Blogging for Free or Not for Free, That's the Question

Okay...don't take my word for it. I asked two "experts" if guest bloggers normally get paid for their work.

First, I asked Linda Lee, the owner of Smart Writers, Stupid Computers, a writer, speaker, educator, and expert in website design and on-line promotion and marketing. She also is the expert presenter on websites and online marketing and promotion for writers for the San Francisco Writers Conference and the Writing For Change Conference. She wanted to see the bog post Angela Hoy wrote. Here's what she had to say after reading it:

"You are going to get website traffic from this article she wrote for years!" (I liked that!)

After quite a few bits of advice on how to capitalize on the "publicity," she added:

"One more thing, I would say, 'You Want ME to Write for FREE?! Ha Ha Ha!!! Yes, I will! That's how you can promote yourself and your career online. I am in the Internet marketing community and they give out teasers, blogs and free articles ALL THE TIME to lead to better sales of other products. So she is wrong. So there!"

(You'll be reading more from Linda here in November, by the way, when she writes a blog or two for me -- for free.)

And then I asked Kevin Smokler, the editor of Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times, the San Francisco Chronicle's notable book of 2005, and the cofounder and chief evangelist of BookTour.com. (In a previous life, Kevin was the founder of the Virtual Book Tour, and he has been a presenter at the San Francisco Writers Conference several times. While at the conference, he also offers consulting services on platform building and publishing to attendees and donates all the money he earns to the conference's scholarship program.) I asked him if it was common practice for guest bloggers to get paid for their contributions. He replied, "It is my experience that most blogs, unless run by major media, don't have the budget for paying guest bloggers. The person asked to provide a blog has the right to say 'no,' but they don't have the right to be offended by the request to blog for free. If the request comes from the NY Times, they might expect to get paid, but not if the request comes from an ordinary person. If it is that outlet's standard policy to pay for guest blogs and it is making an exception by asking a guest to blog for free, then that is offensive."

Kevin concluded by reiterating his main point: "It is my experience that, when speaking about someone who writes blogs not as a full-time profession, asking to be paid for that service is unreasonable."

Do I write blogs as a full-time profession? No. Point made. Point taken?

Enough said. I think we've exhausted the topic. No need come November for someone to write on blogging for free or for pay. We'll have more interesting things to discuss. See you then.

Don't forget: Look for this blog at http://www.writenonfictioninnovember.wordpress.com/ in November. This year's challenge takes place there!

(By the way...the comments have pretty much stopped. I only discarded those three I've mentioned already. You've seen all the rest. Those three were nasty and not worth publishing. Suffice it to say, they sided with Angela.)

Research vs. Procrastination and I'm Off to See The Agents, The Wonderful Agents of Mine (Sung to the Wizard of Oz)

Tomorrow, I'm off to see my agents in San Francisco We are supposed to discuss "time lines." I guess that means how long I have to promote myself and my work before they can help me get this next project of mine off and running. If you recall, my agent did not manage to sell one of my projects, and her husband sent me off to promote another one. They said I was "antsy" when I asked if I could find another agent who might take the project on immediately and suggested this meeting. I guess we also will take a look at where I am going, how I am going to get there and how they will help me. Those are my words. I want and need that from them. Anyway, that's tomorrow's agenda, and I'm a little nervous. I don't often get a chance to spend time with them. I enjoy their company and value their time, but I'm always a little afraid of doing something "wrong." Just my stuff... I'll let you know how the meeting goes.

Here's another short bit of news: I finished the first draft of my Write Nonfiction in November project. In fact, I sent it off to my agents, along with a bunch of other stuff. It needs some work, but it's not half bad. I think I told you that its a booklet based on a four-part teleseminar series I taught. I plan to sell it at the back of the room when I teach or speak and on line as well. I'll produce it as an e-book, too.

