I recently signed on to do a guest blog, once a week, for GRIT, a magazine about rural living. I am doing it for free. Why would I do that if one of my goals is to make money? The answer should be obvious: I get a byline for each blog posting, and I also get links back to my blogs and websites. My main goal is always to drive people back to my own site.

For those of you wondering what rural living has to do with my passion for personal essays about life, I negotiated with the editor of GRIT to allow me to write about the joys of simple living in a rural setting, so it is a win-win situation for me and the readers.

The point I want to drive home is that this is a changing literary world we live in, and as writers we must be willing to change. If our goal is to follow our passion and make it profitable, then it is up to us to constantly look at new avenues and methods.

Let me put it another way. I started out writing on HubPages to make passive income. That did not happen, so now I write articles on HubPages but really they are just magazine articles waiting for the day when I submit them and some editor buys them. Do you see the significance of that shift in thinking? HubPages wasn’t earning me money so I adjusted and use the same articles to earn income somewhere else. I honestly don't care if HubPages makes money, and I'm quite certain they don't lose sleep at night wondering how to make me money, so I use them as a holding tank for my articles until I need those articles for another purpose.

You are your product. Your name is what you are selling. Once you have done the selling job and gathered up some followers, then your ability as a writer will determine whether you make money in this writing world.

I have no idea when my big break will come, but I am confident it will come. I can hasten that arrival by doing everything in my power to make my name known to as many people as possible. Who knows when the next contact I make will be the contact I've been waiting for?

Writing + Marketing = Success!

And you can take that to the bank!

2013 William D. Holland (aka billybuc)

“Helping writers to spread their wings and fly.”