How Much Impact Does AdBlock Have on The Creators You Follow?

Let's be honest, most of you use AdBlock in one form or another. Some of you might not even know that there are usually about 4 ads on a given Literary Mercenary article (two embedded in the right column, and two that comes in from the wings to the left and right). Now, those ads might clutter up the screen a bit, but they don't pop-up over the text, and they aren't sneakily trying to squirm under your mouse. You have to go outside the borders of this post to put your cursor on them.

But I get it. I really do. No one likes ads, and if you can put up a wall that stops you from ever having to look at them, why would you make an exception for just one page?

AdBlock is like a phalanx. One hole, and it crumbles.

Well, if you're not overly concerned with the people who make the content you're enjoying, then there is nothing I could say to convince you to be selective with your AdBlock. However, if you want to support the people who make the things you like (even if it's for the selfish reason that they'll keep making more stuff if they're supported), you might want to consider making an exception or two.

Why? Because I think you sincerely underestimate the number of people who block ads, and how big of an impact that has on creators.

Herd Immunity, and Making Money in The Age of The Internet

Since we all had high school science, we should be familiar with the idea of herd immunity. When you vaccinate an individual, they receive a weakened version of a disease, and it allows the body to fight off the infection by developing antibodies. It is, in a sense, the training wheels for how to fight a particular condition. This stops the person from getting sick when the real version of that disease comes along. Pretty basic stuff.

Of course, some people's bodies cannot deal with vaccines because even the weakened version of the disease will overwhelm them. So those people who cannot be vaccinated depend on all the other members of the herd to get vaccinated, and to act as a barrier for the disease. Because if there's a layer or three of people who won't get a disease, then the vulnerable people behind them will be protected as well.

What about when people stop vaccinating?

Herd immunity only works, of course, if everyone who can vaccinate does it. The fewer people who do, the more gaps you find in your protective barrier. Then diseases can slip through, and run rampant. Which is why there are diseases that had nearly been eradicated in the United States now surging back to prominence (and killing a whole lot of defenseless people who should have been vaccinated).

What does that have to do with the ads on the blogs, videos, and other pieces of content you ingest on a daily basis? Glad you asked!

Picture a constant stream of people flowing into a stadium. Perhaps there's a sporting event taking place, or there's a political rally, or the circus is in town; whatever is going on, people want to see it. What's even better is that there's no cost for admission. All you have to do is walk through the gate, and take a pair of glasses. These glasses don't stop you from enjoying the concert, or hearing the latest rallying cries, but they do allow you to see the ads posted along the walls, and up on the screens. For every person who sees those ads, the arena gets paid a crowd attendance fee. This lets them keep putting on shows without charging anyone for tickets.

Now, one or two people might decide not to take a pair of these glasses. They get the same show as everyone else, but they aren't distracted by all those pesky ads. As long as most people take a pair of the glasses, though, the arena is still going to be able to keep doing its thing. Especially if it's filling seats to capacity. The problem comes when too many people don't take the glasses, and thus aren't counted for the purposes of attendance. They don't see the ads, it's true, but even if you pack the seats, the arena only gets paid as if it had fifty people coming to the show.

That might not be enough attendance to make a profit, and if it keeps up for long enough the arena might have to shutter its doors.

In this metaphor, the arena is the website you're viewing. Putting on the glasses is your willingness to view the ads that actually pay that website's content creators and staff. Because wearing the specs might be inconvenient, but isn't it a small price to pay for getting all this great stuff for what amounts to "free," even while the creators whose work you enjoy are still getting paid, thus allowing them to keep making stuff for your enjoyment?

How Bad Is AdBlock, Really?

Maybe you think I'm exaggerating. After all, there are still plenty of people who don't block ads, so you shouldn't feel obligated to make exceptions in your ad-free life. On the one hand, you're right. Viewing ads is entirely your choice, and if you have the tools not to see them then you have the ability to skip past those annoyances. But choosing to do so is not consequence-free.

Though it might feel like it, from where you're sitting.

As a for instance, one of the ad programs I use is InfoLinks. I get a daily update from the company that tells me how many impressions I've had, and what I've earned in terms of ad revenue. I have two blogs on that account; this one, and my sister blog Improved Initiative.

Now, I've had this ad program for about two years and change now. The problem I kept experiencing was that the traffic Blogger said I was getting did not jive with the numbers I was being given by InfoLinks. We're not talking small discrepancies, either. More than half my traffic was missing from my daily reports. So I set up a Google Analytics account to track it from a third source, hoping it would explain the difference. According to Google, Blogger was right. So why is it that when an article like The Tale of The Black Samurai (Yes, There Really Was One), posted on my other blog, earns over 2,000 views on its own, but my daily views for the entire blog come to barely 560 hits on InfoLinks?

Because that is the number of people who use AdBlock software. Blogger and Google Analytics count how many people came to my blog that day, while InfoLinks only counts the number of people who saw my ads. It isn't just a few people sitting in the stands enjoying a free show; it's the majority of the people who walk through the doors. Because on that day where InfoLinks said about 560 people saw my ads over on Improved Initiative? I had over 3,500 hits that day. So instead of earning a couple bucks, I was given a single, shiny dime.

