Comments

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  Dick Jordan July 9, 2010 at 10:38pm

  Heck, I'd settle for $1million!
  
  Lee Foster and Kim Brown of the SF Bay Area get royalties on their guidebooks and both are finding that their iPhone editions (done by Sutro Media) are going to take less effort to update and probably net them more $$$.
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  Doreen Pendgracs July 9, 2010 at 10:33pm

  Dick: Most guidebooks are work-for-hire projects (I know the ones I was involved with were) meaning that the writer doesn't share any royalties from any version of the book.
  
  Self-publishing is a great option if your book has a small niche audience, but if it has global appeal, you're much better off going with a big publisher who can afford a big up-front advance. A friend of mine got $2 mil for his advance on his first literary effort. Now that's the kin d of numbers I'd like to see!
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  Dick Jordan July 9, 2010 at 10:25pm

  Congrats, Linda!
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  Dick Jordan July 9, 2010 at 10:24pm

  Just to follow up on Doreen's comments, some writers I know have taken their guidebooks and converted them into iPhone apps which give them a world-wide audience and royalties that will probably be greater than those from sale of the print editions of their books.
  
  Others are self-publishing and finding that the royalties are higher than those garnered from having their work put out by the traditional publishing houses.
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  Lana Bortolot July 9, 2010 at 10:23pm

  Great dialogue! Six months or so ago I would have advised anyone to get a day job and not depend on writing as a living. A lot of my writer friends got out of the biz, and if anyone had made me a job offer, I'd have gotten out, too. But all of the sudden this huge time/work investment (2+ years of making practically nothing) paid off and I finally sat back this week and said, "OMG, I'm actually making a living and I have real clients."
  
  The only way I got here (and fingers crossed that it stays this way!) was to turn every job into something that could get me somewhere else. I wrote for a low-paying but highly visible daily newspaper, and it got me new beats in other venues. I spent some $$ and went to wine school, and turned that into a regular paying beat for wine, travel and business--this past year I traveled to about 12 wine-producing regions on assignment (no cost to me). I parlayed a low-paying real-estate column into a book-editing project on real estate, won over the publisher and am now on her go-to editor list. And so on. All of this is to say, I don't think anyone can hang out just one shingle anymore and now more than ever it takes a holistic approach. I found that writing on several, related subjects (i.e. real estate and business; wine and travel; historic preservation and community development, which again, leads back into real estate) has finally gotten me to where I want to be.
  
  I'm not making the big bucks I used to when I was on staff. But I'm also not on the verge of a nervous breakdown anymore. And, the long hours I'm working now are for me, not the man.
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  Dick Jordan July 9, 2010 at 10:21pm

  Thanks, Darryl.
  
  Dick Jordan
  "On Assignment" in Hell
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  Darryl Musick July 9, 2010 at 10:06pm

  Dick, good story...your blog has been added to my favorites.
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  Doreen Pendgracs July 9, 2010 at 9:57pm

  Up until last year, I made my living exclusively from freelance writing (that included travel articles along with some business and lifestyle articles as well as the occasional other type of assignment such as writing a tourism guide. All these were well paid gigs. I've made the ease into book writing as I see the opportunities to be much better for my particular interests & skills. Have co-authored 2 travel-related books, recently released a non-travel non-fiction title, and next year, will release a travel-related title that I believe will send me sailing.
  
  In the days where we could research and write a story and then resell it or a variation several times, it was easy to make a living writing for periodicals. With the development of the web, "citizen journalism" and all these content mills paying next to nothing, it is almost impossible to make a decent living exclusively writing travel. It was certainly good while it lasted.

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  Dick Jordan July 9, 2010 at 9:35pm

  I don't know that I would advise the aspiring 17-year old to go to law school instead of becoming a travel writer; the practice of law is far different in the real world than as portrayed in TV shows and movies. I should know, I practiced law for over 30 years before retiring and, ultimately, becoming a professional (paid for my stories and photos, at least once in a while) travel writer.
  
  All of the long-time travel writers and photographers that I've met in the last year since my first story was published are looking for new ways to continue to travel, pay their expenses, and earn a living, since the old ways seem to have gone by the boards. Even though my "day job" now is travel writing, I'm glad that I have other sources of income that pay the bills.
  
  My advice: Keep writing, keep submitting, but don't be overly optimistic about the odds of living high on the hog as a travel writer. As far being sent on assignment, read this: http://bit.ly/c5kLLh

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  Darryl Musick July 9, 2010 at 8:58pm

  It's possible, but highly unlikely to make a living soley by freelancing in any kind of media. I have a son trying to make it as a voiceover artist and announcer. At the rate of hiring vs. audtions, his pay would be less than a penny an hour, and that's before deducting expenses. It's always good to have a day job (or someone willing to support you) in addition to doing the job you can only dream of making a living at...someday. It would feel harsh, but someone needs to break it to these young aspirants before they get their hearts broken...that's why Simon was so necessary to American Idol.