“Half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up to get it.” ~ Sidney Howard

You can be the most organized writer in the world, but if you aren’t prepared to make a few sacrifices for your writing, then you’re less likely to achieve your writing goals. Here, Laura Cross – author of The Complete Guide to Hiring a Literary Agent: Everything You Need to Know to become Successfully Published (pictured) – describes in painstaking detail how to create a writing plan. And it’s up to you, fellow scribes, to follow through…

How to Create a Strategic Writing Plan – Tips for Organized Writers

Writing down your goals and creating a plan (tasks you can accomplish on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis) will keep you focused, allow you to see results, and provide a solid strategy for achieving your writing goals.

1. Define your writing goal(s). Your goal should be specific, measurable, and have a deadline – such as “I will complete my nonfiction manuscript by the end of October.”

2. Determine what tasks are necessary to achieve your goal(s). Create a list of all the necessary tasks associated with achieving the goal(s). If the goal is to develop a book proposal package to pitch to publishers the tasks involved might be: analyzing similar books on the subject, conducting market research, creating a promotional plan, writing an author bio, building an author platform, designing a chapter outline, writing a sample chapter, investigating nonfiction publishers in your genre, crating a query letter, etc…..

3. Organize the tasks, and develop a strategic plan. Writing goals are easier to manage when they are broken down into small chunks: three-year, one-year, monthly, weekly, and daily. Start with your big goals and break them down to smaller and smaller tasks.

4. Make sure your detailed plan suits your lifestyle. If you maintain a full-time job and have two small children and a dog to care for, it may be difficult to fit three pages of writing in each day. Set yourself up for success by creating a practical plan. If you write one hour a day (after the kids go to bed), five times a week – or five hours one day a week (on Sunday when the kids are at grandma’s house) – that’s five pages of writing each week; within a year you will have completed a 250-page book.

Example of a Strategic Writing Plan

Long-term goal: “I will be recognized as the expert in my field by the end of 2012.”

Goals for this year, which will help achieve the long-term goal: “I will self-publish my business book by December 15.”

Monthly tasks necessary to attain the one-year goal:

• January: I will gather initial research and create a book outline
• February – March: I will research my topic in depth, interview sources, and obtain photos and permissions.
• April – June: I will write the content.
• July: I will have the manuscript professionally edited and proofread. I will set up my publishing company and begin pre-marketing for the book.
• August: I will make final revisions. I will obtain an ISBN and bar code, register copyright, and apply for LCCN.
• September: I will hire a designer to layout the interior of the book. I will hire an artist to create the cover for the book. I will list my book for pre-sale on Amazon.
• October – November: I will hire an indexer to create an index for the book. I will submit the book for printing.
• December: I will launch the book release.

Weekly tasks necessary to attain the specific monthly goals:

• Week 1: I will investigate and evaluate comparable competitive titles
• Week 2: I will collect initial research via the Internet
• Week 3: I will brainstorm my topic to divide the material into sections
• Week 4: I will create a detailed outline with sub-topics and separate chapters

Daily tasks necessary to attain the specific weekly goals:

• Tuesday, June 8: I will write five pages of content.

Studies show that people who write down their goals and develop a strategic plan to achieve them are more likely to succeed. So, make a commitment to yourself and your writing career – develop a plan and put it into action. Before another year flies by, you could be a published author!

If you have any thoughts or questions on creating a strategic writing plan or being an organized writer, please comment below!

Laura Cross is an author, screenwriter, ghostwriter, freelance book editor, and writing coach specializing in nonfiction books and script adaptation. She also teaches ghostwriting – visit Scenario Writing Studio for more info.

“The economy wasn’t so bad when I started thinking about self publishing my first book, Planting Design Illustrated,” says Chen. “I had some interest from traditional publishers, but they wanted to make quite a lot of changes and add a co-author. These were changes that would have made me dislike my own book!  So, I turned to self publishing.  At the time, making a lot of money was not at the top of my priorities. I simply wanted to publish my own book in my own way.”

To learn more about creating a “print on demand” book from start to finish, read The Step-by-Step Guide to Self-Publishing for Profit! Publish Your Non-Fiction Book with CreateSpace and Amazon (pictured) — it’ll guide you every step of the way. And, here are Gang Chen’s tips for self-publishing success… 

An Example of Print on Demand Publishing –  Guest Post by Gang Chen

I self-published my second book, LEED AP Exam Guide in September, 2008. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the most important trend in development and is currently revolutionizing the construction industry. My book had the benefit of being published at the right time, at the right price.  Four months later, I earned royalties of $31,207.68 in one month. I earned even more the month later.