Okay, a short post on research vs. procrastination (as per Linda's request). Here's my take on this subject, for whatever it's worth. It's very easy for a nonfiction writer to waste away the hours doing research, especially on the Internet. I have often found a whole day gone by without noticing as I've read surfed around the net reading all sorts of things that seem related to my topic. If you've got time to spare, this poses no problem. If you have a deadline or, like me, have few hours in the day to work, this does not serve you. So, Google your subject and try to find the websites that look most promising. Follow your best leads and links. Give yourself a time frame within which you have to quite researching -- 2-3 hours or whatever you can spare -- and then begin writing.

Use this same principle when reading for research. Tons of books have been published on most subjects. You could read for years. Pick the best few books, or the most recent few books, or the books by the most-well-known experts, and then call it quits.

I prefer conducting interviews over reading books, because I don't have enough hours in my day to read as many books as would be necessary to do extensive research. I read a few books or parts of books, and then I start interviewing the authors or other experts. They can tell me what I need to know in a lot less time than it would take to read their whole book. Plus, they answer my questions specifically. Be cautious about spending too much time interview, though. This can become a trap as well. You can spend all your time talking to experts and never get around to writing.

Then, of course, you simply need to know when to stop researching and start writing. Ask yourself, "Am I just procrastinating and putting off writing? Do I have enough research to begin writing?"

I always err on the side of doing too much research, and I don't recommend this. It makes writing more difficult. I think it might be better to research just enough, begin writing, and then go back and do extra research to fill in gaps. The way I do it, I end up having to distill pages and pages of research or interview transcripts into just a few paragraphs of copy. However, an overabundance of research does give you excess material for more articles, books, essays, etc.

Nonfiction Writer Turned Speaker

Okay, so this blog isn’t really about nonfiction writing. It’s about speaking – speaking about what you write as a means of promoting yourself and your writing projects (books). I’m choosing this topic for one reason: I recently discovered that I didn’t know enough about it, and I had to go searching for information. So, I’d like to share that information with you.

As I’ve mentioned before, we nonfiction writers need to develop a platform, and we do this by either writing enough, speaking enough, teaching enough, blogging enough – doing something enough so that lots of people either know who we are or we build a big enough mailing list that we are able to promote our books successfully. In other words, we can sell our books to all these people who know us or who are on our mailing list. Speaking represents one of the most common ways for writers to build their platforms.

I realize that some writers are reclusive and may not enjoy being around large groups of people, let alone getting up in front of them and speaking to them. I also realize that some writers – including me – would rather be writing than speaking.

Now, I do enjoy speaking and teaching, but I have sometimes felt a bit out of integrity when I’ve called myself a “speaker” or “teacher” since I know that what I really am is a “writer.” I simply speak about what I write. As speaker or teacher I’m supposed to be an “expert” on whatever I’m speaking about, yet I normally feel like I know just a little bit about my subject – just the little bit I wrote about. But I guess that’s must my “stuff.” Let’s move on…

Let me get back to the point of this blog: My agent keeps asking me how much money I want to earn from my speaking. I’ve been giving him a huge, pie-in-the-sky figure, but, in fact, until recently I’ve had no idea what I could actually earn speaking. I do speak here and there and as often as I can. Many times I speak for free, and because I speak on a “spiritual” topic I tend to speak in small churches and synagogues where the pay, when there is any, is pretty low. Sometimes I speak or teach at conferences, and then I’m lucky to get my expenses paid. I do most of this for the sake of promotion. When I realized that he thought I was a bit crazy or misled in my beliefs, I decided maybe I should actually find out what I could get paid to go out and speak.

I realized, however, that no one actually talks to writers about this. To discover anything about speaking, you have to treat yourself like a speaker and join a speakers bureau or the National Speakers Association (NSA), take a class on speaking or at least begin doing research on speaking. This begins to open the doors of information.

While I did not join any such group or class, I did begin doing research and I asked a friend if I could join her mastermind group, which consisted of four or five women who focused on sharing leads and information on speaking. Prior to the first meeting, I contacted one of the other women in the group who knew me and who I knew did a lot of speaking. I asked her what she thought I should be charging for my speaking services. I was shocked when she replied, “$1,500.”

“Do you think I can even ask this of a synagogue with a small budget?” I replied.

