Writers’ Earnings

English: J. K. Rowling, after receiving an honorary degree from The University of Aberdeen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I was recently tempted to make a comment on a discussion forum relating to the earnings of writers and it prompted me to write this post. 

There’s a great deal of inflated expectation from new writers, or those who wish to become professional writers. Many members of the public have grossly exaggerated ideas of author’s earnings, largely driven by headlines concerning such popular figures as JK Rowling and others. If you’re a new writer and you hope to make a living at the craft, please think very carefully about what you’re going to do. It’s true that some writers make a fortune, but the vast majority earn insufficient to make a living.

One way of ensuring a living wage is to become an employee working for a recognised organisation, of course. Journalism is considered a great background for many forms of writing, for example. Look into real job prospects, explore the reality of wages. But, please, don’t give up the day job and set about penning your wonder novel without understand the facts about writers’ earnings. So that you can do that more fully, I’ve attached a few links to recent features below.

Please read these BEFORE you go and tell your boss what he can do with his ******* job, won’t you?

Huffington Post

Prospects

PRNews

Celandor

Guardian

There are more, if you do the usual Google search (or any other useful search engine) but this should give you enough to make you consider your options. Good luck if you decide to go ahead.

Of course, if you're a real writer, you'll write anyway: it's a compulsion for those of us with the disease and we're unable to ignore it, regardless of wealth or poverty. We do it because it's who we are.

Related articles

• #justimagine Author Stuart Aken on Fusion, alien gastronomy and other delights
• Why writers are always broke

New Group Blog Up and Running

As a member of a writing group celebrating its Silver Jubilee this year, I'm proud to announce that Hornsea Writers now has its own blog.
We'll be using this platform to announce news, achievements and events. It's a central point for our writing activities and allows readers to discover what other group members are up to.
We're a disparate collection but have in common that we're all published, professional authors. The site is simple, so there are few widgets. But, should you want to keep track of us there, please scroll to the foot of the page, where you'll find the opportunity to follow by email.
This venture marks the start of a new phase for us all. Always a supportive gathering, we're moving forward with the times and ensuring we have a proper web presence.
In case you missed the link above, here it is again.

Related articles

• Interview with Linda Acaster from Hornsea Writers.

Do You Duotrope?

If you write shorts, factual or fictional, you should seriously consider joining Duotrope. On site, you’ll find up-to-date information, with links, for 4588 publications. The information is extensive and gives a really useful guide to help you decide whether to visit the publication’s website for more details. This is a real time-saver. Magazines, journals, online publications, anthologies and some contests are all listed here. You can search by publication name, subject, genre, word length and many other search topics.

BUT, here’s the real clincher. I bet you have difficulty keeping track of your work once you send it out there into the wild world of publishing. Well, fear not; Duotrope has a very efficient and comprehensive submissions tracker. Use this, and you’ll never again wonder where or when you last sent that story, or whether you’ve already sent it to the publication you’re currently considering. No more egg on face, no more embarrassing responses from fed-up editors telling you they’ve already seen this piece, thank you, and ‘no, they still don’t want it, and, oh, by the way don’t send the effin’ piece again! In fact, don’t send me anything again!’

Now, none of us want that sort of response from an editor, I know I don’t. It’s never happened to me, but I’ve kept my own spreadsheet of submissions for over a hundred years, so it isn’t likely. But I make use of Duotrope’s submission tracker as well, as it’s actually easier and more comprehensive than my own. And, since it’s online, I won’t lose all those details next time my PC takes a nosedive.

No, I’m not on commission for Duotrope. I doubt they’ll even know I’ve done this piece. I just think that when one of us finds something that’s clearly of use to writers, we should share the information, spread the word, encourage the usage. The site, once a free resource, has recently become a subscription service, costing £31.51 ($50)per year or £3.15 ($5)per month.

So, there you have it.

Have a look, and if you feel you can’t spare £31.50 on spec, try it for a month and see whether you feel it’s worth that small annual sum. If you’re a serious writer, you’ll make the subscription back with your first sale anyway, and it’s tax-deductable! 

Related articles

• The Duotrope Dilemma
• No Duotrope? Now What?
• Duotrope To Go "Pay to Play"
• Duotrope's Gonna Want Some Money, Honey! $$$

Writers Plus Writers Equals Writers

Reading the following article from the weekly newsletter of Funds For Writers Small Markets, by C. Hope Clark, I thought it deserved as wide an audience as possible. So, with her kind permission, I reproduce it here for your consideration. The website, by the way, has been one of Writers’ Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers for the past 10 years.

Writers have an incestuous relationship with other writers.
Ever noticed how writers sell to each other? Read each
other? Study each other?

I can't tell you how many times someone has asked me to
advertise his fiction. FundsforWriters has nothing to
do with fiction. The readers aren't seeking fiction when
they visit the website or open a newsletter. FundsforWriters
is a bad advertising choice for anything other than writing
products.

Writers feel more comfortable amongst other writers.
Writers painfully open their creative souls to criticism
when they publish. So instead of baring themselves to
complete strangers, way too many writers remain protected
in their circle of fellow scribes, knowing their peers
understand what it takes to publish. The fear is less
palpable.

Step back a moment and analyze what type of writer you
are. Identify your market. Usually it's not writers.
You go to websites, forums, chats, and so on to find
writers. Do the same with similar venues, only find
those containing your stereotypical reader.

