I am not just a writer, I am also a dad blogger which means I have all sorts of street cred that the ordinary Joe doesn’t have. I can change diapers, assemble and disassemble, cribs, strollers, pack-n-plays, sippy cups and I cook. Not microwave or reheat, I can cook real meals on a stove, barbecue or oven.
Not only that I can do it in the midst of a playground while covered in various bodily fluids and or while negotiating peace treaties between feuding children. Women swoon when they see me holding a baby or reading a story to their children.
You can only imagine what I can do when not fighting to find a quiet place to work where I am covered in mysterious substances or listening to preteens sing along to horrible pop music.
Use Amazon To Make Money From Writing
Here is how I intend to use Amazon to make money from writing, Kindle Singles. Yes, that is right I haven’t actually done it yet but I am going to. I have reviewed the submission requirements and I see opportunity. Take a look at this:
We’re looking for compelling ideas expressed at their natural length–writing that doesn’t easily fall into the conventional space limitations of magazines or print books. Kindle Singles are typically between 5,000 and 30,000 words.
A Kindle Single can be on any topic. So far we’ve posted fiction, essays, memoirs, reporting, personal narratives, and profiles, and we’re expanding our selection every week. We’re looking for high-quality writing, fresh and original ideas, and well-executed stories in all genres and subjects.
Full disclosure: I haven’t done it yet. I owe my friend LaRae a thank you for linking to a New York Times article that motivated me to start working on a few projects.
For writers, there’s money to be made here. Amazon offers 70 percent of the royalties to its Singles authors. The all-time best-selling Single, a short story titled “Second Son,†by Lee Child, the British-born thriller writer, was originally published by Delacorte Press; it is priced at $1.99 and has sold more than 180,000 copies.
So far Amazon has issued more than 160 Singles, at a rate of 3 per week. It has fairly strict rules for the nonfiction it selects. No excerpts from books. Generally no expanded versions of articles that have appeared elsewhere. Barnes & Noble offers similar material in its Nook Snaps series, and Apple has Quick Reads on its iBookstore, but neither is offering original material.
I don’t expect this to be easy. It is possible that my submissions will be rejected but I am ok with that. I like working for things and don’t mind being pushed to do better. This post you are reading now is being composed on the fly. It is not particularly good but it is not horrible either.
Don’t expect that of my Kindle Singles. That is a project that I will spend an appropriate amount of time working on. I see 0pportunity because there are so many stories that could and should be told. People want to read them.
At a buck a pop people are willing to take a shot on someone they don’t know. It costs less than their morning cup of Joe and in theory can provide an enormous amount of pleasure.
Once you get established and have developed a body of work it will become easier to find more writing jobs. More opportunities will arise and that is something worth getting excited about, at least it is for me.
My dream and desire is to earn enough money to become a full time writer. I want to get paid to sit on the porch of my beach house and write. I want to get paid to sit in a cabin in the mountains and write about what I see when I watch the snow fall.
And I am going to do it. This is how it starts by writing a post that makes me accountable to myself and provides a tool to use to visualize my goal. I invite you to join me on my journey. Subscribe to the blog and or become a fan of my Facebook page.
It is all part of my dream. What about you? Do you have a dream and if so, are you trying to make it into your reality?
Related articles
- The Dad Blogger’s Guide To Blogging- A Writer’s Tool Kit Part One (thejackb.com)
- The Definitive Guide To Being a Dad Blogger (thejackb.com)
- Dad Bloggers Get Paid To Blog Part II (thejackb.com)
- How To Be A Dad Blogger Part 9,872 (thejackb.com)
Well I’ll have to look into this! Great post pardon me as I run to Amazon! I too enjoy writing a great deal, I’m fairly new at it though but I hope to take something im passionate about and turn it into a career. This was a good post, should be submitted.
Thanks for sharing!
@punkrockpapa:disqus Thank you sir. There are lots of ways to skin this cat.
Dad’s with kids have long been considered “good man material”. There is something dissarming about a man taking care of his kids. Believe it or not the same goes for women too. I know it’s shocking. i would have believed it but years ago before i remarried and i was raising my two boys alone i would get hit on while with my sons. I digress.
This kindle singles looks interesting. Although i hate the name. Sounds like a dating service.
I’m passing this info on to my husband who has an untold amount of unpublished works. Thanks for sharing and pointing this out.
My dreams don’t involve writing but rather helping people to do something that i am already doing and that i am very passionate about.. And yes, with every waking moment i am working towards making that dream come true. Everyday i get a step closer. It’s like a long marathon luckily i’m in shape for it.
Kindle Singles does sound kind of silly. It wouldn’t have been my first choice, but..
Hope your husband has good luck with Kindle Singles.
I always enjoy reading/hearing from people who are actively pursuing and or living their dreams.
That is just solid energy.
I say go for it! If we wait until we think we’re a good writer then it will never happen.
I haven’t done this singles thing but I’ve put up several Kindle ebooks and have made several sales.
What a fabulous idea and opportunity! I entertain visions of full-time writing myself, so perhaps this is just the ticket to catapult me into more writing.
And you know…now that you’ve written it, I’m gonna’ be your accountability partner:) BTW…the link to your facebook page isn’t working. Just thought you should know. Cheers! Kaarina
Hi Kaarina,
You should do it. I am not kidding when I say that I see opportunity there.
It is not solely limited to Amazon either, there are other sources. I just picked them because I see them as having the biggest marketplace to sell to.
Hi Jack,
I’ve been thinking about this as well. I have only bought one kindle single, and that was a short story by Lee Child. I had no idea that regular people like myself also can submit.
30.000 words isn’t a lot, but it might be hard to get accepted.
Thanks a lot for sharing.
Hi Jens,
I do wonder about hard it will be to have a submission accepted, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.
I figure it is worth checking out. Got to push if we want to hit that next level.
This is news to me; but I don’t think my writing is good enough for this. I feel my writing needs much work and much more of practice before I get into something like this. And yes, I am working on it.
As for you, I wouldn’t be surprised if you are the next superstar of the product. Your work is worth all the attention and much more!
Go daddy go! 😉
Hi Hajra,
Don’t sell yourself short. It is a big world and big marketplace. There are probably lots of people who would be interested in reading your work.
Hi Jack
Thanks for this article . . . I’m right behind you with the kindle singles. It sounds like a brilliant option for folks with an idea that doesn’t quite expand the length of a book. Come to think of it, I’ve read a few books recently that really consisted no more than a single idea that was dragged out over several hundred pages . . . this could be a great opportunity for lots of people in more ways than one!
Keep us posted on how it goes!
Hi LaRae,
I am grateful that you posted that link.
It really seems like a terrific way to publish work that might not warrant several hundred pages but is still valuable.
We’ll take it step by step and see what happens.
With the recent purchase of a Kindle Fire, I have gotten into the Kindle Singles and didn’t realize that there was an open call for submissions- go get ’em!
Hi Kory,
I am working on it. Stay tuned and I will keep you posted.
There was a time when I could have and should have swooned over any man who could do those things…seems like those should be marketable skills that get transferred to something once our kids grow up. Someone should make a business of it – “experienced Dad to teach professional females (who forgot to have kids until late) to do simple things for baby that will flummox them.”
Great idea on the Singles! My dream is somewhere in the landscape of your dream.
They are marketable skills. I taught a few of the guys some tricks that I learned.
Actually they might have figured them out on their own, but my kids are older than theirs.
The question is will you leave it in the landscape or chase it down.