Residual income reality

I hear a lot of writers refer to residual income when justifying why they write for sites like Suite 101 or Examiner.com. They say that the stories they place on these sites generate revenue indefinitely. That's better, they say, than landing a story for a one-time fee of $20.

Well, there's some truth to that, I suppose. But what if you query and land a story for a one-time fee of $500? How long does it take, say, an article on Suite 101 to generate $500 worth of income? Will that ever happen? I don't know.

If you want a real look at the negatives of sites that promise writers residual income, check out this post at Jennifer Mattern's All Freelance Writing Blog. She breaks down the real numbers far better than I ever could. You might be shocked, and certainly disappointed, at how little money most people ever make writing for residual income sites.

A different kind of content writing

I've written two stories so far for a publisher who, I think, takes my content and provides it to other Web sites, my byline excluded, of course.

I don't care much what happens to the content after I write it. They're not stories that I'd be able to sell anywhere else. One story focused on new trends in fireplaces, and was supposed to be about 400 words. The second focused on eReaders, and was also supposed to be about 400 words.

Neither story required interviews. The only research I did was on Google.

And, even better, the editor is easy to work with. I haven't had to deal with any revisions on either story. That's the way I like to do business.

The money isn't much: I've made $41 from the two stories. But like I said, it's easy work.

I lump this in as content writing because it's fast, simple and kind of ... filler? I'd suggest to any writer who's working for Suite 101 or Examiner.com to find publishers like this, ones who give you a flat fee for short, quick stories. This money, no matter how small, is guaranteed. That's more than I can say for Suite 101, Examiner.com, Triond or Helium, where you never know how much money you're going to earn for a story.

Publishers like this, which I found through the Absolute Write forums' help-wanted section, won't make you rich. But I treat these little projects as filler money. It's appropriate, I think, for what is largely filler work, right?