What does a writer do all day? Just sit and write? Some days, sure. But that's not all there is to writing. In keeping with the blog's theme of sharing a writer's journey, I thought I'd start throwing in some daily journal entries so you can see more of what this particular writer's life entails.

Plus, I needed somewhere to keep my notes, and this seems pretty handy.

Today, I've spent a good bit of time working on affiliate programs for my website and newsletter book recommendations. Both Amazon and Barnes & Noble have programs that reward links to their site. (If you recommend a product and someone buys it, you get a small "finder's fee" for the sale.) I figured as long as I'm making recommendations anyway, I might as well get paid for them. And anything to augment my currently nonexistent writer's income is a bonus!

I looked into the structure of each program and discovered a few questions that weren't answered in the FAQ's. So I have an e-mail in to Barnes & Noble now. I have to admit I have a slight bias towards Barnes & Noble as both a reader and a writer--nothing beats getting physical books on physical shelves for old-fashioned browsing. And the coffee doesn't hurt either. So I suspect I'll go with that program, but it depends on the details.

Once I got that e-mail off to B&N, I turned to the task of helping a fellow author friend of mine make some useful connections here in Atlanta. Lisa Haneberg is heading out on a motorcycle tour of the country this summer to promote her most recent book, Two Weeks to a Breakthrough.

Lisa writes non-fiction books, mostly on management/leadership & personal growth, so her ultimate target audience is a bit different than mine. Thinking of appropriate connections has been a fun networking challenge. Today I researched several avenues, including spending some time on the web looking up various local entrepreneurial groups, contacting a tutoring client who happens to have connections at Emory's business school, and putting calls in to local libraries and book stores.

Here's Lisa's promotional You Tube video:

I'm also working on breaking into the short fiction market this month, so I'll be sending out one of my recent shorts today to a reader or two for feedback. (Dwayne, keep an eye on that inbox.)

While I've been composing this e-mail, B&N got back to me with the answers to my questions. Short, sweet, & prompt. Answers: affiliates get paid for any related sale on the B&N site, not just the specific products they link to; and yes, they ship internationally from the one main site so all my readers can benefit from the recommendations. B&N wins. I'll be applying for their affiliate program this afternoon.

Finally, I'm putting together a list of short fiction markets I'm interested in, so I'll be working on that this evening and tomorrow.

Just another day in the life of a writer...