I recently read an issue of The Writer Magazine at the library, and one of the articles caught my attention. The main point of the article was that you should spend most of your writing time on what you write for money like magazine articles, business newsletters, blog posts, or whatever writing income stream you have found. According to the article, about 80% of your writing time should be spent on pieces that will make you “instant” money, instead of royalties later on down the road.
The other 20% should be reserved for your creative side—that poem you’ve been thinking about since you went for a walk in your old neighborhood, the novel you’re rewriting, or a short story to send to a contest.
This “theory” makes perfect sense until I try to put it into practice. One of my main problems is that I want the pieces I write during my 20% “creative time” to be my main income stream, but I don’t feel like I spend enough time on them. How will these stories and novels ever be successful if I’m only spending 20% of my time on them? The real problem is that this creative time is probably more like 3 to 5 percent of my writing time, instead of 20, when I figure in e-mail, marketing, and networking, too.
So, as writers do, I decided to make a list, full of tips and tricks to make sense of balancing my writing income work with my creative, hopefully-someday-income-gathering, writing. I hope that some of these tips and tricks can help you if you face this same dilemma, and together we can become more balanced writers.
Plan With Your Daily Calendar
If I sit down at the computer without a plan, I waste a lot of time. So, this year, I invested in a calendar with large spaces for each day where I can clearly write what I want to work on. The calendar has two days on every page, so a two-page spread shows four days of the week. This calendar’s organization really helps me see if I’m planning to write for money and creativity in the same four-day spread.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy writing, any writing. So, I’m not saying this 80% "business writing" is not fun and enjoyable--it’s just a different type of writing. If you write fiction and poetry AND you write non-fiction articles, you know what I’m talking about. I just love writing!
On each day of my four-day calendar spread, I make a note to work on some sort of creative, currently non-income writing, such as writing a chapter of my YA novel or revising and sending out a picture book manuscript. This is my 20%. Now, I haven’t mathematically figured out if m
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Kristi Holl,
on 10/7/2011
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The Frugal Book Promoter: Second Edition: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher.
I very rarely read an e-book and then buy the hard copy–but I did in this case. I have to mark it up, add my colored flags and post-its, and turn down page corners.
Why? Because it is so very full of practical, usable, frugal marketing advice. (And I mean frugal in terms of both money and your time.) I already owned the 2004 first edition, but publishing times have changed so much–and this 2011 updated version reflects that.
Why a New Edition?
We all know that book promotion (and life!) has changed since The Frugal Book Promoter was first published in 2004–particularly in ways that have to do with the Web, but in other ways, too. As an example, the publishing world in general is more open to independent publishing now than it was then. So, this update includes lots of information on ways to promote that were not around or were in their infancy a few short years ago.
So here is what is new:
- A simplified method for making social networks actually work–without spending too much time away from my writing
- How to avoid falling into some of the scam-traps for authors
- The best “old-fashioned” ways to promote–the ones I shouldn’t give up on entirely
- How to write (and publish) an award-worthy book
- How to promote your book to mobile users and others
- The pitfalls of using the Web and how to avoid them
- Unusual methods of getting reviews–even long after your book has been published
Up-to-Date
Today’s technology, social networking and marketing techniques are covered. Updated web resources abound. Advice in sync with today’s Internet are incorporated:
* Blogging tips and pitfalls
* Obtaining reviews and avoiding scams
* Finding places to pitch your book
* Using the eBook explosion to promote sales
* Using Google alerts to full advantage
* Staying on top of current trends in the publishing industry
* Writing quality query, media release letters and scripts for telephone pitches
* Putting together power point and author talk presentations
This is just a tip of the iceberg too. I highly recommend Carolyn Howard-Johnson’s updated Frugal Book Promoter. (NOTE: Be sure you get the new 2011 edition with the cover above.)
