Giving Content Divas a shot

I'm constantly looking for new content-writing work these days. That's because it's getting more and more difficult to earn steady writing assignments at print magazines and newspapers. These clients still make up the majority of my freelance-writing income, but content writing has steadily accounted for a growing percentage these days.

I've built up a nice base of reliable content-writing clients. But I always need more. That's because a lot of content-writing clients need only enough writing to fill up a certain number of niche sites. Once they get that writing, they disappear for a month or two until they need some fresh copy.

This is partly why I applied last week to Content Divas. Much like AdAstra Traffic, which I've written about recently, Content Divas is a company that links freelance content-writers with content projects.

This evening, I heard back from Content Divas -- just two days after I sent in my application -- that I've been hired on as a writer. Now, the pay, as with most content-writing jobs, isn't stellar. But the service promises fairly steady work. And right now, with the struggles that the economy is suffering through, I appreciate any work that's steady and reliable.

I've heard from other writers, and read on other blogs, that Content Divas pays its writers on time. It has a unique set-up, too. Writers are hired to write keyword articles, blog posts, press releases or e-book material. Projects last a certain number of days, and writers are expected to turn in 1,000 words each day. If projects are short, and only last a few days, writers receive payment at the end of the project. If they're long, they receive partial part upfront, the rest when they finish the job.

I'm a fast writer, so I'm hoping that this will work to my advantage with Content Divas.

Meanwhile, today was an interesting day. A comic book biography I've written on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was officially announced at a number of comic-book sites today. The comic, published by BlueWater Productions, will hit comic stores in January. At the same time, I've been hired by BlueWater to write another comic biography -- I can't say who yet, but it's for the companies music-themed line and will focus on a very popular female musician -- that will be released in 2010.

It's the fun writing that's the most rewarding

A story of mine came out today in a major glossy regional magazine. You know the kind of magazine I'm talking about: The first 10 pages are ads for expensive hotels or cars. The magazine routinely runs "Best restaurants of ****" or "Top doctors in ***" stories.

Well, these are great markets to target. There are two reasons for this. First, many regional magazines -- especially those in bit cities -- pay well. Secondly, you can often write some fun stories.

For instance, in my story which came out today, I wrote about people who are hunting Bigfoot, chasing UFOs and looking to nab snapshots of ghosts. It was a fun story to write. And I got to talk to some truly interesting people.

The pay doesn't hurt, either. This story nabbed me a paycheck over $2,000. It's the most I've ever gotten paid for one story.

You can bet now that the story has hit print, I'll be sending more pitches to this particular magazine.

And speaking of fun writing, I might be writing a weekly column for a popular online comicbook site. This wouldn't pay nearly as well, but because comics are a passion of mine, I think this will be a great opportunity. And remember, sometimes you can get paid without making any money at all. My hope with the weekly comics column is to meet more people in the comics industry. Even though I've had a few short comic stories and series published, I don't really know very many people in the business. I'm hoping that writing for a popular comics Web site, where I'll undoubtedly interview comics creators, will change all this.

Anyway, we can file this as a rare non-cranky post from me. Tune in tomorrow, though; I'm sure I'll be ticked off about something by then.

No free work, even in comics

If I could write anything and make a living at it, I'd choose comic books.

There's something about the form. It seems to match my style of writing well. Problem is, as difficult as it is to earn a living as a nonfiction freelance writer, it's even more of a challenge to do so as a comic book writer.

The reasons are many, but basically it boils down to this: A lot of writers want to be comic book writers. There aren't a whole lot of companies willing to pay writers to do this.

I've had some luck. An independent comics company last year published a four-issue comic book miniseries that I wrote. Another company hired me, and paid me $1,500, to write a comic-book adaptation of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. And this year, I've been working with an individual who's created a rock-and-roll comic. I've rewritten the first three books of his comic, the first of which he's already published. Two of my other short comic book scripts have made it into an anthology, and a third -- Halloween themed -- should be out this October in a different anthology.

So I've made a bit of progress. I'm nowhere near able to support myself on comic book writing, though.

Which leads me to the point of this post. There's a Web site out there called Digital Webbing, which is devoted to comic book writers, artists, inkers, editors and letterers. One of the members is creating an interesting anthology. The gimmick is that every story in the anthology must be a classic fairy tale set in the future.

Of course, writers were invited to submit their pitches. I toyed with the idea of coming up with an idea. It'd be nice exposure if I made it in the anthology. Unfortunately, there wasn't any guarantee of payment. The odds are good that the anthology will lose money. Most comics not published by Marvel, DC, Image, IDW or Darkhorse do. In fact, many comics published by those same big hitters lose money, too.

That means there'd be no profits to split among the creators. And these days, with me writing so many content stories, there seemed to be no time available for an endeavor that won't pay me money.

It's a shame. I am, of course, writing my own script for a graphic novel now. And there's no guarantee that it will ever make me any money. But that script is my own, not someone else's idea. These days, that's the only kind of free writing I can afford to do.

A goal without a plan is a wish

Roadside signs usually don't inspire me that much. Well, unless they're advertising a fast-food sandwich I'd really like. But otherwise? I just ignore them.

Except this weekend. I was driving my 2-year-old son back from a quick trip to the grocery store. I was a bit down. The stories I've been writing lately have seen so meaningless. Content writing will do that to you. You're turning in copy that not even the people who are paying you read all that closely.

Here's what I want to do: I want to write comic book scripts. To be more accurate: I want to be paid to write them. And I want to write my own stories, not something a publisher asks me to take on.

Getting paid is tough in freelance writing. Getting paid scripting work is nearly impossible in the world of comic books. Writers who want to break into comics are common. Unless you're a big name, no one needs to pay you. There are plenty of writers who will turn in scripts for free.

