In all your marketing, never forget those dream projects that have low selling potential. I may be off, but at least in my own career, the projects I care deeply about usually are the hardest sell. Which is why you’ll often see me in editorial meetings pushing and pushing and pushing for those stories.

These editors usually give me an A for effort, an A+ for irritation levels, and give me other work anyway (I am a good writer, after all). But they do remember what I’m really passionate about. And once in a while, they’ll write to me and say, “Hey, this is not a promise and I may be totally off, but send me that idea you’ve been blabbering about and I’ll forward it to this guy I met last night who might be interested. They might like to do this sort of thing.”

I’ve had this happen several times. And sometimes, it sells. Sometimes it leads to another contact. And sometimes, despite having no stories published on those topics, a whole bunch of editors see me as an expert on those topics and call me when they need some quick background information for in-house stories.

Will this lead to more work? Who knows. Does it make me a likeable and approachable writer who editors know will be dedicated and thorough with her work? Absolutely.

My point? (I always have one.) It’s that talking about things you’re passionate about, even when you know they won’t sell, is a really good idea because one, writing isn’t just about making money, and two, because it does lead to opportunities when people see what makes you tick. And sometimes you get the best of both worlds—your dream stories get you a sale.

What’s the one project you’d work on if you didn’t have to worry about money or time? Talk to people about that today.