Profit From Anniversaries

Every day is an anniversary of some event or moment in history. Every day is a chance to take your readers back in time.  Every day offers an opportunity for a way to increase your profits as a non-fiction writer.

Newsworthy milestones of all kinds can mean big profits if you’re a savvy writer. Many people love to read about what happened way back when. But the key is to uncover a unique angle on an anniversary, especially for those that are more well known.

While every day is an anniversary, it’s the important milestones that count----10, 25, 30, 35, 40, 50, 60, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200 years—so begin by making a list of these numbers. Subtract these numbers from the current year—in this case 2016. For example, subtracting 100 years from 2016 gives you 1916.

Next find a copy of The World Almanac and go to the historical timeline section. Look up 1916 and see what events happened that year. This gives you a list of centennial anniversaries to write about. Look for the more unusual events—ones that other writers might dismiss as too trivial. Then use your imagination to put your own spin on the ones you select. Repeat this process for all the milestone anniversaries. You’ll end up with a more anniversaries than you’ll have time to write about. Select the ones you think will work out best for you, and you’ve essentially planned articles for an entire year.

When pitching article ideas to editors, remember that most magazines work at least four to six months ahead, larger national publications often work a year or more ahead. So you may want to project into the following year. For example, look at the listings for both 1916 and 1917.

You should only have to do this procedure once a year. Try to do it at the end of the previous year to plan the anniversaries you’ll want to write about for the following 12 months.

A Google search for "historical anniversaries" will reveal lists of event anniversaries. And a search of “anniversaries + [specific year]” can also reveal many potential article angles. The bigger and rounder the number of the anniversary, the more potential the hook. Target these findings first in your queries, because well-known anniversaries are where the competition will be the most challenging.

You’ll also find it easier to narrow down all the possible anniversaries if you follow your personal interests. Use them as a filter to narrow your selection.

One writer had a strong interest in the Old West. When the 150th anniversary for the departure of the first wagon train to traverse the Oregon Trail came up, he did lots of research and in the end sold 16 articles to as many different magazines on various facets of this event. He targeted each article to a different audience using the same basic information but with specific details for each readership.

As in with other aspects of freelance marketing, it’s important to be broad minded. You never know which magazine editor is planning to cover what, or what special issues he or she may have in mind that would be perfect for a particular anniversary piece. Even rejections can open the door to future assignments. Whenever possible, target both local and national publications—and be sure to target each pitch a specific market.

Avoid ideas that first come to mind. Instead, find an innovative way to spin the topic that will make your query stand out from the others. One of the ideas the writer pitching the Oregon Trail anniversary used was to bring to life that first wagon train, based on personal accounts left by the pioneers on rock faces along the way and in diaries they kept. Since actual people signed their comments, it made his article personal and true to life.

Remember, that even what seems like a great idea to you may fall on an editor’s deaf ears. Be prepared to circulate and recirculate your anniversary article queries for multiple successes.

What is Your Profit Motive?

As a freelance writer, you’re in business to make money. How much is up to you. You can write a lot and get paid little or write a little and get paid a lot. Chances are you’ll fall somewhere in between. But one thing is for sure, there are only so many hours in a day, so the amount you make may be limited, especially if you’re writing books or articles for magazines.

If you’re writing books, you can only work on one at a time. The amount of time it takes to research and write a book is staggering while the advance you may receive pays for only a fraction of that time. If you’re a good multi-tasker, you may be able to pound out an article or short story or two while working on your book, but most writers put all their energies into such a massive project.

Writing articles actually pays better in the long run. If you have acquired some steady markets, you’ll be writing constantly and the money will pour in regularly.  If you’re just starting out, you may find yourself strapped for cash between assignments.

So what is your profit motivation? Are you content to make a little while pursuing other creative projects—for this you’ll need a working spouse or a rich benefactor? Or do you need to earn a living to help support a family or yourself if you live alone? Many married women writers claim they’re making a living just like any male writer, but what if they weren’t married and couldn’t depend on their husbands’ paycheck to take care of most or all of the bills? While it may be okay to do this in the beginning, after a while your spouse will grow tired of paying the bills by himself.  The opposite it also true for husbands taking up freelance writing while their wives work at a steady job to pay the bills.

Even if you’ve been publishing and making a modest living at writing, you may be guilty of practices that hinder you from making more money. Maximizing your profit requires you to budget time and money carefully. Will you be able to live on say $12,000 a year or less? Perhaps you had better decide if you love your daily Starbucks latte more than writing!

