Work At Home, Income, and Self -Help Ideas

Well, what I am doing isnt near as crafty as ya'll are.
We can't sell eggs, our neighbor got here first and is doing it...
We dont have a milk animal, I tried ebay and lost money, too far out for garage sales and cant make enough cleaning houses to warrant the drive to town.
So
I joined Melaleuca and am building a little business that way. I stay home, use my computer and telephone, and they send me a check every month. Works for me.

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Please visit my blog! All new and squeeky clean...for now anyway.
http://mamasnature.com

A little insight about writing for a living:

I have written twenty books (technical about aviation - published by McGraw-Hill) and several hundred articles about aviation, electronics, and amateur radio.

Early on, that means back in the 80s, I was told by one of my mentors that writing was a great second occupation. He was correct. I am not knocking the money I made, and some of the royalties continue today, but I would have starved on it.

If you have spare time from your homesteading or regular job - then write if you wish. Write on a subject you know and understand. Write on a subject you love - or your heart will not be in it and your publisher and readers will know it when they read your work. No fire = no sale!

Don't get caught up in self publishing. It used to be called vanity press. Most folks make nothing on it. Find a small publisher that specializes in your topics (genre). You should get a small advance royalty (at least after the first book) and a 10% royalty based upon wholesale sales - less returns and samples.

If you are not a celebrity - don't bother writing a cook book. Everyone knows only celebs know how to cook (just had to say that gag gag). If you are not a doctor of some kind (medical or otherwise) don't bother writing anything in the health field - only "them educated folk" are believable (we all know that don't we????).

Before you write - read read read read and see what is out there.

Got questions - I am here - been there and done that. I don't have all the answers, but I have a couple of them down pretty good.

Bill, I agree with you...for the most part.

Sometimes it seems that everyone's a writer, or at least an aspiring one. Thing is, there's a lot more to being a writer than actually writing. Writing in most genres is 90% research -- not just of the subject matter, but of the market, potential publishers, potential marketing plans, and of what's already been published. Wait -- amend that percentage a bit; success requires a good amount of time and effort spent on marketing yourself and your products. Published writing work is a product, and writers are brands.

If you are a very prolific writer in a very specific niche that happens to be "hot" then yes, you could make a lot of money through N-F books and e-books.

If you are a very lucky, talented fiction writer like King, Rowling, or Gabaldon, you could make a lot of money.

If you write poetry, children's books, magazine articles, romance novels, short stories, etc. you'd better be doing it because you love it.

Self-publishing CAN be a very lucrative method, or even in some cases a step toward traditional publishing. The myth that "if you can't get published traditionally, don't bother" is not true. BUT it doesn't work in all genres, and you have to be brutally honest with yourself about whether you really expect to succeed or are doing it for pure vanity. And there's nothing wrong with vanity publishing, if your goal is merely to possess a bound book. Vanity publishers aren't necessarily rip-offs. They're wonderful for things like family memoirs or autobiographies.

HOWEVER...

Writing for businesses, a/k/a copywriting, marcom, or commercial writing, is a whole 'nother beast altogether. You CAN make a LOT of money doing it. Not everyone can, but if you possess the required skill set (which isn't necessarily a college degree in journalism or English lit!) you've got a great shot at it.

Again, it's 90% research and marketing, and while a great deal of your success depends on your people skills and general professionalism, it's certainly something you can do ANYWHERE, even on a remote farmstead. When I started out, I went to local business events and targeted local businesses. Now I have clients all over the country, literally coast to coast, and do most of my work online without ever having to leave.

Maybe I should write a book about it.

Oh wait, somebody already did. Several somebodies. If you're interested, start here:

http://www.wellfedwriter.com

And DO NOT, do not, do NOT get sucked into AWAI.