Not all Work is Worth It

As I look for freelance jobs, sometimes there are jobs that seem like they pay a lot, but when I read the fine print I find that there is much more to it.

 

A perfect example is a job that lists a fee range of $1200 for articles. That sounds like a nice pay day right?

Often these types of jobs will have you write 400 articles. Yes, I said 400. So now you are working for $3 per article. These must be 500 + words, with keywords, all original and all the rights go to the client. Now how lucrative does it seem? Always ask for details before agreeing to a job.

The other type of job that can be misleading are the jobs advertising for an eBook. The job says they will pay $1000 for it. There are two areas that I look at before agreeing to this type of job. If there are 30 pages, which is the average size of an eBook, then this is a great paying job. If however it is over 200 pages, then I will be doing a whole of of work for about $5 a page.

The second thing I look at are the terms of payment. If an eBook is to be drug out over 3 months, then I will be waiting a long time for a payment, which means that the client has no money and is planning on trying to sell the book, before paying me for it. Do not work this way. The likelihood of you ever getting paid is slim.

Look carefully at the jobs before you bid or accept them. It can save you time, which means more money in the bank.

 

Have an Inky day!

Find Other Work To Do

These past few weeks I am reminded why I need many skills to be able to continue as a freelance writer.

 

I am able to do a number of things in a pinch to continue the money flow when things slow down- and last month it was slow.

I use the skills I learn while doing my jobs. One of the greatest skills I learned was WEB 3.0- which essentially is using social media (blogs, Twitter and Facebook) as marketing tools. I have a number of clients that I increased their sales (and I got paid) by being able to upgrade what they had.

The other thing that I learned to do was set up accounts to sell books on Amazon and create Kindle books for sale on Amazon.

Everything I learn from creating articles and ebooks for clients I tuck away, because you never know when that information might pay the rent.

 

Have an inky day.

Finished the Next Part of the Beer Book

I sent in my next 20k words to the publisher Friday. May not sound like a lot but let me break it down for you.

350 words per page. So that is about 57 pages. I had about 9 days to do it, so it was about 6.3 pages a day. When you are creating a non fiction book you must do research and so while a little over 6 pages may not seem like a lot there is time to research, and then create things in a logical order that fits with what the rest of the chapter and book is about. There are considerations like placement of the information, illustrations or graphics that may go along with it, and defining new words both in the text of the chapter and as a word to place in the glossary. I have to update the table of contents, edit, re edit, proof, re edit, write a little bit more and edit, re edit, re edit, proof, re edit. You get the point.

So I am left with at best creating 1 page per hour of solid submitable work. In between I have to eat, walk the dog, communicate with other human beings and do other things that life requires. I end up working between 10-12 hours a day. This is not all at once, it is broken up between 7:30 AM- 11:00 PM or later.

This is not a post to complain, rather it is a testimony of the reality of making a living as a writer.

New Product- Speed Reading

My wife and I have been working hard with a world renowned speed reading instructor to create this new product called

11 minute Speed reading

It has been months in the making, but the result is an awesome product that costs less than $20. For that you get 4 books, 2 audios, and speed reading software. Try buying even one book these days for less than $20 let alone a whole system that helps you speed read in mere minutes.

These courses are used worldwide by over 100,000 students in several languages in many parts of the globe. We've researched just about every course ever written, printed, or computer-based and we've put them to the test.

On our main website, www.speedread.org we list the ones we've created (now there are over 30 of them) and some of the best courses from other developers that we found and trust.

We also have live seminars taught on weekends around the US and video seminars by America's leading speed reading instructor for your family, and your business.

Research: We did the research, 16 years of it, with successful results, and we are recognized throughout the world as the nation's leader in speed reading research and as an internet authority on the subject.

Dr Jay Polmar (Speed Reading Instructor) :

“It was early 1980, and I needed to complete my doctorate by late 1981. I had to support a family of four, while working 60 hours a week as an intern therapist. It was quite a task for me. But I did it by learning to accelerate my reading and learning skills.
By 1982, I redeveloped the techniques that worked for me and had them evaluated by school psychologists, principals, and reading teachers. Then, I went out and taught more than 8,000 students in Universities around the Continental U.S. and out to Hawaii.”

Records and analysis class by class demonstrated that students in live classes averaged a 311% improvement. We then shortened the courses for home study.

Later we created a new Readers' Digest type version, an ultra fast method, and students finished it in 28 minutes and doubled their reading speeds. In fact we did a test on three - 11 year old students from a New Mexico Junior High School and they finished our one hour course in 28 minutes flat. In 2004 we began creating the 11 minute program.

RESEARCHED FROM: 8,000 live students in classes!

There is not a person alive that cannot benefit from this system- you need to buy this product right now.

11 minute Speed Reading

Stage 2 of Beer Book

This is the stage things begin to fill in. (I have 15k words to write by next Thursday. say a Prayer for me!)

I am also seeking out people to participate in the book as case studies. I am looking for homebrewers, gardeners, and especially homebrewers that garden. So if you or someone you know fits one of these categories and you want to see you name in bold print in my book, please feel free to contact me at drjohnnd@hotmail.com.

I sent out a call on HARO. (Help a Reporter Out) I guest blogged on two sites (see my last two entries here for links). I will let you know the response!

 

Have an Inky day!

 

 

You can preorder on my site. Just click the book above!

Guest Blog

Please see my guest blog on Write It Sideways. It is about hiring through HARO.

 

 

http://writeitsideways.com/help-a-reporter-out-a-valuable-research-tool-for-writers/

Trains and Romantic Notions

It may seem like a romantic notion to be writing on a train. I have to admit that this is my first time out on Amtrak; my trip is taking me  from Raleigh, NC to Ft Lauderdale, FL. I am 8 hours into a 19 hour trip.

My assessment? I am sipping my Starbucks coffee of course. (All I had to do was ask for hot water and I was good to go!). It is 7 o'clock in the morning. I have one word- BUMPY. I guess I never thought about it, but rails are not completely even, and there was a bad storm last night so there is debris on the tracks. I made sleeping in seat that is much like and airplane seat rather tricky.

I am sitting in the lounge car, which is not bad. They have outlets so my electronic devices, such as this computer will not run out of power anytime soon.

So maybe I can get a little work done, who knows. There is no Internet, so I am actually writing this to be posted in the future. ( at least I will not be distracted right?)

The sun is coming up and people are waking up. I have secured my spot and I have high hopes of what I can produce in the next 10 hours.

Have an inky day.