That was one day. Taken over a year, that kind of traffic would earn me over $600 if everyone was viewing my ads. In reality? It takes me about 15 months to earn $50.

Why Are You Laying All This Guilt On Me Because I Hate Ads?

While it might seem like I'm trying to lay blame on people here, I'm not. If you have the ability not to watch ads, you are welcome to use that ability. However, it is also a fact that by not allowing those ads to stream, you are taking money out of that creator's pocket. By withholding your view, they can't count you when it comes time to settle up with their ad revenue at the end of the month.

And that has an impact.

Judging from the numbers, only about 1 in 6 people who view Improved Initiative actually see my ads. Here on The Literary Mercenary, it's only about 1 in 8 (my most recent post generated about 450 views, but InfoLinks only counted about 55 of them).

Jumping those hurdles is like entering the pole vault, mistakenly thinking you're supposed to do a high jump. It isn't going to happen.

What Are You Comfortable With?

This is one of those times where I ask you, the reader, to look at a situation, and make a serious judgment. Is your comfort more important than the artist you like making a living? Because it's easy to think to yourself, "they don't need my views. There's plenty of other people looking at those ads." Which is a variation on, "I don't need to vaccinate my kids. Everyone else will do it."

Well, they're really not.

Well, what do you want me to do about it?

All I'm asking is for you, and all the readers who come across this post, to ask themselves what they're comfortable with. I, and the hundreds and thousands of other artists and creators across the Internet, depend on you for a paycheck. The reason we put ads on our blogs, or our video channels, or our art pages is because we still need to get paid, but we don't want to beg for money from everyone that passes if we don't have to.

Sadly, we sort of have to.

Now, there may be some readers who are much more comfortable just putting money into a creator's tip jar instead of watching their ads. This allows them to say, directly, that they like this person's work, and they want to see more of it. If you're that kind of person, and you don't want to deal with my ads, then I'd ask you to please stop by The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a patron. I don't ask much, and if you pledge at least $1 a month then I'll also give you some sweet swag as a way of saying thank you.

Alternatively, if you're a fan of a creator, you should buy the stuff they put out. I write books, like the steampunk noir short story collection New Avalon: Love and Loss in The City of Steam. I put out new stuff with a fair amount of regularity, too, so you should consider checking my Amazon Author Page if you like my work, and want to support me. Read a book, leave a review, and tell your friends; I wouldn't feel bad at all about someone who chose to do that, but who didn't want to put up with the hassle of my blog's ads.

If you don't want to do those things, though, and you come back to a creator's page to devour all their content with every new update, then it might be time to make an exception for their page on your AdBlock. You don't have to, of course, but if you don't, then what are you going to say when that web comic artist has to start doing one update a month instead of four because she had to get a 9-5 job? Or when that gaming blogger cuts posts from twice a week to once a week to focus on other projects you're not interested in, but which comes with a paycheck attached to it?

It's all about the money, and you're the one holding the purse strings. You get what you pay for... literally, as well as figuratively.

That's all for this week's Business of Writing post. Apologies if it felt like I was taking a truncheon, but this is an issue that still rages online, and it's one a lot of people aren't aware they're participating in every day. If you want to stay on top of all my latest releases, then why not follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter?

Want To Make More Money With Your Blog? Try Sovrn

So, as most of you know, I was a big fan of Yahoo! Voices (once known as Associated Content). I had an archive of about 400 articles on there, and around the time it closed its doors I was finally pulling down triple digit royalties. When that vanished, though, I had to pick up the pieces and find new homes for my old articles. A number of those posts wound up getting reposted in my InfoBarrel archive (which is still trying to make up lost ground), and some of them found new homes on the two blogs I run. Some of them vanished into the ether, never to be seen again.

Trust me, not all of them were worth saving.

It's taken three years or so, but I'm finally getting to the point where the loss of Yahoo! Voices is just a bad limp, instead of a crippling strike to the knee. However, there was something special about that site.

It paid you based on your traffic, not on the number of ad clicks you got.

Getting Seen to Get Paid

Anyone who blogs is likely familiar with the way providers like Google AdSense work. You place their ads on your blog, and then you wait for one of your readers to see an ad they like. The reader clicks the ad, and boom, money in your bank. As systems go, it's fairly simple.

In order for this system to work for you, though, you need to have a colossal amount of traffic. You also need to make sure your traffic doesn't use Ad Block, or a similar program to stop your ads from displaying. Lastly, you need to make sure the people who come to your page see ads for things they actually want. Managing those first two steps is hard enough, but the third one can be nearly impossible.

That was what made Yahoo! Voices such a great site. It provided huge reach, a lot of visibility, and you got paid a set fee for every 1,000 views your articles got. You didn't have to worry about people clicking your ads; they just had to see them. That was particularly useful when I'd put out a new article, and it would get 30,000 views in the first week. These days getting that kind of traffic is rare for me, but even if I did manage it, it wouldn't do me any good.

Until recently, anyway.

What changed, you might ask?

