About Writing Books

I’ve found that my book’s audience is folks who are just starting out and are not willing to spend hard-earned cash on an ebook that might not provide what they’re looking for. The folks who bought my book have a general idea of what’s going on online and purchased my book looking for insider tips or bits of information they haven’t thought of as yet.

So, to better get the information in front of the people who really need it, I’ve decided to take on a different distribution approach. To that end, I’ve refunded the purchase price of my Make Money Blogging book to all those who purchased it.

Instead of selling the book, I’m giving it away for free.

How to Make Money by Giving Free Books Away

Here’s where my books can serve several purposes. After reviewing the download activity on my first free book, I realize that there were several thousand copies of the book downloaded since writing it back in August of 2010.  Not a ton of downloads, but not bad considering it wasn’t marketed. There were enough downloads for me to believe it’s making its way around the Internet and hopefully helping newbie writers.

Those downloads tell me that there is an audience out there that might be receptive to targeted links from individuals who would like to get the word out about their blog, product or service. Yep, I’m talking about targeted advertising.

Thinking Out of the Box

My book is several chapters long. At the end of each chapter, I’ve created an advertisement page. On that page, I am selling ad space to anyone interested in getting a little exposure (I’m talking about links to blogs, affiliate marketing and the like).

Since I don’t do loud and obnoxious, the ads won’t be either. Basically I’m seeking people who wish to purchase ad space or links that are synergistic with the information I’m providing in my book. I’m not looking for flashy pictures or graphics that would detract from the book’s content.

Pricing for Ebook Advertising

Before I go into the pricing, I want to make this point clear. I was leaning towards giving the book away for free whether or not it is financially supported by ads. But, if someone is interested in purchasing ad space, here’s the pricing (which I think is reasonable). Ads should be 75 words or less:

• 3 Months for $9.99
• 6 Months for $18.98
• 9 Months for $26.97
• 12 Months for $33.97

(Less than $3.50 a month)

Why Quarterly Ads?

I’m trying quarterly ads (and am leaning towards semi-annual ads) because it allows me to weed out dead links and remove ads that are no longer valid. By using Broken Link Checker plugin, I’m becoming painfully aware just how quickly links become obsolete.

Quarterly (or semi-annual) ads will force me to keep the book and ads up-to-date and relevant (Once I’m finished with the Make Money Blogging book, I’m going to take on the task of updating the So You Want to be a Freelance Writer book).

In the grand scheme of things, I don’t think the advertising cost is too high. For less than four dollars a month you can get your link into a book that will be freely distributed and shared on the Internet.

Let the Experiment Begin

I’ve set up the basic groundwork to start accepting ads for the second quarter. The cut off deadline is 48 hours prior to the end of the quarter (in other words March 29th). At that time I will make the necessary changes and release the revised free ebook on April 1, 2012.

Keep in mind that with something new there will be glitches and work-arounds. Please bear with me as I navigate through these unchartered waters. I welcome you to join me in this new adventure.

If all works out well, it will be a win-win-win situation. Newbies get free information, bloggers/affiliate marketers can advertise to a targeted audience, and I…well, I can make a couple of bucks and get my book in front of the eyes that need to read it. I think it’s a win all the way around.

Wish me luck!

Anyway, it’s a new year and many of us are back with lofty goals.

My goals for this year aren’t too lofty. I want to increase my income without increasing my workload. I want a sustainable writing schedule and most of all; I want to continue enjoying what I do.

Looking Back

2011 was a good year. I had been smacked around a bit by the Panda but I believe I landed on my feet. I ended the year by achieving another milestone. I managed to reach the $3,000 residual income mark.

I even managed to become a temporary ticket holder to the Double O Club. I had a nice ride for the first 25 days of December. I was a full-fledged card-carrying member of the DOC right up until Christmas day. The day after I had to hand relinquish my membership card because my daily average dropped below $100 a day. While $96, $97, $98 and $99 a day aint bad, it doesn’t cover the daily cost of the Double O Club ticket.

Oh well, there’s always 2012.

Article Count and Earnings

In 2010 I wrote 753 articles in order to earn a total of $26,736.59. In 2011, I wrote 390 articles to earn $29,279.77 *(that’s not a final number since earnings are still trickling in).

I reduced my writing by nearly 50% and increased my earnings by about 10%. Not too bad considering the Panda beating most of us endured in 2011.

BTW, 99% of my 2011 earnings were from residual sources. Going forward, my goal is to make 2012 a 100% residual year. The only way I’ll accept up-front writing assignments is if the offer is just too good to refuse (and I mean it really has to be a good offer).

