By Gurmeet Mattu  » Can you make money as a writer? Well, if you're screenwriter, William Goldman, or novelist, Dan Brown, earning millions, there's no doubt about it. But be warned, not everybody can achieve those dizzy heights, and the writer's life can be a precarious one. But the ability to write a school essay, or a letter to your mother, doesn't make you a writer. It is a craft, like any other, and must be learned.

But the aim of this article is not to put you off a literary career, but to look at the many options that are available to those who have the skill.

Most people think that writing a novel is the pinnacle of a writer's ambition, yet this is far from the truth. Everyone may have a novel in them, but it is only one of the outlets available to the creative spirit.

Let's have a look at the opportunities which are available.

By Cheryl Antao-Xavier  |  He would prance back and forth at the front of the class, his white cassock swaying, gesticulating animatedly to the rhythm of the poem he read—the way he insisted poetry should be read—“with expression and gusto.” This is how I will always remember Rev. Fr. D’Arcy D’Souza.

It has been many years since that English Lit class in St. Jude’s High School in Nazimabad, yet those were defining years for me and many others who were fortunate to have been taught by Fr. D’Arcy. Like all good teachers and mentors, his influence was fundamental in the development of our youthful self-esteem, and ultimately, in the course of our lives.

I remember vividly the youth retreats at the Friary, where he would conduct workshops on spirituality. He made it such fun, with spontaneous bursts into song, honest sharing, and a perpetually upbeat mood.

As a priest and our religion teacher, he was one of the best, simply because he was ‘different’ in the nicest way. He humanized Bible-teaching for us so that even the diehard irreverent among us forgot to be bored, listened, and were engaged in the program. The timid ones blossomed under his gentle encouragement.

By Liz Etchison 

1. Grant Proposal Research:

There are many grants for writers on offer today. It is simply a matter of going online and doing a search via your web browser and you will be pleasantly surprised at the range of options available to you. There are even specialised grants for female writers available today.

These grants can range from short-term lasting a few months, to much longer periods of time and can range from a few thousand Dollars to much grander sums. The key is to find an organisation whose alignment and interests are similar to your own and can empathise with your vision.

2. Submit a Grant Proposal:

Grants for writers can be as varied as the individuals who apply for them. The first step in applying for a grant is to submit a grant proposal. Depending upon the grant that you are applying for, it should contain certain information, including your objectives and your proposed budget.

RESOURCES | By Jim Green  »  Even established authors get the thumbs down from publishers on submission of new work. I should know because despite having 37 traditionally published titles under my belt, I have around a dozen still unpublished.

Here's what I did, and you can do it too if you'd like to cash in on your rejected non-fiction works:

• Take the strongest and the best piece of advice from the selected tome 
• Convert it into a PDF file, and just give it away!

By Mike Mousicos » It has always been a dream of mine to be a freelance writer. My place of work would be a small room with a window overlooking a tranquil garden and my daily commute, a few steps across the landing. To some, such a regime may be too reclusive but for me, it would be my ideal occupation.

A few years ago, during a stressful day at the office, a colleague posed a question to the rest of the team in casual conversation. He asked everyone what career they'd like to be in if they knew they couldn't fail. If a Genie granted them a wish of being successful in any field they chose, what would it be? One person said they'd be a motor racing driver, while another wanted a shot at being an actress. Others struggled to answer, but my reply was that I'd like to be a writer.

At that time, I worked as a real estate agent in London. Part of my daily routine would be to visit the homes of prospective clients and provide them with a market appraisal of their property's value.

By Irene Watson  »  Self-publishing is not easy. Let's get the myth out of the way right now. Just because you wrote a book, Oprah will not call, you aren't going to see many big royalty checks in the mail, and you won't be living some F. Scott Fitzgerald Great Gatsby party lifestyle where everyone hails you as a genius.

Being both publisher and author simultaneously is not the easy life. It's a whole new level of work you've taken on. Not one job but many jobs.

Most authors never achieve success precisely because they are authors and can't envision or motivate themselves into being more than just authors. Once the first book is published, an author just doesn't turn to writing the second book. The self-published author needs to be a writer, but he or she is also a publisher, a marketer, a book delivery person, a salesperson, and usually the janitor too.

