I still write to keep the mental muscles working, but most of it now is done for free or for sites like Stacker News when it relates. Much of my second job energy now has shifted to other markets, such as online second-hand sales and coding. There has always been a market for being a "treasure hunter" for folks, finding the things they want from the past, but the income level doesn't come close to what I earned as a freelance writer. Coding also has taken a hit from AI, being the second wave of jobs impact, but what I do there is focus on building software myself instead of doing it for a client. Then I let the product sell itself. So, much of what I've had to do has been reinvention and diversifying as well as re-training.
I still write to keep the mental muscles working, but most of it now is done for free or for sites like Stacker News when it relates. Much of my second job energy now has shifted to other markets, such as online second-hand sales and coding. There has always been a market for being a "treasure hunter" for folks, finding the things they want from the past, but the income level doesn't come close to what I earned as a freelance writer. Coding also has taken a hit from AI, being the second wave of jobs impact, but what I do there is focus on building software myself instead of doing it for a client. Then I let the product sell itself. So, much of what I've had to do has been reinvention and diversifying as well as re-training.