She said, “Your fee should be $1,500. If they can’t pay you that, see what they can pay you. Ask them what their budget is. If they can’t pay you that much, accept $500. That should be your minimum payment.”

Well, that was a starting point, I thought, although I was still reeling from the first amount.

I then contacted someone I had met once who was a member of the NSA. I asked her about speaking fees, and she sent me a chart that broke speaking payment down into levels. This was most helpful and gave me something concrete to work from when it came to seriously considering what to charge. I can’t share the whole chart, since it contained a copyright, but I can tell you that the levels ranged from beginning speakers, who were unpaid, to part-time speakers, who were paid $100-850, to non-professional speakers, who were paid $1,000-2,000, to professional, full-time speakers, who were paid $4,000-9,000, to celebrity and famous speakers, who were paid between $10,000 to $25,000+.

At this point, I still speak for free and for expenses on many occasions, because I am still trying to build my platform. I speak on a regular basis at a small church where I’m paid $125 – their standard fee. However, with every addition “gig” that I put on my list of recently speaking engagements, I know that I am moving closer and closer to being able to charge more. I have now set up my own desired speaking fee schedule, and while I am willing to work within most organizations’ budgets, I do plan on earning that $1,500 (or close to it) when I go out and speak in the not too distant future.

So, now you don’t have to wonder about what to charge as a speaker. You can transform yourself from a writer into a speaker with less questions and lack of information than I experienced.

Now, if you have a fear of speaking or need help with your public speaking ability, I suggest you join Toastmasters, a speaking class, NSA, or some other group that will support you. And go out and begin speaking. I found that the best way to get over my nerves and get better at speaking was, as the Nike ads says, to just do it. That same little church has a small congregation, and they asked me to come every few months and to speak on a different topic each time. I showed up, gave it my best shot, tried different things, and eventually began to feel comfortable and confident. Now, when I go to new places to speak, that same level of comfort and confidence tends to come with me. So, if nothing else, get some experience. And ask for feedback; people are happy to tell you how to improve on your presentation. Or, ask someone to video tape you while you speak. Watching the video afterwards provides a wonderful learning tool.

Promote Your Book -- and Yourself -- with Online Articles

You can gain exposure for yourself and your books by using your nonfiction writing ability to write articles and “news releases” (short articles) that you post to online article directories and distribution services. You can also submit them to e-zines, which represents a more targeted approach. I’ve done this consistently for more than a year, and if you Google my name, you’ll find load of entries. Not only that, if you search for any of the many subjects about which I’ve written – all of which pertain to the books I’m trying to promote – you’ll likely find something I’ve written on that very subject.

Let’s start with e-zines. These are magazines published on the Internet. Some print magazines also have e-zines, and sometimes these carry different articles. I tend to go for the e-zines that are published only on line and that carry articles solely on topics related to my books. Therefore, you can often find my articles in Jewishmagazine.com or Interfaithmagazine.com. The latter pays me a little for my articles; the former does not, but it affords me its 3,000 unique visitors a day and a link to my web site. That’s great exposure and publicity, especially since my bio mentions my book or books.

As for article directories, many of these are free, and you can submit to them yourself. This can be very time consuming, however. Instead of doing this myself, I choose to use a service called SubmitYourArticle.com (There are others out there.), which costs me $37.00 per month for unlimited article postings per month. They are sticklers about what you post – no outright promotional stuff that sounds like a press release, for instance, but they then submit it to a huge number of article directories for you. (There is some upfront work involved; you have to get a Yahoo e-mail account – or some place where the tremendous amount of posted articles will show up – yes, other people’s articles arrive in your inbox -- and give it to all the directories, which takes a lot of time. Once it is done, though, it’s quick and easy. I never even look in that Yahoo e-mail box, by the way. I have to say that the upfront work has deterred me from leaving the service and trying another. I wouldn’t want to start all over again if I came back to them!) I am happy with the number of places I find my articles published, and I seem to get a lot of web site traffic from these listings.