6 Tips for Self-Publishing Your Book

1. Write a valuable book. This step is easily overlooked, but it is Number One on this list for a reason. Your book must provide some sort of value or benefit for the reader.  In my case, my books are both non-fiction, and fairly niche. I earn the lion’s share of my royalties from my LEED AP Exam Guide, which provides a mock exam, study guides, and sample questions for the LEED AP Exam. 

2. Make sure your book can deliver. Self-publishing non-fiction is an easier proposition on the self-publishing front than fiction. But even fiction books are valuable, if they provide the type of “escape” your reader is seeking.  Whether you write non-fiction, fiction, poetry, or something else entirely, the book must deliver on its promise. You might do everything else on this list, and you might even find some short-lived success, but ultimately, the success of your book comes down to its strength and the book marketing efforts you put forth.

3. Identify your target audience. Who is your reader? If your answer is “everybody” you need to reevaluate your goals and recalibrate your expectations. No book is meant for everybody. In fact, perhaps counter-intuitively, the smaller your audience, the more success you will find. Look at my books: Planting Design Illustrated and LEED AP Exam.  That small, target audience is precisely the reason my books are well-known in the proper circles.  Do I care that someone who reads Harry Potter has never heard of me?  No.  Is it incredibly important to me that students and professionals in the field of green building design and construction have heard of me? Yes. 

4. Recognize the type of book you’re self-publishing. You should be realistic about the type of book you are writing, and the type of publishing you are doing.  If you are self-publishing your book (regardless of whether you are doing it yourself or through the publishing services of a print on demand company like I did), don’t try to force your book to be something that it’s not. Your book is not a mass market paperback like those you find in a grocery store. Nor is it the latest hardback, discounted 80%, like those you find at Costco.  As a self-published author, both of those scenarios are too risky, and to be frank, you probably don’t possess the means to take on that kind of risk. So why try?  Self-publishing authors publish trade paperback and hardback books that can be available regionally (perhaps), locally (probably), and online (definitely). 

5. Price your book appropriately. Do market research to determine the prices of similar books in your category.    Look on Amazon.com for similar books (you’ll need to be aware of these books anyway, when it comes to marketing yours). Examine their page count and price point.  Make an honest assessment of your book in relation to the other books in your category.  Does your content justify a higher price? Does your page count suggest a lower price?  Your method of publishing should be considered, but should not play a definitive role in the price of your book.

6. Publish your book wisely. My main consideration when choosing my publisher was not how much my royalties were going to be. That only became important to me after the book was published.  The publisher I chose, Outskirts Press, pays me 100% of the profits of the book and lets me set my own pricing. iUniverse pays 20% of the profit. Xlibris pays 10% of the retail price. But by paying 100% of the profit, Outskirts Press allowed me to set the retail price to whatever I wanted, and now I earn the entire benefit of increasing my price.

Self publishing is working for me. My royalties are increasing every month and I’m working on my third book, which I will also publish with Outskirts Press. 

If you have any thoughts or questions on print on demand or self-publishing, please comment below…

Gang Chen is a LEED AP and a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

“Writing your memoir can be one of the best things you could ever do for yourself,” says Dr Hunter. “I’ve worked with memoirists and with personal essay writers for thirty years and the thing that never fails to astonish me is that when people write their lives out they are changed by the experience.”

He says that memoir writers move into a new relationship with their past, which can be an extraordinary path towards emotional and psychological healing. To embark on this journey of memoir writing, read Dr Hunter’s Write Your Memoir: The Soul Work of Telling Your Story. And here are four ways to get started on the story of your life…

How to Write Your Life Story – Tips for Memoir Writers

“Talking about the past can have a healing function, but what we find is that talk, literally, is cheap,” Dr Hunter says. “We speak words and they fly away before we’ve faced what it is they convey.  This is not the case with the written word.  Writers find themselves saying, ‘ I never really thought about it before’ or ‘ I never saw it this way until I started to write it’.  Writing can slow us down enough so we take notice, and when we write we find the deep truths that we’ve forgotten we knew.”

Memoir writing is a way to access our knowledge and our wisdom, and save hard-earned experience form being lost forever.  When we claim this wisdom, we claim our lives.