I say this because I recently added Sovrn ads to my blogs. I've used a number of ad services in the past, including Chitika, InfoLinks, Google AdSense, and others, but all of them worked off the same model I mentioned above. If no one actually clicks-through on your links, then it doesn't matter how much traffic you get.

Sovrn is only concerned about your traffic. So if you command a huge audience, or a post goes viral, you get paid for being a billboard.

Now, if you're a blogger like me, that probably sounds pretty sweet. You don't have to wait for the slot machine payout of getting just the right person to come to your blog, who just so happens to be looking for a new set of shoes, or a coat, or a particular book (since most ads will try to display something based on the viewer's search history). You just need to get them to come check out your site. That's it. As long as the ads display, you get paid.

If that sounds good to you, check out Sovrn to get started today. I'm glad I found out about it, so I thought I'd do my part and share it with all of you, too.

Also, if you're not a blogger, but like the idea of earning money off writing articles, you might want to check out an older post Make Money Writing (By Joining InfoBarrel.com).

Thanks for tuning in to this week's Business of Writing post. If you'd like to help support me and my blog so I can keep useful information coming your way, stop by The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page. As little as $1 a month can make a big difference, and you get a free gift as well! Lastly, if you haven't followed me on Facebook, Tumblr, or Twitter yet, why not start today?

How To Make Money With Your Blog By Selling Swag

The unfortunate truth of being a writer is that the amount of money you make is directly connected to what you sell. Whether it's ad clicks on your blog, subscriptions to you through kindle, garden variety book sales, or something else entirely the formula is pretty simple; more sales = a bigger check.

This will be on the test. Show all your work.

Unfortunately for a lot of writers out there it's impossible to make a living wage from words alone. We don't have a big company setting up a book tour, nor do we have reporters dogging us to know when the next book is coming out. If we're truly fortunate we have at least a few fans that will show up to shake our hands at conventions, and maybe buy a book off of us.

Maybe.

So how do you rake in the cash to pay your rent, put food on your kids and a table in your mouth (or however it's supposed to go)? Corporations call it expansion into a new and engaging product line. The rest of us call it selling swag.

Can You Self-Publish Your Own Swag?

For those of you who haven't read up on self publishing and how it changed writing as a profession (bear with me this is relevant), here's a quick explanation of how it works. An author writes a book, formats it, designs a cover and goes through all of the steps that would normally be done by a publisher. The manuscript is then submitted to a service like Amazon's Create Space, and it creates ebooks, and print-on-demand books. Ebooks as we all know are electronic books that can be read on an ereader, laptop, smartphone, etc., whereas print-on-demand books are physical, traditional books that are not printed up and bound until someone orders them. For every copy that's sold, authors get a royalty cut.

The reason this works is because authors don't have to pay to print huge amounts of books and store them somewhere to be sold, only making a profit once the stock has been emptied. If no one buys copies then there's no demand, and therefore no printing, which means that the author incurs no loss of funds. If the book sells well then the author rakes in the cash, and if the book doesn't move the author's out nothing but time and effort (along with any marketing budget).

So what's your point?

The point is that you can do this with more than books.

Whether you want to create key chains or bumper stickers, messenger bags, tee shirts, hoodies, coffee mugs or any of a dozen other products you can get them made with the same print-on-demand system you would a book.

Here's How

Step one is to find a website that offers this kind of setup, like Cafe Press or Zazzle. Once you've become a member and poked around at the tools the next step is to come up with a product design. For instance, say I wanted a black tee shirt with a white silhouette of a man in a beret holding a red garotte wire between his hands with the phrase Kill Your Darlings under it and spattered across the back in red letters The Literary Mercenary. All I would need to do is design that image and upload it.

Seriously though, do you guys want me to do that?

Once an image is uploaded all that's left to do is to create a product page. Once the product is saved it will appear on your store. For every product that you sell you get a cut, and if you create something popular then it's quite likely word will get out fast about that clever sticker or brutal tee shirt. Hell, enough people start wearing and carrying your swag they might even decide to buy a book or two while they're at it.

Some Tips For Running a Store

It's important to remember that even if your store is there to help support your writing and book sales that you've got to put a lot of time and work into making it float. You've got to keep putting out new designs, you've got to publicize your products, and you need to do your absolute best to give the people what they want.

In short you're now running a whole creative industry, rather than just writing books.

 

As if this shit isn't hard enough already.

Can it work? Sure it can! It's very possible for you to hit the right turn of phrase, the right image, or the right product to shoot you up harder than a test-your-strength weight on body builder night. As with everything else though, there's no guarantee. Your store might start netting you hundreds of sales a month, giving you a nice, cushy pad to your bank account. It could also sit vacant and empty as Jerusalem's Lot.

It all depends on you.

Other Ways to Make Money From Your Blog

In the interest of simplicity I've gone through The Literary Mercenary and collected all of my other entries about how to make money off your blog in one, easy-to-find spot. Just click right here, and you'll get access to the whole list.

That said, do you guys want to see me open a store for The Literary Mercenary and Improved Initiative? Because I will, if you do.

Once again, thanks for stopping by! If you want to get all of my updates just plug your email into the box on the upper right, or follow me on Facebook and Tumblr. If you'd like to keep the Literary Mercenary going then tell your family, tell your friends, drop a tip in the "Shakespeare Gotta Get Paid, Son" box on the top right, or check out my Patreon page and become a patron today!

