Everyone is tightening purse strings, even editors. When I inquired about a possible rate increase for my writing in 2009, I was emphatically turned down.

So, I wrote a few articles for my favorite editors, made up a new name and sent them off using a different email address. I even mentioned “a good friend of mine, Shaunna Privratsky,” sent me.

Imagine my chagrin when I realized that the Sent information clearly stated: from Wade Privratsky, my husband. I sure wouldn’t make a good spy! I contacted my editors and explained my idea: to submit more work and get paid more.

I’ve often been called prolific, and not in a good way. Most editors can only accept one piece a month from one person, sometimes less. My clumsy idea was to submit my usual twelve or so articles, then send additional work under an alias.

An editor I’ve worked with for over five years told me, “This is a first, in over twelve years and thousands of writers.”

Another said, “Using a different name is quite common and I’m perfectly fine with it.”

A third said, “Sure! Instead of twelve articles, why don’t you send eighteen? You can pick when you want the extras to run.”

One suggested I write twice as many articles and publish a few of them without bylines so that he could accept more.

All in all, the response was positive and 2009 is shaping up to be a busier and more profitable year. If you would like to cash in on the concept of getting paid for more writing, I suggest you approach your favorite editors and ask. After all, a writer by any other name is still a writer.

Shaunna Privratsky writes fulltime from North Dakota, in between shoveling snow. Please visit The Writer Within at https://shaunna67.tripod.com. We are looking for new writers and we are a paying market.