The Future Of Writing?

Attention Writers!

Wondering how to direct your money-making efforts in these ever-changing, media saturated modern times? Worried about continuing to reach your audience with interesting, relevant content without giving it all away for free? Want to sustain your decadent writer's lifestyle without having to go back to that life-sucking office job to support yourself? Then here's some information that might interest you.

I recently read an article by Patrick Tucker, Senior Editor at The Futurist magazine, titled "The 21st Century Writer." In it, Patrick described recent and upcoming changes to the writing and publishing industries that will affect how people in those industries make their money. I loved the article, but I was left wishing for a list of concrete steps to avoid the fate of a starving artist. Then again, I suppose that's the point: in order to survive, us writers have to look inside ourselves and consciously direct that creative energy with which we're all overflowing towards profitable endeavors.

The more creative we get, the more potential we have to feed, clothe and entertain ourselves with our choice of profession. Up until this point, I always thought that my big money would come from traditionally published novels. But now, I'm not so sure. Now I'm starting to wonder what other options I might have.

I don't really want to put ads up on my blog at present. No offense to those who do choose to have ads; but in my opinion, even targeted ads detract from the main goal of a blog, namely to promote the author's personal brand. So perhaps for me, conferences and speaking engagements will bring home the bacon. Or maybe I'll form a collective with other writers, and charge a subscription fee for premium access. Or what if I never even have a 'big money maker?' I think I'd like it best if my income consisted of a variety of smaller income streams from various sources: it would allow me to adapt more easily to whatever the future has in store. Now all I need to do is identify those sources, and take advantage of them... Any thoughts?

Turn Words Into Money - An Easy(ish) Way To Write For Cash

Now, maybe you want to have your stories published in a magazine or have your novel published, and maybe it would be enough for you to have your name in print and not to get any compensation for it. However, most of us need some amount of money to get along in this world, and wouldn't it be nice if you could make it doing one of the things you love? Imagine seeing your name in print, AND getting paid for it! It's the best of both worlds.

So you'd like to turn your passion for writing into a side income, or even a full income. How do you start? You can submit your short fiction, poems or non-fiction stories to magazines (which I encourage you to do, regardless). But these don't often pay, and when they do, they don't pay a lot. If you want to make some decent money from writing, and you've yet to publish your best-selling novel, you've got two choices: get a job that involves writing, or freelance.

Personally, I like the freelance option because it allows you to try out different projects to find what suits you best, and it lets you test out the waters of writing for profit before you commit your whole life to it. And freelancing is easier than ever now that it's moved online, through sites such as Elance.