The Grasshopper Sunday Money Edition #1: Specialization

First an explanation

Writers and money have been odd bedfellows, especially in the popular mythology of the writer's life. We are, at least at some point, supposed to be starving artists. I say at some point, because some of those who wrote so convincingly about their starving artist days ended up doing really well later.

You know, young Hemingway hungry in Paris vs. older Hemingway on his yacht sport fishing in Cuba.

This Sunday Grasshopper marks a change in direction for my non-standard Sunday issues, which have rambled around various topics. I’m zeroing in my focus on the subject of money and writing. There are two reasons:

1. Writing is work and in our society we should get paid for working. It takes time and effort to become a good writer with a unique voice and anyone who dreams of being a writer should be able to experience writing and actually making a living from it. More on what that means specifically, later.

2. Online writing is a game changer for writers, finally. Barriers to entry are almost nil, the returns are measurable on a daily basis, and no tech expertise is required beyond what you’d need to do any writing. It is liberation, but you have to do the work.

The first of these mini manifestos, getting paid, will be the overall theme of these Sunday Money Editions going forward. You can expect some blunt reality here. I will not be throwing around dreadful buzzwords like ‘side hustling’ because they imply there is some secret sauce that will make you millions without busting your ass. You won’t get ‘Five Secrets to Making $5000 Every Month in Your Spare Time’ articles.

Honestly, if you stumbled onto that secret sauce, would you share it?

The second topic focus is the new wave of online writing publishing platforms, including Medium, Substack (you’re there!), and other emerging places where you can make money over time as a writer, writing on your own terms. These places are changing the balance of the publishing world in ways that are still being discovered. I’ve done all kinds of writing for all kinds of media, but nothing is like this.

We’re going to specifically focus on shortening the learning curve and optimizing your work to reach readers and get paid. I’m not making any promises because you are not me, I tend to take time to reach goals, and your goals are not my goals (well, they may be…who knows?) but you will be able to use this newsletter as a mentor, including asking specific questions about your own situation and writing.

Finally, before I start to get into it, I am not going to try to sell you a writing course or coaching, etc. First, this Sunday Money Edition is going to be behind a subscription paywall* most of the time, and second, the entire archive of back issues of The Grasshopper, which will also be exclusive to paid subscribers, is a better primer on the writing life than some fantasy get-rich guide. There are about eighty issues, as this is being written, and more coming every week. That’s a substantial archive of information, anecdotes, war stories, and advice about not just writing, but being a writer. The life.

Did you detect a subtle pitch for paid subscriptions here? Well, that is exactly what The Grasshopper Sunday Money Edition is about, giving value and getting paid.

*Paid launch announcement coming in my next regular Wednesday issue. This one’s a freebie.

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Defining who you are as a writer; focus equals success

Have you noticed that when I reference the name of this newsletter I always capitalize the name, The Grasshopper? It’s a brand, a small one, but it’s my baby. The Grasshopper name is intentionally unrelated specifically to writing, but has a backstory of the value of being yourself, a value that is worth money.

As a writer who publishes in public places, you are a brand, or you should be. This is a mindset, a tool to help you build your business as a professional communicator. Does that scare you? Sound too much like work? Or is the idea intimidating?

This is work, your work if you choose it. And if you do choose it, you have to own who you are and your point of view. Knowing those things and staying focused on them is central to succeeding as an online writer.

Platforms like Medium and Substack are about original perspectives and ideas. You don’t get assignments or guidelines on what to write about, other than rules designed to keep away people promoting illegal activity or some sexual topics. 

You are the owner, the chief cook and bottle washer. If you make money, it is because you are doing something people find interesting or valuable or motivational. But it has to come from you, not from some secret system you bought somewhere.

My goal in the Sunday Money Edition is to help you build your own personalized system. The keyword is ‘personalized’. It’s simple, you have to build some kind of following with regular readers to make sustainable money as a writer.

For example, I used to make a living as a freelance business writer. The key to that was to understand that I was not looking for writing jobs, I was looking for writing clients, businesses that relied on me for a large share of their business communications. 

That realization, that my value was my expertise and the knowledge I was acquiring writing for those clients, changed my perspective. My clients and I were invested in the relationship for the longer term. From a practical point of view, building a client relationship with a few great companies was a lot less work than pitching many questionable ones via freelance marketplaces like Upwork, where you are basically constantly starting over and competing with people who will work for nothing.

So, you’re selling yourself. Are you selling out as a creative? That entire concept is bullshit and you need to get over it. Unless you are independently wealthy, money is how we survive on this planet. 

One more note about that: did you ever wonder why people who have made it big time keep working? It is because their work helps define who they are and they know it is worth paying for. 

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That’s the first Sunday Money Edition of The Grasshopper. My goal here is to plant one idea in your head that helps you progress as a paid writer, regardless of what kind of writing you do.

The beauty of this online writing world is that there are endless ways to monetize your passion, if you embrace that. Remember, artists are not averse to commerce, just the opposite. Anyone who has been on a book tour knows how much work bestselling writers put in beyond the actual writing.

It’s called being a pro.

Martin

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