Secret to Residual Earnings

What’s my residual income secret? Well, the secret is to stick with it. I’m no better a writer than any of you guys. As a matter of fact, I’ve read some of your work and you guys are good. Just stick with it, keep learning and the money will follow.

It’s a brand spanking New Year…let’s make the best of it!

His comment inspired me to back up a bit and outline my inner struggle with residual vs. up front income. You see, early on I realized the value of residual income but real-life situations made it impossible for me to jump 100% into the residual income arena. I’m sure you all understand. We all have bills to pay, mouths to feed and children to clothe.

It’s impossible to pay bills, buy clothes or food on future promises. You need cold hard cash and you needed immediately.

Squirreling Away Time

When I came to the decision that residual income was way to go, I had to give up a few things. I had to give up some immediate cash. I also gave up a higher income. I know for a fact that I could have earned a lot more money early on if I had continued to write for up front pay. Eventually I would have sought out higher earning gigs and spent my time seeking and writing.

On the flip side, I chose the residual path because I didn’t want to continue writing more and more. Writers tend to get burned out when they’re not following their passion. I’ve found I could write for money for a certain amount of time but eventually I hit the wall. When faced with the wall, it’s impossible to write another word.

Residual income is a nice blanket to have when facing a wall.

Time and Patience

Below are numbers taken from my spreadsheet, which tracks my passive/active earning percentages. This section shows how I wrestled with passive vs. active income from 2007 to November 2011. You will note 2010 was a particularly tough year for me. I spent way too much time on active income.

At the end of 2010 I made a vow to myself. In December of 2010 I wrote the following on my spreadsheet and have held true to it, sort of:

eHow is no longer an option and Suite has been Pandalized, so now I concentrate exclusively on my own sites.

I know the year is not over yet but I do want to share some numbers. The numbers below outline my income/article count from January to mid November 2011:

In case you haven’t figured it out, the active income came from Demand Studios. As you can see, it’s really foolish for me to write for up front pay unless I get a minimum of $71.29 per article. I’m also at the point in my freelance writing career where $71 to write for someone else is just not enough. Remember, when you write for somebody else you don’t get to set the rules. When I write for myself I make up the rules.

A Personal Decision

You can float around the Internet reading forums and blog posts about the dangers of writing for content sites. It’s nice to read what other people think, but until you make your own decision and choose your own path, you’re burning valuable time.

While $25,000 in residual income may not be enough for a family to live on, but as my dad would say, it’s better than a stick in the eye.

Things to take from this post:

• You have to decide what kind of freelance writing career you want.
• You have to implement your plan of action and follow it (tweak it when necessary).
• Track your progress. This helps you to know whether or not you’re moving in the right direction.
• Keep planting residual seeds.
• Be patient.  Residual income takes time.

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for NJFM’s Motivation for Writers Newsletter. A dose of motivation will be sent to your inbox every Monday.

This is old news to folks who subscribe to the newsletter, but for those who don’t I’d like to share the release of my new ebook with you.

The name of the book is Make Money Blogging.   Since most of you are already blogging and have passed the beginning stage, you guys aren’t my target audience.  Well, you are, sort of.

You see, the book not only has the beginning basic stuff, but I also include blogging tips, advice and much of the blogging philosophy that I’ve developed over the years.

New Bloggers Every Day

I wrote this book because new bloggers are born every day. Going back to my August post where I quote statistics from Pingdom.com, only 13% of people online have blogs.   That’s a small percentage especially when you consider that only 1/3 of the world’s population is currently online.

Think about it.  There are new people being introduced to the Internet daily and of those new people, a small fraction of them will become bloggers.  This means there is a growing market of newbie bloggers who are thirsty for quality, easy to understand information on what blogging is and how to become a blogger.

What’s in the Book?

In the book I not only explain what blogging is and types of blogs, I also discuss the age-old question of whether or not to use a free or paid for blogging platform.  I give tips on blogging frequency, word count, SEO and blog monetization.   These are things every blogger should know.

Of course, I couldn’t write a book on blogging without providing the much-needed motivation to keep blogging.  We all have faced that blogging brick wall at one time or another and wondered, “Why am I doing this?”

Make Money Blogging gives a plain, simple, no-nonsense approach to becoming a successful blogger.

NJFM Affiliate Program

The book is priced at $9.98.  I chose an even amount because I’m offering a 50/50 commission split to NJFM affiliates.  The book is currently available for sale on e-Junkie.  You have the option of purchasing the book as a non-affiliate for the full price, or as an affiliate and earn $4.99 on your purchase.