Having a day job and trying to promote your book at the same time is not easy, much less writing the next book. Self-publishing is time-consuming and wearing all those hats can leave you running ragged trying to keep track of everything.

By Carol Denbow » Your first step in querying a publisher should be to order the book Writer's Market. The book is available in various editions (Canadian, US etc) through Amazon (click here to view available titles). There are even titles for designers, artists, photographers, children's book authors and more.

Writer's Market includes 4,000 listings for book publishers, consumer magazines, trade journals, and literary agents. Most publishers' listings in the book will tell you if they accept new authors, with or without agent representation, what types of manuscripts they want, what they pay, their contact information, and where to obtain authors' submission guidelines for their company. Confirm all information by visiting the publisher's website if available. Most publishers' websites will have authors' guidelines as well.

Once you have chosen the right publisher and are ready to submit your package, you will need to write the all-important query letter. The query letter must get the attention of the acquisitions editor, or, more likely, an editorial assistant or reader. Many packages are thrown out after the first sentence is read. Your query letter should be a brief one-page tool used to get the editor interested in your book idea. The idea of a query letter is to draw enough interest in your book that the editor will request your entire manuscript be sent. Some editors want to see the entire manuscript on first contact. Check the submission guidelines to determine exactly which method the editor prefers.

By Patrika Vaughn »  I'm often asked by authors whether they should seek publication with a major publishing house or self-publish. Given the industry changes over the past 20 years, I almost always recommend self-publishing. Here's why:

1) SAVE TIME. Most commercial publishers work on an 18-24 month production cycle. Self-publishing will take only 2-4 months once your manuscript is completed. This becomes especially important for time-sensitive material.

2) KEEP CONTROL. Self-publishing gives you total control of your book. Commercial publishers are interested in your book as a money-making property and may have less allegiance than you to the integrity of the work. If you are unwilling to have changes made to the title, the contents, the illustrations of your work, or feel you can't live with a possible sensationalizing of it, you'll want to retain the control that self-publishing offers.

3) BIGGER PROFITS. A large publisher will finance your project, but may only offer a 5-15% royalty. Since most authors have to do their own promoting anyway, why not self-publish and earn a 40 to 400% margin? Ironically, self-publishing has become one of the surer roads into a major publishing house. If your self-published book becomes a hit, publishers will come calling. So after raking in 40-400% on your initial self-published printing, you will have the upper hand in negotiating the sale of second printing rights to your book.

RESOURCES | By Bill Ruesch » So you want to write a non-fiction book. Maybe you have an idea and maybe you don't, but choosing a topic for your non-fiction book should be easy. Start with what you know, love, or care about, but always, always, always search for the unique angle. Simply rehashing the same old, same old won't cut it.

Talking about a new angle-how many diet books were in the market prior to Dr. Atkins entered in 1989 with his high-protein, low carbohydrate diet? More than you can name, I'm sure, from the infamous Grapefruit Diet to the Scarsdale Diet. Every new diet idea has to have a book, or two, or three. Diet books were already a huge market. The field was crowded, but his new angle was a breakthrough and changed the diet scene forever.

By Misa Ramirez » I'm chasing heroes.

You heard me right. I'm chasing heroes. (Yes, I'm married, and my husband's fine with it).

Who doesn't love a bad boy, or need a professor now and then. The swashbuckler or the warrior can defend my honor or take me on an adventure any day of the week. And after they have, and then have left for their next battle or adventure, the best friend can step in and offer support. I'll be bolstered enough to offer my own support to the lost soul, and with any luck, I'll be on the receiving end of the charmer's skills.

These men, in all their glory, are a big part of what romance books are all about. An author can tap into their emotions, delve into their complex character, and voila!, a compelling character is born. Most of us have favorite heroes. They can be classified into one of the eight major archetypes. Whether you love to hate, love to dream about, or just plain love them, those archetypes form the core of the heroes that speak to us.

Here are the eight main archetypes and a few examples to get you thinking about the heroes in your books: