Tipping Point
By Writer Unboxed | November 1, 2011 |
Six years ago, when we—Kath and Therese—dreamed up a blog called Writer Unboxed, we never would’ve imagined writing a post like this.
Our initial goal for our little blog was pretty simple: Discuss the craft of writing fiction with other aspiring writers, and pick the brains of any publishing professional who would allow us to do so. We’ve continually been blown away by the response and how we’ve grown. And we love our unboxed communities–here, at Reader Unboxed, and on Facebook.
But we’re at a crossroads.
We want to grow the sites, for them to be all they can be, but we’re also finding that we simply don’t have enough resources to do it all. We need to duplicate ourselves somehow, so there are more hands to do all that needs to be done. And we’d like to find a way for the sites to generate some income so that when our server crashes (as it did last week; you may have experienced difficulties with the site), or if we’re hacked (which has also happened), there are funds on hand to cope with what needs to be done.
We’re trying to find ways to make running the Unboxed sites more tenable. Because you’re our greatest resource, we’re eager to hear your ideas. We have a few of our own that we want run by you too. Please feel free to mention anything in comments you think we should consider or that might help us, or send us a private note through our contact page.
Extra Hands
We’re in need of an assistant of some sort—an intern possibly, or a paid Virtual Assistant who can help with daily administrative functions. If you have experience with Virtual Assistants, have referrals or recommendations, we’d love to hear about it.
Financial Self-Sufficiency
We’ve spent a pretty good chunk of change on Writer Unboxed over the years, and more recently Reader Unboxed. We’ve always resisted putting ads on WU because frankly we don’t like them and we were never in it for the money. But if we decide to hire a Virtual Assistant, we’d like for those funds to come from revenues generated by the blog. How to do that?
- Option 1. We could put ads on WU, and keep them to a minimum.
- Option 2. We could initiate a Kickstarter fund. A fundraising drive would allow us to keep our spaces ad-free while giving us enough revenue to fund our new server and hire a Virtual Assistant.
- Option 3. We could add a donate button to our sidebar.
- Option 4. We could make WU a subscriber-only site. (Our least favorite option.)
So, there it is. We’re eager to hear from you on any and all of these issues, not only to keep WU going but to keep ourselves going as well.
Write on, and thanks!
Therese and Kathleen
Photo courtesy Flickr’s Rosa Menkman
Writer Unboxed began as a collaboration between Kathleen Bolton and Therese Walsh in 2006. Since then, the site has grown to include ~50 regular contributors and a variety of guests on rotation throughout a given year.
In 2016, the Writer Unboxed team published a book with Writer’s Digest / Random House. AUTHOR IN PROGRESS: A No-Holds-Barred Guide to What It Really Takes to Get Published is a comprehensive guide focused on helping writers over/around/through hurdles faced at every stage of the novel-writing process. It’s received some ***** reviews; we hope you’ll check it out.
If you’d like to be among the first to know about the next Writer Unboxed UnConference, which will likely tie-in with WU’s 20th Anniversary celebration, please sign up for our mailing list!
Write on!
Hmmm….
Well, I don’t find well behaved ads too annoying, so that might be a decent option. Although I like kickstarter and have donated to a couple campaigns, an ongoing expense like an assistant would probably require a campaign every year or something…I’ve never seen someone do that (not that it couldn’t be done).
Whatever you end up doing, I’d sure be willing to kick in some dough–I’ve found this site extremely helpful!
It sounds like you need a good startup fund, which would be the kickstarter fund.
Then you need a regular annual operating budget, and I agree with melissa, well behaved ads would provide that revenue stream without being too annoying. Especially if the ads were for book or writing-related things.
If you do the ads in an open way, I could also see WU becoming an accessible means for the newly-published and self-published to effectively advertise their works–that would keep to the initial intentions of the site.
Any way you go, I’m on board.
I think that you should try everything at the same time and that way you’ll be able to tell what works and what doesn’t
My vote would be for Option 1: ads. Google has ’em – we still use Google. Facebook has ’em – we still use Facebook. Ditto for YouTube, CNN, Yahoo, MSN, etc.
Ads costs the readers nothing, and take nothing away from the value of the content that the site provides.
