Monday, May 04, 2009

JULES OLDER SEEKS HELP WITH MAKING A CRUST FROM ONLINE WRITING

WRITER’S LIFEGUARD

Here's the Big Picture
Rather than stoop to honest work, I want to write and create. (And by 'I,' understand that I understand this means a bunch of us.)
To accomplish this goal, sooner or later I (we) must be paid for what I/we create.With diminishing returns over the past three or four decades, that's always been possible, if difficult.
But with the Dawning of the Age of the Internet, Approaching Impossible is the new Difficult.

Our outlets, mainly magazines and newspapers, are folding daily. Their replacement, All Things Online, is either not paying anything or paying so little, it looks like squat to me.We're living and working in changing times, and while that is hugely exciting, few indeed have figured out how to make it pay for groceries.
So here's...

The Little Picture
I'm reasonably up-to-date. I post videos on YouTube, I'm on MediaBistro, I'm all a-Twitter, and I just came back from Whistler, BC, where I directed online coverage of a major ski event (on skipressworld.com / Ski Press LIVE). But with few exceptions, I haven't found a way to make all this activity put food on table.
Which leads me to...

The Next Picture
For several years, I've been reading crime novels and recording my responses to more than 200 of them. From this, I've published two articles, and I own the domain name, alifeofcrime.org.I intend to start posting my responses, one a day, on a blog/site/ejournal/whatever. It's for fun — writing/ creativity/whatever — but I'd like to earn a crust from my labor.

Since I figure that you find yourself in a roughly similar situation, I'm seeking solutions. To wit...

Is there actually a way to do this? (I know of one: Julie Powell's blog turned book turned movie starring Meryl Streep, The Julie/Julia Project.)
Are there bad choices (say, of host) to avoid?Are there new methods to explore?Et al.As always, many thanks.

I hope this makes us all fat and sassy.


Peace.
jules

FOOTNOTE
Jules Older is a widely published writer/blogger/editor/journalist/broadcaster, former academic based in California but once long-time resident of Dunedin, New Zealand.

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