Author, Writer, or Pimped?

For as far back as I can remember I’ve always had a great passion for reading the works of other Authors, and for story-telling in and of itself, so much so, that I genuinely thought I wanted to become an Author – and I still do wish to become a published Author.  However, several years later and still without my own published works, other than a 52 page gift book of, Short engaging quotes of love and affection, Internet Marketing projects, and  Content writing projects; realization is beginning to sink in – how can I complete a novel when I don’t even seem to be able to compose a freakin blog post without wanting to pull out my hair.  Am I trying too hard or not hard enough?  Am I inapt or just haven’t found my true Author’s voice yet?  I’ve never wanted to give up my heart’s desire, I’m just wondering if I have the capabilities of fulfilling my dream.

What the heck made me think I could write, or continue to write and make a living out of doing it?  Just because I love doing it, just because nothing else I’ve ever done in life has made me feel this charged.  Is it enough to eat, sleep, and breathe the written word?  Or is an Author truly something special – are they born or breed to be such?  I not certain, I just know I’ve spend numerous years professing my desire to become a published Author – I have several unfinished manuscripts.  I’ve even gone so far as to proclaim that I am a Freelance Writer, starting my own writing service – which initially wasn’t doing as well as I’d hope, but has started looking more promising, and I will commit to a serious marketing campaign before the end of the year to ensure that in 2010 the business will have a higher success rate.  In the mean time, I’m curious, how the heck do people think of the zillions of tantalizing topics they post to the zillions of blogs, on a daily basis without spending endless amounts of time thinking of what to write, not to mention the research involved and still have time to devote to serious writing or to their regular job?  Do they have some magical writing program that I can purchase, do they have a new revised Thesaurus that I don’t have access to, or is it simply a talented gift they possess, that is far beyond my grasp?  I’m wondering too, if I missed a step because I’m not making the mass amount of income that other Writers profess to be reaping.  Don’t get me wrong, I have found some success with Internet Marketing, Reputation Management, and the SEO services that I offer, and although Internet usage has been on the rise for some time now, writing projects seem to have become quite lean during the last few years, especially when it comes to the pay rate.   In an effort to supplement my income, I’ve begin searching the web for writing jobs, and there are quite a number of them listed.   The only thing is, the pay rate for those jobs is insulting.  I have never been naive about the financial riches rewarded to Authors/Writers, but lets be honest, .01¢ - .05¢/wd is freakin ridiculous.  At those rates, I guess I’m not a Writer; and as far as I’m concerned anyone who agrees to write for rates so ridiculously low can’t consider themselves Writers either, and I can pretty much guarantee an Author would never compromise themselves or skills to write for pennies a word.  I may not be able to write the next best-seller right now, or be the greatest Internet Marketing Writer on the planet, but I know what pimping is, and any employer offering pennies for a writing project is attempting to pimp the Writer, and obviously isn’t expecting quality work. 

I recently responded to an ad for a “Social Media/Website/Blog writer”, and received the following response from the poster after inquiring about the rate for said writing project: “I'm not looking for someone who applies for a job with negativity on their tongue.”  This coming from a guy too lazy or inapt to even bother to capitalize the word “I” throughout his four paragraph response, in which he still neglected to answer my question.  BTW, here’s my inquiry: “I would like to know what the rate or project budget will be for this assignment? If the rate is at an insulting pennies per word rate, I must thank you but I really wouldn't be interested in participating.”  Perhaps its me, but I don’t read negativity in my request to know how much I’d be paid for providing unique content that would enhance someone’s business.  I’ve wasted too much of my time and effort applying and submitting samples only to learn the job pays only $3 apiece for 375-400 word articles that as the ad expressed, “expects each of them can pass the scrutiny of Google's duplicate contact checker.”  or $1 for a 500 word article.  I’m trying to write and earn a reasonable wage doing so,  and although I follow a blog entitled Chrystal’s Corner, I can assure you I wasn’t standing on it when I applied for any of the writing assignments, so what makes these employers think they can pimp me or any other Writer?  But I did get an interesting answer from one of the employers: “If you want to thank someone for reformatting the sweatshop for the white-collar, work-at-home, 21st century world, thank Google ... it's all an unintended consequence of the Adword and Adsense bastardization of the Web.”

There is a difference between an Author and a Writer – a Writer wrote this post, the Author is still seeking the realization of a dream – publication of a novel,  neither wishes to be pimped at pennies per word.

Philanthropist of The Roundtable, Frank J. Hanna III

If you ever have the need or desire to learn the true meaning of money – look to the man behind that very concept .  With credentials far too impressively lengthy to list, Frank J. Hanna III has a vast amount of knowledge on the meaning of money.

Frank J. Hanna III, A leading Catholic philanthropist, entrepreneur, co-founder of the Solidarity Foundation, and author, clearly lays out the meaning of money in his new book, "What Your Money Means and How to Use It Well." The book presents Hanna's perspective on healthy attitudes towards money and his advice about philanthropic strategies.

Frank J. Hanna, III is not only a merchant banker in Atlanta; and CEO of Hanna Capital, LLC but is also heavily involved in philanthropic ventures.  Hanna’s religious philanthropy is a model for donors of many faith traditions. He has helped found three Catholic schools in Atlanta, is a national leader in school reform, and his philanthropic work and pioneering efforts helped produce Georgia's first charter school law. Frank J. Hanna III has even served on the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans. Frank was honored in 2007 by The Philanthropy Roundtable as the recipient of the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership.  Mr. Hanna is also the founder of the Solidarity Foundation, which has been instrumental in many charitable efforts. Among other efforts, He is a trustee of the Papal Foundation, which supports worldwide charitable endeavors under the direction of the Pope. He also donated the world's oldest extant copy of the Gospels of Luke and John and then gave it to the Vatican.

Frank Hanna III is a man of values and practices what he preaches in his everyday life, he continually gives back to the community; he is a former Sunday School teacher and has coached Little League soccer and basketball.  He received his BBA and JD degrees from the University of Georgia. Growing up around his father's real estate business help prepare Frank for the business world, which proved to be a good foundation for his many business achievements; including: Serving as CEO of administrative services firm HBR Capital, Ltd. since 1992; CEO of investment firm Hanna Capital, LLC since 2006, Director of the Atlanta-based CompuCredit Corporation since 1999; and he was one of three entrepreneurs profiled in the Acton Institute's documentary film, The Call of the Entrepreneur.