I would vote for options 1, 2 and 3. Hopefully, enough people would donate that you could really make the ads well-behaved. Google and FB ads drive me crazy. And I agree with Jeanne Kisacky that giving opportunities for writers to advertise their books would be mutually beneficial (and interesting.)
I will support ANY of your options. I do NOT want to be without WU.
PS: The writer/publisher centric ads are certainly okay and can be supplemented by other drives/subscriptions/donations as required to cover the nut.
Do what you must do.
I agree with the commenters above, and love the term ‘well-behaved’ ads. Nothing flashing, or making you close it before reading on, etc. Backspace has fairly unobtrusive ads in the sidebars, for example. Kickstarter sounds a bit too short-term to me, but a good idea. I’d donate in either form, after all WU has done for me.
Thinking of Backspace, I’ll also chime in on another thought. What about a WU conference? I know, more work, right? Ask for volunteers. A number in our community have experience setting up conferences. I’ve no experience but would help however I can, and would definitely attend. I don’t know if conferences are a profitable enough enterprise to make it worth the trouble. But if you could get WU level industry pros into a conference hall with WU type writers, pros and aspiring alike, it’d be the bomb. Just sayin’…
Wishing you guys all the best. I remain at your service, whatever road you take.
I also vote for option 1. It is a good idea.
I agree with the gist of the above comments. I think well-behaved ads would be fine, and I love the idea of offering newly-published authors a chance to advertise their work this way. I think that would work to everyone’s benefit, and no one could really complain. I know I’d love to hear about people’s books this way, and would definitely pay to have mine mentioned if/when it comes out.
And you can definitely try the first three models in parallel.
PLEASE don’t switch to a subscription model! One of the great things about WU is how accessible it is.
Best of luck. Among the various things I do, I help run a small arts non-profit, and we find ourselves at a similar crossroads, needing more resources in order to get ourselves to the next level. Not an easy challenge! But an energizing one.
I will also offer to mud-wrestle for WU to help raise money.
What can I say? I’m just a giver.
Dang. I hate it when people like Keith steal my idea of mud wrestling.
I’d be happy with anything except paid subscriptions. I’d certainly pay to subscribe, but I want anyone to be able to wander over and read (and then get hooked).
Keith, I’ll see you in the ring. I’ll be the muddy one.
Hmmm. Ads advertising the mud wrestling?
I like options one through three as well. I’ve learned so much here I’d hate to see it go to subscriber-only format — the people who need it most might never stumble across it and become hooked, as I did!
I believe donation requests would be more than appropriate. That may mean you could keep the site ad-free. I do think advertising a writer’s new book would be a great idea. What you could do is establish a flat fee (reasonable) and you spread the word on the site through publicists and agents. I have some concerns about hiring assistants and the quality/personal touch you both have stamped all over this site.
If the ads are writer based I think that could be a good way to go. I don’t know how labor intensive a venture it might be, but perhaps a virtual assistant hired as a result would manage the ad effort.
How about having people pay to do guest posts? I know there are some who want the extra eyeballs. This might weed out people who aren’t serious and want to work really hard to write a killer guest post for your in return for exposure. It is kind of like advertising for some. And you can stipulate that the money will go not for profit but to keep the sight going.
However, I think if you start to go for profit, this option wouldn’t work. Then it would seem like you are exploiting writers.
But the way you have it now, it’s like your guest posters are donating to a cause, the cause being writer unboxed. Which I think is a good cause.
First, let me say I’m glad to see you guys putting this out here. I have the teensiest sense of what it requires to maintain WU. In time alone, it’s huge. Huge.
Options: #1 and #3 are almost standard practice among writing sites. If they can be implemented without a huge amount of time and effort, I’d begin there, then use the funds to hire the assistant who can work on other options, like #2 or this next suggestion.
As an alternative to #4, which I think would change the philosophy of what you stand for here, how about offering some of this site’s material as an ebook? This is also routine practice now by some of my favorite authors who write about writing. I have bought several of them, too, even though I often have their blog posts saved within the bowls of my computer.
One variation on that last point: you have some amazing contributors and ties within the writing community. I bet you could do an annual WU writing ebook from original material donated by those high profile people. More time investment and risk, of course, but if you had an assistant, possibly doable.
I very much hope you get a workable solution(s). You guys have invested so much of yourselves, and we’ve all benefited.
Love the e-book idea, Jan.
