Authors do not get rich, unless they hit that lucky jackpot of a best seller or a Hollywood deal. Even then, most successful writers go through that money in a year or two. It simply is not as much as you think it is, and it is all that you will ever see, unless you happen to be Stephen King.
My books, all of them together, make about $25 in a good month. So I write articles for Examiner and review products and services for Epinions. I also pick up coins, cans and bottles from the roadside. Every little bit helps to pay the bills.
So how do authors really make money? Most do it with a day job. Some live off the benevolence of a spouse or other family member.
And then there is the Internet. I have signed up for countless paid to surf, paid to click and paid to read sites, as well as a few survey sites. I have wasted my time on some and found a trickle of rewards on others. Some sites never pay, while others are faithful.
I have lots of fun on Swagbucks, which has several ways to make money. They have a search engine, video clips, surveys, a daily poll, shopping, coupons and more. I usually get an Amazon gift certificate because it takes more points to get cash. Like many sites, they send cash by Paypal.
If you want to make money online, Paypal is safe and reliable, and almost certainly a necessity. Paypal allows you not only to get paid online, but also to transfer funds to and from your bank account. I even have a Paypal debit card that I can swipe at stores and ATMs to spend my Paypal balance,
Of the survey sites, I have done okay with Vindale, Opinion Outpost and ClixSense. I'm trying Survey Savvy, but I have't qualified for any surveys yet. The most interesting survey site is PollBuzzer. They send you a single question that you answer by clicking a link in the email, and they send you a dollar by -- you guessed it -- Paypal.
I also use MyPoints, which has paid to click emails, shopping, search, coupons and more, and they just sent me $25 by Paypal.
If you would like to join any of these sites, I will try to come up with my referral links. They must be around here somewhere, buried among my notes, shopping lists (consisting mostly of cat food) and manuscripts.
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It's a Philip K. Dick World! “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.” —Philip K. Dick Government intrusion into our personal lives is increasing, the economy is shot and the media focus on hate and violence. Philip K. Dick's fifth and last wife, Tessa Dick, talks about her husband. I have my own books and stories, as well.
5 comments:
Tessa, thank you for your kind comments about PollBuzzer! Your blog appeared on our radar and I thought I'd say a quick thank you for the shout out.
Best,
Matt McLoughlin
CTO, PollBuzzer
you're welcome, and thank you, Matt!
Hi Tessa,
I was one of the people who bought the preview edition of The Owl In Daylight. I had intended buying the full version when it came out. Well, one thing and another and I clean forgot to buy it when it came out. Now I see it's selling for $200 or more on Amazon.com. Any chance you'll be offering it as an ebook or print on demand?
Thanks,
Dave
I'd also be interested in purchasing the e-version of The Owl in Daylight.
I'm not a writer but, apart from getting to grips with a few formatting skills, publishing to Kindle etc. is relatively plain sailing.
An on demand book would be a money making idea too. Createspace (run by Amazon) is free to use, no costs at all.
The royalty rate on Createspace is very low unfortunately, but still, you can't lose money with it.
Hope you're well,
Rich.
thank you, but the Owl is no longer available.
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