And in the category of, “Just When You Think It’s All Bad”, I was asked to do a review for Computer Games Magazine, one of the magazines I cold-called (well, cold-emailed). Unfortunately, it was for a game I’ve already agreed to review for Gamespy (which is where I’ve written for the last 3 years, but hopefully they’ll still give me a chance.
I’m doing the happy dance.
Sorry about that. I’m a bit different in that I work in non-fiction, but it does seem like a really tight market. I published two “how to” books for a national professional organization for sale to (mostly) their members, so that was nice. Though if I compared the royalty checks to the hours I put in I would probably hang myself.
My reviewer career similarly dried up a few years ago, with the death of several of the magazines I wrote for (not a great demand for DOS World anymore…). But man, it was nice while it lasted – $1000 or so for a 1200 word article.
I recently went to a class on publishing on demand. Not vanity publishing, but companies that will professionally publish your books and some will even put into the distribution channels (like getting on Amazon and Borders.com). I’m looking to go that route for an athletic training book I’m putting together, and possibly another with a co-author. Then we’ll hit the expo circuit and try to sell them.