How can I go about marketing myself as a writer?

[dawn of a new day]

Basically I really enjoy writing. People that I know ask me to write for them sometimes. I've written a few elegies for acquaintances who have lost loved ones. I've published a couple of poems and a short story in two volumes of a colleges literary journal. I enjoy writing. I am building a career in education and I would like to build a career in writing. It's not about the money but the need to release. I like it when people ask me to write for them. So far I've been doing it all for free but I would like to start making some money for it. I also make displays for my work, so if someone has me writing a poem to honor someone at an even I can create a display for it. Now that I've told you all this what do you think I should do to get out there...as a writer?

[wa1tjb]

I don't mean to be critical but, for starters, you could learn punctuation! LOL! The message above isn't exactly a good writing sample.

Seriously-- first you need to decide what you are going to write. Is it going to be poetry? Novels? Self-help? What have you chosen as a focal point?

Second, you need to find out what publications and societies exist that print or support the type of writing you want to do. Make a connection with these groups and try to get them to publish your works. If you have a collection of some of your works, like poetry, you might consider self-publishing.

Third, develop a website to promote yourself as a writer and educator. Highlight your accomplishments on your site, use it as a marketing tool to get work, and sell your publications. You can also offer your products on E-Bay and Amazon.

I hope this helps. Please feel free to contact me at gary@optechs.com if I can assist you further in developing a marketing plan.

[Kari K]

Hi,

I suggest that you start off by becoming a freelance writer. I have enjoyed doing this and have earned some money from it. Becareful of what sites that you join up but there are forums like digitial forums and oDesk that will allow you to find jobs with freelancing. The only downfall is that most of those jobs mean that you will lose the (c) on your work and will be a ghostwriter for them. If that is something that you don't want to do, you can always try putting together a eBook or building a website showing what you can do. There are plenty of websites that are for free that you can put your stories on. Another option that you can consider is blogging.

I hope that I've helped you out some. Good luck because it can be a very awarding career but of course, lots of competition.