Q. I’ve had a column for 17 years and now want to self-syndicate elsewhere. I have to say with a serious lack of modesty that the column has enjoyed very good reactions over the years — OK, five negatives, but I’m sure they were all sent in by the same person.
Anyway, can you please advise me how I might go about self-syndicating? I am too old to do things for free, so of course I am hoping to get paid, but I’m not expecting to start buying jewelry from my earnings. Can you give me some advice?
Willing to Share
A. Self-syndication is difficult and can be a worse pain than writer’s cramp.
It basically means you have to use hours you currently use for writing, relaxing or enjoying other pursuits for wheedling, cajoling, distributing, invoicing and licking envelopes.
Financial rewards are, in almost every case, slight.
The modern equivalent of the self-syndicator is the blogger. I suggest you consider that route. Blogs are easy to set up and maintain, and you might make as much money from ads on your blog as you would from editors, who are snipping away at the news hole and budgets.
Coming Wednesday: She thinks she makes a good impression when she meets recruiters in person, but wonders how she can still make a lasting impression when meeting with recruiters isn’t possible.
