Will write for food?
This post can only be seen by "Friends of RLP."
Well, I got the word yesterday from Christian Century. CCblogs, which I conceived, developed, and moderated is going to be handed over to their new internet editor. I hate to lose the gig, but it's not unfair. Christian Century has endowment funding, and I'm sure they have taken a hit with the economic downturn. And all magazines are facing dwindling subscriptions and sales. Paying a specialist to run CCblogs was a luxury. So no hard feelings. I understand. CCblogs will continue, so I'm proud to have started it.
BUT, CCblogs was about 1/3 of my current income. So the hit is a major one. July 1 is my last paycheck. I won't feel the bite until August 1st.
You know, I've very calm about this. Not sure what this means. Do you think hanging out a "Will write for food" sign at RLP would be cheesy? "Job(s) needed: Can write, can command a fair amount of internet traffic, can design a social networking site, can come and speak or preach"
I might have to do it.
gordon
All of my books are for sale though me. I've not had the energy or inclination to send them to Amazon or any other place.
Click here for purchase links at my new blog.
Hell no it wouldn't be cheesy.
Submitted by Satchel Pooch on Tue, 03/17/2009 - 17:24.Dude. Don't hesitate. Where else could you find such a collection of people who are already on your team, and who might have the connections/resources you need? I'm proud to be one of your 1000 True Fans (http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/03/1000_true_fans.php), and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Wow, fascinating article.
Submitted by rlp on Tue, 03/17/2009 - 17:43.Wow, fascinating article. It's tempting to try to make a go of rlp for a living. Combination posts as I've always done with regular life stuff. Stuff goes online every day. Twice or three times some days. Sort of blog meets facebook meets twitter. And just publish my own books. Maybe even do some sermons/bible studies on youtube.
I've always resisted that for some reason, preferring to limit that kind of thing to the flesh community of our church. But I don't know. I'm forced to consider all sorts of options now.
Don't take this comment as any move in that direction. This is strictly off the top of my head.
- Pooch certainly isn't the
Submitted by Simon on Wed, 03/18/2009 - 10:38.-
Pooch certainly isn't the only one. RLP is, among all of them, my mostest favouritest blog destination on the web on a daily basis. You've really got something, Gordon. Wit, skill, humanity, humility, and a striving earnestness that cannot be faked.
(You see how I kept that last "list comma" there? I'm a big fan of those too!)
;)
Bible Studies
Submitted by Anton on Sat, 03/21/2009 - 17:32.I'd love to see the Hell series fleshed out to a full bible study. I would gladly pay for a 5 or 6 part pdf with references and study questions.
Absolutely not - that would be called networking
Submitted by DSpitko (not verified) on Wed, 03/18/2009 - 08:15.Gordon,
Any outplacement service will start and end any training with the need to mine any and all contacts that you can. Just google "finding a job networking" Think about all the people that will pause to consider if they know someone that might help you or be a good fit. I know how much you prefer to not outwardly market yourself. It can be done with taste. Use RLP to connect. You have tremendous skills. Allow someone to find you and pay you for your efforts.
Dave
PS You will never know how many times I have written the following comment to one of your posts with all the raving "Thanks RLP - that was great and it made my day." only to erase it out of respect for your style:
"All of you above who have raved about this great post by RLP - do you subscribe? I know this sounds like a PBS plea, but Gordon feeds us with his writing. If only 200 of us committed to subscribing $25 per month, he would earn $60,000 annually from RLP. $25 - think about something in your daily life for which you spend $25 or more per month. Is not RLP worth at least that much to you. It borders on the obscene that we benefit from Gordon's efforts week after week and he is not at least minimally financially rewarded. Please, I urge you, subscribe today."
Gulp. why is that so hard
Submitted by rlp on Wed, 03/18/2009 - 10:21.Gulp.
why is that so hard for me? I don't know. But I appreciate your words and the thoughts behind them.
Perhaps because RLP is such a spiritual exercise for me, and my taste for spiritual things that get caught up with trying to raise funds has been spoiled over the years.
I've had the feeling that if writing is meant to support me financially, it will happen somehow. Sometimes I wish I had a manager who could handle that part of it. I could just close my eyes and write. That's probably a bit selfish on my part.
