I am so full of admiration for Bob and Meryl who are willing to call it as it is. The ‘it’ being the reality of what it takes to be able to earn your crust through writing.

@Dustin Whew! I cleaned it up just before it spilled over into the comments — so all is A-OK! You mean that $799 I spent on X program was a scam??? It won’t help me write the greatest non-fiction in two weeks???

OK, so I’m a realist, and I understand what it takes to run a business. No denial here. Hard work, dedication and honing your skills. I know there has to be more freelance work out there than just writing blog posts for fractions of pennies.

So anyway, I’m glad I found Meryl’s web site. I’ve spent a good amount of time reading. Thanks for sharing all your insight.

Congrats on the Seth Godin win, by the way. I’m tremendously Jealous.

@ Dustin - I think you need another margarita

Seriously, thought, you’re right. The longer I go, the more I get annoyed by the MMO crowd.

@ John - I’ll offer credit where it’s due, too. The Madness introduced many of us to one another, I think. I know it really helped put me on the map.

I like what you’re saying, too, about getting rich slowly. Sort of a tortoise and Hare thing.

@ Jamie - Aw, shucks. I’m so tickled that it paid off for you.

It’s the first of a bunch of money you’re going to make writing, Jamie. You’ve got talent coming out your arse, as do most of the rest of the folks here.

Bob Younce at the Writing Journeys last blog post..The Hard Truths of the Writing Life

Jamie Grove - How Not To Writes last blog post..Writers Behaving Badly: An American Scoundrel’s Success

Writing is hard work. I don’t have to say that to the people commenting on this thread. This is for those of you who have come by this post and read it and wondered just what you might be signing up for when you take the plunge.

Well, the only way to write is to write so get cracking and put your 30 choice words into the comment box. No time like the present! Join the rest of us here in our own private, yet strangely public, writing hells.

Jamie Grove - How Not To Writes last blog post..Writers Behaving Badly: An American Scoundrel’s Success

Bob, I like to call blogging a get rich slow scheme. The beauty of blogging is that every post I add to my blog is another potential income stream. Individually they don’t pull in much money. but as the number of posts builds, so does the income.

John Hewitts last blog post..Homegrown Poetry Retreats

So there’s all these people out there convinced that they can make millions writing sales letters or blog posts or whatever, they send their money to whomever, and the money’s wasted. On top of that, it makes those of us who do write professionally look like slackers, because we’ve chosen to dedicate ourselves to such “easy” work that “anyone can do”. Which means job posters think nothing of offering a job writing 10 500-word posts a month for $100 — I mean, it’s not like it’s work or anything.

Well, that was healthy Get it all out there, Dustin! Sorry for the ’splosion — I almost spilled my margarita.