How to Succeed as a Writer
Saturday, April 26th, 2008You are a Writer!
Yes, the simple fact is you are a writer. Maybe you don’t write for money at the moment. But, if you can write a letter or a list you have the potential to write for Large amounts of money. You do not need any special skills or training for success.
Most writers don’t know how to write especially good work. Even fewer know how to write perfect English. However, what most of them do know is how to write with selling in mind. This could be thought of as being a successful writer. Apply these principles and you should have no trouble writing work you can sell - for large profits!
It is not what you write - but how you write and sell it that matters.
With good selling even very poor work can sell for large amounts. This is one of the few business opportunities where success can be all but guaranteed. Follow the tips here and within a few weeks you should be receiving CHEQUES for your written work!
SELECTING A SUBJECT
Of course, although selling is highly important you must have something to sell. The main point here is not to write what you can, or what you want to write - but something that buyers want to buy. Many talented writers are poor because they write things that are of no use to anyone!
Commercialism must be your keyword. If you write something that will make money for a publisher then it will sell and make money for you too! Only write things that can be sold or used to sell something in some way.
If your writing is making money for someone else they will be only to happy to pay you a LOT for it.
Books are the ideal type of writing to try. Obviously a book makes money for its publisher so they will not mind paying you something for that extra profit. You do not need any skill to write a book length work.
Publishers are more interested in ideas, than ability, and original ideas will always sell.
You can start with fiction or non - fiction as you prefer.
Non - fiction is an excellent place to start. If you have detailed knowledge of any subject a publisher will sometimes engage a professional writer to write what you tell them - make money from writing without writing a word!
There are lots of smaller books and guides that offer excellent opportunities. Because the production costs of the production are less, any ideas are easier to sell to a publisher. Short stories, especially those for children, are very lucrative. Non - fiction guides are very similar to over - sized articles, and general interest subjects are always popular.
If you want to make money by writing a little less, articles are a good place to start. these are very easy to write, and even the tiniest scraps of knowledge you might have, can be turned into a lucrative article!
There is so much demand for articles, that it should not be hard to find an outlet.
The final subject you should consider for writing profits, is copywriting, or the writing of advertising material. This can be made easy - just study other advertising and copy it. Businesses of all types need sales letters, ads, mailshots, brochures and the like. Writing skill is not important, as you will be paid for the time you will save the business customer. how many times have you seen a newspaper ad. and thought I could write something better than that ?
Consider the various writing opportunities and pick one to start. Push this hard, and you should quickly obtain orders for your work. Do not try another subject until you have exhausted all the potential in the first.
It is not advisable to attempt to make money from writing poetry, plays or for TV or radio. Opportunities are lucrative when you can get them but very rare. Many talented writers push these subjects with little chance of making more than a meagre income - Write these for pleasure not for profit!
SELLING WORK FOR BIG MONEY
Once you have decided on subjects to write, do not write up the work and try to sell it. This is called unsolicited writing, and rarely makes the writer a fortune. You can easily spend days writing a perfect piece and never be able to sell it.
Without doubt the only way to make big money in writing is to sell work before you have written it. This way you can write in the knwledge you will be paid for a piece once it is written - much better!
When you have ideas for something you could write, look for a publisher who might be interested. The ‘Artists & Writers Yearbook’ is an annual publication which lists all the worlds significant publishers of English work. Worth bying a copy at major bookshops. Study the requirements of publishers carefully, to find one who might be interested in your idea.
If possible, go to a library and look at books, that publisher has previously published. For the best chance of success, thay should be of a similar type to your idea.
Next, write to the publisher, and introduce yourself. Give detailed proposals of your idea. If the idea is the type the publisher handles, and they think they can make money by selling your work it is 99% certain, they will be interested in buying your work. Be prepared to try each writing idea 8 - 10 times with different publishers. Only one need be interested for the chance to make a fortune!
