This week we’re talking about writing fiction: writing stories. If you had suggested to me three years ago that writers could make a great living writing fiction, I would have shaken my head in disbelief.
These days, thanks to the ereader, fiction is a viable form of writing for ALL writers. Last Sunday, Dear Author mentioned that in 2012, “Self published titles made up 25% of the bestselling titles on Amazon in 2012.”
Yes, traditional publishing still dominates the publishing industry, however, independent authors get to keep more of their money. Traditionally published authors get the scraps publishers are willing to toss them. (After a year or three.)
It’s amazing to me that self-published authors are doing so well — they’re writing bestsellers, with nothing more than their computers, and Amazon. This puts a HUGE smile on my face. 
So, writing and selling fiction can be a viable part of your business plan. Better yet, writing and selling SHORT fiction should be on your radar.
I talked about how to write a short story, here.
I had some questions about genres which sell as short fiction, and said:
Investigate:
* Mysteries;
* Romance — any kind, whether sweet, Young Adult (this is becoming a hot genre in fiction), second chance, etc;
* Science fiction/ fantasy;
* Paranormal — vampire and werewolf stories are HUGE…
Experiment. Write what you’re in the mood to write. You can write a short story in a couple of hours. Collect a few of them, on a theme, and you can publish your collection. Then publish another one.
Visit my Just Write a Book Blog for more inspiration. I’ll be writing more about creating short fiction there.
Writing Services: Sell Your Fiction-Writing Skills
Here’s something to keep in mind. Writing fiction is a SKILL. Once you have some practice at it, you can promote it as a writing service.
Admittedly, ghostwriting isn’t for everyone. Some writers insist on their byline. I don’t care whose name is on a book, so I’m happy to write novels for anyone who’ll pay me.
I’ve been asked how much you should charge for ghostwriting fiction. Aim for fifty cents a word. That means, if you write a novel of 60,000 words, you charge $30,000. That may seem like a lot of money, if you habitually price yourself too low. However, remember that once you’re paid in full, you lose ALL rights to the work. Your name won’t be on it. You can’t brag about it… 
A reminder: get 50% as a deposit, before you start writing.
One of my best friends started out in magazine writing in the 1980s, as I did. She now writes solely as a ghost. If you’re a fast writer, and can write several books a year, you’ll do well at it.
Last year I was in the middle of writing a series of novels, and was offered a ghostwriting gig writing three novels. The pay was too good to pass up, so of course I took it.
If This, Then That (IFTTT)
Are you familiar with the IFTTT service?
It’s amazing — it allows you to automate much of what you do each day. For example, I have an IFTTT “recipe” which sends every starred blog post I read in Google Reader to Evernote, so I can read it later. I have another recipe which sends every Gmail email message labelled “Evernote” to Evernote.
I signed up for IFTTT a couple of years ago, but could never get my head around it.
This video helped me. If you want to automate tasks, here you go:
Eliminate Tyre-Kickers (As Much As You Can)
How much time do you spend creating quotes for your prospects each day? This can end up taking hours you could be spending writing.
Here’s a way to get rid of some of the tyre-kickers.
If they won’t fill out a form, they won’t hire you.
Write what you know — and sell it
NEW: Memories — Writing and Selling Your Life Stories (coaching workshop)
Sell Your Writing Online NOW
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