CornerScribe

Archive for May, 2008

Here’s another one that I see all the time in writing, but I never hear.

Choose is a present-tense verb. It’s pronounced like booze.

1. Which option will you choose for your investments?
2. Did you choose which restaurant you want to go to for dinner?

Chose is a past-tense verb. It’s pronounced like hose.

1. I chose to sell our house before the prices fell.
2. I’m glad I chose to buy a hybrid last year.

Craig recently asked in a comment to my post 10 Reasons I Didn’t Buy Your Article to talk more about what I’d recommend for success on Constant Content.

I’m no expert, but I do have some additional tips that might be helpful if you’re looking to sell there.

Requested Content

Writing an article that fits a request automatically gives you an edge in selling it. You know you have at least one person interested in purchasing what you’ve written. Of course, there are dozens of other people who’ll also be writing articles for that same request. To better your chances, check for requests often and try to get an article posted as quickly as you can. You’ll have better luck if you already have an article approved to offer the potential buyer. Whether that’s possible is largely a matter of luck, however.

Recently Sold Content

Check this section out daily. It will give you an idea what types of articles sell regularly, and for what price. Both are important things to know if you plan on selling with any volume.

Most Prolific Writers

Look over the profiles of some of the most popular writers and see what they’re writing, and charging. Keep in mind that very popular writers may be able to charge more than you can, but this should still give you some ideas where to begin.

Choosing Your Topics

After doing your research on what topics sell well, think about what topics you’ll be able to write for. If Astrology is popular, for example, but you know nothing about it, it’s probably still a bad choice for you. Any topic that requires you to do a lot of research won’t pay well enough to warrant all the time you’ll spend putting your articles together. Add to that the fact that you’ll have a difficult time competing with writers who know the topic well and have a real passion for it.

Try to balance writing about topics that are popular with writing about topics that you know something about. If you can get $10 for an article that took an hour to write, you’re better off than if you sold one for twice as much but spent hours researching and writing.

Naming Your Price

You may be tempted to price your articles really low, but don’t. People will assume that a $10 article is of better quality than a $1 article, and you may be surprised that the $10 version actually sells better. Browse some articles on similar topics, of similar word counts, and price your article at a price that’s in the ballpark.

Be Patient

Patience is your best friend on Constant Content. I’ve sold articles weeks or even months after I posted them. Don’t lose hope if you post a few and get no response right away. Write some more, adjust your prices if needed, and see what happens. It’s no coincidence that the most popular writers have hundreds of pieces for sale.

If you’re not reading Paperback Writer, you ought to be. Her blog is witty and informative, but this compilation of questions and answers if really great.

I wanted to take this opportunity to invite you all again to post links that you’d like me to include on my resources page. The link can be your own or someone else’s. It just needs to be of good quality.

Post your links here, or email me at cornerscribe AT cornerscribe DOT com. Put “resources” in the subject line so I won’t miss it.

I want to get back to planning out my week. Here’s my list of things I need to accomplish this week.

• Go through my email
• Go through all blog comments and moderate/answer/etc.
• Post two articles to Constant Content
• Post 3 blog posts to each blog
• Spend 1 hour working on elance profile
• Spend two hours on the novel
• Spend two hours networking
• Set up a StumbleUpon campaign

What do you want to accomplish this week?

Whether it’s editing your novel or scrubbing the toilet, there are things that you need to do, even want to do, but just can’t find the motivation to do. When you’re in that situation, what do you do?

1. Do it for five minutes. The key here is truly letting yourself off the hook after your five minutes is up. If you know you’re going to force yourself to continue, you just won’t start. After all, that’s the problem in the first place. The good part about this is that you at least get something done. If the task is small, you may even complete it. However, if you use this tactic too often, you may fool yourself into believing you’re “working” on a project when you’re not.
2. Envision it complete. How would it feel to finish up what you’re dreading? Take a few minutes and allow yourself to really feel those emotions. Close your eyes and visualize putting the finishing touch on the novel or sticking the dreaded tax forms in the mail. Use those positive feelings to push yourself to do it.
3. List the benefits. What benefits will you gain by finishing the task? You’ll be able to ship the novel off to an agent if you take time to finish it. You’ll be ready to write this weekend if you clean the house tonight. Let yourself get carried away if you want, but imagine all the good things that can or will happen because you finally tackled that project. (more…)

   

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I know the posts have been pretty scarce lately. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my writing and where I want to go with it. That, of course, includes the blog.

For a long time I’ve waffled on whether I want to pursue full-time freelancing or just continue to do it “on the side” as I have so far. If I hated my job, then the decision would be pretty easy, but I don’t. In fact, I really like what I do, most of the time. To complicate matters, I’m not sure I’d be happy staying home and writing; I think I’d miss the interactions I have at work.

Even so, I look at the other side of the argument. I enjoy writing like nothing else I’ve done, including what I do now (programming). Although I like my job, there are plenty of days when I would just love to pull out a notebook and go outside and write instead of staying in my office coding. It’s not just a spring fever itch either; these feelings have been there for quite some time.

Recently, another factor was thrown in that’s pushing me even more to pursue full-time writing. That isn’t something I want to talk about on the blog, mostly because my husband is a bit more private than I am. Let me just say that it may be easier for him to do what he wants if I can take my job with me.

So, I’ve decided to get serious and work on building a freelancing business. Does that mean I won’t write fiction? No. Quit blogging? Nope. What it does mean is that I’ll spend more time doing what I think I need to do to build the freelancing business, and I’ll continue to talk about writing, freelancing, and what’s working well for me here.

So, the blog isn’t going to change much. I’ll keep you filled in on what I’m doing, what’s working, what isn’t, etc. just like I always do. Stick around, it’s going to get interesting.

Yes, I’m still here. I’ve been telling myself how busy I am, what with spring and yard work and new kittens born to “our” stray cat. Then there was my birthday and Mother’s day (and the shawl I very nearly finished for my mom).

The truth is, though, my creativity has been running a bit low lately, and I just couldn’t bring myself to write for the blog, or for anything really. I’ve been getting the itch the last few days though, and I’m hoping that my little hiatus will have me back and feeling inspired.

In short, I’m back.