How To Make Money Publishing Your Blog on the Kindle

Making a living as a blogger isn't easy. You need hundreds if not thousands of regular subscribers, and daily hits in the six-digit range. If you're depending on advertising money, then you need people to actually click ads on your page in order to get paid. If you're selling products as an affiliate marketer, then you need to persuade your readers to purchase through your site. If you have merchandise of your own, you need to make a solid case as to why readers should hand over their hard-earned cash.

Wouldn't it just be easier to get paid for writing good articles that provide useful, actionable information?

You want to get paid for doing what now?

Experienced bloggers are currently wiping tears of mirth from their eyes. The reason is because no one pays writers just to put words on a page; writers get paid for selling something. Since blogs are free to read, they need to be used as a vehicle in order to sell something else. No matter how brilliant your writing, or how entertaining your jokes are, they're worthless all by themselves. Unless, that is, you can come up with a way to sell something that doesn't cost anything.

Amazon to the Rescue

As the reigning king of selling people things they don't need, Amazon has begun a service allowing you to publish your blog to the Kindle. This means you get increased exposure, since there are hundreds of thousands of Kindle ereaders on the market, and at least some of those users will be searching for blogs through their machines. Amazon also charges a fee to anyone who subscribes to your blog through an ereader. It doesn't charge much, maybe .99 a month, with the first two weeks coming free of charge. As the author, you're entitled to some of that cash. It's why the Literary Mercenary is now available here, and its sister blog Improved Initiative is available here.

How Do I Publish My Blog With Amazon?

And can I get paid in bananas?

If you already have a blog that's up and running, getting it put up on Amazon takes very little time. Just go to this link and create a new Amazon account. I'm sure you already have a personal one, but that won't fly for this little endeavor. Once you have your new account set up, log in. You'll see a blank window, with an "Add Blog" button on the right hand side. Simply click that button, and then fill in all the details for your blog. This includes a sales description, cover photo, and all of the marketing text you can fit. Once you've filled out all the details, click submit and wait roughly 24 hours for your blog to be available for subscription through Amazon. It's that simple!

How Much Money Can I Make?

Because that's not a loaded question at all.

You can make thousands of dollars a month doing this. You won't. Blog subscriptions are just like anything else in the writing world; the more you sell, the more you make. Just like your blog.

If you get a half a million hits, and every visitor clicks an advertisement on your blog, then you're going to find yourself in a new tax bracket pretty damn fast. The same is true if your novel suddenly starts selling like hot cakes, or if your blog becomes the new "in" thing to subscribe to. You can potentially make a fortune, if you can persuade everyone with a Kindle to subscribe to you. That isn't likely to happen, though. What's more likely is that your blog will pick up a few subscribers, yielding perhaps an extra few bucks a month.

So why publish your blog on the Kindle? Well, on the one hand, it costs you nothing. Even if no one ever hears about you, and you never see a single cent from the endeavor, at worst you've wasted fifteen minutes. Sheer chance says there are at least a few readers out there who will discover you, and decide to subscribe for at least a little while. There's also the outside shot that, for whatever reason, your blog becomes a rolling stone raking in enough cash for you to pay your rent, save up for a vacation, and quit your day job just on the number of subscriptions you get. It isn't likely, but then again a Twilight fan-fiction became a million-dollar industry. The impossible is very, very possible when it comes to writing, for good or ill.


As always, thanks for stopping by the Literary Mercenary. If you'd like to keep this blog going please share your favorite pages with your friends, and feel free to click the "Shakespeare Gotta Get Paid" button in the upper right hand corner. Also, if you're interested in donating on the regular, I currently have a Patreon giveaway going on for the month of January. Simply drop in here and make a donation to receive links to 2 free stories, as well as to receive a free ebook. Lastly, if you want to stay up-to-the-moment with what I'm doing as an author then follow me on Facebook or Tumblr.

Patreon.com: Bringing Patronage Into the 21st Century

Artists come in a myriad of mediums. Some of us work in watercolors, while others dabble in dance. Authors and poets make pictures with words, while photographers and filmmakers work to capture events as they unfold. From stone and wood to clay and sound it seems that artists can and will shape absolutely anything. For all our differences though, there is one thing that brings us together.

Most of us are broke.

I'm sorry my friend, but it was you or me.

Yes there are some of us out there who make a decent living as professionals. There are even a fortunate few of us who "made it"; the Stephen Kings, Madonnas, and Leonardo DiCaprios of the world. On the other hand, a majority of us have to hustle at art fairs and conventions, post endlessly to social media, and wheedle our way into interviews with local newspapers and television stations to get the word out about what we do. We hand sell a few books here, get a few Google AdSense clicks there, but more often than not we have to patch the holes in our budgets with part time jobs, holiday gift money, and tax return checks.

For those of you wondering if there's a better way, there is. It's called Patreon.

What the Hell is That?

