Sorry so slow to respond - I too am overwhelmed with (unpaid) projects. In particular, a ‘digital content festival’ that is partly aimed at helping people like us to find new ways to make a living based on Chris Anderson’s Long Tail ideas.

A couple of things that I thought might be helpful - http://BookTour.com - so your fans can register and find out when you’re speaking in their town (costs nothing for authors to register).

Also, there’s a great author-run marketing agency worth checking out, run by author M.J. Rose: http://www.authorbuzz.com/

How about the paid speaking circuit? You’re a brilliant speaker and have so much important stuff to say. There are quite a few agents for that, including small, ‘inde’ ones eg:

http://www.speakershome.com/ (although ouch that intro animation is painful!)

At my festival, we’re running some great workshops on things like Business Models for Digital Delivery, but since it’s in Australia I don’t expect you to attend A lot of the resources are available online though - see links from http://bytemefest.blogspot.com/

Also, I’m finding networking site LinkedIn.com great for connecting with movers ‘n shakers, and of course Facebook and MySpace have made fan-wrangling a lot easier.

Have you thought about doing something for the mobile market? Eg sex advice for women. There’s a company run by women making content for women: http://limelife.com

I know you’ve thought about all these things before, and I know demands on your time make it really hard to step back and work out a strategy to commercialise without compromising what you believe in… but Heather, you’re SO worth more than you’re getting. You deserve to be living the life that your icon-status and long-term committed fanbase show you deserve.

Big hugs from down under, kat black =^..^=

I’m a long-time reader as well–and a theater director and non-profit development person specializing in grant-writing. I suspect that something that could assist Scarleteen in terms of being able to receive grant money without having to go through the enormous headache of pursuing 501(c)3 status is an umbrella organization. There’s several out there that allow individuals and relatively small organizations to receive tax-deductible donations; for example, there’s one called Third Sector New England–social justice non-profits, and in New York, there’s NYFA (New York Foundation for the Arts), Fractured Atlas, and The Field, which are specifically for artists. Now, these organizations take a small fee, generally 5%, off the top of donations, but they process donations for you and take on the burden of a lot of paperwork. One or both of your lives, educational or artistic, could be covered under that kind of arrangement–and I know that Fractured Atlas offers discounted health care plans to artists. Just a thought, but I’d love to volunteer to help you out if you’re interested in trying to find something like that or need any grants written.

Christopher: Give Bruce and his little dog a hug for me. I’ll see you and Colee soon again, around labor day.

Jianda: Working on it. Regardless, we’ll get there.

Stephen: I’ll take a look for when there is $, thanks.

Marysia: Just thanks.

Alecia: Really, there isn’t. Buying it different ways basically nets different benefits. For example, buying it (and reviewing it!) at Amazon ups my rank which helps to increase my sales there. But then, asking bookstores who aren’t stocking it currently for it is another kind of helpful, because it gives them a weird social permission to have it, gets it out on more shelves more places, etc. Buying it from an indie bookstore helps everyone. Ultimately, there where of buying isn’t so much what helps most as is simply buying it, getting an extra copy to get into the library, and helping with buzz about it by posting reviews at booksellers and blogs. Bless for asking. Also, am starting to work on uni connections, yes.

Korina: I’m always up for more frelance work: I run out of money all the time, but I’m never out of words. So, just holler at me per what y’all need these days and I’m on it.

Kate: Good thinking, and yes, agreed: The UK climate is markedly better.

Jenny: Will have to think on that.

Kara: big love to you.

bflicka: You know, the one giant thing that keeps me out of even looking into that is having so many friends who work in higher academia, and not knowing a single one who doesn’t want to eat her own eyeballs from the stresses of the system daily. When I taught in schools before, the ONLY problems I ever had were with administration, and my impression is that the admins in earlier education are a cakewalk compared to in higher ed.

Kitchen: Yes, we ask. Often. Most of them just ignore those requests. One issue a lot of teens have in any context where adults are helping them, from what I can gather, is that they’re still enough in the parent/child mode that adults = people who owe them something. So, for a lot of them, seeing what we do as a favor, rather than as an obligation, is difficult.

Chloe: I’ll make a note of that, too.

Zelig: right now, the merch thing just isn’t a workable option. But the board-thing, for sure. That’s on my list to get started for this year already, and in fact, there’s really no reason it even needed to be local, so at some point, that is something I’ll bring to the broader table for interested parties.

Everyone: thanks again, even if what you had to offer was a hug or something that isn’t workable, it’s really kind that you checked in and left something. Hugs back.

Just a hug and a thanks for being a friend (and for being an alternate version of a real, grown woman to so many girlkids out there, including mine;-).

My “perspective adjustor” (aka my very ill roommate) is back in the hospital, reminding me (again) that “standing upright and taking nutrition” is more than an idle boast some days.

Hope you can figure out a way to make it all work (while retaining your sanity;-).
(much love to you and all who support you;-)

Hugs Deluxe,

Ji

I suppose it could be a total scam, but I don’t see any reason to doubt it is what it says it is, a way for charities to get a cut of the billions raised by search engines each year.

Most likely registering scarleteen with it would only be worth a hundred dollars a year which seems to be what a typical organisation gets. However, you might be a bit of an exception. If you could get a fair chunk of your users to make this their search engine then it might come to a bit of money - after all I imagine the people who use scarleteen are pretty heavy web users and do lots of searches.

I’m not sure if registering would require this 501c3 status or not, but with thousands of signed up organisations it can’t be too hard to get on their list.

I don’t think ads or such is selling out. I don’t think taking a job is selling out. Sometime life can’t meet all of our expectations/principles, but we can live by most of them, I find. It’s a trade-off. Our mag sells sex ads, as does LA Weekly. We sustain our free magazine (which is a very good one) partly on these ads. It’s how it is. I accept it, though I don’t dig it.

Heather, you are immensely talented and you are just one person. Take care of you. You deserve it.

You can always write some things for Frontiers! I need writers all the time.