Comments on: Holiday Fun for Writers – Free Stuff, Prizes, Gift Ideas for Writers, and More

By: Diana

Diana — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 07:41:52 +0000

Not sure if it’s ok to link to other blogs directly here, but I wanted to share one that I frequent a lot and that helped me enormously when I was just starting: http://hollylisle.com/fm/

Holly Lisle has over 100 articles for free download on her site about making money as a writer, managing your business and getting ahead. She even offers some free workshops (mainly for fiction writers, but some for freelancers too).

By: Diana

Diana — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 06:28:28 +0000

I’m trying to work on things that will generate passive income in the long run. I’m aware I still need to market the e-books in order to make a profit, but that would take me a couple of hours a week (at most). Maybe not even long e-books, but something like reports that provide quick information for a lower price than e-books.

By: Jessica Mousseau

Jessica Mousseau — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 22:14:20 +0000

I know the feeling with so much to do and no time Jenn, I’m getting to a point where I have raised my rates so that I can work 1/2 my work week and make a good living and still have other hours to do things on my own list.

By: Jennifer Mattern

Jennifer Mattern — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 20:33:48 +0000

There’s so much I’d love to do, and there’s just never enough time. I’ll be happy if I hit half of my goals. lol

I’d considered doing shorter reports like that Jessica, and selling them for less than e-books. I may still in the future, but don’t think I’ll do that in the next couple of months. If anything I may write a few and give them away for free for traffic and linkbait. I’m considering something like that already – something “Write an E-book in 48 Hours” or something (considering others charge for similar information, I think it’ll be good for subscribers and links). If I did do a report series, I probably wouldn’t turn it into a book though.

So maybe I’ll actually hold off on the e-book challenge for a month or two, write that, and do the challenge through the newsletter or something, giving that away to subscribers. I don’t know. I haven’t thought enough about it yet.

By: Diana

Diana — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 18:45:41 +0000

I did something like that for a company. They paid me a flat fee so I don’t get royalties or a percentage (but the payment was nice enough that I’m not complaining). It would be nice to work on a series or something like that (not taking your idea, Jessica! I’ll work on a different type of series ). Maybe an e-book challenge would be really nice!

By: Jessica Mousseau

Jessica Mousseau — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 18:27:31 +0000

That’s actually what I’m doing Jenn — I’m doing short books on each type of writing, how to begin the career, — kinda like “101″ type of books — workshop types…. That was the big announcement I was making at the first of the year haha — but yes, I plan to produce a new one each month — maybe 10-15 pages on each topic, and sell them individually, AND then combine them all into one book

By: Diana

Diana — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 14:07:18 +0000

Since I’ve been trying to work on my own e-books, that would be a great challenge for me as well. I particularly want something on the longish-side so I can try affiliate marketing. Not sure why the challenges didn’t work so well in the past. Maybe a week is too short for some people? I know if I have a lot of deadlines, I may not be able to come up with anything for a challenge and then give up because I feel I fell short. Maybe monthly would be better. Just an idea.

By: Jennifer Mattern

Jennifer Mattern — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 18:58:53 +0000

I’m a big e-book fan, so that might actually be a good challenge, or even step-by-step article series. I used to do weekly challenges here (there should still be a category for them), but people didn’t seem to interact much with them, so they dropped off. I like the accountability angle though. I’ll give it some thought and see about doing something along those lines in the new year.

By: Diana

Diana — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 21:50:20 +0000

Ugh! My post got cut off in half! No idea what that was all about! Let me try to repeat it. I was thinking it could help us if we had a little push to set up challenges for 2008. So maybe you could set/propose monthly challenges for your readers (like monthly income or # of queries sent or write your own ebook). The challenges could be the same throughout the year or change more to month to keep it interesting. No prizes for this type of challenge (as it would encourage competition rather than personal goals), but I think having a place to check in would make us feel more accountable for our work.

By: Diana

Diana — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 21:40:05 +0000

>>>>If you have additional suggestions for ways we can celebrate the holidays here at AFW, leave a comment!

By: Jessica Mousseau

Jessica Mousseau — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 17:09:11 +0000

I’ll def. remember to look for it — !!

By: Diana

Diana — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:04:47 +0000

You’re welcome. You can find Poets & Writers at Barnes & Noble and take a look at it there. It’s not for everybody, so you may not like it.

By: Jessica Mousseau

Jessica Mousseau — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 02:02:20 +0000

Thanks for the tip Diana!!!

By: Diana

Diana — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:18:08 +0000

I love Poets and Writers. It’s not so much a how-to magazine as it is an insider view into the business. Lots of great interviews, nice articles on small press books, columns on the industry and the numbers it handles (ok, this probably only works if you’re also interested in writing books, rather than only articles). It’s a rather expensive magazine, though, so I probably wouldn’t get it for myself.

By: Jessica Mousseau

Jessica Mousseau — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 02:25:10 +0000

I really never found any of the magazines handy for freelance writers —- writer’s digest is just as good as a ezine then a magazine (just my 2 cents).

By: Diana

Diana — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 02:02:20 +0000

I would definitively add a magazine subscription to the list. I used to have one to Writer’s Digest in the past (but the magazine it’s geared more to beginners, so I’ve kind of outgrown that). I still enjoy Poets and Writers and Editor and Publisher magazines (both of which are expensive but really nice AND useful). I’d love to get a gift subscription to them.

By: Jennifer Mattern

Jennifer Mattern — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:52:32 +0000

A rolodex is a great idea. Look for that list most likely tomorrow or Thursday.

By: Misti Sandefur

Misti Sandefur — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 03:25:24 +0000

Here’s a gift idea you’re more than welcome to add to your list — one on my own Christmas list this year, to help my family members buy for me …

A Rolodex. Writers interview lots of experts and others, and a Rolodex will help them keep track of the contact information.

By: Diana

Diana — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 04:47:11 +0000

What a great idea! Thanks for doing this. I have a few writers in my gift list, and I’ve found that shopping for them is usually easier than shopping for other people (I mean, we all love a book or office supplies or something like that). That said, there are a few things that I would personally love to get as a writer, such as the ones here: http://www.inkygirl.com/holiday-gift-ideas-for-writers

And I really, really want one of these: http://www.alphasmart.com/Retail/

I’ve been eyeing them for years, so maybe I’ll buy one for myself in 2008!

By: Jennifer Mattern

Jennifer Mattern — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 05:48:41 +0000

@Kathryn – Your hub is returning an error. Can you try to re-paste the URL?