An e-book is a great idea, whether from new material or “recycled” from the site. I know I haven’t had the time/energy to go back and read every post on the site since before I came across WU, so there’s bound to be gems I’ve missed. Plus, this is almost like a way to “donate” while getting something valuable (albeit available for free online) in return.
I’m not opposed to ads. I’m not opposed to subscribing either if it comes to that. Newspapers are doing this now! I consider WU one of my biggest news sources for all things writerly.
I’m concentrating on NaNo right now (and a little crazed ) so forgive any typos or worse in this post. I had to stop to give my two cents here. Whatever you guys decide – I will do-even subscription. WU has guided me invaluably and you are worth the money in my book. However, that being said, there was a time in my life when I couldn’t have afforded a subscription-and all I wanted to do was write. If WU had been around then, I could not have benefited from your invaluable advice due to my finances. I am sure there are writers facing financial dilemmas, now. It would be a regretful situation-for any fellow writer needing WU-who couldn’t benefit from your wonderful resources, advice, and comradeship because of finances. Therefore, perhaps a combination of options 1, 2 and 3 may work. In fact have fund raisers every so often, and a donation button all the time. NaNo does donations, too, as well as sponsors (it seems to work).
Also, again, I would just like to give WU a heartfelt thank you. You have made my personal writing journey a far less lonely one, as well as a far more informed one- which in turn has upped my skills. I know I am one of many writers who share these sentiments.
I agree with everyone who says try a combination of 1,2, and 3, and wanted to add I would happily subscribe to WU (and will donate in any case), but I get that that might stray too far from your vision of the site. I try to remind myself at times like this that “All Change is Good;” that was the advice of a man who lived into his 110’s, and I think his positive attitude was part of it. You’ve got my support!
I have to say too that I would vote for choices one, 2 and three. Hopefully, enough individuals would donate that you could truly make the ads nicely-behaved. Google and FB advertisements generate me crazy. And I agree with Jeanne Kisacky that providing opportunities for writers to promote their books would be mutually advantageous .
All I can say is keep up the good work. If ads will keep WU afloat, then so be it. An e-book anthology sounds like a good idea as well and might not be that difficult.
I have recommended this site to many of my writer friends.
I also work as a writer’s assistant and would be interested in talking to you about how much time you anticipate an assistant putting in. Therese, I’m a member of RWA-WF as well. Drop me an email if you are interested in talking.
I’d go with #1. You could always #2 if the ads don’t bring in enough revenue.
Ads are a fact of life. I’m sort of surprised you don’t have them already. If you think you can generate the needed cash with ads, I’d say go for it. Like yesterday.
And YES YES YES get an unpaid intern. I don’t know where you are physically located, but if you’re in/adjacent to a college town I bet you could get an intern or two and even get the school to give the students credit. I.e. Student intern pays the school for the learning experience of being your assistant. The only downside is you have to break in a new kid every half year, but this seems more tenable than putting someone on the payroll.
My favorites are 1 and 3, but I’ll go with whatever you all decide. I also like Jan’s idea of making an ebook. I’d buy it.
I wonder if there is a way to put a paypal donation button at the bottom of each post?
“If you found this post helpful, consider a donation of $1.00 or more.”
If every reader donated a dollar, for every post from which they gleaned something from, that would certainly add up.
Good luck with whatever you decide. And thank you for the service you have provided for so many writers.
i like 1, 2, & 3, starting with an annual drive like npr stations do. sorry, eating & typing w/ one finger…good luck! you won’t need it, but you will need money. ;)
I would definitely be on board to donate with options #2 and #3. My least favorite is option #4. I think option #1 would be fine, but I do think google advertising isn’t too pretty and not always nicely on target with the main content.
I also think it’s a good idea to ask your contributors to contribute $$$. I know I would.
GEEK-RELATED SIDE NOTE. It’s too bad that us writers haven’t found a good advertising model like the geek bloggers. The geek bloggers have created some really nice ad networks (The Deck, Fusion) that are aesthetically tasteful and totally on topic for the websites that use them (e.g. https://daringfireball.net/ , https://brooksreview.net/). I assume there isn’t a literary equivalent, huh? Geek bloggers also do “RSS Sponsorship” where once a week they’ll post one super short blog post that is for a paid sponsor. The downside to this model is that you have to go out and find sponsorship. …More work, unreliable source of income, etc. :( The upside is that you would ideally have a paid post that can be well-targeted for your audience… I have no idea if this kind of thing is viable in the writerly world but it would be pretty cool if it were possible to get sponsorship from people who create great software or other tools for writers, for example…
Good luck! Thank you for being open to us about the current situation and your thoughts moving forward. I’ll support any of the options.