So how do writers start their memoirs? Here are Dr Hunter’s tips…

Recall a time when something changed in your life.  Most people have no trouble identifying these moments of change – the day the family moved away from the neighborhood, the day they realized mom wouldn’t be there to help them raise the twins.  Each memory of this sort is valuable because it is attached to an emotion. We wouldn’t recall it if we had no emotional investment. These memories are also important because they point backwards to what was, and forwards to what was about to happen, with a sense that there was now a new way of seeing these stretches of time. In each memory, moreover, there is likely to be a huge gift – each will reflect a theme, possibly a major theme, which will play out in the rest of the writers’ life.

Introduce your Unconscious to a regular writing schedule. To keep the Unconscious on your side, you need to set up a regular time to write. Limit it to 15 minutes, no more – at least at first. Fifteen minutes, three times a week, always at the same time and always in the same place. Stay there for all 15 minutes even if you can’t think of anything to write.  This will set up a rhythm, in the same way we get hungry at mealtimes whether or not we’re really hungry. This isn’t just about finding time to write. Your Unconscious will get used to this and agree to let out a few more memories, right on cue.

Reward yourself at the end of each day’s writing.  Choose something small, but memorable, like a chocolate, a cup of coffee, or a cookie – something indulgent but relatively guilt free. This tells the Unconscious that it’s okay to write your memoir and share your life story. There’s nothing threatening going on. And soon enough, your Unconscious will let go of its defenses and allow the memories keep flowing.

Accept whatever comes to you to write.  You may have planned to write about Uncle Joe, but a series of stories about the farm in New Jersey insist on coming to you first. Write what comes. The Unconscious is wiser than you think it is; if you let it, it will tell you what to write in your memoir, and what to leave out.

“These are big claims,” says Dr Hunter, “yet I make them knowing them to be true. Writing our memories come straight from our most powerful ally, the Unconscious. In memoir it is the Unconscious that nudges us towards telling a tale we don’t even understand yet – at least not with our conscious awareness.”

If you have any questions or thoughts on writing your life story, please comment below…

Dr Allan G. Hunter is the author of eight books, including Stories We Need to Know: Reading Your Life Path in Literature and The Six Archetypes of Love. Forthcoming are Princes, Frogs, and Ugly Sisters; The Grimm Brothers, and Healing Tales.

But first, one of my favorite writing quotations from Natalie Goldberg:

“I hear people say they’re going to write,” says Natalie Goldberg, author of Thunder and Lightning: Cracking Open the Writer’s Craft. “I ask, when? They give me vague statements. Indefinite plans get dubious results. When we’re concrete about our writing time, it alleviates that thin constant feeling of anxiety that writers have – we’re barbecuing hot dogs, riding a bike, sailing out in the bay, shopping for shoes, even helping a sick friend, but somewhere nervously at the periphery of our perception we know we belong somewhere else – at our desk!”

If you want to be a writer, you must make time to write…and then you must write. For more practical and philosophical inspiration from Goldberg, read Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within. And, here are Emma Lee’s tips for finding more writing time in the day…

Writing More, Writing Better – 6 Ways to Find More Time to Write

Published authors and freelance writers are always passing on “write every day” advice to aspiring writers, but if you’re trying to write around a day job and activities to promote your writing, how do you find time to write?  With these tips!

1. Dump the word count targets. “Write 2000 words a day” could turn into 2000 words of rubbish a day. Think quality, not quantity.  Aim instead to get a poem completed or reach a critical point in your plot rather than worrying about how many words you’re writing.

2. Stretch your definition of writing. Volunteer to take minutes at a meeting. Treat reports, letters, memos and emails as if they’re another writing project. Don’t break out into verse or elegantly nuance something that needs to be in plain English – but do use it as an opportunity to improve your writing skills in concise, clear, direct language (writing more, writing better!). However, don’t become a nuisance – none of your colleagues will thank you for contributing to every single newsletter.

3. Organize your research, writing materials, tools, etc. Whether you’re perched on the kitchen table or have a study full of filing cabinets, you need a system where you can lay your fingers on anything you need – even if it’s that crucial note on plot development you scribbled on the back of an envelope or an editor’s email address. To find more time to write, spend less time looking for things.

4. Write when you’re most creative. Are you most creative in the morning or evening? If in the morning, consider shifting your sleeping hours so you go to bed earlier and wake earlier. Shift morning chores to the night before or delegate to other family members. If you’re creative at night, reverse the advice. The idea is to increase your writing productivity by working with your natural rhythms.