I've also occasionally wondered if I could increase what I do at rlp to a daily thing and include more. Would that be something that people would be interested in? I don't know. Every time I start thinking that, some part of me says, "No, don't start down that road. Be careful. You'll spoil things."
Lots of good questions
Submitted by DSpitko (not verified) on Wed, 03/18/2009 - 16:07.Look - I am not a specialist in this area but ... a few thoughts.
As you know, I am an attorney. For me, my reluctance (earlier in my life) to market myself stemmed from not feeling like my services were good enough to warrant being paid ~ and certainly not at the typical hourly rate for an attorney. A variant of self-esteem issues. As the years went by, I came to realize that, while I certainly have my weaknesses, all in all I am a good attorney. I ultimately represent my clients well. Can you say with conviction that you write well and deserve to be paid appropriately?
God - I hate it when my father is correct. Moderation. Yes, many wonderfully spiritual projects have been ruined by a shifting of the main focus from the vision to making money. But, that does not have to happen. Many spiritual projects have been able to make the transition to a financially viable operation without abandoning its principals. It is all about moderation. And I will admit that for the non-profits that I volunteer for, the money part of it are not as fun.
I direct a concert choir with a $40,000/year budget. I do not particularily like the fund-raising part of my responsibilities as the Artistic Director. But, it enables us to fulfill our mission. And I am better at asking for money becuase I realize that my choir is one of the four best concert choirs in the suburbs of Philadelphia.
Finally, never underestimate the power of the status quo. That may be part of the reaosn you hesitate to try to morph RLP into something that can support you and your family. But as you well know, nothing can ever stay the same. Maybe it is time for a change for RLP and this loss is really an opportunity.
Dave
An idea
Submitted by DSpitko (not verified) on Wed, 03/18/2009 - 16:21.What about making the Foy stories available only to subscribers ... and there being a teaser on the public page but to read the entire story, someone has to be a subscriber.
Dave
Yeah, see I don't think I
Submitted by rlp on Wed, 03/18/2009 - 19:20.Yeah, see I don't think I can do that. I would be embarrassed as hell. "My Foy stories are so AWESOME. You have to pay to read them."
The only way I could ever do something like that was if someone took over the management of the site, and I let the decisions be theirs. Then I would look away, plug my ears, and say "la la la la la la la."
actually, I still would have a hard time with that.
I have no answer for any of this.
I'm looking at perhaps moving back into web design work. It will take up some time, but I might not have a choice.
That is my point
Submitted by DSpitko (not verified) on Wed, 03/18/2009 - 19:36.Your Foy stories are so AWESOME, people should pay to read them. In my humble opinion, they ARE that good.
Dave
Gordon, a guy with your
Submitted by johnhamilton (not verified) on Sat, 03/21/2009 - 17:37.Gordon, a guy with your grasp of what's happening on the Net! Could you put together a workshop for churches/pastors/associations? Content stays pretty much the same. So for you it doesn't take a lot of prep after startup. Sandy does a premariage workshop that's time limited, content stable, and brings in enough to make it worthwhile. Why should Bill Gothard, Basic Youth Conflicts, have all the fun? Do NOT do NOT model anything after him. A friend David Howell started a little mag Lectionary Homiletics, but he leveraged the mailing list into a conference ministry that freed him from everyting else....
And this needs to be said: what's your real ministry? You are a gifted writer, up there with the best who can put spiritual life into compelling prose. Is this really a call to do the main thing, write?
Peace.
johnhamilton
i-youniverse.net
I've barely even started
Submitted by Keith (not verified) on Wed, 03/25/2009 - 14:49.I've barely even started looking into this myself, but I may end up making my out-of-print novels available on the Kindle.
Maybe you could do something that's Kindle-only. That way, you don't have to say no to people who aren't subscribers; you're simply getting revenue from a publisher, same as you do (presumably) from Christian Century.
I have real ethical problems with self-publishing fiction. The existing vanity presses are parasites, in my opinion, and I won't support them. I may decide Amazon is another of those, but I haven't really looked into it yet--and at least one novelist whose judgment I respect is already doing it.
If the revenue stream comes through people buying from your publisher, and not from separating your blog readership into the deserving and the undeserving, maybe that's less squirm-inducing.
ill manage it
Submitted by administrator on Fri, 04/10/2009 - 17:51.heh -ill manage the money - you look away and write - no brainer