I don't know about you, but I have this large stack of research piled in a file cabinet drawer in my garage.  There are statistics on domestic violence, tidbits of this history of chocolate (talk about pleasure reading), and all sorts of odds and ends that I can't bear to throw away.  All of it was amassed at some point along my writing career - either for an assignment for a newspaper or magazine article or in the process of writing fiction, because we all know that even fiction needs to be factual for readers to buy into the story.

So what to do with all of that research?  Why not turn it into another paying article instead of letting it gather dust bunnies in some forgotten corner?

I am pleased to be able to offer a brand new online class through authorlink.com which will help writers do just this.  Whether you've always dreamed of seeing your name in print, have already started down that journey or have thought you were only good at fiction, my class is designed to help writers learn the steps they need to take to get paid for their nonfiction writing.

So, dust off that old research or use your hobbies or day job skills to earn some extra cash.

For informationon the course, click HERE.

When I told my mom that I wanted a job, she never laughed at me and told me what a silly idea it was for an eight-year-old girl.  Instead, she opened the world of newspapers to me by suggesting that I sell Grit Magazine door to door in our small neighborhood which was then on the outskirts of Albuquerque.

The newspaper was an important part of our family - almost as important as the Bible, but not quite.  Actually, not by a long shot, but it did often occupy the same real estate on my father's ottoman of a morning as he sipped his first cup of coffee.  After finding a bit of encouragement in the Good Book, he read the newspaper cover to cover.  And when he hurried off to work, it was my mother's turn to sit with the paper at the kitchen table.  So selling a small, monthly newspaper that had already been in production for almost a century seemed like the perfect first job to me.

I remember my first time out on my route.  I knocked on the door of an elderly lady up the street and asked her if she'd like to buy the Grit Magazine in my wagon for only a quarter (already counting up the number of Tootsie Rolls I could buy with the ten cents profit I would make from her purchase).  But she stopped me cold.  

"What's in the newspaper, young girl?"

What was in it?  I didn't read it.  It was for old people.  I stammered and stuttered an answer.  "I don't really know."

She gave me a hard look and barked, "Then you'd better learn your first lesson about selling anything.  If you want to get somebody else to buy what you're selling, then you'd best know what you're talking about.  You need to read that thing from cover to cover so you can get excited and tell me all about it so I want my own copy."

And as she started to close the door, she left a parting shot of hope.  "Now you go home and read that magazine, young lady, and then come back.  When you can tell me why I should buy it, you come back and ring my door bell."

I didn't try to sell any more newspapers that day.  Instead, I fought back the tears and swallowed hard all the way back down the street.  And then I grabbed one of the Grit newspapers off the top of the stack, found a nice shady spot under our tree, and started reading.  There were stories about a dog herding a flock of sheep past a bear and on to safety, growing the biggest heirloom tomatoes in your garden, and tidbits of history.  Personal essays found space alongside how-to articles.  And I was captivated by it all, devouring it that afternoon from cover to cover.

The next day after school, I loaded up my wagon, and with renewed purpose marched up the driveway and rang the doorbell of the woman who had sent me home in tears.  She seemed a bit surprised I'd returned, and after I told her why she needed to buy one of my Grit Magazines, she tottered away from the door.  I watched her long, gnarled fingers struggle with her change purse and graciously accepted the proffered quarter held out to me.  I thanked her and hurried off to the next house.

I sold my entire stack of magazines and ordered more for the next issue.  And when it came, I read it cover to cover before I left the house.  And sold out again.

It was a valuable lesson I learned that day, one that has served me well many times since then.   She seemed like such a crank at the time, but I know now that the grouchy lady down the street was doing me a favor.  And I wish I could thank her, but I think the skip in my step as I walked down her driveway was probably all the thanks she needed to know she'd done the right thing.

We all have a lot of irons in the fire, and I think it's very easy to get distracted between them all.  We often drop the ball on projects because we don't keep focused on our priorities.

My first priority (as it has been for the past 17 1/2 years) is being a good mother. To keep this a top priority will mean sacrificing (at times) other goals, but I am very aware that I have very little time before my kids are up and gone, so whatever it means getting rid of, this will remain my top focus.  While I often wondered if this would hurt my career as a writer, I have found it to be just the opposite.  After avoiding certain projects because they would interfere with what my kids needed and passing up opportunities that I often wanted to pursue, I have found that I can now freely and aggressively pursue opportunities now that my kids don't need me as much as they used to.  

My second priority is finding more secure sources of income within the writing field.  It is my own opinion that writing for a living will become even harder this year, and so it is imperative to diversify.

I'm working on my other priorities, but while I'm getting mine finished, I'd love to hear from you all. What do you see as your priorities?

With the news constantly reporting downsizing, layoffs and even the closure or sale of publishing entities across the U.S., it’s enough to make a aspiring writers question whether this is indeed the time to try to break into writing.

And it is definitely something to consider, because the pool of freelancers just got a lot deeper and more experienced as laid-off writers look to freelancing to fill their financial gap between jobs.

Here are a few ways to find a niche in the writing market:

2.         Are you an expert in something?  Remember that an expert is not always someone who has managed to earn a PhD in the subject.  Sometimes expert status comes from a passion for a topic, years of experience, or enough research in an area to command the respect of peers.  Do you know how to stretch out into several meals a single roasted chicken from the grocery store?  Have you learned how to find quality clothing at thrift stores?  Are you a grease monkey who knows how to do minor repairs on your own that might cost you a fortune at the dealer’s?  

3.         Use that expertise to your advantage.  Pitch your ideas to the right publication, and your topic will be timely enough to gain a second glance.

4.         Look for other jobs which include writing as a needed skill, not the end-result.  The classifieds are still full of jobs for technical writers, and many other jobs include writing.  Having the security of a paycheck while still honing your writing skills in some capacity is a good way to stay in the game and wait for better markets to return.

5.         Contact businesses in your area and offer to write copy for their websites.  Offer a competitive rate and to provide a free sample.  Many businesses are seeing a need for a presence on the web but cannot afford to pay someone full time to maintain their website.  This is work that you can easily do from home or on the side.

6.         Pitch to online publications.  PC Magazine recently stopped publishing their hard copies of the magazine but continue to publish online.  This will most likely be the case for many publications in the year to come.  This does not mean there isn’t a place for freelance writers, however.  These publications will still buy freelance work, even if on a less steady basis.  By moving into the electronic world of writing and building relationships there, it may be easier to weather our current economic difficulties.

This is not the time for writers to throw up their hands in defeat and decide to give up on writing for pay.  It is the time to be smarter about the way we go about finding those jobs.

If you’ve found a new way to get paid for your writing, I’d love to hear what worked for you.