Amy Lamphere, writer and senior team leader for Jockey Person to Person, was worried she didn't have a retirement plan, as she supported her writing career--waiting for her big break. She had been working retail to "support that habit" when she decided to go for something with more security. This is when she got into "social selling" with a company you've probably heard of before--Jockey. I'll let Amy tell you in her own words about her business, about her writing, and about how you can get super comfy clothes or even a new career to support your writing until it takes off. WOW: Hi Amy, I know that you have a business and a writing career, so we'll talk about both today. First, please share with The Muffin readers about your business, Jockey Person to Person. What is it exactly? Amy: You know the underwear company, right? Person To Person is their leading direct-to-consumer division. We have shaken up the social selling marketplace with a super functional, super fashionable line of clothes that women love to layer on. I am a sales rep and coach for a national team of fabulous women who have found great money and great balance between their Jockey business and their life passion--whether that's family, education, volunteering...or writing!WOW: So, what are some Jockey styles that you can suggest for writers? Do you have any particular pieces that you LOVE to write in?Amy: My blog is The Lady in Leggings, so you know what I like to wear! Jockey P2P's active wear is simply the best, perfect for yoga class, then settling down to the computer. I love our Convertible Wrap Cardigan--it can be worn twenty different ways, and the fabric is delicious. And our Modern Pants--fondly known as The Butt Pants (because they make EVERYONE's butt look good)--and Jacket are my writing "uniform": I put them on when I need to get some serious pages done, and the fact that I FEEL great really comes through in how I approach my work.WOW: Some people think it doesn't matter what they wear when they write. Do you agree with this or do you think the way you look and/or feel makes a difference for your creativity?Amy: I swing a little old school on this topic. I was brought up with "you never get a second chance to make a first impression" mindset, and that sentiment has served me well. I don't think you have to obsess or overdo; but if you are confident in your appearance, it does reflect in your work, whether it's alone with your laptop or at a conference with potential colleagues, readers, or collaborators.WOW: Or what if some of our writers are also speakers? Do you provide some good wardrobe choices for speaking and presenting, too?
2 Comments on Jockey Person to Person for Writers: Wardrobe and Income, last added: 8/31/2011
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Kristi Holl,
on 5/27/2011
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Some terrific reading is waiting for you this weekend! The articles below from around the Web will give you writing and marketing help, help you see through the current publishing confusion, and even show you ways to get your kids to read through the summer.
Enjoy!
“Is Publishing Turning into the Wild West?” The publishing world has changed radically in the last couple of years, thanks to those pesky e-books. Do the old rules still apply? Does chaos rule? Or are there ways to survive and thrive in the new environment? [Terrific article here by Randy Ingermanson, plus interesting comments.]
“A Dozen Ways to Get Your Child to Read Over the Summer and Have Fun Doing It!” Every year student assessments show that when kids take a break from school over the summer and they don’t read or have any reading instruction during that time, their reading skills are adversely affected. But this doesn’t HAVE to happen. Encouraging children to read during the summer will not only sustain their current reading achievement, it will also contribute to their success in reading proficiency. [Here you'll find suggestions for early primary grades, middle grades, and teens.]
“6 Query Tips from a Publishing Insider” To help you write a query letter (or submission letter) so that an agent will give your manuscript the time of day here are the top 3 Do’s and Don’ts from our head Acquisitions Editor. [The first tip was even a surprise to me, although just last week I sent a proposal to a publisher and got an email suggesting that I add more marketing stuff-even though this publisher has published nine of my previous books! She said there was also talk of adding a marketing clause in new author contracts.]
“Twitter-patted” Twittering gave the world a fast way to communicate and also a new tool for marketing. Marketing with only a few words takes planning and focus. [Read this article for a brilliant way to plan and write your Tweets while you are working on your book/story/article/ebook to be released later.]
“Ways to Improve Your Writing Style” Newer authors struggle with writing technique, and long time writers still find elements in writing that are their nemesis. Being aware of problem areas in your writing can help you move ahead as a writer when you focus on them and find ways to improve those techniques. Here are a few tips on become a better writer. [Gail Gaymer Martin's blog posts are meaty and almost a mini-workshop. Don't stop with this post, but go through her whole Writing Fiction Right blog site.]