All right, quick history lesson. From the Middle Ages through the Renaissance, and even into what most people would consider the modern era, the landed gentry owned pretty much everything. The kings, dukes, lords, barons, dons, and associated titled people owned all the land, bore all the titles, kept pretty much all of the valuables, and more or less ran the show. Commoners worked the land, made goods, and supported the upper class. So not much has changed, really.

Pictured: the Medieval 1%

There was an invention created around this time called patronage (the idea existed before then, but they called it something else). The word patron stretches back to the year 1300, and it comes from Old French. It meant a lord or protector, and soon after it was used to mean a benefactor. So if an artist had a patron it meant that a lord or lady was footing the bill for daily bread, ensuring said artist could focus on creating better and better art.

This notion never really died out. Wealthy people, endowments, not-for-profit organizations, and dozens of others have continued to donate money as patrons of the arts for centuries. The problem is that there's a lot of artists, and there are only so many rich people.

That's where Patreon.com comes into the picture. It gives everyone the ability to become patrons of their favorite artists.

How Does That Work?

All right, I'll give you a concrete example for this one. As my regular readers know, I'm an author (and I have the Goodreads page to prove it). I write primarily short stories, and I've been featured in half a dozen anthologies now. Because I am not swimming in royalty monies, I started this blog as a way to increase my reach, and perhaps earn some advertising cash. I don't charge any kind of membership to read my blog, and even if 10,000 readers come through every day there's no guarantee that I'll make a single red cent off them.

That's why I opened up my own Patreon account here. This page is sort of like an ongoing Kickstarter. The difference is that I'm not asking people to give me a boat load of money to write a novel, put together a new video game, or make a movie. I'm asking people to leave me little donations (say $1 a month) to cover my expenses so that I can keep producing useful, engaging content on The Literary Mercenary, and over on my gaming blog Improved Initiative. If someone wanted to help support me they would go to my Patreon page, and pledge a certain amount of money for every new blog I put up. If that someone was concerned about his or her monthly budget, then my mysterious benefactor could put a cap on the generosity. Someone might be willing to give me $1 per blog, but they can only spare $5 a month to help me out. I'd accept that, and say thank you for being a loyal reader and supporter.

Spread the Wealth

No, really, we kind of need you to.

Patreon is specifically geared toward people who need their fans to help them make a living, and who aren't shy about asking for a small donation to free up their time and energies to create more content. If you're willing to drop your change into a barista's jar, or to leave a couple bucks on the lid for the piano man, then why not toss some cash to your favorite Youtube actor, BlogSpot blogger, or Spotify singer? Seriously, why not?

If you're a creative type looking to make some scratch off of what you provide to your fans, stop on by Patreon.com today and ask them to help support you. The worst they can say is no.


As always, thanks for dropping in and seeing what I have to say. I am the Literary Mercenary, and I deal in red. Even if you don't have any change to spare, feel free to check out my Facebook page, or to mainline me over at Tumblr.

Make Money With Your Blog: How to Add a Tip Jar

Lots of people think making a living from a blog is easy. Just pick a topic you like, or that you know a lot about, and start writing articles. Pretty soon you'll be able to cut your day job down to part-time, and soon after that it's easy street thanks to the miracle of modern technology and the civilization-wide stretch of the Internet. For those of you humping your mattresses to this capitalism wet dream, allow me to throw some cold water on you.

The only thing smaller than this picture is your projected earnings.

For those having trouble reading this little image, it's a chart of the average earnings for readers over at ProBlogger. More than 50% of those bloggers earn $99 or less a month. Only about 14% of these bloggers (who I am using as a representative population) make enough money to pay their bills from blogging alone. What I'm trying to say is that having a blog, even a successful blog with a lot of traffic, doesn't necessarily guarantee you can quit your day job. This is especially true because if you are a blogger (like me) then you can't tell your readers to just go and click an ad (which I am not telling you to do) because that's where your paycheck comes from. What you can do though, is pass the hat.

Adding a Tip Jar to Your Blog

Take a look at the upper right side of your screen. Most people who read blogs tend to develop tunnel vision because all of the ads are off to the side, so you might have missed it. You see that big "Donate" button? That is yet another way that this blog puts money right into my pocket.

One of many.

If you're a blogger who wants to get more money out of your blog there's no reason not to install one of these buttons. At worst you waste a couple of minutes of your time. At best your devoted fan base will hand over cold, hard cash for you to write articles, draw a comic, make ridiculous videos, or do whatever it is you do that draws crowds of morbidly curious Morlocks from the bowels of the Internet.

Step One: PayPal

I'm going to assume everyone reading this, particularly my fellow freelancers, has a PayPal account. Log in, and when you get to the home page go to the Merchant Services button along the top of the page. Click that.

Step Two: Button Creation

Click the "Create Payment Buttons For Your Website" option. This will take you to a basic screen where you can select a "Donate" button just like the one this very blog boasts. Once you've created the button there will be a long list of code for you to use. Highlight and copy that code.

Step Three: Apply the Button

If you happen to have a BlogSpot blog then this is going to be easy. Go to your blog's Layout tab, and find a place where you can put a gadget. Click the section of your blog you want the button on, then scroll down the list of options. Choose the "HTML/JavaScript" button that allows you to use third party features. Paste your PayPal button's code into the next window, then click save. Name the button, and bam, you have a way to skip the middle man entirely!

