Second job blues

Yeah Uraniumfish. You would be amazed by what people will do to make ends meet right now. I know this person, who works three part time jobs to make enough money that a full time and one part time job would cover.

What a sad but touching article. Thanks for sharing, @uraniumfish!

I wonder how many people in this forum have more than one job. Anyone care to comment?

I have more than one job. And less than one full life :)

@hhusted, I'm a full-time student (and hopefully soon-to-be full time graduate student) and a full-time writer. Not sure if that counts!

Interesting comments so far. Actually, Ajadedidealist, college does not count as a job, since you are not making money now. So, if you are a full-time writer, that is your primary job.

Thanks for sharing.

@Uraniumfish thanks for sharing this, these are indeed grim times for the US when the whole world around us seems to be booming and spending as well.

@hhusted, but if I were a funded grad student, you could make a case that I'd be "paid" to do research (hopefully that will be the situation in years to come!)

@ajadedidealist fingers crossed!

@Ajadedidealist: Yes, if the funds are looked at as income only and you can spend it any way you see fit.

I'm thinking about doing others' laundry. With trying to keep a marriage together (it has gotten better but still needs work, have to find a new counselor bc the one other moved) I still feel nervous with my husband watching the kids enough to get a part time job. TG I go to school online. It's easier. Still just as much work but easier dealing with kids. I want more income and think that doing others' laundry might help. Though it disgusts me to think of how dirty others attire might be. I have horrible memories about my ex's clothing. You don't want to know. I'd clean apt's but would have to take kids with me and doing laundry I could easily bring it back her to fold and stuff.

Ugh. I think I am about to take on the second job blues.

Yeah, well, nothing to be done in this kind of economy.

I believe I mentioned this in a previous forum, but if I need extra income, I will take on taxes for people. I'll make plenty of money that way.

@everyone wish I could think up a scheme which would be incredibly lucrative..reading about the successes of Serena Boardman have made me incredibly depressed.

@Uptowngirl: All you have to do is think up something you are passionate about or have an interest in, and write an e-book about it. Then sell the e-book online. You'll make millions from it.

@hhusted Is that how you became a millionaire?

@hhusted I have written an e-book, its called the Expat Guide to Living in New York City. Unfortunately it was written for a company and for the amount of work I put in, I think I deserved much more. oh well thats the way the cookie crumbles.

Where does one publish an ebook? I think I'll write one about Justin Bieber, as I can think of no hotter commodity.

@BroadwayBK You will have a runaway best seller for sure.

Hah, @uptowngirl, I hear you. The ghostwriting business can be good fun, but it's sure frustrating when the work begins to exceed the salary.

What exactly is the deterrent to just writing your own ebook, instead of writing it for someone else who then makes a profit off your work? IS it so hard to publish an ebook, or what?

@hhusted you need to come in on this one how do you go about self publishing an e-book?

@Uptowngirl and @Uraniumfish: Self-publishing an e-book is the easy part. When you write your e-book, and complete it, you automatically have self-published it, especially if you place a cover on it, with an eye-catching title. Then you place a copyright symbol on the opposite page from the title. You need to include an "About the Author page, so your readers would know more about you. Make sure in the title you place your own name there. For example, "By Harry Husted." Once you place the e-book on your website to sell it, you have self-published your e-book.

Why would you guys write ebooks for someone else, then? Especially since you have said that you got paid way less than the profit the other person made. I still don't see why anyone would write an ebook FOR someone else.

@Uraniumfish: It's called immediate cashflow. When you are a ghostwriter (which is what writing e-books for others is considered), you make immediate income. You can make money writing e-books for yourself, but you need a way to market that e-book to make money from it. You are not just the writer, but the marketer, and advertiser. This is why most writers work as ghostwriters first to make immediate income, and write e-books for themselves on the side.

@Uptowngirl: Having a website is not entirely necessary, but it does provide the place where people can go to buy your e-book. Some writers and marketers use ClickBank to sell what they write. This way they don't have to depend on creating a website. Just let others do the selling for you.

@hhusted had heard about Clickbank but had never really looked at their website.. the charges are a bit steep no? much cheaper to sell through your own website?

@Uraniumfish - to make money off an ebook requires not just the writer, but also the editor, marketer, etc. By writing an ebook for quick cash (especially if it's fiction - my specialty), I get what I deem a fair sum for my share of the work, while my employer, who does the work of promoting the material, etc. Also, I wouldn't WANT credit for the work I do - the work I try to publish under my own name is "literary" fiction, and having my name also associated with "genre" fiction might dilute - as they seem to be saying in the 'biz - my "brand."

@ajadedidealist Those are my thoughts exactly on much of the writing I churn out for income!

@uptowngirl Did you check out the prices on any of those books listed on Clickbank? A lot of them are way more expensive then you'd pay for an actual book that involves paper and binding!

@Ajadedidealist: My publisher told me that fiction is very hard to sell as an e-book. This is why they don't publish fiction that much. They do publish it, but not as much as they do nonfiction.

@BroadwayBK: The price of the book reflects the quality of it. For example, I created an e-book full of very valuable information and am selling it for $27. I am selling the e-book. I know a marketer who created this e-book about making money with blogs. The page count was about 45 or 50 pages. He sold that e-book for $97. He claims he makes $10,000 a month from that e-book.

Just saying demand is reflected in those prices.