You need to budget everything. Leave nothing to chance. Periodically review your bills to see if you can lower any of them. This will mean not having the latest smart phone or that big-screen Plasma T.V. that your neighbors have. And while you’re at it, better decide to move from the McMansion you live in now to a more modest house.

But budgeting isn’t all about sacrificing the things you love for your writing. It just means that you need to prioritize. List the things that are most important to you. If that cup of Starbucks coffee or that giant SUV that you drive is important to you, then perhaps you better give up on your dreams of becoming a writer, unless you want to write press releases or advertising copy.

As much as you need to learn about writing to improve your skills, so you should learn about the business of business if you expect to keep your profits growing. You’ll be running a small business. Don’t kid yourself into thinking it’s anything else. Talk to other small business owners. What do they do to make sure they stay in business? While your business may be slightly different than theirs, the procedures are the same, even down to what to deduct on your tax return.

Set up daily and monthly schedules and stick to them. Self discipline is very important in freelance writing. It’s not all about spending leisure time at the café reading Twitter messages from your peeps on your smart phone. It’s about working hard and enjoying your time off, knowing that you’ve done the best job you could getting pieces finished and sent in on time.
   
Review your methods periodically. Weed out the bad habits. Are you allowing too many interruptions to devastate your schedule? Are you letting too much time slip by before you get an idea and propose it to editors or your agent? Are you learning from your competition?

To be a successful freelancer, you have to periodically review your assets and liabilities. You  can’t afford to imagine there isn't room for improvement. Above all, freelancer writers don't believe in giving things away for free. If a publisher isn’t willing to pay for your work, pass them by. You can’t pay for groceries with a freebie.

Staying Afloat Without a Paddle

As important as the quality of your writing is to freelancing, so should your financial base. Too many beginning writers only daydream about how wonderful it would be to strike out on their own and get paid for their writing. In order to stay afloat while freelancing, especially in the beginning while you’re opening markets and gathering clients, you must have money to pay your bills.

If you’ve ever bought a house, you know how careful you have to inspect it. Once you sign the sales agreement, you’re stuck with it, no matter what problems may arise. The same goes for severing the financial cord to your fill-time job. By doing thorough research and planning carefully, you’ll be able to concentrate on your writing and not have to worry about how you’re going to buy food or pay for heat and fuel for your car.

When I began freelancing, I decided that if I had to work part-time at any point in my freelance career that I would only get a job at something related to what I was doing. I figured that if I working thinking and working with writing or any of the subjects I wrote about then I might also gain some knowledge or insights to help me in my writing. I wrote about travel and tourism, so I worked as a travel agent. I wrote about the Internet and technology, so I learned to design Web sites for small businesses. I even did public relations writing—I got plenty of press releases and learned to write good ones from them.

But the job that has offered me the most opportunities was teaching what I loved to do best—writing. No, I didn’t teach in public school or college. Over the years, I’ve taught continued education courses at a number of colleges and universities as well as community evening schools in my area. I knew that I really couldn’t write all day and all night, so I scheduled my classes during the evening hours. No course is longer than eight weeks and each session runs for two hours. I work as an independent contractor, thus setting my own schedule and creating and writing my own courses. Once a course is “in the bag,” I just have to reap the profits.

The experience I gained teaching writing courses propelled me into an even more lucrative sideline—business writing workshops. I earn more in a six-hour day doing this than writing two or three articles. But instead of presenting these workshop constantly, I’m selective and only do them occasionally.

Another sideline related to my course work is lecturing. I’ve amassed loads of information on a variety of subjects, as well as photographs of the same. I began assembling these into one-hour lectures that I present at retirement centers and at conferences. Again, once a lecture is all assembled, it’s easy to draw from my inventory and reap the profits.

When, do you ask, do I have time to write? Believe it or not, I have a lot of time because I set my own schedule. All my teaching venues know that if something comes up, I may need to cancel a class and make it up later. All have been very accommodating. Plus, I get all sorts of ideas when teaching others.

My Web design business kicks in when times are slow. It takes a lot to put a good site together, so I take on only one client at a time. The pay is usually worth it.

During the recent economic downturn, my ability to turn a profit with my other ventures has paid off handsomely. All of these ventures come under the umbrella of Bob Brooke Communications, my brand name and the company I created.