So I'm Good Now, Right?

I wouldn't quit my day job, if I were you.

Depends on what you mean by good. If you have a readership of thousands who are willing to throw their pocket change at you every month, then it's entirely possible you're done with regular, offline employment for good. On the other hand if people aren't clicking ads on your blog, what makes you think they'll take the time to throw you so much as their two cents? Especially if you aren't following the basic formula to make money blogging I talked about here?

There are success stories about people, largely webcomic artists, whose fans were so eager for more strips and more stories that they paid for the artist to work at home full-time. There are also stories about young adult manuscripts that hit it big, and stories about husband/wife writing teams who paid off their mortgages by self-publishing smut. You know what you don't hear about, though? You don't hear about the years of effort those creative types put in to polish a product that readers wanted. You don't hear about all the networking that had to be done, all of the late nights and costly convention trips that were made. You don't hear about all the ground work that went into the huge success that, to hear the story, sounds like it happened overnight. Lastly for every one story you hear about where someone made it big I guarantee you there are hundreds, if not thousands, who are trying to pull the same trick. Odds are you, and I, are one of the latter instead of one of the former. So rather than using gimmicks, or begging for readers to drop a nickel in your cup, it's a much better idea to create solid, evergreen, actionable content that people will find useful for years to come. Or to make cat videos. That usually works out pretty good, too.


As always, my thanks for dropping by and checking out the Literary Mercenary. It's your page views and commentary that keeps this blog going, so if you want to see me cover something don't hesitate to contact me and ask for it. If you'd like to follow me then pop on over to Facebook or Tumblr and hitch your wagon to my page. Also, if you happen to have two cents to spare, toss it through my donate window.

Where to Find Online Writing Jobs

Today I'd like to talk a little bit about making money as a freelance writer and some of the places I've discovered that won't hesitate to pay you for your work. The following guide is a nice starting place for working online, but is shouldn't be all of the searching you do. New sites are opening every day, and that means opportunity.

Up Front Payment

Authors and assassins always take their money up front.

When most people think of getting paid to write, this is what they think of. The writer creates a piece of content, the client pays a fee, and the job is over. This is pretty much how magazines and newspapers worked in the good old days of traditional mass media. For writers who like knowing what they're getting paid before they start banging away on the keys though, there are still several websites that can start fattening up your collective bank accounts.

Demand Media Studios

You've likely been to a Demand Media Studios site. They run eHow.com, they run LiveStrong.com, and they run dozens of other websites in addition to partnering with even more. As far as fees and work go, Demand Media Studios is one of the higher-paying markets out there for writers who want guaranteed, up-front payment for writing articles. I myself have completed a great deal of work for them, such as this article, this article, and this article too.

The application process is simple. Simply go to the homepage at www.demandstudios.com and apply. A word to the wise though; this is not a content farm. If you don't have a college degree, or several years of experience in a professional field, this might not be the place for you. In addition to writing jobs though, Demand Studios also has room for editors looking for a way to earn extra income.

Textbroker

There are a lot of negative things written about this website, but there are only two questions you need to ask as a writer; do they offer work at a price I'm willing to take, and do they pay on time? In that area at least Textbroker is simple and straightforward. I've completed thousands of articles there myself, and it is possible to get enough work from this site to pay one's bills. Possible, but not easy. A tip for those who plan on becoming www.TextBroker.com contributors; impress your customers, get a high rating, and get added to as many teams as you can. Team assignments always have higher pay, and there's less competition over them. This shouldn't be your only place of employ, but it is a solid option.

Content Current

Yet another website which has earned a lot of shaken fists, www.ContentCurrent.com is not a website you can just go to, write a few hundred words a day and retire. However, when work gets scarce and budgets get tight, this site often has assignments that can make the difference between paying your bills and not. Assignments tend to run scarce at Content Current, but it also has the option of editing along with writing. This can be a life saver for writers who aren't afraid to wield the power of the red pen.

Royalties

It always feels like free money, for some reason.

There are few things guaranteed to perk a writer's imagination more than the notion of royalties. The idea of writing a single story, a single book, or even a single article and being paid for it over and over again is extremely appealing. There's a hitch with royalties though; they pay you nothing unless they get popular. So if no one reads your articles, or no one clicks the ads on your page then you, as the writer, have spent a great deal of time and effort in creating a piece of content for nothing. On the other hand if your content gets truly and wildly popular you could see checks for hundreds of dollars, or more, showing up in your bank for months to come. Years, in some cases.

Infobarrel & Xomba

Infobarrel.com and Xomba.com are both websites that can provide a lot of earning potential as long as someone has a Google AdSense account. Both websites allow users to write articles, and they will split the AdSense revenue with the content creator. While Infobarrel is more popular for articles (my account for that is located here), Xomba has the advantage in that users can create bookmarks (which is the sort of content I recommend creating. It worked great for me, as evidenced by this). Xomba doesn't let you create content that links to something you wrote, though. On the other hand, if you have a friend that creates great content then you can build a bookmark library for that other person. That person might, in turn, feel obligated to build some backlinks for your content as well.

