I was offered a gig being the co-writer of a book on Python by Manning. I turned it down ultimately for a variety of reasons, but in part because I thought it w

I was offered a gig being the co-writer of a book on Python by Manning. I turned it down ultimately for a variety of reasons, but in part because I thought it would be a lot of work for the likely pay, and partly because there were (what I considered to be anyway) several good and free alternatives already. Looking back, I might have accepted and done it, because I have heard it leads to more publicity and helps you get more paying work, which indirectly compensates for it. You asked about whether blogging might have created opportunities. In my case, I think it has, I know I've had folks look both at my writing and the rest of my online presence and that was a big factor in getting new paying work and opportunities. Everything helps. Just giving tangible evidence that you Have Skills and can Get Things Done, in whatever field, is huge.