By Derek Haines  on Just Publishing Advice:

Writing is now a popular way to make money either as a full time or part-time job

Self-publishing and becoming self-employed

With the technology that is now available for writers to publish their work online, there are many options when it comes to earning an income from writing.

While most would immediately think of self-publishing as publishing ebooks and books on Amazon, this is only one of many means available to publish and get paid for your writing.

A lot of writers are now learning to mix and match their publishing to maximise the return on their work.

Yes, publishing ebooks on Kindle is one way to sell your writing, but blogging has now become a very lucrative means of deriving an income.

Let’s start with books and ebooks.

Selling books and making money

As authors, we are always looking for new ways to reach our readers. I was contacted by these two lovely ladies, through friends made on Lisa Burton Radio, to promote their startup on YouTube. Check out what they have to offer, and there are some pretty decent prizes available here too.

CraftQuest 2018 Launch

Co-Founders: Maria Tureaud & Ari Augustine

Motto: We are warriors of the written word.

This month, Maria Tureaud and I are launching CraftQuest, a LIVE YouTube webinar series for serious writers. We wanted to create the equivalent of The View for seriously determined writers willing to transform their failures into successes and want to “get shit done”.

Each month, CraftQuest will host between five to ten writers to chat about their unique writing lives, creative processes, and lessons learn from rejections. We will share tips, perform open critiques, and collaborate with other humans who want…

After writing, editing and formatting, what’s next?

Picking the perfect cover.

While no easy task, it doesn’t have to break the bank. So in case you missed this great post from Fiction University, I’m attaching a link below.

J. Kathleen Cheney gives sound advice on when and where you can design your own cover. And more important when you might want to bite the bullet and pay for a professional.

In her article, Ms. Cheney also provides links and suggestions on how you can produce a great book cover for your next project.

• Love Canva. It’s one of my favorite programs. Very user-friendly and short learning curve. And best of all you can art for FREE or only $1.00.
• Her idea of checking out the competition is great. That is definitely going on my to-do list for next book.
• Get a critique on the cover from your friends, family and writing…

Use a formula.

Yep, you heard me right. Sounds contradictory I know. Why? Because we are creatures of comfort and formulas work.

I mean, who doesn’t have a favorite comfort food, favorite chair, a feel-good movie, or book? We enjoy the familiar.

A genre formula is a writer’s best friend.

Sticking to a genre formula lets the reader know what to expect. You know what to expect when you pick up a book by Stephen King, Patricia Cornwell, James Pattersonor Danielle Steel.

Putting yourown unique spin, touch or style is what makes a reader recognize your uniqueness.

Sort of like spaghetti sauce. Everyone knows it’s made with tomatoes, meat, and spices. But how the cook puts it all together will determine the flavor.

Remember, how you execute a story is what makes it unique.

• You (the cook) make the difference.
• Different isn’t always a good thing.
• Readers want genre…

From the blog of Sally G Cronin:

I know that whilst I was away that the reblog button has disappeared from out blogs which is a real pain..

I checked the forums and this was a response from one of the Happiness Engineers I assume.

kokkieh on “Reblog button has disappeared from blogs”
21 February 2018 10:41

“Hi all. Just an update. It appears this happened because we removed some deprecated code, i.e. code for a feature that no longer exists, but it seems the reblog button was also using some of that code.

Adding back the deprecated code is not an option, so our developers are working on replacing it with updated code that will allow the button to work again. We’re already testing potential fixes, so hopefully it won’t be too much longer.”

In the meantime you can share blogs who have the Press This button.. you can…