Update: Infobarrel no longer requires you to have an AdSense account of your own! If you'd like to take advantage of the ability to earn ad revenue without having to get let into Google's secret club house, then you can sign up right here!

BlogSpot and Others

Anyone who can entertain users can run a blog. If you want to make money blogging (I already covered this topic here in greater depth), all you need is an AdSense account (or an alternative adsense provider), and an audience that is willing to click your ads on occasion. Fortunately there's no rule that says you can only have a single blog. Any activity that you're knowledgeable enough about to create content for, you can do it. For instance, in addition to the Literary Mercenary I also run a blog for tabletop gaming titled Improved Initiative. This allows you to cover a number of subjects, and to market yourself and your work simultaneously to a bigger overall population. It also requires double the work of creation and promotion, and there's no guarantee of earnings if no one reads what you wrote.

Hit Lists: Finding New Jobs

Can't be afraid of a little red work.

Not all writers work for a single, stable employer. Some writers simply make their way from one want ad to another, building up a stable of steady paymasters until they have access to more work than they have time, effort, or desire for. Even writers who do have steady work might check the boards on occasion to try and fill in the cracks, and save a little bit on the side. While I can't vouch for every job at these locations, I can vouch that they collect more than enough jobs to keep you busy applying for days.

Online Writing Jobs

There's never been a website with a simpler name and purpose. Simply go to www.Online-Writing-Jobs.com and tool around until you find something that strikes your fancy. This site combs through a dozen online want ads, bringing all of the writing jobs one could want to a single place every, single day.

ODesk

Though I'm a relatively recent convert to www.ODesk.com, I can vouch that there's plenty of work available on the site. Not all of the work is meant for an American audience, which means that sometimes the prices being paid are much lower than a first world writer would be willing to accept. That said, with enough looking it's a relatively simple matter to match a writer with an employer.

Is That All?

Of course not. I could run an entire blog devoted to nothing more than writing jobs and where to get them. As of this particular moment, though, these are the locations I can personally vouch for, and which I feel comfortable recommending to my fellow writers who are looking to make their ends meet. There might be further installments of this topic as I broaden my reach, or if readers decide to leave comments regarding places they've worked for that aren't mentioned here. Seriously though, do that.

Writers always have to look at the assignment and ask themselves if it's worth the time and the effort. If a writer doesn't want to work as a cashier, a security guard, or any of a dozen other low-rent jobs, these are some good places to start building up a writing job history. It also helps to start expanding your contact circle, and to get you into the professional mindset. If you're going to write, then do it, and don't look back.


As always, thanks for tuning in to the Literary Mercenary. If you want more updates then follow me on Facebook, or main line me on Tumblr. If you want to see a particular topic covered, or if you have information to enrich this particular post, then please leave a comment or drop me an email. It's your patronage and support that makes this blog possible.

Why NaNoWriMo is a Crock of Shit

I am not angry. What I am is sad, and disappointed.

There are likely some people here who really like NaNoWriMo. The sort of people who think an entire month dedicated to writing a novel is peachy keen, and the sort of shin dig that anyone could get down with. There might even be a few readers here that came with pickets and vitriol, just looking for a place to point their fury. If you find yourself in one of these two camps, chances are I'm not going to say anything that will affect you in the slightest. That's fine. You are not who this warning goes out to.

This warning is for all those who have been stirring over their stories for months, maybe years, looking for an outlet. People who have always wanted to be a "real" writer, and who want to make themselves and their stories a part of something bigger. For those people who are the prime targets of NaNoWriMo, I ask you to please step back from the ledge. Take a deep breath, and look at what you're jumping into.

Sure it's pretty... but what, exactly, is down there?

What NaNoWriMo Is

For those of you who don't know what NaNoWriMo is the acronym stands for National Novel Writing Month, and it has taken place every November since it began in 1999. At first it was just a handful of students getting together to drink a lot of caffeine and write novels, but since then it's grown into a huge deal with thousands of participants.

Let's begin at the beginning, shall we? On November 1 participants register on the site, and then begin writing their manuscripts. In order to qualify an individual must work on a new fiction story that reaches at least 50,000 words by November 31 at one minute to midnight. If a participant finishes his or her story then that person is deemed a winner, and the manuscript is put up for everyone to read. Sounds just dandy, doesn't it?

What's Wrong With It?

The answer to this question is simultaneously nothing and everything. For those writers who are comfortable treating it as a fun challenge, as a literary exercise, NaNo can be an exciting thing to do. It's sort of like running a marathon and trying to beat your best time. For a lot of other participants NaNo is like trying to run a marathon without any sort of training or conditioning, and with more than just personal achievement on the line. From my perspective it's the latter part that's the problem, and needs to be eliminated. Let's put Nano's faults in an easy-to-read list, shall we?

#1: Chasing the Word Count Rainbow

1,666 words, and you can take the leg cuffs off.

