A couple of weeks ago, I received a random email from the leader of a local open mic prose night. She told me one of my short stories had been selected for their showcase night.

I completely lost it! I started blubbering to D.J. about my fiction writing and how I didn’t really know if I wrote good fiction or if I could write or novel or if I should stick to writing for other people or or or…. I hadn’t even entered my name into the selection process — they had selected my piece from a reading I did almost 2 years ago.

I felt a beam of light shine down from the heavens onto my BlackBerry as I read her email.

This was a sign.

…A sign that I was a real writer at heart.

…A sign that I could write fiction.

…A sign that I should start working on one of the 3 or 4 novel ideas that stream through my head before I rise in the morning.

I’ve been going through somewhat of a writer’s crisis. Right now I make a living writing for other people. I’m ready to make a switch to start writing more for myself. But I’ve learned a lot about the book publishing industry, and I’m torn between what may be an emotional calling vs. a common-sense plan that will bring in revenue. What should I do?

Here are what I see as my potential projects and options:

  1. Better safe than sorry, right?: I’m making a pretty good living writing for other people. Why mess with what works in an economy like this?
  2. Really, this is a no-brainer: In 1996, my sister and I worked our way around the country for six months, doing everything from washing airplanes and windows to working in a spice factory, a bacon plant and an egg-packing facility. I wrote “America on Five Dollars an Hour,” and it was accepted for publication. At the last minute, the publisher and I had a parting of the ways (very long story).The manuscript needs a good revision, but it’s a book that’s done. I could rewrite the proposal and shop it around.
  3. Now this one might work: I’ve built a successful business, not an amazing business, but a successful business, by being what I indelicately call a “Cheapass Freelancer.” I use free tech tools, invest in cheap marketing techniques, eat cheap food and take financial shortcuts wherever I can. I think others would benefit from my tips and tricks, so I was thinking of a book tentatively titled, “1000 Tips to Make a Decent Living as a Cheapass Freelancer.” (The title needs help, I know.) I could start off with an ebook here then work toward self-publishing and travel around making presentations. I’m pretty confident that this would resonate with people, especially as so many are laid off and starting their own freelancing businesses.
  4. Starting to dream: I want to spend a year doing volunteer work for dozens and dozens of organizations and causes and write a book called “A Month of Sundays: A Year of Volunteering in America.” I actually had interest in this concept from a literary agent, but he and I had gone out together, so maybe he wasn’t really interested.
  5. Getting a little nutty: Publishers love it when writers have an idea for a series of books, so she can build an audience that buys each new volume. I want to write a series based on my travels with my sister: two smart yet quirky chicks who get odd jobs in state after state and wind up embroiled in mysteries they need to solve.
  6. Beth, really? Come on now: I’m fascinated with the interplay between certain scenarios/personalities and the media. I’ve got two novels in mind that will be funny, fast-paced social commentaries. One is based on the runaway bride episode, where a bride got cold feet and disappeared, only to claim that she was kidnapped. The second is about the myth of celebrity, where the ultimate inaugural ball (or some event) is supposed to include “everybody who is anybody.”

Dear readers, what should I do? As the numbers of the list get higher, the potential for revenue in the near future (or ever!) gets more remote. But if I don’t take the risk, nothing will change, and I will continue to have dreams of books never written in my head….

I’d love your feedback. What would you do?

PS — The reading is Tuesday night. Here are the details…