Another service can be used to submit articles all over the Internet; I can’t even begin to tell you where all your news release will go, but boy it goes. It’s called PRWeb.com. They offer a range of services, the cheapest being $200. I posted a news release there last December, and it received 82,000 hits! My web traffic increased quite a bit, and I did find part of the news release used in a newspaper article in the South. I was hoping to enroll some people in a teleseminar, however, and that didn’t happen. Lots of people I know swear by PRWeb.com, but it isn’t cheap. I’m planning to use it to promote a teleseminar a friend of mine and I are running this January. We’ll split the cost, and see if we get some enrollment this time. Be sure when you write your release, however, that you use lots of key words, so people can find your article.

The more exposure you get online, the better when it comes to building your platform. You just never know what will come of it. I spent a year writing news releases almost every week and paying money to submit them on line or giving them away for free. I paid to have myself listed as an "expert" on Expertclick.com, where I can post four news releases a month and have them read by journalists. I thought it was for nothing, even though I knew that I'd plastered myself all over the Internet and increased my web site visitors from an average of 500/month to between 2500 and 4000/month in a year. (My unique visitors went from an average of 300/month to an average of 2500-3000/month in a year.) Oh, some lady did mention something I'd said in a blog once and, as I said, one part of a news release ended up in a newspaper article, and there were all those pieces picked up by e-zines. But nothing big happend. The media weren't calling me as an expert for interviews.

Then, after a little more than a year, suddenly things started to happen. I was contacted by a regional magazine for an interview for an article. I was asked to do a podcast interview (for a show with 38,000 listeners/month), and it looks like I'll be asked back as a regular guest. And I received a request to participate in a virtual book launch party wehre a possible 500,000 people might see my name and face -- and download my free gifts (related to my books). Then someone asked me to write a blurb for the back of their book, and now I'm speaking with someone about writing a piece for an anthology that is closely related in subject matter to one of my book projects.

It's taken more than a year, but my platform is building a little bit at a time, and I'm becoming an "expert." So use your nofiction writing skills to promote yourself online. It's time consuming and hard work, and it costs a bit of money, but I do think it pays off in the end.

The Internet as Your Promotional and PR Resource

These days publishing houses expect their authors to put up the money for most of the publicity and public relations necessary to make any book a success. That can be an expensive proposition for any author, especially since writers can’t rely on advances big enough to cover these costs. It seems the more money and effort we are expected to dish out to help sell our books, the less money and effort our publishing houses dish out to help us do so.

So, what’s a writer to do? Take advantage of the most underutilized (and free) writer’s resource out there – the Internet. Despite the fact that it’s been around long enough to have become part of a writer’s way of life, we have not yet begun using the Internet as the resource it will one day be for our publicity and PR needs. Yet, even now it can provide the cheapest publicity and PR campaign available – all from the comfort of our homes.

These days best-selling authors, like Chicken Soup for the Soul’s Jack Canfield, promote their books while sitting at home in sweats and slippers. Using their computers, telephones and podcasting and teleconferencing technology, they teach teleseminars, do radio and Internet interviews, and answering questions from readers and fans all over the world without ever leaving home.

Many authors have sent themselves to best-seller status using e-mail “blasts” – e-mailed letters asking people to purchase their books from Amazon.com on a particular day and offering gifts from other authors in return for doing so. This tactic works well, especially if you can get enough “partners” to agree to send your letter to their e-mail list. Usually those offering gifts will do this for you, as might some other people. If you sell between 200 and 600 books on a given day – and no other books sells more, Amazon.com will give you the title of best-selling author and your book the title of best seller. You can do the same thing for Barnsandnoble.com. Of course, best-seller status does a lot for a book’s promotion, but the e-mail blast itself does the trick by telling people about your book and enticing them to purchase it.

About four years ago, San Francisco writer and bibliophile Kevin Smokler organized the first virtual book tour for an author. His idea was to link up authors with bloggers. The underpromoted authors provide the bloggers with interviews, original essays, and such and the bloggers provide book reviews and content related to the book. This idea has expanded to include author taking over weblogs for a day and giving readings, interviews and discussions via video and web-conferencing as well through online chats, discussion boards and chat-rooms. In most cases, readers and authors can interact at any time from any place. Many authors are using virtual book tours these days, but many are not.

