How to Have a Healthy Relationship with NewsBreak

From one of those clingy writers still refusing to break up

I’m generally a realist. I know that NewsBreak is never going to support me. When we first met, I had stars in my eyes for a minute or two about all the possibilities. But cynicism built on thirty-plus years as a freelance travel writer, including wading through the muck of more than one failed publication prevailed and I adjusted my inspirations down a notch.

Then another notch in February when the terms of endearment changed (perhaps endenturement would be a better word if it existed). And another notch last month as they changed again.

Yet here I am. I wrote two stories this morning. Read them here and here, if you’d like. I’ll be referring to them throughout this story as I do my best to tame the cynical voice in my head and share what has worked for me.

Don’t give them your soul

Rule number one with any challenging relationship is retaining who you are as you navigate the changing landscape. I am a travel writer. I write about food, destinations, wine, beer, scuba diving, cruising, camping, and anything else fun I can do while away from my house. I take my job seriously and see my purpose as a travel writer as someone who helps other humans grow through travel.

Travel changes who we are and what we believe. I have no doubt that a year of staying home changed us — not all of it for the better, so with safety always in mind, I want to continue my job of encouraging others to expand their literal horizons.

If any of that interests NewsBreak, I am happy to share. I have no intention of being a local expert on my hometown of 2,115 people, where news almost always boils down to death and taxes. My soul lives and breathes far beyond the boundaries of Hill County, Texas.

Write well

It is so damn easy to become focused on the rate you are being paid and crank out garbage in exchange for dollar bills. Let me assure you that as much as I like money, the more I think about money, the less inclined I am to write anything, much less write something of service to the reader. My writing voice stiffens; my research skills lag.

It turns out that the rate of sixty dollars per story is just enough to suck the talent from my fingertips. When I feel that happening, I take a break and only return when I have a topic worthy of sharing — the kind that makes me feel good about myself and has the potential to inform or entertain readers — not just to something designed to tease the NewsBreak algorithm.

Write long-tail news

What the heck is that? If “long-tail” describes that which is far from the head, then long-tail news would be news that is far from what the majority of what other writers and news outlets are writing. It can also refer to news that is still newsworthy months later. Save that thought for the next sub-head.

It can be something as simple as taking a common story and splashing it with your own analysis or spin. I did that with my stories on cruising from Galveston. Mainstream media and local news outlets were covering the return of cruising, and the fact that cruising from Florida now means you’ll have to buy travel insurance if you aren’t vaccinated. I spun that into a story about cruising from Galveston being more “normal.” And in a second, related story, I offered advice for how to cruise for a few dollars less on the latest ship starting up from Galveston.

This brings me to my next bit of advice, which is to write stories that have connections to other stories.

Write stories that can be woven together

On NewsBreak, a healthy length story is 600 words. You can get paid for shorter, but anything much shorter risks getting a lower rating, thus facing the possibility of an even lower base rate. (And seriously, I’m not stooping to $25 a story if I can help it.)

Use your 600 words wisely by breaking what should actually be one 1,200- word article into two halves. You have to do it logically, but it greatly expands your pay if you can make it work. In the case of my Galveston cruising stories, I wrote one piece focusing on the “normalcy” of cruising from Texas on either Royal Caribbean or Carnival. My second piece was entirely focused on the second Carnival ship to set sail from the Port of Galveston since the resumption of cruising. I mentioned the fact that cruising is more normal on this ship, allowing me to link the previous story.

You’ll also notice on almost everything I write for NewsBreak, I add links to two or three somewhat related stories at the bottom under a separate header. At least one of those is always from a previous month. What makes that easy to accomplish is that I work very hard at writing things that are both newsworthy now and for the next month or two.

The purpose of pointing a reader to an old story is to keep the pennies flowing from a back catalog. Here on Medium, having a catalog of evergreen work can easily sustain you through dry spells. On a news-oriented site, that becomes almost impossible because news is not supposed to be evergreen, right?

Wrong. There are lots of evergreen news stories. And even if the news itself is old news, if you write it correctly, your spin or analysis can become the evergreen part.

Example: Readers will happily re-read your advice about a new restaurant that opened months ago, as long as your story includes the information they need today should they want to try the restaurant. You do that by presenting the details of the grand opening, as the “breaking news,” then give them a review or a brief description of the menu, location, hours, etc. If you’re really good, break that into two cross-linked stories from the get-go, then link back to both of them two months later. That’s what I call a hat trick.

Consider NewsBreak as your side piece

I never intended to be in a committed relationship with NewsBreak. I’ve been monogamous with publications before and it didn’t work well for me. I figured out a long time ago that I work best with a variety of options on the table. Here’s my current list:

• On Medium, I write a weekly series for The Writing Cooperative, I try to publish in Better Marketing, Start It Up, and/or Illumination once or twice a month, and generally throw together a few short-form pieces every month. Plus, I have several publications of my own, including one featuring fiction.
• I am working on my 7th non-fiction book.
• I sell low-content travel journals on Amazon.
• I’m finishing a novella.
• I have a monthly gig writing for Cruise Critic.
• And I am still hanging on with NewsBreak. If you aren’t already writing for them, and have been looking for a new side piece, here’s my paid referral link to get you started.

Takeaways:

It’s possible to maintain our writing dignity and still use the publications available to us to keep a steady cash flow. The keys are to keep an eye on your writing quality and your back catalog. Those, along with multiple income streams are what will keep you afloat, both emotionally and financially, when the eventual breakups come your way.