-from-home members. Then after I saw them do the ribbon cutting at my son’s gym this week, I recognized a fresh approach. I bit the bullet and joined the chamber, feeling pretty good about it. In my area, I’m becoming more known for my books. I’ve even been called “the Chapin author.” How fun. So why not join the chamber and become a more active member of the community? I already belong to the Edisto Chamber which does a good job promoting my book signings around the beach and island. When is it a good time to join a chamber of commerce? 1) Speak to a few members and ask if they believe it’s run well. 2) Look at the meetings and scheduled events, the breakfasts and working lunches, and see if the topics as well as the attendees might be something More

A small local coffee shop advertised an author signing. Since I had to be in the area, I attended, to make a fellow author feel better. Having sat in that chair and been through that stress, I vowed to buy a book, regardless how good or bad it was. After all, it takes guts to do a signing. I walked in and felt instant pity. If she sold a book to other than me or one of her family members, I would be surprised. Walking away, I saw lessons worth mentioning in this newsletter. 1) The books were overpriced. People will ask, “How much are they?” Be prepared to answer and don’t elaborate further unless you can offer a better price for multiple books. The answer this dear lady gave me was “They are $24.95.” The books were maybe 50 pages and paperback. She launched into a soft rant (she was sweet and soft-spoken) about how books are expensive and that an author cannot make any money selling books anyway. I told her I was an author (and I stopped there, not wanting to steal any of her spotlight), and I understood how expensive the business was and the low-profit More

Recently, the president of Freelancers Union said that one of the biggest challenges for freelancers is “getting paid on time, if not getting paid at all,” noting that the majority of freelancers get stiffed by their clients from time to time! That was me once, but let’s cut to the happy ending because I don’t recall the last time I didn’t get paid or received payment more than a week late. Here are the payment terms and phrasing I use now. I haven’t changed it in years because it has been so effective. I extend credit to all clients on the simple agreement that they pay on time. I bill once a month, with payment due in 15 days of billing (checks, credit card, or PayPal accepted). I allow for late payment once. After that I require payment in advance for all work. Here’s what else I’ve learned: Set your terms. Even as a solo freelancer, you’re running a business, so act like one and set your payment terms. Be flexible. Your clients are also businesses with their own terms. Advocate for yourself, practice negotiating, but also think win-win. Get it in writing. You don’t always need a formal contract, but don’t start More

Serialized fiction is a story told in parts and unveiled in installments over a period of time. Think of a television show where a new episode is released each week, just instead with a story and a new chapter published each week.  This concept has been around for nearly two centuries.  Charles Dickens kicked off this idea of a serialized novel with 19 installments of the Pickwick Papers in 1835, and Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beacher Stowe published in 40 installments in a newspaper in 1851. Newspapers and consumer magazines like Harpers and The Atlantic Monthly were popular avenues for this type of fiction. Not so much anymore, but some literary magazines like Narrative, still accept serialized novels. You can serialize a story on your blog or in your newsletter, but technology has brought new options. Platforms like Radish, Wattpad and the new Kindle Vella provide opportunities for writers to publish a completed novel in serialized form. Readers read the episodes on their computer or through an app. Some are free and with others, there is a fee. Why serialize? Serialized fiction provides a different avenue for you to publish your novel. You can build your audience, reach new audiences, revive your backlist, pre-release upcoming books, or test More

I can’t teach you a surefire way to earn money as a writer, but I can offer you hope, assuming you’re willing to work hard and put yourself out there. This is my story. The income that accompanies my journey starts at zero, goes up to $150,000 at its peak, and then back to zero when I retired. During the past year I made $180. My retirement is secure. I wrote as a hobby for years, collecting a stack of published pieces that ranged from editorials to poetry. But my bachelor’s degree was in Medical Technology and my first two jobs were as a lab technician, a career I grew to dislike. So with a meager portfolio in hand I arranged an informational interview with the manager of a newly formed writing company. That’s where serendipity helped me along. Her career path was similar to mine. We connected on a personal level despite my lack of “fit.” At length she told me, “Here’s what I want you to do. Go out in the lobby and write me a story.” She handed me a legal pad and a pen. “About what?” I asked. She shrugged and looked up at a poster More

