Six Figure Writing

Hi from SueC here at Six Figure Writing! As a new reader, be sure to subscribe to my email list, and my RSS feed to get the most out of SFW. Thanks for stopping by!

I’m reading Seth Godin’s excellent book, Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing Out Of Synch?, and it describes the ways some businesses are attempting to jump on the bandwagon of the new tools and services on the Internet but are not quite “getting it”. They’re trying to just layer the latest thing onto their business-as-usual product/marketing/advertising models, and guess what? It doesn’t work.

There are plenty of warnings too - some for freelance writers even. I keep asking the same questions here: Why oh why do writers not take advantage of what the Internet means for communication?? - after all, isn’t communicating our business? - and then complain and moan about how they have to choose between money and writing, between what they love and a living. Hogwash. They are just lazy about breaking out of their comfort zone, and want to stick to the dreams they dreamt years ago (seeing their name on the cover of XYZ magazine? In the window of Barnes and Noble? On Hoprah?) - while the world is changing around them. Yes, the game has changed. Publishers mostly haven’t. Neither have so many writers, I read about dozens and dozens of them on the forums. Here’s a quote (apologies to Mr. Godin for the lengthy selection), he’s talking about Kevin Ryan and Brian Kehew who published a book on the Beatles - and made $300K doing it:

“What’s noteworthy about Recording The Beatles Is what the authors didn’t do. They didn’t give the rights to a traditional publisher. They didn’t fight hard for retail shelf space. They didn’t buy co-op ads with big book chains, and they didn’t try to get on Oprah..Instead, [they] managed to sell every single copy of their book (three thousand were printed) at the very profitable price of one hundred dollars per copy. And they did it by embracing the tactics of the New Marketing…

“By self-publishing, the authors were able to accomplish several things. First, they removed a substantial ‘tax’ (85 percent of the cover price) that a publisher charges to handle thing like retail distribution, advertising, printing risk and staffing…More important, self-publishing took them out of a meatball factory mindset. Instead of publishing yet another book, a book for an anonymous, unseen group of consumers who would somehow find the book they didn’t know they wanted, the authors found a book for the readers they already knew about…Recording the Beatles has generated more revenue than 97 percent of all books ever published. And unlike other books, most of this revenue goes to the authors.”

This book is an awesome read if you’re at all concerned about making a splash or even a ripple with your writing. Isn’t that WHY you are writing? To be read? To be heard? Well, now you can, where in the old-school ways of gatekeepers, it was pretty damn tough. I’m guilty of meatball thinking too, but it’s going to be a real fun ride making all the changes.

Let me know what you’re doing - or not doing - still waiting for that publisher/agent/magazine to call? Or are you growing beyond that?

Tags: freelance, godin, new marketing, web 2.0, Writing Links

written by SueC \\ tags: freelance, godin, new marketing, web 2.0, Writing Links

As a writer, I want to take advantage of more of what the Internet offers. I recently saw online a l-o-o-o-ng discussion about why a potential publisher sent a writer seemingly contradictory messages about why they were not accepting their submission for publication. The writer was baffled. And hundreds (I think) of people responded with similar experiences.

I always wonder why so many writers still choose to follow the traditional path, instead of jumping in to market and sell on the Web. I mean, for the writer who was posting to that forum, why not tell the publishers to shove it, and publish your own stuff, on your own site, for readers who WANT IT because you know there are there (and publishers aren’t generally in the niche or long-tail business)?

Anyway, I digress. If you are reading this blog, I hope it’s because you are looking for NEW ways to make money, and MORE ways to make money, and sticking to the query-wait-query-wait-small-sale method just isn’t cutting it for you. Next up, I am working on a multi-part “how to” for digging deeper into ways to sell your work on the web.

My question (after that long rant) is: People who read this, or subscribe to my list, are all over the map in terms of experience. Where do you think you fall in terms of knowing about writing, marketing and selling on the Web?

Ex., some of you probably already have subscriber lists, successful blogs, etc. My plan is to write up basics, in a shorter format (because there are SO MANY great resoruces about getting started, like Tiff Dow’s ebook which you can find on this page) and then let readers follow along as I venture into selling direct, using affilaites, Web 2.0 and the like.

Let’s get started real quick with a couple basic musts:

• If you don’t have your own domain name, get one. You can use your own name, but honestly, if you want to build search engine traffic, you should also register a name that represents your work - like “http://american-catfish-cooking,com” if you write catfish cookbooks, for example. No one is likely to be searching (yet) for your name. So use a domain name they ARE searching for.

• Get your own email. You want email that says “suec@american-catfish-cooking.com” not “suec@hotmail.com”. My fave host and registrar for ten years is Dreamhost.

• How to find what your readers are searching for? Visit SEO Book keyword search tool.

Let me know where you are in your process, building an online presence, marketing, using Web 2.0 successfully, etc. I’d like to feature some of the better responses in a future post.

written by SueC \\ tags: freelance writing, online writing, writing business

We’ve just added a new page to the blog of free items we’re offering to our readers, plus useful tools for writers that we find on the web that are either free or low cost. Just click on the Freebies tab above. (Hint: If you want to get first crack at these, sign up for the mailing list on the right, since we post to our list first! )

This list will be updated on a regular basis as we find and create more great free stuff. Look for some video and other things shortly - right now, we’re working on some “spy” videos that show you what works - and doesn’t work - on writer websites, as well as more interviews with successful writers and much more.

written by SueC

Just released! The”Mega List” has 46 top ‘Net resources for finding jobs -job boards, market sites, and places to sell your own work direct to the public. Download your copy now!

Click Here To Download The
Mega List Of Online Freelance Jobs

This is a free PDF download. I’d be interested to hear from readers about additional sites, other resources they find useful that are not included here. I didn’t include any subscription services for example, these are all free resources for finding work.

Happy hunting!

written by SueC \\ tags: freelance writing jobs, make money writing, where to sell your writing, writing business, writing income, writing online