From the office of Debbie Dragon:

Posted by Debbie Dragon on November 16, 2007

I used to hate it when someone would ask me “What do you do for a living?” because I never knew quite how to answer the question. Do I say I’m a stay-at-home mom of two boys? Do I say I’m a writer? Both are correct, but telling people you are a writer for a living always opens the floodgates to a million other questions, like “Oh, what have you published?!” I know it’s out of curiosity and people are genuinely surprised to hear that I earn my living as a writer- particularly when I say “Oh… yeah… I haven’t published anything really.”

You can probably imagine the blank stares and confusion that statement brings! How does a writer earn a living if she hasn’t published anything?! Listen closely, (well, read carefully anyway) I’m about to explain it once and for all- and will even teach you how to be a profitable writer, too- without having to get anything published if you don’t want to.

The Unpublished, But Not-Struggling, Writer

I know that the general belief from non-writers is if a person claims to be a writer but he or she hasn’t had anything published, then the person has to be living on pennies. Or they must have another source of income. It’s because of what everyone envisions as a “writer”. The novel writer. The magazine writer. People who write to see their names in print, and who make royalties on their sales, or earn an income from the newspaper or magazine they write for.

But there is an entire world of writers who do neither and are surviving just fine! I’m one of them. I’m what you would call a ghostwriter… I often write pieces that other people claim to have written. So it’s true that I may not see my name in the lights, but honestly, I write because I love it and because I want to earn my living doing something I love.

I also write a lot of web content. That’s the stuff you read when you are browsing the internet. Pages and pages of information on every topic imaginable. I write A LOT of that. In real estate, it’s “location, location, location.” Online, it’s “content, content, content”; and because content is what’s important online- online writers are in high demand.

Did you know that you could make a living writing ebooks? 40 to 100 pages of information that’s organized like a book and then sold via online downloads? Yeah, I actually have business cards that call me “The eBook Writer”; because I have written so many of them. On an average month, I turn out four or five ebooks for my clients.

There are limitless opportunities for earning a living as a writer, and you don’t always have to wait until your novel is picked up by a publisher to start seeing the big bucks. I’ve been making my living as a writer for almost five years. It will be five years on the same day my oldest son turns five, actually- November 28th. You just have to know how to get started- and that’s what I’m trying to help you learn.

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