Professional Writing

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So I have had a few articles published in not-for-profit newspapers, but today I submitted an article for paid publication. This was a big step for me, but after I pressed enter, nothing happened. No balloons, no money falling from the sky, no miniature Welsh pony.
The thing is, I have no idea how this stuff works. So my question is to those who have actually been paid for their writing. What should I expect? Are there ponies?

I've been published. (The links to my online short stories are in my blog). I've never had balloons fall from the sky or gold coins either. I did win a writing contest once where i received a $25 Amazon gift card. I think having a pony would be cool, too.

I really can't think of anything else to do to make money. I will just keep banging my head against this wall 'til some coins fall out.

I thought I was on my way to the big time. I found a collector car sales website, and dazzled them with my knowledge of the subject. I was going to write articles on what to be aware of when buying a collector car. They bought the first article, and said 'thanks, but no thanks.' I guess they thought my articles would upset the professional car sellers.

I'm still trying to work some angle on this idea ....

I was a technical writer (tech writers write those user's guides for computers and software that nobody EVER reads, hehe; worse than not getting a Welsh pony) where I was paid a salary because I was employed directly by the businesses. I also worked some years as an independent writer and graphic designer where I was paid when I delivered the finished job to the customer. In writing for pay, the writer gets paid usually when the article is published. This could mean a several weeks to several months before getting paid. The pay is usually calculated as a certain amount of money ($5-10) per inch in its published form or a flat fee such as $300 for a longer feature article. It all depends on what the publisher is willing to negotiate. It is great work because you can sometimes write about whatever you like (and believe you could sell) and you usually retain the subsequent copyrights for future publication by other publishers. So, one article could get purchased and published many times over, especially if the article is topical (like, the history of Halloween in North America).