Writing Bonuses

image by jesadaphorn.at www.freedigitalphotos.net

We all have months when our energy is at a low ebb. Mine is traditionally July--the end of the school year and that means paperwork and more paperwork rather than holiday.

But this year, getting away from students and from the computer for the full week of my publishing house summer shut down helped me realize how many networking bonuses we benefit from as writers.

All round us we have experts generous in sharing their expertise and always willing to lend a helping hand.

Writing for Wealth

Freelance writing is an exhausting way to make a living. Yes, we set our own deadlines, choose our own work--how hard can it be? Very.

Juggling submissions, thinking up new ideas, finding oneself "interviewing" rather than talking to friends--it all becomes stressful.

Consider taking advantage of PLR material. Search engines are full of sites offering pre-written content free or at low prices. Never use it as is but it can give you a skeleton framework on which to build your own writing and it is another way of researching the niche markets that are popular in which to make sales.

If nothing else, it may inspire you to say, "I can do better than that. " :-)

Study what is on the market. See what works. One plr report costed at $2.50 sold 100 times means $250. Think about it. 

It is all too easy to stick to the tried and true formula of what works: querying a favorite editor, writing for the same magazine, sticking to lower paid markets rather than trying something new.

 Writing for Health

Health is one of the most popular and profitable markets for writers though ironically most writers suffer from some health problem through their sedentary lifestyle.

My week off gave me the chance to research the reason for an almost crippling sciatic pain that baffled my doctors. If you ever find yourself too sore to sit and almost as sore to stand, look into piriformis syndrome.

I have been doing the exercises for almost three weeks now and they work for me. And of course, when I get round to producing my own mini report, then that will also work for me--either as an opt-in bonus for my newsletter or as a PLR pack.

Writing for Happiness

Australian writer Ruth Barringham has discontinued sales of her Online Complete Course and is offering it free. It is a huge course which covers everything from getting the initial idea through learning html code to web design and putting your site online.

Best of all, she is relinquishing her copyright so it seems you could update it where necessary and do whatever you want with it. A tempting offer.

The Complete Online Course is only one of the marvellous resources Ruth has on her site. Try the free stuff link on her blog and look at her free resources page too. 

As a beta reader for Beth Barany's new  mini course on novel writing, I can happily recommend it. Written for first time authors, it still holds lots of useful tips for those of us on the second time around. And it's another irresistible no cost offer for those of us whose income is limited.

Her older site has several interesting creativity articles available for download and I shall post the link to her new novel writing course as soon as it goes live.

Until then, take a look at her resources page at BethBarany.com

Let me know what you find useful in any of these ideas and please add your own thoughts on writing bonuses in the comments below

Anne Duguid Knol

A local and national journalist in the U.K., Anne is now a fiction editor for award-winning American and Canadian publishers. As a new author, she shares writing tips and insights at her very new Author Support blog: http://www.authorsupport.net

Her novella, ShriekWeek is published by The Wild Rose Press.