5. Set the writing mood by leaving loose ends dangling. Leave your work mid-scene or even mid-sentence so you don’t waste precious writing time trying to figure out what the next scene was going to be. Train family members to accept that writing time is not to be disturbed. By all means play music, light candles, sharpen pencils, pour yourself a drink, put up a ‘do not disturb’ sign if it helps the transition from being a parent or rocket scientist to a writer…but don’t let life stop you from writing more and writing better.

6. Break projects into smaller tasks and work steadily towards a deadline. Writing more and writing better almost always involves NOT procrastinating and then working eighteen hour days when the deadline looms! If you break projects into small tasks, then even writing for just half an hour a day will help you end your writing procrastination. If you prefer to procrastinate, then procrastinate by doing double chores until a self-inflicted deadline looms. Then, clear your schedule for a solid block of writing.  You’ve already done your chores so can write without feeling guilty!

Fellow scribes, what do you think of Emma’s tips for finding time to write? We welcome your thoughts below…

To learn more about Emma Lee, visit her at BitterFame.

Here’s a great question from one of my readers:

“I follow my stats and know people are reading my blog, but no matter what I try (create controversy, ask for additional ideas, or whatever) I get precious few comments. Any ideas on getting readers to comment?” ~ Jennifer, on How to Make Good Comments on Blog Posts.

To be successful, bloggers must learn as much about blogging as they can – both by doing and by reading! ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income by Darren Rowse is probably the best print resource for bloggers that I know of — but I daresay all books about blogging offer at least a nugget of gold. And most books about blogging discuss how to encourage readers to comment, perhaps offering tips similar to these…

How Do Bloggers Get Readers to Comment on Posts? 8 Tips for Blogging

1. Tap into your reader’s emotions, needs, wishes, hopes. In print magazines, the articles that garner the most letters to the editor are those that fire readers up. It’s not all about controversy – bloggers don’t necessarily need to be controversial to get comments! It’s about connecting with readers on a personal or emotional level. To motivate readers to interact on any piece of writing, writers need to relate to them where it matters most.

2. Figure out what matters to your readers. On this blog, my readers want to be more successful freelance writers and bloggers. So, I try to write about topics that matter to them – not what matters to novelists or poets or textbook writers. On Quips & Tips for Achieving Your Goals, my readers seem to be focused on love relationships – and my most commented post is How to Let Go of Someone You Love. So, I write about moving on after breaking up. Give your readers what they want, and they’ll keep coming back for more.

3. Dust your personality off. I’ve just been offered a writing gig with BC Women’s Hospital in Vancouver (yay!), and in the interview I wouldn’t shut up about the importance of revealing the person behind blog posts or articles. That’s what keeps readers coming back for more, and what encourages them to comment: writer’s voice or personality. This is particularly important to me because I’m just learning how to loosen up and reveal myself in my writing and blogging (it took years!).

4. Focus your blog posts on one main idea. I’ve read helpful information about starting a blog, attracting readers, putting advertising on blog posts, and getting a book contract based on the blog – all in one post! That was way TMI (Too Much Information) for one sitting. To encourage readers to comment, keep your post focused on a central idea that they can grasp onto and form a coherent thought about.

5. Reconsider the “Please comment!” request. “People are happy to comment on my fiction; less so on other posts/articles,” says writer and blogger Tony Noland. “My opinion and an open question helps prompt discussion  On fiction, I state clearly that comments and constructive criticism is welcome – such as on The Green Fields of Home.” He adds that on other posts he’s not as overt, and thinks it seems desperate to say, ‘Please comment!’”

6. Examine why you comment on other bloggers’ posts. Jot down five reasons you comment on blog posts – and force yourself not to stop at the first reason or two. It can be difficult to figure out why you do what you do, but that self-awareness will help you figure out your readers’ motivations. And if you can tap into them, then you can connect with them…and they’ll reach out to you by commenting on your blog posts.

7. Use social media to encourage readers. Writer and editor Bill Harper says, “I post the blog post on Twitter, and figure that if people are following me they might be interested enough to read and comment. Very occasionally I’ll ask for comments, but only if I’ve asked a question in the post I’d like answers to.” Harper also says that he posts questions in his tweets – and never sends “Please comment on my blog post” requests.

8. Ask your readers to comment. I’m with Susan Christerson Brown of Mildly Mystical on this! She says, “At the end of the post I share a question that’s on my mind, to invite readers to respond.” I do this, too, even when I don’t particularly want readers to respond (for instance, on my Quips & Tips for Couples Coping With Infertility blog, I find the readers’ questions and comments too difficult to answer). Even so, I always end my posts with an invitation to respond – and not just because I want readers to comment on my blog posts! I have a totally different reason…and I’ll give a free copy of my e-book to the first person who guesses why correctly in the comments section below (my e-book is Quips and Tips for Overcoming Writing Obstacles, and will be available at the end of next month).