The newest idea to hit the Internet and the publishing world comes in the form of a virtual book launch party. Not too many authors are privy to those fancy and expensive book launch parties thrown by their publishers these days, but one author decided she wanted one even if she had to throw it for herself. So, self-published novelist Elle Newmark will host the second-ever virtual book launch party on November 27th when she releases Bones of the Dead at a party to which over 500,000 guests will be invited. She’ll be asking people to purchase her book from Amazon.com on that day, and if they do, they’ll gain entry to the “party.” There they’ll find a plethora of “party favors” (gifts offered by her promotional partners – including me), “food for thought,” pleasant music, and other fun things that go along with the renaissance theme of her book. (I tell you what, this woman knows how to publicize her book. This weekend she was out at the Southern California Renaissance Faire handing out invitations to her virtual book launch party. We could all learn something from her. In fact, I think she plans to write a book about how to gain promotional partners and promote books in this manner.) To check out Elle and her party, go to http://www.bonesofthedead.com/.

Tomorrow I’ll tell you about how to promote yourself and your book online using free article directories. This is important if you are doing promotion and PR for your book or if you are building a platform. I've used this method, which is not free, quite successfully. If nothing else, my name is pretty well plastered all over the Internet.

My New Attitude About Self-publishing

Today’s blog will have to be short. It’s actually already tomorrow, so I’ve officially missed today’s (yesterday’s) blog. Whatever. It’s 12:40 a.m., and I’m ready for bed.

I never wanted to self-publish my work. As I’ve waited for query after query to be answered by agents and publishers, and years have gone by with my projects unwritten and unpublished, friends and acquaintances have asked me, “Why don’t you just self-publish?”

“I don’t want to.”

Sounds like a simple enough answer, right? Well, I didn’t. But then I went ahead a produced a few booklets (short books) to sell at the back of the room when I was speaking. Of course, I was speaking on the topics of the book I was trying to get published, so the booklets were like mini versions of these books. And why was I speaking on these topics? To build a platform. I didn’t see these booklets as self-publishing ventures, but they were.

Recently my friend, Karen, got all excited about e-book publishing. She got me on board and I did some research and realized that it’s pretty simple. And pretty cheap, too, compared to what I pay at Kinko’s, my personal publishing house. (Michael, the night manager there is my publisher; he seems pretty vested in my success.)

It wasn’t until I got that bee in my bonnet that I wrote about yesterday, however, that my attitude about self-publishing really changed. When I decided that I just wanted to start writing again, when I decided that I was tired of wondering who the heck I was and to be who I knew I was, and to write, it dawned on me: If no one reads what I write, what the sense in writing?

I’ve always wanted to help others through my writing. How can I do that if they can’t read my writing?

I could be sitting her until doomsday waiting for an agent to sell my book to a publisher or for a publisher to buy my book from me. I’m better off going ahead and publishing my book any old way I can. Then at least someone might read it. At least they’ll have a chance to read it.

And, get this…here’s the really great part. If I sell enough books, a publisher might actually come looking for me! Yes, that’s right. If I can prove that my book will sell, the publishers will be knocking on my door for a change!

Plus, in the process of selling the book and promoting the books through talks, workshops, teleseminars, articles, etc., I develop – you guessed it – a platform. (Yes, I am back to being a promoter and a marketer.)

I remember now my agent’s husband telling me to go out and promote one of my booklets, which I want to expand into a book. He told me to come back in six months or more when I had done a good job of this. As part of my promotion he suggested that I go ahead and expand the booklet into a book and sell it any form I could – in a binder for $20, as an e-book, as a self-published book on Amazon.com – and in any way I could – back-of –the-room sales, through my web site, special promotions, etc. Funny…at the time I was just annoyed that he wouldn’t peddle the book to publishing houses for me right then and there. Now, I see that I can write the book (be a writer) and publish it (so people can read what I write), and in the process I might actually accomplish that platform he wants or convince a publisher the book will be worth its time and money. And, I might make a lot more money off that book in the process than I might waiting for my royalty checks from a publishing house. (Not to mention that my agent will take a cut out of those checks before I ever see them.)