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Kristi Holl,
on 7/12/2010
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Most of us start out writing because we feel a yearning, a call, a really strong desire to be a writer.
We have stories inside us burning to be told. We see the world in a slightly different way, and we want to share how we see people and events, all wrapped up in a spell-binding story.
Then What Happens?
Somewhere along the way, I’ve noticed, the calling often becomes a career mindset. It might happen with the first sale, or it might not happen until years into publication. With me, it happened after I’d had two or three novels published by Atheneum. Status became more important than telling a good story.
Warning: this can happen to you too! Be aware of the signs and what can trigger it.
A Common Story
With me, it was financial need. It was the 80s during the farm crisis, and we were in danger of losing our Iowa farm. Suddenly sales were crucial. Advances had to be bigger and bigger. I began to worry more about whether I needed an agent than if my current book was better than the last one. Achieving excellence took a back seat to making money.
I wish I had seen it coming. Getting back to your calling-your love of storytelling-is a lot harder than maintaining it in the first place.
An Agent’s Perspective
Literary agent and author Donald Maass (in The Fire in Fiction) suggests that writers are either those who desire to be published, or those who desire to tell stories. They may start out the same, committed to making it as writer, to being the best storyteller he/she can be. He says that over time a writer’s real motivation will emerge.
Admittedly, I took the ICL course with a hopeful eye of staying home with my children and having a career too. But did that necessarily mean that I had to change from being a storyteller to a status seeker? No, I don’t think so. I think your calling and career can co-exist within you-but only if you guard your writer’s heart carefully.
What needs to stay in the forefront? A pursuit of excellence, for one thing. Keeping the writing fun for another.
Warning Signs
What are some signs that you’re moving from a storyteller to a status seeker? Maass gives some insightful signs:
- The majority of status seeker writers seek agents and publication years too soon.
- When rejected by an agent, the status seeker writer immediately offers the agent something else from his desk drawer. (Not something better-just something else.)
- Status seekers grow frustrated with rejections, thinking landing an agent is a matter of luck. Storytellers know that something is missing from their writing and they work on it.
- Status seekers ask how they can just make their stories good enough to sell. A storyteller is more concerned with making his story the very best it can be.
- With a first contract status seekers are very concerned with what they are getting for blurbs, advertising and promotion. Storytellers have a more realistic grasp of retail realities; they promote some, but then get to work on the next book.
- Status seekers go full time too soon, relying on advances for their living. Storytellers keep their day jobs for as long as it takes.
More details are given in his book to distingui
By:
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on 1/11/2010
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Over the years, I’ve discovered that TRUTH is like brussels sprouts–an acquired taste. It isn’t accepted right away.
Instead of the truth, most of us prefer something more comfortable. Writers do it too. We often prefer one of the four D’s: denial, delusion, distortion or disguise.
However, refusing to accept some simple truths can hurt you and your career.
Definitions
Denial means to “refuse to accept or believe the truth.” I see this too often with students when they are ready to submit their stories and articles. Some refuse to accept the truth that you must study the markets and you must submit what they are asking for. If a magazine you love requests health articles only, but you send them your teen romance because you just love that magazine, the editor isn’t going to buy it, no matter how good it is.
Delusion means “the belief in something that contradicts an established fact.” One established fact is that learning to write well takes time and it takes commitment–daily, if possible. You’re deluded if you believe you can dash off several pages every few months and become a successful writer. That’s no more likely than if I practice Chopsticks every few months, I will end up playing Carnegie Hall.
Distortion means “taking the truth and slightly changing it into a partial truth.” This is like when a writer tells an editor in a query or at a conference, “I’ve had five books published.” If you have five books in your hand that you paid someone to print for you, they are not five published books. They were printed, and there’s a world of difference (to both editors and potential buyers.) If there was any cost involved, you paid all or part of it (if your books were printed). You might not have paid anything, but only if there was no cost involved to your “printer” either (e-books or print-on-demand books).