I have news for you. It's easier to appear as an expert
to nonwriters than to your peers anyway. Be bold. Promote
yourself to the folks who need your information, your
stories, your entertainment and inspiration.

Another newsflash . . . writers aren't wealthy. We
can only sell so much to other writers. Ever been to
a writers conference and seen the endless tables of
books for sale? Writers trying to sell to writers when
they ought to be seeking their true readership.

Step out. Target your reader. Go for them and draw
them in. Camaraderie is one thing; incest is another.
Expand your gene pool. You'll be stronger and more
successful when you do. Other writers aren't going
to make you more famous. They're too busy clamoring
up the ladder themselves.

    Hope Clark

Tonight is Wednesday

That means that I am out for the evening, sharing thoughts, ideas, stories and experiences with others of my writers' group. I meet with a bevy of talented, warm, generous but profoundly honest women writers. Sometimes, Rick attends and amuses us with his comic poetry, sending us into fits. We read our words and receive the considered reflections of those present. Criticism is given freely and honestly and, with the gathering made up exclusively of published writers, it is always worth hearing and considering. Adverbs are crushed, clichés are scorned and purple prose is consigned to the bin where it belongs. But all is done in a generous and positive way, with suggestions for replacements of the offending words and phrases. The discussions are always lively, occasionally heated, but always good-humoured. So, tonight's post is just this and the word of the day.    Word of the Day is divorced from the post that precedes it and produced in response to a request from a follower to provide just such a service.
Word of the Day; influence – to affect a mind or an action; this is sometimes a corrupting force, but not always. ‘Percival had always longed to influence Penelope out of her pants, but, under the influence of half a bottle of Chivas Regal, he simply fell on his face at her feet, adversely influencing her opinion of him.’

Review of Strictly Writing website

Strictly Writing is a blog set up and run by a group of professional writers. There are two very good reasons for visiting this blog.

1.     They run a short story competition which is free to enter but which offers cash prizes of £300.00 and publication on the website. That’s a good enough reason on it’s own, for me. And I have, in fact, entered. It’s easy enough. You just stick your story into the body of an email and away you go. Simple. I love things that are simple and that might, just might, involve me in receiving money.

2.     The site is crammed full of entertaining, interesting, professional, amusing, well-written, considered and relevant advice, tips, information and inspiration. You could do worse than browse the archives here. There is bound to be something to interest even the most experienced of writers as well as the newbie. But, don’t take my word for it; have a look. http://strictlywriting.blogspot.com/2010_08_01_archive.html

Funds For Writers website, a review.

Image via Wikipedia

C. Hope Clark runs a very useful, generous and informative website in Funds For Writers. Here you will find concise information about grants, prizes and other funds available for writers. She produces 3 newsletters:

Funds for Writers, lists higher paying markets, contests and grants, covering both USA and UK.

FFW Small Markets lists smaller markets, but they always pay.

Writing Kids is a useful tool for younger writers from elementary to college level, and has found favour with teachers and parents.

She does phone consultations with writers – of course there’s a fee for this and you need to know that she’s located in the USA.

She lists a huge number of indexed links to other websites of interest to writers. These are divided into different categories to make it easier to search.

There is also an extensive list of books, both printed and in ebook format, for writers.

The newsletters and site usage is all free, but there is an option to join Total Funds For Writers, which will cost you $15.00 a year and brings other benefits.

I can recommend the site and the newsletters to anyone wanting to make some sort of income from their writing.

http://www.fundsforwriters.com/

Word of the day: Cacophony - discordant sound, as in, ‘The school brass band had not rehearsed enough and their rendition of Abba’s Thank You For the Music was more a cacophony than a tribute. Of course, you can use it in metaphor as well; a cacophony of colour – suggests something garish, don’t you think?

Sally Quilford, Writing Contests

Sally Quilford features monthly in Writers’ Forum Magazine, giving details about writing competitions for readers. Her website is quite varied, providing writers’ resources with links to other websites of interest. There is a link to Sally’s own Writing Calendar, http://www.writingcalendar.com/ which gives details of writing contests in monthly form with closing dates and enough details for aspiring entrants to decide whether to have a go without having to trawl through pages of detail. There’s also a very useful section called ‘Competition Tips, which I’d advise any would-be winner to read and absorb. Very useful and one I’ve bookmarked.

Sally’s website is aimed mainly at writers interested in the womag market and has a good deal of information, advice and links for that particular genre. There are links to articles about writing for women’s magazines and guidelines for specific magazines.

If you’re stuck for a story idea, have a look at her story generator; very useful for those who need inspiration.

There is also a page full of links to other writers, writing organisations and other writing communities. She lists her own contest successes and publications, and recommends books for writers.

All in all, a very useful site.

http://www.sallyquilford.co.uk/index.htm

Today's word: 

Bathos: an unintended drop into the ridiculous or trivial when trying to convey passion, pathos or elevation. It usually causes unintended amusement as did William Wordsworth with these few lines, intended to curry sympathy:

The day after

OK, so I'm old enough to know it's not a good idea to eat or drink too much. But, it's only once a year and I knew I had today booked as leave to recover. So far, I've managed to do some more updates on my website; a venture intended to help readers and writers as well as to bring attention to my writing; have a look - http://www.stuartaken.co.uk - if you're a reader or writer.