If you’ve been published for any length of time, you realize thousands upon thousands of writers still struggle to get published or to decide what they want to write. Some still need to learn the basics while others seek to be steered in the right direction. With enough experience and knowledge under your belt, you might be able to help them and, in turn, increase your writing profits. You don’t need to be a New York Times bestseller or have numerous awards to your credit to teach; however, you do need strong writing skills, proof that you’ve mastered an area of writing, and the ability to convey the knowledge you have learned to others. Choosing the topic to teach involves research as you look into writing courses already available. You don’t want to offer a course too similar or too generic, and what you do offer should be a component of writing with which you’re extremely familiar. For instance, if you’ve gotten rave reviews on your villainous characters, you could possibly teach a course for other aspiring suspense/thriller writers. Teaching writing courses involves designing the course, which includes writing all of the lessons and the assignments, and setting the price, More
Your 100 Fan Club
/ 2019-07-06By C. Hope Clark The older I get, the more simplified I seem to want my life. That’s why I toned FundsforWriters down over the years from four newsletters, to three, to two. . . and now one, just like I started years ago. More time to write. More time to enjoy myself while writing. I love losing myself in a story. But marketing, publishing, and so on tend to distract us and rob us of the joy. At a recent conference speaker, I spoke to writers about corralling all the to-do things on their plates and learning how to focus on writing. I suggested they do what I’m doing. . . write for their most avid 100 fans. You know who those are. They are the ones who review, who respond to your blog, who converse with you on Facebook, who like your Instagram posts. They don’t just say they love your work, but they talk it, naming characters and plot points that resonated with them. Why just 100? Because those are your concentrated dose of energy. You have a better feel for what they like. Since they’ve contacted you somehow, you feel a few degrees closer to them. You More
How to be a Welcome Guest Poster
/ 2019-06-29Posting on guest sites is a great way to increase your profile, develop your personal brand – and subtly plug a product or service. Here’s how to increase your chances of getting your posts accepted… Writing guest posts is a great way to promote your work and build your personal writer’s brand. I’ve done a lot of this recently, to promote my book, Kitten on a Fatberg. I’ve spent quite a lot of time sending off ideas, reading submissions guidelines, and liaising with editors. Here are some of the things I’ve learned along the way… Have something to say Start by sitting down and thinking of a few topics that you could write about. These need to hit the content sweet spot – that happy overlap between the things you want to talk about, the things people might want to hear about, and the things the blog or website might actually want to publish. Look for topics that are editorial in nature but aligned with your product. My book is a comic novel written with two co-authors, for example, so I’ve pitched various ideas to do with writing humour, crowdfunding a novel, collaborating on a book and so on. Research More
7 Nudges to Work Into Your Query Letters
/ 2019-06-29Nudges are psychological levers that can be used to help influence and persuade people because they work with the way our minds are wired. Here are some common nudges you can work into your query letters and project submissions… Nudge Theory is a branch of economics designed to help us all make better decisions by appealing to the way our minds are wired. Instead of expecting people to make rational, considered decisions about everything, or trying to boss people into doing what’s good for them, nudges appeal to the mental shortcuts we all make when faced with choices. Nudges are widely used in social policy and the corporate world now, to help people make better choices in everything from pensions to well-being. Richard Thaler, one of the developers of nudge theory, won the Nobel Prize for Economics last year. For example, we tend to take the path of least resistance when it comes to decision-making and will, as a rule, opt for the default option. For this reason, it’s suggested that state pension schemes and organ donation policies should be opt-out rather than opt-in. Marketers have long used many a wide range of nudges and are finding new ways to nudge people More
Five Tips for Creating a Phenomenal Newsletter
/ 2019-06-10A successful newsletter goes beyond generating a massive mailing list—although that is the tacit tenant that drives us all. Smart authors strive to create content that not only compels subscribers to read and share but also urges them to act in a manner that generates sales. This goes beyond the basic, and frankly overused, taglines such as “I have a gift for you,” or “Buy my book for a free gift.” This type of marketing push is vague and lacks the creativity you possess as a writer, so here are five stress-free ways to give your newsletter that coveted edge. 1 – Use the subject line to offer a specific value. Since newsletters by definition are promotional tools, avoid leading with the obvious sales pitch. Instead, give your audience something other authors can’t. If you write cozies, promote your book with a subject line like “Detective Dolly’s Ten Tips on How to Hide Anything” or “Six Lasagna Recipes from Detective Dolly.” Offer value that shows you know your audience, and place those items at the end of the email (so the reader scrolls through the entirety of your content). 2 – Lead with your most important information. Pre-sales, book signings, More
Could Content Writing Help You Make Ends Meet as a Writer?