Disguise means “camouflaging a lie so that it resembles truth.” I’m sorry to say that, due to technology and the current economy, wolves in sheep’s clothing abound in the publishing arena. People wanting your money may call themselves “independent publishers” or “co-publishers,” but they’re still just the old vanity presses. You do not have to fall for this. Thanks to the Internet, you can Google anyone and find out about them. Also become a regular reader of sites like Preditors and Editors and Publishing Scams and Writer Beware.
Choose Truth
Facing the truth is difficult at first. Like brussels sprouts, it sometimes has to be absorbed in small doses. It’s your choice. You can believe the distortions, live in denial, embrace delusions and be fooled by disguises.
Or you can choose to believe the truth about writing. You do need to study the markets. You do need to write regularly. You do need to check out publishers in these days of so many scams. And if you choose to self-publish, you do need to face the fact that you will probably have to lay out money to someone, then do much of the marketing, publicity, promotion
I have to tell you, I have been jumping around from so called money making opportunities for a couple of years. But this time I have found a keeper.
In fact, I am so sold on GVO that I will pay your way in. I don’t make offers like that, so you gotta know that [...]
Hi all,
I wanted to share this with all my blogging readers and those who are considering blogging or wanting to increase their profits on line. Why?
Because if you are going to spend many hours on a blog you may want to turn your blogging into a financial avenue to compensate for your time or you may want to consider how to add products to your art web site that help promote your paintings.
In any case you will find this blog very useful and I would highly recommend you subscribe to it as Aaron has some very valuable and free advice for his subscribers that apply to any on-line business (not just bloggers). Out of curiosity I subscribed but have been very glad I did. Not many subscriptions have exceptional value but his does.
I originally and recently stumble onto Aaron's blog via a helpful post he made on the Aweber blog. I was so grateful I took the time to subscribe to this blog because in the little time I have been receiving his emails and offers I have already learnt so many helpful tips that I have applied to my own business.
I have spoken before on artist's neglecting the potential of the Internet and the benefits of Aweber which has been a great tool for running my emails, newsletters and subscribers. I wouldn't be without it. You can read my post here:
http://kayleenwest.blogspot.com/2007/09/artists-need-audience-so-now-what.html
and here: http://kayleenwest.blogspot.com/2007/03/artists-neglect-potential-of-internet.html
Below is a post from his Blog which is another area worth looking into:
(Permission to post by Aaron Abber)
FullTiltBlogging.com is officially now…
The Best Blog on the Interwebs
Don’t get me wrong—the content here has always been some of the best around, but there was something missing.
I had several goals for this blog when I started it. I wanted it to be a place where you could get cutting edge information you weren’t getting anywhere else. I wanted it to be a place where you get encouragement to help you through the tough times inherent in any business. I wanted it to be a place where people got to know one another and could help and encourage one another.
And I wanted it to be fun
I’m accomplishing the first goal. Lead Blogging is a new concept to even some “seasoned” bloggers and this is the place to go to learn about it. You’re not going to hear that anywhere else.
The second and third goals are coming together, though I want to provide more in the way of inspirational stories. The mentoring program folks have a good time together on Monday nights, and with some recent changes in the program I expect that to be even better.
But it’s not fun enough.
I spend most of my posts talking about very technical and specific aspects of your business. While that is helpful, it’s kinda dry.
Today that changes.
This Time It’s Personal
From now on every weekday or so I will rant or comment on the latest things, tell you about my internet lifestyle, and tell you about others who are succeeding on the web all in my own unique, humorous and often sarcastic way.
You will enjoy it.
I won’t stop giving you instructions on how to build your own business, but I will make those available as downloads rather than as posts. The same quality info, just more fun.
I’ll incorporate the daily blog summary into my daily post with my personal comments on those lesser blog’s posts.
All the Cool Kids are Doing It
Reading this blog will not only be the most entertaining part of your day, you will quickly discover this will be the most profitable blog you will ever read. After all, the purpose of a business is to make a profit.
Unless you are a total moron you need to go sign up for my email or RSS list. Now.
