Introduction
‘Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.’
Robert Heinlein
The hobby and leisure market opportunities for good writers are huge. Just walk into your local supermarket or newsagent and count the different leisure or ‘specialist' titles on the shelves. There are hundreds and they are so diverse. Photography, music, knitting, stamp collecting, gaming, angling, shooting, horse riding, skiing, running, swimming, bird watching, cookery, gardening, walking, camping, motor sports .. the list is endless. The reason these titles are there is because people buy them. Don't be fooled into thinking that the purchase price is totally subsidised by the reader, however. Magazines rely heavily on their advertising revenue to cover their overheads. For the hobby writer, that is extremely important to remember and I will cover that in a later chapter.
If you enjoy a hobby or past-time that isn't enjoyed by others, it would be very unusual. If your hobby is making toffee-apples, there will be someone, somewhere on this vast planet who also enjoys making toffee-apples and will want to read recipes or look for alternative methods to make toffee-apples. Someone needs to supply that demand, so in many ways the artisan who can specialise in writing articles for niche markets (niche hobbies) will find it reasonably easy to bring those articles to market.
The market may be small, so earnings for articles will be low. But, hey! This is your hobby, right? You do it for pleasure, not pay! So if you make enough bucks to cover the cost of your apples, your toffee and sticks .. you're enjoying your hobby for free!
Of course, there are hobby writers who want to go a little further than this. So that's where this book comes in. What are your markets? Where should you pitch your talent? Who should you contact and how? What writing or photographic tools do you need? How do you get your name in there as a hobby-specialist journalist ( a ‘hobby-sensei’ ) and keep it there? How do you offer something different to your peers?
How does the hobby publishing world work? I’ve been there .. and stayed there for ten years. That’s what this book is about and if it helps a single reader to get a single article into print (and get paid for it ) then I have achieved what I set out to do.
Hobby Writing: How To Make Your Play, Pay. Description:
The hobby and leisure market opportunities for good writers are huge. Just walk into your local supermarket or newsagent and count the different leisure or ‘specialist’ titles on the shelves. There are hundreds and they are so diverse. Photography, music, knitting, stamp collecting, gaming, angling, shooting, horse riding, skiing, running, swimming, bird watching, cookery, gardening, walking, camping, motor sports .. the list is endless.
The reason these titles are there is because people buy them. That’s what this book is about and if it helps a single reader to get a single article into print (and get paid for it ) then I have achieved what I set out to do.