Some of us are more logical in our writing, the thrill of publishing sitting on our shoulder like the devil, pushing us to make the words earn their keep. Others of us are more spiritual, the joy of creating our only drive, with publishing not a worry. The grand majority of us fall on the spectrum. Some would like to make money but love the creativity, that lack of material need directing us toward writing as a hobby. Others spend an hour or two a day writing solely for certain markets, payment defining the value of the work. I am a big fan of The Marginalian, previously Brain Pickings, and it often serves as my Sunday paper, taking in good writing about the philosophies of life. Maria Popova often talks of writers, and why they write. Recently she wrote so succinctly, that her concepts stole my breath away. “In the end, the measure of our strength is in how we face the fact that we. . . mortal, vulnerable creatures of uncommon creativity and courage, body-minds born to die and to make meaning of our fragile existence not by clinging to the self but by practicing our various arts of unselfing: More

How many times have you visited a website only to discover it had not been updated in six months or even a year? How is a reader supposed to know you’re still writing if you don’t refresh your pages now and again? The mere existence of a website doesn’t cut the mustard with an eager or inquisitive reader. Any reader who visits your website wants recent information. They also want to return a week later and see more news has been added. Why? Because you wouldn’t go to a grocery store week after week if you thought for one instant their stock had not been upgraded or they ran the same sales week in and week out. It’s all about creativity. Constantly changing your content will bring visitors back to your site. The article, 10 Website Essentials to Increase Your Sales, which you can read here, provides a list of excellent pointers, one of which is providing your visitors with fresh content on a continual basis. Here are some other helpful ideas to keep your website fresh: Add polls.  Ask your readers what they think about something that’s important to you, or just ask them to vote for their favorite cover More

The number of classes, appearances, books, and podcasts for writers boggles the mind. It almost feels like teaching writers makes more money than actually doing it. Out of curiosity, I briefly study most of those opportunities that come across my desktop, and, believe me, I’m on a lot of mailing lists. If they appear interesting, the first thing I do is look up the presenter. You would be amazed at how many teachers haven’t done much more than teach writing. A lot of them wrote one book, maybe two, and then deemed themselves experts. Some published six articles then considered themselves established. But it’s because so many writers, especially fresh writers, are so eager to find success that they gorge on how-to, seeking the magic carpet that will get them there. Most do not have the hundreds or thousands of dollars it takes for the higher level professional services, so they opt for the less expensive. Recently someone asked me how to land a grant. Their goal was to publish their book they’d been working on for years, then teach writing. They defined their years of working on a project, even though it hadn’t proven successful yet, as the experience More

We all know the benefits to donating our time and money: warm fuzzies, tax write-offs,  the gratifying sense of purpose and general knowledge that we’re helping others and making the world a better place. But in donating, when do we as writers sell ourselves short and where do we draw the line? When is charity a detriment to our endeavors as self-employed artisans? Stop to consider what your time is worth when offering or accepting an opportunity to “promote” yourself. I recently received an email (again) asking me to present a talk regarding a book about cold cases, my current work-in-progress. This presentation is through a local college branch of a nationwide organization that offers non-credit courses for adults over 50. When they first approached me a couple years ago, I felt honored (tip #1—tell your ego to sit down and be quiet) and accepted this offer. The presentation could be 60 to 90 minutes long, my preference. I offered to “teach” the 90-minute course, and in reply, received an application. Wait, what? I have to apply to do a presentation I was asked to do? Oh, well. Fine. I slogged through the lengthy paperwork only to discover at the More

(Read Parts 1 and 2 of this three-part series online.) 3: Production and publication With the book hitting its crowdfunding target, it was time to look at production and publication. We had a fantastic copyeditor, Hayley, who carried out what Unbound called a developmental edit. She spotted lots of errors, some quite structural, and did a superb job. We had a new editor, and Unbound decided to change the title. They felt Kitten on a Fatberg would be hard to market, and so it became Work in Progress. This was a bit of a wrench, as we were so used to the title (named after one of the character’s eccentric poems). Many supporters were fond of it too. But Unbound was confident in its decision, and we embraced it. With COVID, the publication date was pushed back several months, which worried us as it meant our supporters would have had to wait almost two years for their copies. (They stayed loyal and patient, but apparently people do sometimes ask for their money back.) When the books arrived at last, I received a couple of hundred copies which we had pre-ordered with our article payments. This turned out to be a More