Pudding-Tat, Florida’s most famous feline, has decided to honor us with her presence once more. She is a free spirit, and can disappear for a month at a time. Note the slight orange tinge to her back fur that was not present before. She’s around three years old now, which you can check if you’d like, using this blog. The neighbors were feeding a feral cat, and Pudding-Tat was helping herself. So she’s healthy.
It has been a month since I began posting on FireHow. I have reached some interim conclusions. It requires 1,000 clicks to generate (a lousy) $3.00 in revenue. I have no idea why all these sites are so damn resistant to plainly stating that fact. My primary goal was to find out what really gives, and there you have it.I had to publish 40 articles over the month to generate those hits, slightly more than my goal of one article per day. Firehow gives plenty of stock advice on how to use social networks to drive people to your posts, which I consider akin to fudging. I’m not ruling anything out, but I personally get better results from writing well enough that the average reader will click on several more of my items. My sparkling wit, you see.
The short 400-500 word articles on computer topics produce the best. I’ve developed a distinct style which others have already attempted to copy. So far, they’ve failed (since I make use of obscure embedded tags). Also, I’ve thoroughly tested FireHow’s upload system and may soon include a photo in every post. My top count is still the automotive blurb about troubleshooting your alternator. But I’m no mechanic so I can’t pursue that vein.
We have far more information now to extrapolate authorship earnings. At this rate, it will take about three years of writing, or nearly 1,200 articles to produce a part-time income. This is not unrealistic for a full time author. To make a living, however, expand that to 10,000 articles, which takes a lifetime. I doubt there are many freelance writers in Florida making more than $20,000 per year.
Contrast this with music, where the basic unit is the tune played on stage. I make an average of 46.23 cents per tune. That is, if I play “Spiders and Snakes” 150 times per year (about right), I earn $70. If I’m the only musician who ever made that calculation, fine, because it proves compared to writing, music is fast and easy money. So tonight, I’m finally going to write a custom bass line to Roger Miller’s “King of the Road”. Make it sound like the original would have if he’d had an electric bassist.
Cowboy Mike called the other day; he’s struggling with his hand-made pipes. He’s got a web kiosk and is learning without massive presence, a web page just sits there. We talk a little music and tentatively agree to keep each other in the loop if any Blues comes up. There is no steady, paying market for Blues around here. I can rarely stand listening to it for more than a half-hour.
According to Mike, the Hippie joined some group up in Boca [Raton]. These liaisons are temporary and the Hippie will be back soon enough. It’s too bad he goes on wild goose chases since we have a decent sound whenever we play music we’ve rehearsed. The difference of opinion between us is easy to follow.
The Hippie feels that since he is singing and playing, that makes him the most important band member. To me, singing guitarists are a dime a dozen and if they want to join a real band, they’d best do what they are told. Who’s right? Nobody can say.
But they can say I’ve done something that proves my side of the issue. I’ve just completed a two year house gig as a soloist without any need for a guitarist or a singer. Let me repeat that in case anyone missed it: A two-year gig without a guitar player or a singer. Don’t blame me if I keep forgetting how important they are supposed to be.
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