If you’re struggling to increase your blog readership (and we all are, my friends), check out these different tips for promoting your blog.

What have I missed, fellow scribes – how do you encourage readers to comment on your blog posts?

Here’s what Dr Biali says about how difficult it is to get published:

“One thing that really bothers me that prevails in talk about writers and writing is that it’s really hard to break into the market, really hard to get published, and really hard to earn any income,” she says. “I think that as writers we should speak more optimistically about the realities of our profession.  Much of what I’ve accomplished as a freelance writer and author has been in spite of what people told me or warned me about.”

She says the negativity and gloom actually motivated her to write more – but fragile writers might give up entirely because of all the “negative press” about the writing life. If you’re one of those “fragile” writers, you need a booster shot from Dr B! Read her book Live a Life You Love!: 7 Steps to a Healthier, Happier, More Passionate You. And, here are her thoughts on the writing life…

Quips and Tips From a Published Writer and Medical Doctor

Dr. Susan Biali, M.D. is an internationally recognized medical doctor, wellness expert, speaker, coach and flamenco dancer.  She has performed for and taught celebrities, and today speaks and dances across North America.  Dr. Biali appears regularly in media such as Fox News, MSNBC, The Chicago Tribune, Cosmopolitan and Self. 

What would surprise people to know about your writing process or habits?

When I first dreamed of becoming an author, I would take “writing trips” to Italy and Mexico, delicious islands of time in which I could focus on my craft. I had this romantic notion (excuse?) that I needed to be somewhere idyllic and isolated in order to be a productive writer. When I moved my base to Mexico in 2004, I was sure that I would write prolifically in such a beautiful, peaceful environment.  Not so!  Though I outlined the book and wrote numerous essays that ultimately contributed to the content while in Mexico, I did the actual work of sitting down and writing it from start to finish in one very intense month – after I’d returned to live in Vancouver.

What’s the best way your family or friends can support you as a writer?

Not getting upset if I write about them! Anne Lamott instructs us to write as if our parents are not alive – not so easy! (even just writing that, I’m tempted to add “Love you, Mom and Dad” just in case they might get offended by Lamott’s comment – see what I mean?)

Have you published anything you regret?

A few years ago I went through a phase of being fascinated with what some people might call “New Age Healing”; today, I’m Christian with a very different view of the spiritual aspects of health and healing.  So, anything I published while in the throes of my New Age healing phase I would write very differently today.  I’m also a personal development nut and am constantly revising and expanding my philosophies about life, so I’m sure that in year or two I’ll look back at the book I published this month and want to rewrite it, or at least add to it substantially!

What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Don’t listen to the naysayers.  If you dream big, go big and don’t be limited by what others tell you is normal or should be expected.  I was told when I took a non-fiction magazine writing course that it takes on average ten years of writing professionally before you can submit to national magazines.  I didn’t listen to that advice and submitted my work to them anyway. I submitted the third non-fiction article I’d ever written to a national publication and they offered me a column that I wrote for eight years.  Sure, that might not happen for every writer but if you don’t try, how will you ever know?

What prior writing experience did you have, before getting published for the first time?

None, really.  I’d done really well in 12th grade English (I was given a 100% final grade), but no one seemed to notice - all my teachers focused on the success I’d had in the Sciences and pushed me towards a career in health.  I avoided writing classes in university as they had the potential to bring my GPA down.  It wasn’t until I had what some would call a breakdown, during my Emergency Medicine residency when I was 28, that I suddenly had this strange impulse to become a writer. 

The first thing I ever wrote was a travel article about a bicycle tour in Tuscany, which I submitted to our regional newspaper.  They put my picture and the headline on the front page of the Saturday travel section, in full color!  That’s what confirmed for me that ANYTHING was possible.

Have you taken writing courses or attended workshops?  Were they helpful?

Yes, I’ve taken a university-based course on novel writing (which most memorably taught me how to describe scenes using all the senses), as well courses on travel writing and creative magazine writing.  I started taking these after I’d already been published, to further develop my skills.  These courses really did take my writing to the next level.

Are you a member of a writers’ group?