Anyway, I've been writing my own graphic novel script for a while now. I like it. A lot. (Of course, I'm biased.) But there's a stumbling block: To get it published, it'll need to be drawn. I can't draw, at all. I can try to find an artist who'll work for free, but that never ends well. Trust me on this. I've tried it.

You have to pay if you want a good, quality artist. Sequential art -- which is what comics is -- is nothing if not challenging. Top artists can charge a good penny for it. And I want a top artist on my comic.

Thing is, like most freelance writers, money is exceedingly tight. Many, many of my former magazine clients have gone out of business. I'm relying on content writers, and on pumping out stories faster than ever, to help make up the difference. But I'm realistic enough to know that there aren't enough content stories out there to make up for all the print-magazine money that I won't be making this year.

So without money, how can I ever afford a good artist to illustrate my script?

So back to that roadside sign. It said, "A goal without a plan is a wish."

That's not too deep, I know. I'm sure I've heard it many, many times before. But this weekend, it really hit me. I'm wishing to not only break into comics, but to make a living at it. But that's all it is, a wish. I don't have a plan.

So I'm working on it. It may involve taking a lousy, part-time, non-writing related job to make a bit of extra cash, money I can save to pay an artist. Or it may mean finding an extra content-writing client who gives out regular work and saving all the money I make from this particular client for my graphic novel.

Step one, though, is to commit to writing at least two pages a day, probably in the evening after my "real" work is done. Step two is to edit those pages like mad. Step three is finally figure out how to get the money to pay for an artist. I figure I'll start earning that money -- however I decided to do it -- while I'm editing.

Finally, I'll print my graphic novel on the Web. I certainly can't afford to pay printing costs.

Yes, I'll make no money if I put it on the Web. But I might draw a following. And at the every least, I'll have a graphic novel that I did on my own, not one that some publisher screwed up or some editor ruined with a weird-ass suggestion, to show other publishers.

And that might be the very first step to transforming myself from a paid content writer to a paid comic book writer.

Don't forget to follow your writing passion, too

We can all get wrapped up in our latest deadline assignments. I've been spending a lot of time producing weekly content packages for two clients lately. The pay isn't bad, by content standards, at least. But it is time-consuming work.

And sometimes, if I'm not careful, I'll lose track of time. And I won't leave enough of it to pursue my real writing passion: comics.

I started writing for the comic-book business about two years ago. I have some credits to my name. I've even managed to make the tiniest bit of money in this business. (That's no easy feat. There aren't many people who make ANY money writing for comics.)

Today I set aside a large chunk of time to work on a synopsis of a young-adult graphic novel I've been working on. An overseas publisher is interested in publishing the story. The publisher just needed me to create a two-page synopsis of the story, beginning, middle and end.

It would have been easy to have let this slip through the cracks today. I have two content packages due, one tomorrow, one Wednesday. I also have an edit to complete on a story I wrote for the Washington Post, and a short story due for a newspaper chain in the Midwest. These are all deadline stories, with real, live, often impatient editors behind them.

But the young-adult graphic novel? That's my passion. It's why I write, to create stories that I'd love to read. I hope that's what I'm doing with this one.

Yes, there's no money in it now. But there could be, if the publisher likes my synopsis.

So don't forget to write the things you want to write once in a while. It's a great way to refresh your creative energies.

The great niche blog experiment

I've been obsessing a bit about blogging these past few weeks. Not sure why. I've always pledged that the only blogging I'd do is pay-per-post. I have some business clients that I blog for, on a flat monthly fee. I like that; I'm guaranteed fairly good money for that kind of blogging, at least in the blogging world.

But this blog directly violates that pay-per-post pledge. I have Adsense set up on it, but so far, I've only made 67 cents for that. That's not even enough for a can of pop at most vending machines.

But I've been debating the idea of creating a handful of niche blogs and equipping them all with Adsense to see what happens. Might I stumble upon a niche that actually generates decent traffic and, even more importantly, a high click rate?

The key here, of course, is to create niche blogs about subjects I'm truly passionate about. That way, I'll actually enjoy writing for them. And -- this is very important -- I'll already know my subject matter. I'll be able to write the posts quickly, and still have them contain useful information. There'll be a reason for people to read them.

Problem is, I'm not sure if the subjects I'd like to write about are the ones that people would like to read. I could, for instance, write a blog about avoiding home foreclosures. There are few topics hotter today. And because I've covered residential real estate news for newspapers and trade magazines for more than a decade, I do know the subject fairly well. But, quite honestly, I'm really tired about writing about real estate. I already write real estate blogs for two business clients. I still write real estate stories for the Washington Post. And I'm the managing editor of a real estate trade magazine in Chicago. I'm burned out on real estate, and even though a foreclosure blog might draw hits and clicks, I'm not sure I could summon the needed passion to update it on a regular enough basis.

What do I like enough to blog about? Comic books and graphic novels, for one thing. I even write a bit for the comics industry already. So it's a perfect niche topic for me. But is it one that will generate enough readers and enough clicks to make it worthwhile?

Then there's old horror movies, the black-and-white kind that I can watch with my 10-year-old son. I love those movies, and I love the cheesy horror hosts -- here in Chicago we have Svengoolie -- that play games with them. Again, a fun topic, but will it bring in enough click revenue?

There's only one way to find out, I suppose: Give it a try. My goal is to have at least five niche blogs, all updated on a regular schedule so I don't fill some with too much content too fast and others with not enough, running at once, all equipped with Adsense. Will it bring in enough content to make it worthwhile? Who knows?