Articles are Easier to Sell Than Fiction

Thousands, maybe millions of writers are sitting at their computers this very moment, trying to become the next best-selling novelist. (Count me in that group.) Unfortunately, most of us will never reach that goal.

We dream of having fame and fortune, being able to travel the world, and of never having to worry about finances again. For most of us, the expenses of buying printer cartridges alone far surpass any financial rewards from our writing, but that doesn't have to continue being true.

By switching to article writing, although you won't be as likely to experience the fame of a best-selling novelist, you are much more likely to see a little, or possibly more than a little cash start trickling into your pocket.

"But where can I find ideas," you might be asking.

That's simple. Look around you. Just the other day, I sat at my computer and generated my own list of article ideas that should keep me busy for the rest of the summer by asking questions that other people might ask. "How Can I Get Rid of the Slugs in My Garden?" "When is the Best Time to Start Potty Training Your Baby? "Why Does a Cat Meow?" There is no end to the list you could make if you put your mind to it.

If you are still having trouble, round up a copy of Frank Dickson's book, "1001 Article Ideas,"

pictured above, and you won't have a spare minute for the next year or more. The book has been around for a while but you can order it here 1001 Article Ideas if you can't find it locally.

If Frank's book takes care of your problem with finding ideas, you may want to dive in a little deeper and find out how you can actually make a living writing from home.

My favorite books on this subject are both written by Peter Bowerman and are titled, The Well-Fed Writer, and The Well-Fed Writer-Back for Seconds. Either book is well worth the small investment, and should give you all the information you will ever need to set up and succeed at writing from home.

The books are not expensive, but if you are tight for cash, put them on your want-list for your next birthday and save your family the trouble of wondering what to get you for a gift. Santa Claus drops off the new Writers' Digest for me every year and I can't tell you how much it is appreciated.

Ever Tried "Do It Yourself" Publication?

My articles have been published numerous times over the years in magazines, newspapers, church newsletters, etc., but until I joined a writer’s group, the idea of actually writing a book had never entered my mind. Even then, I didn’t give book writing much serious thought, because those who had published books shared their tales of woe with the rest of us about how difficult it was to even get an editor to look at a manuscript, let alone consider it for publication.

Recently though, I began to think how nice it might be to gather together the lessons I had taught to middle school Sunday school kids and have them printed in workbook form. The lessons covered everything from Salvation to Choosing Friends That Please God, and seemed very well received by the kids I had been privileged to teach. Not that I aspired to approach a famous publisher with my small 40-page workbook, but perhaps I could figure out an inexpensive way to do it myself so that other parents could benefit from what I had already put together and used successfully with kids.

I read a couple of books I highly recommend to anyone who is considering self publishing, especially for books that are slanted to a specific group of people. The first was called, The Well-Fed Writer, by Peter Bowerman, and the other was, The Well-Fed Self Publisher, also by Peter Bowerman.

The first book covers the nuts and bolts of how to go about planning a book from beginning to end, and how to market it afterwards. The second, is a bit more technical on the publishing end and shows you how you can publish your own book and continue to make a profit from it for many years to come.

I learned a lot from both books, but decided I wasn’t really after making a big profit from my book, but rather to have all my lessons in one volume for parents to use at home with their kids. A friend told me about lulu.com where you can set up a downloadable book for free, and only pay a small commission for books that are actually purchased. It seemed too good to be true to this older lady living on a fixed income, but it was true. And the fun I had choosing the format and cover for the book made me want to write a big bunch of books so I could do it all over again. Who knows—maybe I will.

Anyway, the result of my efforts is a downloadable ebook called, Bible Basics For Kids, and is available for only $1.50 at this link Bible Basics for anyone who might be interested. Unfortunatly, they don’t send the cover with the book---but I’m pretty sure you’ll find the other 40-some pages are well-worth the money anyway.