I know a lot of folks who have tried to complete NaNo. None have, and each and every one of them cites the same reason; the ridiculous word count. I think the author Maggie Stiefvater put it best in her series of blog posts about NaNoWriMo here. To sum up the half dozen posts there, she found that no matter how many words she put on the page, she didn't like what was there. She started chasing a certain number of words rather than using those words to build a narrative. It's a bit like trying to build another floor onto a building without considering the purpose of that floor. Just build, and keep building till you hit 50 stories and call it quits.

The issue here is that 50k is kind of an arbitrary word count. Some stories are going to just barely make that. Other stories though are going to blow past the limit long before they're done. If the writer is focused on the word count, and he or she plans only for that 1,666 words per day, then what's going to happen when the date comes and there's more story to tell? Those writers are going to fail the challenge, and through no fault of their own. What if they get sick? Have to work overtime? A parent goes into the hospital? Too bad, so sad, you still can't claim a purely fictional prize which becomes more important the more work that goes into it.

#2: The Deadline

Most people I know have no idea what goes into writing a novel. It's some mystical process they're in awe of, but are completely assured they're talented enough to achieve. Like people convinced they'll win in a fight, even if they have no training or experience beyond being a Bruce Lee fan. Anyone can tell a story, after all. What's the big deal?

That pretty much sums it all up in a nut shell, I think. A single month to write a novel sounds great, and even assuming the 1,666 words a day is all you need to get from "in the beginning" to "the end", it's a ridiculous amount of time. Some authors, some very few, very select authors can write a rough draft in a month. Because that's what NaNo is; a rough draft. The deadline doesn't give people the time to go back through and edit chapters, fix inconsistencies, dust up the grammar, and all those other, little details. Also, woe be to the author who needs to delete even a single day's work with such a stringent time limit imposed. There's no time to smooth the story out, delete unnecessary chapters, or add more exposition in the places you really sort of need it. Lastly, while you might start off strong, you're probably going to be out of breath in no time unless you don't have a day job and you're really, truly dedicated to your novel.

#3: The Spirit of the Whole Mess

This third entry is not the fault of the contest itself; it is rather an unfortunate outgrowth of the nearly cult-like loyalty the idea has drawn. When NaNoWriMo was first created it was a way for friends to get together and write novels. It worked, at least in a way, because some of the original pool finished the project. Written directly in the rules, the event is supposed to give those who think it would be fun to write a novel and excuse to do it.

After all, if you wanted to make money you'd rob a bank.

That's fine. It's a little touchy-feely, and more than a little hobbyist, but that's fine. If all someone wants to do is write a book with some friends, enjoy the experience, and maybe show the manuscript to a publisher or toss it up on the Internet, then who am I to judge them for that? I can safely say I wouldn't judge them... if not for the money. The very real, and the very theoretical money.

For many people NaNoWriMo isn't about having fun. It isn't about the creative experience, or honing their craft. It isn't even about the story. It's about money. Because, to paraphrase Chuck Palahniuk, a lot of people don't see books as works of art or worlds to be enjoyed; they see them as means to an end. For every one person who promotes NaNo because they think it's fun, or because it's a great creative outlet, there are five entitled pricks who are absolutely convinced all they need to do is slap some words on the page and they'll have movie deals, royalty checks, and all the pussy or cock they can handle. Then, just to add insult to injury, writers are encouraged to buy merchandise to support the whole, staggering endeavor as it balloons into ever-grander proportions.

What's Wrong With it, You Ask?

NaNoWriMo, at the end of the day, doesn't help you become a better writer. It doesn't teach you how to improve your plot, get out of the passive tense, or to understand that there is no "right" length for a chapter or a book. It doesn't judge you on whether you write pointless, incestual sex scenes, or if you're blatantly yanking published characters and putting Groucho Marx glasses on them. It doesn't, by and large, make you any money, or earn you the sort of discipline and contacts you need to really become a professional novelist (sure, there are published NaNoWriMo authors, but if you compare the number of "real authors" to the number of participants, you'll see some depressing data). Mostly, NaNo is just giving you the excuse.

I say this here and now, with all of the sincerity I can manage. If you need an excuse to write your story, then you my friend are not a writer.

If it takes an annual ritual to get you to sit down at your computer and put words on the page, if you require the sympathy of temporary Internet friends or a four week writing group, and if you're too embarrassed to take the plunge without a herd of lemmings hoping for a real shot at hacking it all around you, then you should find another calling. Writing is about telling stories, and the craft of drawing in the reader. It's about the frustrations of late night ideas, little notebooks crammed with diagrams and character names, and the thrill of seeing a world come to life in your mind. It's about the unique magic of making something that people you have never met will read, and which will play a symphony on their heart strings. You don't need a special month of the year to write. You don't need more time off from work, or a cushy loft with high ceilings. If all you have is excuses why you haven't, then this year maybe it's time to put up or shut up.


As always, thank you for making The Literary Mercenary your go-to place for rambling on writing. Keep in mind that unlike NaNoWriMo, I am not a non-profit and thus need to earn a living and pay taxes. This blog runs on Google AdSense, and on royalties from book sales. For more about your author follow me on Facebook or on Tumblr. If you have any questions, concerns, or would like to see me cover a specific topic then please leave a comment, or contact me on one of my social media outlets. If you're curious about the stories I've told, a complete list can be found on Goodreads.