No.  I did have a friend who I worked closely with initially; we would share our work with each other and formally critique it.  Until, that is, she read the first chapters of my novel and told me that she hated the main character (who was a poorly disguised version of ME).  That hurt so much that I stopped writing the novel and never touched it again.  I’ve never shown preliminary work to anyone again, other than publishers and magazine editors!

Fellow scribes, if you have any thoughts or questions for this doctor and published author, please don’t hesitate to ask below! (unless it’s about your hernia)

Visit Dr Biali at Susan Biali.com or at her Psychology Today.com blog Prescriptions for Life.

I’m writing an e-book, tentatively titled Quips and Tips for Achieving Your Writing Goals, which will describe ways for aspiring (and experienced) writers to overcome 20 different obstacles to writing. This book is for all types of writers: freelancers, novelists, bloggers, web writers, “armchair” writers, etc. 

If you’re tempted to contribute to this e-book, but worry that you’re not “successful” enough – have no fear! You don’t need to make a million bucks as a best-selling author (yeah, right) to know how to overcome obstacles in life. Sometimes the most valuable quips and tips come from the quietest, least public writers.

So, check this “opportunity for successful writers” out…

Quips and Tips for Achieving Your Writing Goals: The E-Book

My two questions for freelancers, book authors, novelists, web writers, and bloggers are: 

1. What two obstacles prevent you – or writers you know – from writing books, sending query letters, building blogs, or getting published? (not writer’s block, please — there’s lots of info out there on that).

2. What are two practical tips for overcoming those obstacles?  I’m hoping for more than the same old (but valid) “get your butt in the chair and write” advice, please…I’d like to offer more creative tips.

And — how can I refer to you in this e-book? (name, credentials, books written, publications appeared in, etc)

If you’re interested in responding, please say “Email me, Laurie!” in the comments section below. I’ll send you my email address, and you can send me your answers. Deadline: Wednesday, March 10.

Second Opportunity to Publicize Your Books, Blogs, and Businesses

Would you like to feature your book, blog, or business on one of my five “Quips and Tips” blogs?

• Quips and Tips for Achieving Your Goals
• Quips and Tips for Spiritual Seekers
• Quips and Tips for Love Relationships
• Quips and Tips for Couples Coping With Infertility
• Quips and Tips for Successful Writers

If you’d like to write a short guest post, I’d be happy to feature you! On all my blogs, each article is 400-600 words and contains at least four tips for moving forward or solving a problem. Each article features a book with a link to Amazon. I’ll include your 1-2 sentence bio with links to your sites at the end of the article.  If you’ve written a book that sells on Amazon, I’ll feature it. If not, I’ll feature a book related to your article.  Previously published material is fine — and I may sprinkle SEO keywords in the article, so web surfers can find it easily and quickly!

When I post the article, I’ll send you the link.  If I can’t use the article, I’ll let you know.  No deadline on this.

Again – if you’re interested, please say “Email me, Laurie!” in the comments section… 

As always, fellow scribes, I welcome your thoughts and questions below!

Before the tips, a quip:

“Writing is the only profession where no one considers you ridiculous if you earn no money.” ~ Jules Renard.

My goal as a working writer and blogger is to earn enough money to make paying income taxes a pain in the keister; earning no money is not an option! If you earned money writing last year, make sure you’re using tax software such as the TurboTax Deluxe Federal + State– it definitely makes calculating, filing, and paying income taxes easy (I remember the good old days, doing my taxes on paper!). But since doing taxes involves more than software, here are eight things for freelance writers and bloggers to think about as income tax season approaches…

Taxes for Working Writers – 8 Tips for Getting Organized for Income Tax Season

Jeff Staley, president of Freedom Tax Relief, LLC, advises freelance writers and bloggers to take these steps now to be ready for April 15.

1. Make a plan for filing your income taxes. Make plans now to ensure that you will be able to file your income tax return on time. If you can’t do your taxes on time, file an extension. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is more forgiving of those who follow the rules than those who skip filing. Even if you can’t pay your income tax debt in full on April 15, filing the required forms will result in smaller penalties. Also – get and stay organized with a few basic bookkeeping tips for freelance writers.

2. Prepare to pay tax on unemployment benefits. Unfortunately, not all working writers earn a full-time living – and unemployment income may have saved the day. But, unemployment income is taxable. If you received unemployment benefits last year, you should have received a Form 1099-G providing the total amount received. If your employer paid separate unemployment compensation, that income should be reported on your W-2 form as income. Note that the first $2,400 of government benefits received last year is exempt from tax, thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

3. Figure out if you’ll enjoy tax credits. Review last year’s freelance writing and blogging expenses to know whether you qualify for tax credits. The Stimulus Package included many tax credits, ranging from an expanded health coverage tax credit to new education benefits.

