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Re: On the fence

Subject: Re: On the fence
From: "Lurker writer" <lurker_writer -at- hotmail -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2001 08:20:13 -0500

Glen Warner said...

While the pay is less than great, if he researches his topic thoroughly, he may generate enough background material to write a couple more articles -- and submit these to publications that pay.<<

Sounds like good advice for the freelance writer, but there's one problem..."publications that pay." Assuming the article is on some focused aspect of technical communications with an academic bent (this was for STC's TECHNICAL COMMUNICATIONS originally), where are you going to find a publication that pays, outside of Deb Ray for the TECHWR_L web site? I don't know of any other technical communications publications (outside of the plethora of newsletters and websites that are always looking for "contributions") that pay good money for this kind of content. You could, of course, develop the content into a workshop so long as the content focuses on offering something of value and not information for information's sake. The market there is a little better for $$.

if he sells the proper rights, he may be able to resell his
original article to the aforementioned paying publications.<<

He can sell reprint rights, which pay far less than "first North American rights" because you can only sell the "first rights" once.

he would get paid three times: once for the resale of
his original article, and again for both of the articles he wrote based on the same research.<<

That's assuming he could find 3 paying markets! Those other articles would have to have a different spin, as I'm sure you recognize. But assuming the markets exist, this is how freelance writers often sell in excess of 100% of their work...reprints, retitled/re-slanted pieces that sell over and over again.

Here's a progression that might work:
1. Write article for TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION
2. Present it at an STC conference
3. Present it at a related conference (SIG CHI, IEEE PCS)
4. Expand it as a 90-minute workshop
5. Expand it as a 1/2-day workshop
6. Expand it as a one-day workshop
7. Expand the scope and write a book on the subject
8. Start a newsletter on the subject, charge $99 a year subscription and ask STC members to "contribute" articles to it (DON'T LAUGH...THIS IS ALREADY BEING DONE!!!)
9. Go into consulting, write more books, coin a phrase and make it a marketable term.
10. Get on Oprah's Book Club list, do TV appearances (OK, that probably won't happen).

But Numbers 1 through 9 are viable options.



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