/ 2019-05-25Content could be your best chance of making up the extra income you need to keep your writing ambitions on track. So what is it and how does it work? Content is the material produced by businesses to market themselves and covers all of these and more: social media messages, website collateral, print brochures, brand videos, infographics, email newsletters, white papers, ebooks, and sponsored articles. Is content the same as advertising? It’s more a cross between advertising and journalism. The idea is that people are tired of constant promotional messages – buy this now! – and are becoming increasingly savvy shoppers: before they buy anything, they do loads of research online, for instance, in online forums and on social media. So to reach them, businesses now need to be part of that research process. And that means offering useful information and inspiration to support their decision-making: content. So what does content look like? It’s the difference between a mortgage website that just says, “check out our deals,” and one that also says ‘First-time mortgages: a handy guide for new homebuyers’. Since the company is an expert in mortgages, it can tell people some useful things that will help them make More
Show, Don’t Ask
/ 2019-05-18By C. Hope Clark Don’t ask an editor what you can write for him. Writers aren’t just about putting words together. They are about bringing fresh material to the table. Writers are a dime a dozen. New ideas are a dime a dozen. Writers who can write and produce fresh ideas hit the sweet spot. Don’t ask questions like: 1) What can I write for you? 2) Is this the sort of thing you publish? 3) What are your guidelines? 4) Are you accepting submissions? We’re talking ANY sort of writing whether you pitch magazines, apply for copywriting gigs, write nonfiction, or create novels. Your job as a writer is to make an editor’s work easy, not add to their pile. Come to them with solutions, not more work, and yes, answering inquisitive emails is work when you multiply it times a hundred each and every day. At the risk of being repetitious, the golden rule for any writer attempting to earn money is this: Don’t make work for an editor (or agent or publisher). Approach the editor/agent/publisher with a proposal that makes them eager. . . makes them feel like you are more than worth their time. Make a More
The 7 Best Places to Find High Paying Ghostwriting Jobs
/ 2019-05-10After my first article about earning big as a ghostwriter on FundsforWriters, the next obvious question so many writers asked was where to find clients that pay well for ghostwriting jobs. Following you’ll find seven high-paying markets for ghostwriters. While there are plenty of websites and portals that offer ghostwriting gigs, most of these do not pay well. It seems counterproductive to give away your hard work for a pittance and not even have the right to claim it as yours. The good news is that not all websites are created equal, and places exist with well-paying projects with the potential for long-term work. Bypass the Obvious Sites Dig beyond the usual freelance websites like Upwork, Freelancer or Fiverr. The average gigs here are short term and in the low-to-mid range. Moreover, stiff competition drives down the on-going rates further. Upwork features an Enterprise Program for selected freelancers while Fiverr offers you to apply for Fiverr Pro if you meet their criteria. The gigs there are well-priced, but unfortunately, they are not open to all. Seven Better Places to Find Profitable Ghostwriting Jobs 1. LinkedIn ProFinder– This is a new service launched by LinkedIn. At the moment it is available More
10 Ways to Blog Your Book to Increase Sales Without Being Pushy or Annoying (Part 1)
/ 2019-05-04A lot of people think that once a book is written, the work is done. Often times, especially if you are a self-published author, the work is just beginning. After the brainstorming and drafting, writing and revising, editing and publishing comes the… selling. There are only so many times you can say, buy my book! But the fact of the matter is, you need to continue placing your book in front of your audience if you have any prayer of selling copies. To help, I’ve come up with a list of ten ways you can blog about your book. I am breaking this article up into two parts, so read on for the first five suggested ways to blog about your book and then check back in next week to learn the second set of ways to increase your book sales through your blog without being pushy or annoying. The Inspiration Every story has to start somewhere. If you write about the inspiration behind the story, you don’t even have to wait until it’s published to engage your audience. Readers will feel like they are getting a behind the scenes sneak peek at your work in progress and endear them More
10 Ways to Blog Your Book to Increase Sales Without Being Pushy or Annoying (Part 2)
/ 2019-05-04Last week I shared the first half of a list devoted to blog post topics that will let your audience know about your work in authentic and engaging ways. I will finish sharing those post ideas with you today in hopes that you’ll be able to spread the good word about your book and increase your sales without making your family and friends and social media followers want to run the other way. (Click here for Part 1) Let’s jump back in! Book Launch Party One of my favorite parts about promoting my books is planning and executing the book launch party. Making my fictional piece of art an experience for others to encounter feels like literally bringing my story to life. After the party, I often write a post sharing the details and a plethora of pictures. Readers who weren’t able to attend due to conflicting schedules or distance can catch up on all the action and of course buy a book through a clearly provided link. Behind the Scenes Facts Once your readers have had a chance to experience your story world and come to know your characters, give them some bonus material. Creating a list of behind More