Be looking for a post from me tomorrow entitled “Stupid, Sneaky, No-Good Subscribers”
You’ll love it.
This post is by Aaron Abber. Aaron is the owner of http://www.FullTiltBlogging.com where he teaches bloggers just like you how to make money blogging. Go there now to pick up his latest book “How to Retire on 200 Blog Visitors a Day” free.
Illustration Friday: Your Paradise
Artwords: Dwelling
Inspire Me Thursday: Roots
My home/dwelling is my paradise, and this is where I'm rooting myself and enjoying exploring my art.
Well, it's not one exactly one of my better efforts ... there are good days, not-so-good days and those that fall in between. Am not quite sure where this drawing fits but as it fits THREE of this week's challenges, I'm putting it up before going off and pretending to be an ostrich :)
Artwords challenge: Birthday.
This is a celebratory post on a couple of counts. Firstly, the topic for Artwords this week is Birthday, and it's my birthday tomorrow, wonderful coincidence that I couldn't let pass. And it's my 100th drawing posted since I started this blog.
I just have to add that when I started my only aim was to draw daily and practice and hope that I could improve and somehow include drawing in my life. And I have, in ways I would not have imagined then. And I have everyone, who visits and comments and supports me and encourages and motivates me in ways none of you could imagine, to thank. Hugely. It's been the reason why I've kept at it and continued and why I am where I am right now ... starting up a fledgling business with an uncertain future, it's true, but one that at least HAS a future if I continue to work at it with determination. The great thing is that I'm doing something I love.
So, even if I am unable sometimes to reciprocate by visiting reguarly and commenting on your wonderful drawings and art (and truly, you're a group of extremely talented artists who put me to shame!) I am at least going to say here, a giant THANK YOU!!! This cake is for you guys, hope you enjoy it :)
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Very interesting. I don't write for a living, but this is great information if that ever changes for me. Thanks for posting.
Thanks, Savannah. :)
i'll be buying a new daily calendar "with large spaces" this week. thank for the tip *-*
-a
Thank you for the tips, Margo. I don't currently write for money, but I still relate to the dilemma of balancing “creative time" with the rest of the day's responsibilities. I really like the idea of recording time spent on each task. As a former paralegal, I used to track all of my time in 6 minute increments, might have to start applying that tool to my every day life! J.C.
In the interest of accountability to actually write every day, and to measure where I'm spending my time I created a spreadsheet. Each month is a page, the days are numbered down the side. On each day, I put, in minutes, how much time I spent and, in the next column, on what. I've even started color coding it.
I was surprised to find it's very easy to open it up when I sit down to write, look at the clock, and just log the work in when I'm done or change to a different task.
Hello Margo, seems we all struggle with the same thing, time management and funding essentials such as, oh, eating (for the kids I mean).
I need to at least stop sucking finances out of the family income to fund my writing, so I have begun writing for $$. I enter competitions that give $ prizes, post on blogs that pay, accept assignments (for pennies reward on dollars of my time btw). Even being published (not self published) costs, you have to have funds to advertise your masterpiece. Smashwords has not been the money maker others say it is for them. So, I chisel away at the mountain of hope, while I pick up crumbs from the sand to fund that chiselling. Not your every day success story, but I suspect it is an every day reality for many.
Very helpful post, Margo. Thanks for sharing your tips. I basically write for money because I need to but I have been longing to set some quality time with my creative side without having to think of deadlines and finances. I've started a personal blog a few years ago but I've never really given much attention to it because I wasn't earning from it.
But this is reality. I just hope someday I can find more time to explore my creativity. Right now, it's 95/5 for me. With enough discipline and determination, I should make it at 80/20 :)
Great post! Love your site!
Thanks for all the comments, everyone, and for the tips that you guys included. I love the color coded spreadsheet, Lori. :) Gael, keep plugging away--it takes a while to build a successful writing business, that's for sure! Shyxter--some days it's like 99/1 for me--but I try the 80/20 equation when I can. :)