How does a writer make money in this modern world? The question becomes even more puzzling when you factor in a lack of stamina and fatiguing problems, like I have. Lifeliner is selling but not well enough to earn a steady income. Other traditional ways for a writer to earn a living include selling articles to newspapers and magazines. I went down that road before my brain injury — and it was a real high to see my writing and photography in ink, no question! — but because I have, I know that I no longer have the organizational skills and stamina to do it now, on top of which, I’ve been out of the market for so long that it’ll be like starting all over again. Not fun.
While I’ve been publicizing Lifeliner through traditional means, I’ve been looking into more (and free, definitely free) ways of publicizing it. That’s how I stumbled upon (no pun intended) some of the new ways people are sharing their work using the Internet. Apparently, there are a plethora of ways, some of which bring publicity for one’s blog and book, but not direct income, and some of which seem to bring in an income. One of the ways I’m trying out this week is Squidoo.com, well, to be more exact started trying, for from all accounts, it’ll probably be Christmas before I see my first payment, assuming I write regularly and often and let people know about my Squidoo work. But as I’ve learnt and learnt well, the tortoise on weed is the one that eventually gets there.
Squidoo is that odd-looking icon near the top of the left sidebar. It links to my first lens, which is about me (maybe I should change that Squidoo lens to my lensmaster page…). Lens? Huh, I can hear you asking. What the heck is that? That’s what I thought too! A lens is basically an article with photographs, comments sections, links to Amazon, and so on. It has a Table of Contents, is broken up into modules, and can be customized with lots of fun addons that I haven’t figured out yet. But I have made a start! I added a Polaroid module on my second lens.
So how does one earn an income? Basically, through affiliate links and ads. So, to put it simply, the higher the number of people reading one’s work, the more likely you’ll reach the threshold to earn an income and eventually a steady one. They recommend writing on one’s niche topics; mine are obviously Lifeliner and related topics like TPN (total parenteral nutrition), but I also have a nice-sized store of old articles, blog posts, and ideas that I can flesh out into articles on other topics. One that popped into my mind as I considered my second lens was how to autograph one’s book. I get a fair number of hits on that topic. So I rewrote it, added photos, a comments/debate section (and what self-respecting Zoroastrian doesn’t like a debate?), and a guestbook.
There’s lots more for me to figure out, but Squidoo looks like a good opportunity. Certainly, lots of others have found it fun and profitable!
