|
Vol
12 Number 36 - September 9, 2008
In this Issue:
Want to contribute to this newsletter? We are a paying market. Read our guidelines for contributors here: http://www.writingfordollars.com/wfdguidelines.cfm Welcome Check out our new article database. We finished adding our whole inventory of past articles from WFD, now over 400 articles are available to search and read. Find just the right information you need to make a few more bucks in the new year. Don't forget our database of writer’s guidelines is readily available to everyone for FREE! All links have been checked within the last year (the date that they were last checked is listed) so you can be sure to have the most up-to-date information. Here are the top-selling writing books at AWOCBooks.com - FREE SHIPPING on selected books! ($2.95 value)
Dan
Case, editor C. Hope Clark Shows Writers the Money — An Interview by Jennifer Brown Banks C. Hope Clark has built a successful business providing resources and funding streams to give writers the avenues for their voices to be heard. Dubbed as “High hope for freelance writers”, she is a mentor and go-to guru to many. She is the founder and editor of the popular Funds for Writers website and newsletter series, a contributor to the Chicken Soup anthology, a columnist for several writing e-zines, and author of The Shy Writer. Here she shares with us the secrets to her entrepreneurial success, and sage advice for those seeking to pursue a similar path. WFD: Writing is often considered a “labor of love” and a divine gift. Some might argue that writers should spend their time delivering their message and honing their craft, rather than chasing the “almighty dollar.” How would you address this? Clark: Writing for writing’s sake is a pure labor of love. “Labor of love” means no expectation of a return for the effort. However, the moment a writer expects a return for that effort, he becomes an entrepreneur. Writing assumes the role of commodity, and the writer then acquires the duties of marketing and promotion. You write for love and expect no reward, or you write for an income and operate a business. No one falls in the middle. WFD: What motivated you to start Funds for Writers? Clark: Frankly, the demand. Nine years ago, I wrote for myself, expecting no return except my own satisfaction and peace from a stressful managerial career. After writing book reviews and short pieces for a web site in 1999, a writing group asked me to speak about how to write for the Internet. In 1999, online writing was a novice venture. When the writers complained about affording computers, printers, ink, postage and so on, I began counseling them on finding solutions, getting totally off track from my topic. In my day job, I dealt with loans, grants and financial management. I’d just assumed a job as administrative director for a small federal agency, so I also managed the entity’s budget. I’d advised people on their finances for twenty years. Those writers continued to email me after that meeting, and they told others. My parent newsletter began as an effort to simplify all the dozens of emails that often became repetitive. The newsletter grew to a thousand readers in two months, telling me I had to take this as far as it could go. FundsforWriters continues to grow to this day at the rate of 40-50 members a day. To stay fresh, I continually seek new ways to deliver information resources to writers in their struggles to make ends meet. Few writers become wealthy and few freelance writers make a comfortable living. I saw that I could become somewhat of a champion to writers who wanted to write for funds… for an income, not for just fun. WFD: What is the biggest obstacle you think that most writers face in transitioning from the corporate world to the creative waters? Clark: The largest mistake writers make is not planning well enough financially for the slow times and forgetting the critical need for health insurance. When writers ask my opinion on leaving the dry corporate arena for the romantic setting of a freelance writer, I try to burst that bubble, tossing lots of negatives their way. I want them to answer the hard questions, think of the calamities that could occur. All they want to do is write all the time, unwilling to accept there are unsavory parts to being a writing entrepreneur, too. Writers should find a way, either through a spouse or other employment, to supply health insurance. One illness, one accident, one eye-blink moment could consume that writing career, leaving the writer penniless or as least mired in medical bills. New writers also do not realize they need about six months’ worth of expenses in the bank when they take that plunge into the freelance sea. Things happen. Cars break down. Refrigerators stop running. Children need school expenses. Light bills soar in the summer or winter. Computers crash. A writer must go into a writing venture as if starting any other business… with a business plan, and income and expense projections. Have impartial eyes analyze your plan. Would they make a loan to someone with your goals? Would you? WFD: Let’s talk dollars. Does the “starving artist” philosophy still exist today? What’s the true earning potential for writer/entrepreneurs? Clark: Writing artists make what they set their mind to making. The type of writing career makes a difference as well. The commercial freelance writer willing to tackle copywriting jobs can beat the pavement and cold call to the point that word-of-mouth perpetuates a decent income. To many writers, however, that’s not “creative” enough. The short story writer, the novelist, the poet, and the playwright face the largest obstacles, and they experience more lean days. The odds of selling more than 5,000 novels are slim with the annual deluge of books from publishers, presses and self-publishing venues. Savvy marketers and diligent promoters make the sales. Many writers think they can get around that with good writing, hoping their skills will compensate for a lack of salesmanship. And that’s when they fail. So the term “starving artist” concept still exists, but only because so many go into the business with blinders, unprepared for the obstacles that come with being an entrepreneur. The well-organized and strategic writer earns a living. WFD: If your life were a book, what would the title likely be? Clark: The Empowerment of a Writer © 2008 by Jennifer Brown Banks Jennifer Brown Banks is an award-winning poet, columnist, editor, instructor and author of A Paradox In Pink available at AMAZON.COM. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Chicago Writers Association. Email Jenniferwriter@Yahoo.com 10 Paying Markets Updated or added in our database since September 2, 2008 High - Over $500
Medium - $125 - $500
Low - Less than $125
|
Check out the latest articles in Join the Writing for DOLLARS! group on Facebook. |