Write something that makes a profit?! Okay, if we count my copywriting business, that’s ticked off. But there are areas I want to move away from and plans I have for 2018.
Look for work elsewhere. Copywriting, and especially using job bidding worksites such as PeoplePerHour and Upwork, isn’t sustainable for me. The pay is dreadful, and most of the small contactors want too much for too little. I’ll stay on the sites, but I’m not going to put the same effort into pursuing work there as the ROI isn’t worth it.
Author services. This market can only continue to expand. If the robots are coming for our jobs, then more people will have time to write, and they’ll need accompanying services, beta reading, editing, formatting and more. I’ve done more paid author services this year and I plan to expand my offering.
Check out AI. Artificial intelligence is already writing factual articles and sports reports. It’s even produced fan fiction. You can rail against it, or accept that it will happen and look for how you can work with AI. I’ve done this already through jobs where I’ve worked on AI translations to make them sound more naturalistic. Again, this is an area that will continue to grow.
Workshops. A friend suggested I think about running workshops. I hate the idea, as I’m an introvert, but resolutions are about moving out of your comfort zone, right?
Publish four books. Every success story in indie publishing points to proliferation (I flippin’ love alliteration) and the Amazon algorithm rewards you if you can upload something every 30 days. This can include short stories. I’ve got four draft novels that need tidying up. Edit, go forth and publish dear gel…
Ongoing development. I’ve taught myself a lot about book marketing, and especially online marketing but I’m no master of it. If you want to stay ahead, you must keep learning about this subject.
Sell directly. This year, I want to offer direct sales of my books. There are plenty of options, Gumroad, for example, or e-commerce via WordPress if I upgrade my site.
Happy New Year and thanks for following my blog. What are your resolutions, writing or not?
Picture thanks to Max Pixel free pictures.
Emma Baird - author 
Genius plan! Can’t wait to see what you’ll do this year.
Thank you! And all the very best to you for 2018.
I, too, hope to make more progress with writing in 2018 … though I write more for fun. Best of luck with your resolutions; keep us posted on how they’re going.
Many thanks Russell and all the best for 2018!
Sounds great for 2018, I too want to make changes at least you have an idea.
Hi there, thanks for the comment and the follow! My goals are a bit grand, and need breaking down a little. You might find that if you do that – think of three big goals and then break them down – it’s easier?
Thanks for the advice
I will do that, then it would not seem so overwhelming.
Good luck with it!
Emma, I am attempting to make a living from writing and I have to say that I am daunted by the task. Any advice? …
Er… it’s HARD. Have lots of income streams, though. I use Upwork and People Per Hour. The pay’s terrible, but it is good experience.
Offer copywriting to small marketing agencies as they don’t usually have the time to do it for their clients. Write fiction and non-fiction books (the latter should address a need). Hope onto Wattpad and see if you can build an audience for fiction there.
If you specialise in anything, that helps too. A lot of people are looking for opinions on bitcoin and other crypto currencies at the moment, and if you can write authoritatively on finance and investment you’re laughing… A lot of sites look for list content.
Author Services is a growing market, thanks to the number of people self-publishing. If you can offer editorial assessment, ghost-writing, developmental editing, copy editing or proofreading, that’s another plus.
Many thanks, Emma
Could you tutor secondary school pupils in English?
That’s an idea! I’ll look into it.