If you’re reading this, I’m guessing you’re either a professional writer or you’re considering becoming one. If so, I’m sure you’ve noticed the never-ending quest for excellence that is known as the “writer’s block.” Sometimes, despite our best efforts to produce, the words just won’t come. And when they do flow, they often don’t flow in an orderly fashion, resulting in an even greater struggle to get them down on paper. These are the times bloggers and authors—whose primary source of income comes from published work—come in especially handy. Because of their steady stream of income, these individuals can afford to take on extra writing projects and to be more selective with the clients they take on.
In this article, we’ll discuss how you can get paid for your flash fiction as a blogger or an author. Keep reading for more information.
The Rise In Popularity Of Short Stories
In the age of the short story, many more people are enjoying the benefits of reading and being entertained by short stories. Thanks to a variety of reasons, from the rise in popularity of single-person shows to social media, people are seeking out shorter and shorter stories to keep their interests alive. Short stories allow writers to explore numerous themes in a more concentrated and intimate way, which can lead to richer storytelling, as well as for readers to discover a side of an author they might not have encountered before.
“The Yellow House”, by Louise Penny, is a perfect example of what I mean. Set in the quaint seaside village of Crouching Bay, this crime story revolves around the investigation into the death of an older woman discovered at the town’s yellow house. While the novel as a whole is filled with suspense and nail-biting moments, it is the exquisite little panache that Penny adds to each of her stories that make them so delightfully readable and memorable. Whether the reader is immediately drawn into the story or stays stuck in the fascinating middle of the narrative for a while, there is always something intriguing about the smallest stories we read, because they engage us on so many different levels: intellectually, emotionally, and even sensually. In the case of Penny’s short stories, each detail of the author’s exquisite craft ensures that the reader fully immerses themselves in the world of her fiction and feels as compelled as the characters to discover the truth about the mysterious and possibly gruesome death of Mrs. Small.
As exciting as the short story format is, it comes with its downsides. One of the biggest is that unless you have a large Twitter following or you’re extremely active on social media, you’ll probably struggle to draw in readers who are primarily interested in short stories. For those looking to make a quick buck, blogging might be a more lucrative career path, as you can usually expect to make around $5 per day, plus whatever you make from ads or affiliate links (usually around $100 per month). Short stories, on the other hand, can be a lot more lucrative when published and, as a result, a lot more competitive. This makes it harder for an unknown writer to gain traction in a crowded market—unless, of course, that writer is an exceptionally skilled storyteller.
Blogging As A Means To Monetise Your Work
If you’ve been following my career for a while, you’ll know that I’m a big believer in the power of blogging. When you couple this with a talented writing sample and an engaging online presence, you’re well on your way to attaining financial security as a freelance writer. Monetising your work through blogging enables you to develop and grow your business regardless of whether you’re signed with a traditional publisher or you’ve self-published. And what’s more, it can also form the basis for a successful author career, as many successful self-published writers, including myself, have managed to do.
The key component to making money from blogging is to build up a sizable audience. If you have around 1,000 or more daily visitors, you’ll be able to pick up some decent amounts of extra cash per month through affiliate marketing, which will enable you to keep your current lifestyle, as well as provide you with a safety net in case your writing doesn’t find mainstream publication. Around 10,000 daily visitors is a good benchmark to shoot for, as this is enough to make you a welcome member of the digital nomad community and to enable you to sustain yourself financially while you’re developing your own brand.
Blogging isn’t for everyone. Those looking for fast cash should consider other opportunities while they’re still at an early stage in their career. However, if you’re looking for a more long-term and sustainable source of income, blogging is a great option. And if you’re a talented storyteller who happens to be a digital nomad, you could even consider setting up your own blog, as this will enable you to combine your two passions and to work remotely.
Make Money Through Affiliate Marketing
Another way to make money as a writer is through affiliate marketing. This is where you earn a commission (usually around 10%) from selling a product (usually an ebook or a webinar) that’s been linked to in a blog post. You don’t have to promote the product to earn the commission, but as long as someone clicks on the hyperlink (known as a “click-through”) while visiting your blog, you’ll earn a small commission. In the case of Louise Penny’s “The Yellow House”, she earns around $500 per month from this one product alone (worth around $60).
There are a few different ways to go about promoting products via affiliate marketing. You can either create blog posts around the product, you can hire contractors to do the work for you (known as “guest blogging”), or you can even consider using a tool like Shopify, which is a fully functional e-commerce platform designed specifically for bloggers. With Shopify, you can open a shop and begin to sell your own products, as well as partnered products, within a matter of minutes. You can even set up email campaigns, in which you’ll send out offers to your subscribers (known as “e-newsletters”)—without all the hassles of having to build a store yourself.
The nice thing about this as a method for making money as a writer is that you don’t necessarily need to wait until you’re published to start making money. As long as you’ve got a sizable audience, you can begin to experiment with selling and promoting products via affiliate marketing. Moreover, you might already have the skills necessary to begin making money from this source. If you’re a fairly successful blogger with a healthy social media presence, you might even consider trying your hand at making money via affiliate marketing—whether you’re well-versed in SEO or not.
The Advantages Of Self-Publishing
To conclude, let’s take a quick look at the advantages of self-publishing. First, it’s an excellent way to get your work out there. Whether you’ve been rejected over and over again by traditional publishers or you’ve decided that you don’t want to deal with the traditional publishing industry’s red-tapism, you can still find a way to get your work published (cough Leisure Lakescough). Self-publishing gives you complete control over your product. Moreover, you don’t have to play by the rules set by large corporations. Instead, you can set up shop and begin to sell your own books, with or without a printer.
The disadvantage of self-publishing is that it’s a lot of hard work. You’ll need to do the marketing, the sales, and the editing yourself—something that takes a lot of time. Moreover, depending on how experienced you are as a writer, you might end up doing most of the work. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for an opportunity to get your work out there and to begin building your author brand, self-publishing isn’t to be missed.
How To Get Paid For Your Flash Fiction
If you’re looking for a way to get paid for your flash fiction, there are many different avenues you can pursue. You can submit your work to royalty-free venues, such as Creative Commons, where any writer can get paid for their work—but not all will be able to offer you a penny. You can look into trademark infringement issues if you’re writing about an existing brand (usually something mentioned in passing in your piece will give you enough material to form the basis of a trademark complaint), and you can even consider submitting your work to legal publishers if you’re writing about legal matters.
The nice thing about all of these options is that they give you complete control over your creative and professional output. Moreover, you don’t necessarily need to go through a publisher to get your work out there. Instead, you can find a way to self-published.