When you find an interested publisher, come to an agreement on the length of the work, and the price. This could be anything from £50 for a few hundred words, £1000 for a short book, or £10,000 for a full length work!
With a lucrative order already obtained you can proceed to write up the work. As long as your writing is of a ‘passable’ standard, you will be paid the agreed sum. Publishers are quite used to correcting minor errors and making small changes. You only need to provide them with the sound basics to earn Thousands!
Keep repeating your approaches to publishers, to develop whatever you require - part or even full-time. Always try to get each customer to place a repeat order - they are even more likely to buy than a new publisher.
Wherever possible offer a publisher a series of work eg. a set of books or articles on a similar theme. This can provide you with high payng work for many months hence.
THE WRITING PROCEDURE
In many ways actually writing work up is the easy part. As we have already said you don’t have to be especially talented. If what you write will sell, a publisher will be eager to accept it. You will soon learn the ‘knack’ of how to satisfy a publisher!
All good pieces of writing start with a plan. This allows you to split the work down into smaller, manageable parcels. Do not deviate from this plan, unless you find it seriously flawed. With most pieces of writing careful reading and research is necessary - all publishers want good quality information, even if your writing is poor! If you are writing about a subject of which you have personal knowledge things are really easy.
It is advisable to write out a rough draft of all work, and keep changing it until you are completely satisfied. Ask other people to read it - and ask if they would pay to read it, Which is what really matters. If you have personal knowledge of a subject, you might be able to write up a saleable version first time.
When your idea is written up it becomes a manuscript (MS for short). You should always submit your manuscript in typed form - double spaced on white A4 paper, single sided. Use a tying service if necessary. It does not matter if an old typewriter is used - as long as it is readable.
If you have written according to the plans submitted, most publishers will stand by their offer and pay you. In the very rare case they will not accept your work, you should send it as an unsolicited work, to other publishers as you may still be able to take a big profit. Generally though, a reasonable manuscript wil always earn you the promised sum.
Once accepted you will have nothing else to do. Editing, printing and publishing is the entire responsibility of the publisher. Never pay to have work published - you will rarely make anything more than a loss.
If you give complete copyright to the publisher, this will make the deal more attractive for them. Once sold, this means they can print as many copies of the work as they like, and resell the manuscript if they wish.
You give up claims to it. When you gain some experience you can insist on retaining copyright to your work. Your publisher will pay you royalties for permission to print a work that you still own. This is obviously more lucrative.
Through all your dealings with a publisher, stick to the golden rules - if the work makes money for the publisher it will make money for me. A publisher will always be interested in a new way of making money - even if your writing is not that good.
AN ALTERNATIVE
If you do not want to share the profits of your writing with a publisher, consider self-publishing. Here you simply write a book on a suitable subject, have it printed and sell it youself. Note this is quite different from paying a publisher to publish your work.
If your book sells well , self-publishing can be quite lucrative, as you keep all your profits for yourself. But, if your book fails to sell you might incur a loss - and you will need some capital to start.
Really big money can be made in this way, but it is much more of a risk.
Whereas, with writing for a publisher, your profits are certain.
Business idea guides and manuals are one of the very best subjects for self publishing. They can easily be written for a good business, and easily printed into simple booklets. In addition, they sell readily at high mark ups, and mail order is one of the easiest, most profitable ways of doing this.
If you want a big business very soon, try self publishing. If you want a slightly smaller , but still considerable, CONSTANT income sell to existing publishers.
SUMMING UP
It is so important to emphasise, that you are already a successful writer.
Writers are made by their own efforts - it is not something you just happen to be. Once you know how to write to sell, even mediocre work for big profits. And, as you learn more and more about writing to sell, profits grow too!
THE END
Carl Cash - I used to be a Trucker!
Dining Room Furniture
Car Racing Chips, Programmers
Centrino Laptops
Cell Phones
Floral Wreaths
SanDisk Mp4 Mp3 Players