Affiliates are paid once a month about 2 weeks after the month closes. Although you’ll shell out the full $9.98 as an affiliate, you’ll see $4.99 of it back when commissions are issued.

To become an affiliate, use the NJFM e-Junkie link.  If you already have an e-Junkie account, just look for the book in the marketplace.  If you don’t have an account, create one, become an NJFM affiliate and begin sharing the book. The 50/50 commission split is my way of thanking you for not only reading the book, but for sharing it with other newbie bloggers (and there are tons of them).

All I know is that when I first started, I wish I had such a book to save me the bumps and bruises I received while learning my way around.

Book # 1 Still Free

My first book  So You Want to Be a Freelance Writer  is still available for free, but I’m monitoring it using e-Junkie. I’ve also uploaded the “free” book to Amazon in the Kindle format but unfortunately; Amazon wouldn’t let me share it for free. So, if you want the Kindle edition of So You Want to Be a Freelance Writer, you’ll have to fork over $.99.

I’m converting the NJFM’s Blogging for Beginners book into a Kindle compatible format for upload to Amazon, and a Nook compatible format for Barnes & Noble, iPods, iPads and Apple.

BTW, If you haven’t signed up for the NJFM newsletter, you should.  I intend to utilize the newsletter a bit more than I have in the past.

Update: 11/16/2011:  I’ve changed the cover and title of the book.

Since I didn’t write about it here on NJFM I feel I need to talk about it now.

Writing and Rain

If you are a freelance writer, it will rain on you. You will have days or even seasons of rain. We were all rained upon when Panda reigned upon us (sorry, I couldn’t resist). And just when the sky started to clear up, we had to weather yet another rainstorm (Panda 2.5).

There are large rainstorms like Panda and small individual rain showers. I’ll consider the Google AdSense glitch  an individual rain shower. It only affected a small number of their publishers. I happen to be one of the fortunate ones to enjoy just a bit more of their rain/reign.

Preparing for a Rainy Day

I’ve mentioned before here on NJFM that I write not only because I enjoy it, but also because I need the money. Not to drag up old history, but we created a financial situation where earning money is not an option. It’s a must.

Even though our financial situation was less than optimal and more times than not we had more month than money, we learned to squirrel a little away for a rainy day. We realized that a large part of our financial mismanagement was due to the lack of planning. We didn’t want to fall into that trap again.

If you don’t have enough money each month to pay all of your bills, will it make a huge difference in your monthly economic situation if you put a small portion of what you earn into a savings account? Let’s say you earn $500 a month and your monthly bills are $600 a month. You’re operating at a deficit. You’re taking from Peter to pay Paul until both of them have empty pockets.

Would it make a big difference if you took $10 and put it away each month? Instead of having a $100 shortfall, you now have $110. While you continue your efforts to increase your income to meet your bills, you faithfully put $10 a month away. Eventually, you’ll become so accustomed to savings that you won’t even miss the $10.

If you’re faithful, your rainy day fund will grow. Never touch it unless there is a bona fide need (no, buying a new iPod is not a bona fide need). Because we adapted this philosophy quite some time ago, we are able to weather the recent Google AdSense rain shower.

Remaining Calm During the Storm

My daughter, upon hearing of the glitch and seeing the amount of money held in limbo, was incensed. She shouted the teenaged battle cry, “That’s not fair!”

I agreed that it wasn’t fair. I also explained there was very little I could do to straighten the situation out.

She then went on and on about the fact that it’s November and Thanksgiving is around the corner and a host of other inconveniences that could occur. I stopped her before she got herself too worked up.

I explained that although there was nothing I could do about the Google situation, she could rest assured that I’m insulating myself so that if this happens next year in November, we would barely notice it (I wasn’t worried because our rainy day fund could handle this particular shower).

Since I truly had her attention, I was able to share with her an overview of some of my brainstorming ideas. It calmed her to know that I was thinking proactively. She caught a glimpse of the future and liked it.

Just Do It

Even if you start your rainy day fund by putting pennies away each month, establish the habit. Rainy days are a part of freelance writing, so start preparing for them.

Just a side note: On the Google AdSense forum in which affected AdSense publishers were sharing horror stories of how the glitch is affecting them, I couldn’t help but feel their pain.

There are some publishers that rely on their AdSense earnings to pay their mortgage (as do I). Unfortunately, when the AdSense check didn’t show up, many of them didn’t have a backup plan. In other words, they couldn’t make this month’s mortgage payment. You don’t want that to happen to you. Start your fund today.