I like Ray’s suggestion of a conference… but what if you started small and used the Google+ Hangouts function. Get some of your amazing contributors to host 20 min power sessions on Hangouts at $10.00 a session. The invitation to the Hangout is only sent to those who donate.
I also like the suggestion of a PayPal donation button at the bottom of each post – but you may need to play with the price point for maximum impact. 25cents? 50cents? $1? The goal would be to set it so the majority of folks just hit the donate button every time.
I will also agree, I prefer ads to subscription. The fact that this community is so open and accessible just now is part of it’s power!
I think WU is such a fabulous resource, especially for aspiring writers just beginning to learn about the intricacies of a sustainable writing career. I would support any of the four options that would help lift the financial burden from you. :-) Hugs to you both for everything you do for writers everywhere!
Donation buttons usually don’t do much, honestly. I’d look at either a fundraising drive or ads. Ads seem like they would be the best, most consistent bet, though.
If enough could be raised via options 2 & 3, that would be great. I like the pure, ad-free enviorment here. I would donate. This site matters.
But of course you gotta grow. You’ll do what works. I do agree that a subscription would cut down participation. I do pay for access to Publisher’s Marketplace, The New York Times and other sites, true enough, but I’d hate to see WU erode its community feel.
All that said, congrats on growing something this big and successful! Be proud.
Non-flashing ads for books would be great – I’d probably see something I would miss elsewhere, not to mention as a writer, I can absolutely see taking up an opportunity to advertise somewhere like WU.
Thanks for your thoughts and support, folks. It really means a lot. You’ve given us lots of food for thought. We’ll chew it over and let you all know the next step. *sends everyone a virtual hug*
The quickest and perhaps easiest thing to try first would be a donate button–and you can set it up with PayPal to have multiple possibilities–a one-time donation, a subscription (this is voluntary, remember) for, say $1 per month, $2 per month, whatever. If that works, then you don’t need to worry about the other options.
I vote for options 1, 2, & 3 as well. I’m intrigued by the ideas of a WU conference and anthology.
If I do say so myself, I make scrumptious chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes, Butterfinger banana cake, praline bread pudding: now to have a virtual bake sale. Hmm.
I am a new and occasional visitor. I find the page very interesting. Advertising would not bother me if it kept access here free.
I would not mind making a modest contribution if you were to do (for example) an annual fund raiser.
I live abroad, and there may be others like me, so you might want to find a relatively simple way for people outside the US to contribute. That is also why I would rather make one contribution per year than twenty-five cents per click.
My suggestion would be to figure out your annual operating costs, see how much you can gain through advertising and if the income does not cover the projected costs for the next year, then announce the goal and have a fund raiser. You could even suggest an estimated needed average donation.
Oh, boy — this sounds like my usual daily ruminations! The topic I’m most concerned about with everything I do, frankly, as somebody passionately devoted to work that simply doesn’t pay!! But I have come to believe that passion need not contradict with financial solvency. More soon.
One thing to consider: it is VERY easy to find free interns right now. I rely on them myself. Connections through Grub Street or other writers organizations are a great way to find them, but so is Craig’s List!!
Options 1 and 3 sound good to me. Both. Option 2 if you need a lump sum to keep things going while also doing 1 and 3.
Please not option 4.
check out Smart Bitches Trashy Books for a site that pulls in some revenue without seeming like they’re just out to get money. I think they contract directly with advertisers (rather than just signing up for Google ads or something), which is no doubt more work but probably more lucrative, and since the ads are relevant, they are less annoying and distracting than random ads. https://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php
You should also join Amazon’s referral program, so if people click through to Amazon to buy a book mentioned on the site, you get a small percentage.
Kickstarter and a Donate button could be helpful for bringing in an initial sum to get things going.
Good luck!
I have no problem with ads as long as they don’t have obnoxious pop-ups or screen overlays.
