My Business of Writing

Today I was reflecting as a reader and writer how much the business of writing has changed over the years.  When I was a kid, we had books, magazines and other periodicals.  In all those cases, the main way you made money at it was to type something, send it to the publisher in questions and wait for a reply.  Payment was either a flat fee or per copy sold compensation.  Sometimes people got paid per word.  It was really though, a business based on the publishers controlling what they wanted to print.

Today that has all changed, now anything, and I mean anything can be printed or more accurately posted and if it gets popular enough it will make money.  Thank you Internet.  I suppose the downside is that writers and the image of writers has changed as well.  The half shaved, half dressed, literary hermit slouching over his typewriter if gone.  Now you really can't stereotype anything about a writer, there are as many types of writers as their are types of blogs. 

What this means is that who gets paid what on the Internet is largely a question of doing the right things to get attention and different readers.  Getting enough attention generates ads and advertising.  Being at the top when a search engine looks for your topic is what you want. 

For me this has caused me to give another look at my whole writing career.  People tell me all the time 'write a book' but is that really where the money is at anymore?  How about this start writing a blog, get a big audience that generates you income and then keep doing it.  Unlike a book that sells well for a time then drops down to find its way to Goodwill or the Salvation Army, a blog can stay current and keep making more and more money.

So here I am with four blogs and plans for a fifth when I get back from Romania.   Goal to build a following on all of them as large as possible and then hold them for as long as I can.  Sounds simple, but the work is in the executing of this plan. 

Is a book still in my future?  Most likely, but that also means that a new order of ebooks has arisen as well as traditional paper books.  My guess is an ebook is better for the publisher as they only have to give out as many copies as readers request.  No leftovers to sell to the wholesalers.  Means that if I ever write a book I want to keep my royalty rights on a ebook copies. 

The thing is to keep writing, keep connecting and never quit.  What happens is really in the hands of what people want to read.