I'm wondering how the economic slump is going to affect sales of writing. I do brochures, booklets and websites for departments of tourism, and community groups. These groups are suffering now from cut-backs in budgets.

I also have two POD books on sale, but sales are not brisk. I recently decided to put some short stories on my site for free. You can have a look at those if you want, see www.hilliardbooks.net

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Patricia Hilliard
Author of
Wild Birds in the Parks of Hudson County
also poems, short stories and articles

Hi Pat,

It depends on how much your clients know about marketing in tough times. Smart companies/groups increase their advertising budgets to attract as many consumer dollars as possible from a smaller pool.

-- Nancy

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Please spay/neuter your companion animals. And when it's time to add to your four-legged family, save a life by adopting a stray or from a shelter or rescue group.

They may be doing more advertising but It seems the bad economy is pushing everyone out of paper publishing and onto the web. Tourism sites are not publishing as many booklets for handouts, but are offering e-book type publications for travelers and vacation planners. That's ok with me, save the trees, I like digital anyway.

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Patricia Hilliard
Author of
Wild Birds in the Parks of Hudson County
also poems, short stories and articles

Trees used for paper are specifically grown for paper and similar uses, so you're not saving a thing by going digital, at least in that respect.

I've always wondered how handy a digital brochure is in the midst of a drive, you pull over, flip open the laptop and bring up the brochure...in how many seconds? With paper, you're driving along, the brochure is on the seat or dash, you grab it and pull over, flip it open..and how many seconds?

Digital is fine, but there are places it is not handy: the home library (AKA the john), while driving, etc. As I recall, too, a few years ago some outfit did a series of tests of reading speed and comprehension with digital vs. print, and print was far and away the winner in both categories.

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Charlie Self
www.charlieselfonline.com

You need to get into writing for markets that are less effected--like sales copywriting. Definately some markets are hit more than others.

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A life well-lived is its own novel.

I will say that the web reduced substantially freelancing opportunities and the recent slowdown in the banking and financial sectors will have
consequences on
other aspects of the economy. But let us hope that it will be for a short time.

As the saying goes, "hope is not a strategy". Can you lower your costs and sell more units of the same article, rather than do custom work, and still maintain the same income level? You'll have to rethink your product so that it fills a need in times of pinch. Which I don't think will end anytime soon. No matter how much we hope. ;) Now's the time to become lean, creative, and very savvy.

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Founding member of The Blood-Red Pencil
http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com

In regard to paper, the cost of printing is no longer the burden of the "publisher" but of the consumer. If you want the brochure, you have to pay for the ink and paper to print it. (Then put it on the car dash and drive around looking for the place unless you have GPS...) (my AARP driver training told me to watch out for distractions...such as looking at GPS guides and brochures while driving). I like that comment that "hope is not a strategy" I had to laugh at that. :lol: But I see the idea is to keep the product simple enough that you slip a few changes in, produce a lot at low cost and not do a custom job that eats up time and money. Good advice. I thank you for that. :P

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Patricia Hilliard
Author of
Wild Birds in the Parks of Hudson County
also poems, short stories and articles

The cost of paper and printing has NEVER been the burden of the publisher. In some way or another, it has always come out of the consumers hide, in the form of taxes or something similar.

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Charlie Self
www.charlieselfonline.com

Why not take a different direction with your writing? Try blogging.

You've already got lots of knowledge about various topics because you're a writer and that's just the way we are. We're curious by nature, plus we learn a lot when we write for others (for example, the writing you've done for departments of tourism and community groups).

Of course, since you were writing for hire, your work for the departments of tourism and community groups is probably their copyright rather than your own.

But you can easily rewrite this stuff and set up a blog about it.

Then monetize the blog with Adsense, affiliate links, etc. Tons of options are out there.

Think of it this way. You've already done most of the work on many topics. Just take a few more steps and make money from this.

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- Jill -

Why write for others when you can make money with your own blog posts. http://snipurl.com/6yeoy
Get the publicity you deserve. Get booked on radio and TV. http://tinyurl.com/cqu2p5

When has it ever been a good economy for writing?

I started in '67, and from then through about '79 it was fine. Died a bit under Reagan--trickle down didn't work for me--and picked up a lot in '88 through about '02. Been in the bucket since. Three times as much work to make half as much money. It is getting worse.

I am in a bad position: as president of a wrtiers' association, I should be enthusiastic, trying to draw new members and draw writers to my field in general. The field is dying, though. Period. I'm changing emphasis, though still writing (it's really all I know how to do well enough to make a living--that and photography, which is being battered just as badly).

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Charlie Self
www.charlieselfonline.com

The more ways you can use your work and recycle it--the better. So understanding how online marketing works along with print markets is important, especially now.

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A life well-lived is its own novel.

Wow, this makes for great reading (and food for thought), thanks.

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ShelleyBueche.com

You're right. Now, I just have to find a way that works and doesn't cost its first year's income to set up.

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Charlie Self
www.charlieselfonline.com