So, when someone asks me why I don’t self –publish my writing, my answer now will be, “Why don’t I? But I do! Every chance I get.”

(And you should, too.)

A Nonfiction Writer's Identity Crisis

I promised to tell you about my writer’s identity crisis. I’m not sure that fiction writers suffer from this affliction, but I’m fairly sure that many nonfiction writers suffer along with me.

All indicators point to me being a writer, but some days I’m not sure that is who I am.

I have a literary agent – two actually, since my agent’s husband is also an agent. That must mean I’m a writer, right? Actually, I had three agents representing three book projects of mine at the Book Expo America this past year. So, I must be a writer.

I don’t have any books published by publishing houses, but I did have one book contract for about a year, but the book never was published. (That’s a long story not worth going into here…) I have several short books, or booklets, that I’ve self-published. So, I must be a writer.

As I’ve already shared, I have a degree in magazine journalism, and I’ve written for more than 40 different magazines, newsletters and newspapers. I’ve also written for a variety of e-zines, and I’ve had three essays published in three anthologies. So, I must be a writer.

I also work as a freelance non-fiction book editor and coach. I guess that makes me an editor more so than a writer, but it at least shows that I know something about writing. I’ve had several jobs as a magazine editor as well.

So, what’s the problem, you ask? It’s obvious that I’m a writer, you say? Why am I having an identity crisis? Because I spend about 75 percent of my time, if not more, peddling myself as an expert speaker and a teacher or writing news releases and press releases (free articles) and posting them on line or sending them out to the media promoting myself as an expert. These days, I spend very little time, if any writing articles for pay or writing books. (No wonder I wanted to start the Write Nonfiction in November challenge. I needed the challenge myself so I would actually WRITE something.)

Why? Because to become a published author – to have a publisher actually accept one of my book proposals and offer me a contract – I have to have a “platform.” No, not a wooden box or stage to stand on, but a speaking platform from which I can sell my books. I have to be perceived as the expert in my “field,” and I have to become well-known to many people. I have to be able to help market my books through “back of the room sales” at lectures, workshops and talks that are attended by hundreds, if not thousands, of attendees. I have to become a regular guest on radio and television talk shows, so I get lots of media exposure and can tell lots of people about my book. I have to be featured in national magazines or in magazines that pertain to my field of expertise. I have to find creative ways to build a big mailing list or e-mail list to which I can market my book, thus helping sell them over time.

If you still harbor the belief that a publishing house will market and publicize your book for you, think again. While they might do so on a small scale, in today's publishing world, this job has fallen onto the nonfiction writer's shoulders.

Today’s publishing environment demands that we nonfiction writers become expert marketers and publicists -- of ourselves and of our books. If we can’t prove to publishing houses that we can wear these hats as well as our writer’s hats, we can kiss our dreams of that publishing contract goodbye. (Here’s where some of us might want to consider moving over to the fiction side of writing, where none of this platform business applies…)

So, am I a writer or am a marketing and publicity pro? Am I a writer or an expert speaker and media source? Am I a writer or a PR wiz? Mostly these days, I’m the latter in all cases. And that doesn't leave me feeling much like a writer.

But…I am determined to be a writer. A nonfiction writer. I set out to help people through my writing, and my writing serves no one if it goes unread. Therefore, I will write, and I will publish. Where once I said I would never self-publish (although I have on a small scale), I will if necessary.

There are so many publishing avenues available to writers today, no reason exists for us to wait around for someone to tell us we’ve proven we can be something other than a writer so they'll publish our work. Our writing should speak for itself and be published on its own merits. I, for one, am tired of waiting around for someone to decide that my platform is big enough rather than that my book idea or my writing is good enough. I'm tired of being told to be someone I'm not. I’m off to write...because writer's write. Surely in the process my identity crisis will come to an end, and I'll feel like a writer once again. I'll remember who I am -- a nonfiction writer.