4. Maximize your income tax deductions. Make sure you’re familiar with what you can and can’t claim as a freelance writer. If you made donations to nonprofit organizations last year, make sure you obtain needed appraisals or valuations to list these contributions accurately in your tax forms, per IRS guidelines. Learn as much as you can about paying income taxes for working writers.

5. Contribute to your retirement plan. If you plan to contribute to a retirement plan, you can still make tax-deferred contributions for last year until April.

6. Estimate how much income tax you’ll owe. You can estimate your tax debt by reviewing a copy of last year’s tax form, completed with this year’s data. If you purchase income tax return software, it’s easy to play with your writing income, tax credits, tax deductions, etc.

7. Plan for income tax payments. If you earned more than a few bucks as a writer last year, you may have a bigger income tax bill than you can afford to pay in full by April 15! We should all be so lucky. If so, the IRS suggests taxpayers find any means possible to pay that bill – including bank loans, cash advances on credit cards, savings, borrowing against retirement or life insurance, or using equity in assets (such as a home) to pay. However, if you are in dire financial circumstances, exchanging one debt for another will not make things easier! And, putting a home at risk is almost always a bad idea. Consult a tax advisor, financial adviser, or even a savvy bookkeeper for freelance writers before making a decision.

8. Talk to the taxman about waiving tax penalties. If you absolutely cannot pay your tax bill, contact the IRS. The agency sometimes gives some leeway to taxpayers who contact them directly or pay a late bill voluntarily. The IRS might waive penalties for those who cannot pay because of a death in the family, serious illness, financial records lost in a natural disaster or another “reasonable cause. 

What do you think about these tips for getting taxes organized for working writers or bloggers? Comments welcome below!

Freedom Tax Relief, LLC provides consumer tax resolution services and helps financially distressed individuals resolve IRS problems.

Here’s what ProBlogger Darren Rowse says about comments and blogging:

“I think commenting is the best part of my blogging – especially here at ProBlogger,” writes Rowse in Using Comments on Your Blog. “You see I’m not that profound or wise, but many of my readers are. Comments add value to my blog. They take my posts to the next level and often take my ideas in rewarding new directions.”

But not ALL blog comments are profound or wise, and not all blog comments lead readers to the commenter’s blog. Here are a few thoughts on making comments on blogs that inspire readers to click over and visit your blog. And for more info about making money blogging, read Rowse’s ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income – it’s a goldmine of information!

7 Tips for Making Good Comments on Blog Posts

1. Share your mistakes and weaknesses. Research shows that people who make mistakes are more likeable than those who appear to be perfect. People who make mistakes are seen as more approachable and less judgmental than perfect people – so don’t be afraid to free your foibles. For instance, if you’re commenting on a blog post about increasing traffic to your blog, you could briefly describe your experience of writing a post that made your readers flee in droves.

2. Follow up on bits of information in the blog post. This is one of my favorite tips for making small talk in person, and it works equally well for commenting on blog posts. People leave breadcrumbs as they talk and write – you need only pick them up! For example, in 10 Tips for Achieving Your Writing Goals Mark Richard Webb said that for writers to be successful, “they must be willing to do the things that most writers aren’t willing to do. They must push beyond their limits and go beyond their comfort zone.” A good comment on this blog post could flesh out what this actually means. How do writers leave their comfort zones and do things that other writers aren’t willing to do? Give examples. Offer suggestions. Ask questions.

3. Follow up on other commenters’ comments. If a previous commenter says something interesting or provocative, respond to it! Even just saying “Interesting perspective! Have you thought of ______?” can encourage interaction and make you more interesting as a blogger and person. For instance, one of my readers (Manalto) pointed out that another reader commented with the phrase “acutely aware” (“aware” on its own is sufficient — “acutely” may be unnecessary). I thought this was a very clever way to comment on my 51 Over-Used Adverbs, Nouns, and Clichés in Writing post.

4. Ask questions about the blog post. In The Personality Traits of a Successful Writer, Barb Nefer says “A writer isn’t going to get very far if she’s crushed by rejection slips or intimidated by everyone else out there who might be a better writer.” Asking questions about this or almost any statement in a post can encourage interaction and grab the blogger and blog readers’ attention. Use the standard journalist’s formula for gleaning information: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.

