My biggest undertaking was launching 9 of Swords, an e-zine in 2007 to promote independent writers, artists and musicians. At the time, I was writing for a website called Associated Content (which is now Yahoo Voices) and I wanted to create my own magazine where the focus was on art rather than journalism. I recruited some of my fellow writers and started accepting submissions. In my naiveté, I paid all artists similar to the practices of Associated Content; however 9 of Swords definitely didn’t have the budget that Associated Content had. All the money paid to the writers, artists and musicians was coming out of my own pocket. It was only $5-$45 dollars per artist but it definitely added up and was not something I could sustain without advertisers and web traffic.

In 2007, Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin were still undiscovered by the masses and I knew nothing about Social Media Marketing. Looking back, I wish I had kept working on 9 of Swords; now that I am acquiring knowledge about Social Media Marketing, SEO and Affiliate Marketing, 9 of Swords may have seen more success had I known about these options at that time.Social Media Marketing, Blogging and SEO were not popular careers five years ago, and it seems technology has opened up several windows of opportunities for aspiring writers.  My goal is to become an expert in Social Media Marketing so I can help businesses profit, grow and succeed in the age of Social Media.  Perhaps, I will also decide to launch another 9 of Swords, no one knows what the future may hold....