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The internet has opened up the world of publishing. Previously, to get your content read, you had to submit your work to a newspaper or magazine, and often these publications only accepted work from a closed group of people (in the UK, Fleet Street is infamous for hiring people "you know through school" i.e. drawing from the 7% of the population who are privately educated). The internet has democratised publishing. Now anyone with a computer and the inclination to write can publish.

There are several ways you can publish online: you can either set up your own blog or website and publish your material there, or you can submit your article to online publishers such as Helium or Associated Content who will share revenue with you.

The law says that whenever someone writes something online on their blog or website, they own the copyright. However there are some unscrupulous people who believe that because something is online it is "free" and that they can copy the material. This belief is shared by some traditional publications who regularly "borrow" content from online writers. One notorious national newspaper does this frequently and then waits for the writer to say something. If the writer protests, they usually send payment immediately in accordance with their rates for freelance journalism (they pay very well), but most writers are quite unaware of their rights or that their content has been used. Check whether you are being plagiarised with this plagiarism checker.

If you publish online through an online publisher, check whether they demand copyright and whether they demand exclusivity. Helium allows you to retain copyright, but you grant them a licence to publish and promote or resell your work in pepetuity. Associated Content also allows you to retain copyright, while Suite101 demands you grant them exclusive rights for one year.

The other issue with using an online publishers is that they might close down. This is happening to the writing site thisisby.us, which will close in February 2009. If this happens to you, check and see if the website has an "edit" facility, and back up your material and then used edit to remove the article from the site and place a note saying "this article has been removed", so that your content won't be sold on to someone else who may not honour the terms of your original agreement and pay you.

Another thing to consider when using an online publisher is the payment terms. Some sites such as Shvoong pay such pitiful amounts that it's unlikely you will ever reach payout. Other sites like Helium share revenue fairly with their writers. The key is how established the site is. Browse through their articles, check out their advertising. Ideally you want sites that have display ads (which pay per impression) in addition to Google Ads (which pay per click). If they've persuaded a national company to place display advertising on their site, they are a highly rated website, which will make enough money from your content to share fairly with you and survive a long time.

What about going it alone and publishing on your own blog or website? It's easy to set up a blog using free software such as Google's Blogger. There is no doubt that if you can generate enough traffic you will earn more from your own website than from an online publisher (because the online publisher has overheads and can't share everything they earn from your content, whereas all the earnings on your own site accrue to you). But the key is generating traffic. Use Search Engine Optimisation to ensure that the search engines find your material and direct traffic to your site.

Most of the "pro-bloggers" earn through advertising on their websites. Occasionally though, a blog catches the eye of the mainstream media and the blogger is offered a mainstream book contract. Note though that this only seems to happen in certain niches - a couple of years ago, the author of a blog called "Girl With a One Track Mind", who was detailing her sexual adventures on her personal blog got offered a six figure book deal based on the blog, and Belle de Jour, a call-girl who was blogging about her profession also got a book contract, and the book was turned into a TV series "The Secret Diary of a Call Girl". But these are rare instances of the online world crossing over into mainstream publishing and I believe it only happened because of the salacious material on these blogs.

Learn more about this author, Lily S.
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