I would actually love to see specific, targeted advertising here. Not Google ads — ads you guys filter. More work, but as Chris Eboch mentioned above, probably also more lucrative. This could be a unique advertising outlet for those who can’t quite afford larger ad campaign purchases (yet). If you wrote a set of clear guidelines for potential advertisers (do this, don’t do this, only these products/services, PG-13 [or whatever], ads should be this size, ads should not have sound, ads here are more successful if they do this, we tend not to accept ads that do this, etc.) it would cut down on the amount of work on your end.
I think a donation button is definitely acceptable – possibly a generic “donate to WU” where people can choose a one-off or monthly amount to donate, as well as the suggested “Find this post useful? Donate 50c to WU to keep the great articles coming!”
I also think Jan’s idea of an ebook is fabulous. People who wouldn’t necessarily donate $3 voluntarily would be more likely to pay $3 for an ebook of writerly advice, even if all the advice is readily found here for free. That way you’re being rewarded for donating. (Even better if you have an introduction or a couple of extra articles NOT found on the site, just as an aded incentive to those people who still aren’t convinced.)
I don’t like the idea of ads, but wouldn’t really have an issue with non-confrontational or helpful ones. I’d also pay for a subscription if necessary, but hope it doesn’t come to that. If this site was subscription only, I never would have found it!
Interns: Any college or university with a “Communications” major. I’m working with an amazing young woman from Emerson right now.
Is there an indie book store that’s large enough to be your “click here to buy this book” resource? You could turn the Amazon model on its ear by linking to an indie bookstore for sales that you would get a % kick back from. It would also be a fantastic “statement” in terms of partnering with an indie store — everybody wins: the site, the bookstore, and authors.
I already weighed in on Twitter, but I’ll say it again here: I think donations and tasteful/relevant ads are totally fine. There’s no reason you guys should have to bear this burden alone. We all love WU and are part of its community.
I also love the idea of a conference — perhaps a virtual one? — or workshops (again potentially virtual), and I think an anthology/ebook would be fabulous!
My least favorite idea is a subscription.
As for a virtual assistant, you might be able to find someone who would work for free, or for non-monetary payment (like critiques or mentoring?).
My angle is slightly different. As a blind person using screen-reading software, I would warn against invasive advertising, i.e. placing ads between paragraphs as does the Washington Post. I think the site’s greatest draw is its friendliness, and one should guard this. Guest posts which give frank insight into a writer’s life have a personal, as opposed to a commercial flavour. Commenting is easy and even cosy at times, which is unusual. I would suggest inviting an assistant on the basis of a win-win situation, i.e. free help in return for a platform, and perhaps the content of that particular contribution would deal with the actual nuts and bolts of running this kind of community. The internet is a wonderfully free and generous place with many people just looking for somewhere to belong and give of themselves. It’s an out-of-the-box idea, so why not give it a go?
I’m a huge fan of WU. It is one of the top sites I recommend to my students at the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program. Your vibe is just right — open, generous, with so many wise voices chiming in on a variety of topics. I agree with everyone who’s saying that subscriptions would harm this vibe and keep out people who need it most (i.e. my students, many of whom are dipping their toes into the waters of this writing world.) I also agree that ads are generally annoying. I like the idea of “premium packaging” for some of your content. Someone who is doing this VERY well with this is https://zenhabits.net/books/. Not a single ad. But the information is bundled in various packages at various price points. In addition to printed matter, you could have workshops and live chats with your authors and certain special guests — all “premium” paid events. (Oh and speaking of workshops, is it uncouth to pitch one here? Probably. But I’m so high on this idea that I’m forging ahead: I’m a novelist working on my 7th book. Last night I did a “beta test” with a book club of 28 women. They read a draft of my book and them ripped into it. It’s the second time I’ve done this and it’s AMAZING. It was like Christmas! Why don’t more writers do beta tests? I’d love to do a workshop and walk them through the pros and cons and the how-tos….and I’d be happy to do it for WU.) My point really wasn’t self promotion — but just to show how certain rich topics lend themselves to more than a short post and you could take advantage of that by charging for them and asking the experts to donate their time.) In any case, whatever you decide will be right because you’ve done everything right so far. Keep it up!
I don’t mind some ads, and I’d be willing to donate. I love this site and would hate to see it go away.