5. Be curious about the blogger. “People are flattered when you find them appealing – and they naturally reciprocate,” says Dr Ann Demarais, psychologist and co-author of First Impressions: What You Don’t Know About How Others See You. “Showing interest in others makes you more likeable because it shows you’re confident.” And when you’re confident and likeable, you’ll attract more readers to your blog! So, ask questions about the blogger’s education, experience, lifestyle, work habits.

6. Follow up on your previous comments and questions. If you ask a question of a blogger or fellow reader, make sure you return for the answer – and offer thanks. Don’t be a “hit and run” commenter! Instead, interact with the other commenters and develop a relationship with them.

7. Show some personality in your comments. This is where your writer’s voice comes in handy, fellow scribes. To make good comments on blog posts, let your true nature, thoughts, opinions, and feelings shine through. For instance, a writer told me that the word “scribe” should be banished. That’s fair. I won’t stop using the word – but his comment did make me click over to his blog to learn more about him.

What say you about my tips for making good comments on blog posts? Good (and bad) comments welcome below!

Here’s what she said:

“I recently left Corporate America to return to school full-time to get my Masters degree and follow my dreams of becoming a full-time freelance writer,” says Morgan. “Things are moving along slowly. I do not have a clue what I am doing. I am a little nervous about not having a degree, posting my CV on my website, etc. Oh – I haven’t finished my degree and it’s driving me insane to the point I don’t want to write….sigh.”

Feeling paralyzed because of insecurity, fear, self-doubt, and anxiety is normal for even the most successful writers! But letting those insecurities and anxieties stop you from forging ahead will keep you where you are: wondering what it’s like to start a magazine writing career instead of actually finding out for yourself. If you wrestle with fear and self-doubt, read one of my favorite books on succeeding: Ralph Keyes’ The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear.

And, here are four important questions and answers about earning a living as a writer….

Starting a Magazine Writing Career – How to Make Money as a Freelancer 

Is a degree necessary for a freelance writer?

Absolutely not. You don’t need a degree in Journalism or English to be a successful freelance writer – though formal education helps if you’re looking for an editorial job with a magazine publication or book publisher. To earn a living as a freelance writer, you need fresh, creative ideas for articles. You also need the ability to hear ”no thank you this article doesn’t work for our magazine” nine times for every “yes we want to assign this article!” Beginning freelancers need to take rejection in stride, and realize that this is a long-term career that takes time to build.And you need lots of enthusiasm and energy – which journalism school doesn’t necessarily teach.

If you’re starting your magazine writing career, you might find How to Tell if Freelance Writing is Right for You helpful.

I would like to pitch an article idea to a magazine. Their submission guidelines do not mention payment – what is the proper or standard way to go about finding this out?

Each situation is different, but my rule of thumb is not to mention payment until the editor assigns the article. When that happens – and there’s still no mention of per word or per hour rate – then I ask what the payment is. You could email an editor and ask about their rates of pay before you send a query letter…but my preference is to get ‘em hooked, then talk turkey.

If the magazine doesn’t pay enough money (or doesn’t pay at all — ugh), then pitch your idea elsewhere.

Is it typical for a freelance writer to negotiate their rates with magazines etc.?

Yes, freelancers can definitely negotiate rates! The more experienced the writer, the more luck (and confidence) they’ll have getting better rates.  I’ve turned down assignments that only pay 20 cents a word, and have negotiated 35 cents up to 50 cents a word. Negotiation is a professional, healthy way to make sure writers are getting paid what they’re worth.

How do writers determine what they should charge for their work?  

Figuring out what you should charge for your work depends on many factors: your experience, the amount of research involved in the article, travel or other expenses associated with writing the article, the standard payment rates and budget of the magazine, your relationship with the editor, your past experience with that publication, etc. I often figure out what to charge on a case-by-case basis (though more and more, I’m simply charging $50 an hour or at least $1 per word and letting assignments go if clients can’t pay that much).

Making money as a freelance writer is a concern when you’re starting your career – but I think that focusing on money may backfire. Instead, I encourage writers to learn how to write a strong query letter and build their career strategically. All those books about freelance writing – The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success is particularly good – have valuable information that will help you earn a living as a writer. You just need to absorb what other writers have learned…then follow your gut as you research the magazine writing market, create fresh exciting feature article ideas, pitch query letters, and negotiate payment rates.

Experienced freelancers, do you have any tips for writers who are starting their magazine careers? Please share below – your wisdom is invaluable and appreciated!