Any Freelance Writers Out There?

[toledo13]

Hi everyone! Does anyone do freelance writing? If so... how did you get into it? How do you find jobs? What do you write about? I'd love lots and lots of information... or little information... whatever you want to share!!! I'm thinking about getting into it.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Go buy the book "Writer's Market". Learn it, love it, know it.

Writing's the easy part; selling's the tough part. You have to be organized and keep track of everything that's going out and everything's that's out, how long, etc. Keep spreadsheets.

You have to know how to market yourself, how to proofread yourself, and how to negotiate contracts. I would also suggest taking some classes to help get you started and find where your strengths are.

The best tip I can give you is write what you know. Or become an expert on something you're interested in and write about that. Just make sure there's a market for it (Writer's market book).

Another good tip is stay off the freaking Disboards. When you have writer's block it's a damn fine way to waste an afternoon...

 

[Teresa Pitman]

I'm a writer and have been supporting my family this way for more than 20 years (single parent, four kids). It's not easy, even if you are a good writer and love it. I'd suggest looking for a professional writer's group in your community, if there is one, or taking a course or two.

You need to know:
How to write a query/proposal. (A great book on this is Query Letters that Rock.)

Ways to approach editors and "break in" (Another great book by the same authors - The Renegade Writer).

What's unique about each magazine you approach - who their audience is, what subjects they do and do not cover, etc. For example, there are many parenting magazines, but each has a different focus - an article that would run in one will be rejected by another. Take some time to analyze them.

How to find an "angle" for an article. Every possible topic has already been written about - the writer's challenge is to find a new approach, a different way to look at it, something fresh and interesting.

Unless you are only writing personal essays, you need to know how to find experts and sources, interview people and be accurate in quoting them.

You might also consider other types of writing, such as writing for businesses and organizations. While less creative, this can be very interesting and definitely pays better. A good book on this is "The Well-Fed Writer."

Teresa

 

[Aisling]

Getting the Writer's Market book is great advice.

If you live in a city with a lot of neighborhood newspapers, I'd strongly suggest you start there. I'm a decently successful freelance writer, and I began by checking out the neighborhood papers, seeing what kind of articles are there, and following that lead.

The very first article I wrote was about a local cemetery that had some interesting people buried there. There were free tours, so I went on one, took notes and a few photos with my basic digital camera, and wrote an article suitable for Halloween, which was 6 weeks away. I wrote about a woman who was famous in the 1920s for holding seances, a man who burned down his own factory killing 100 workers, the catacombs there where "animals" now lived but sounded like people crying, etc. I wrote not like a reporter, but as if I were speaking, and included information about the free tours open to the public. I sold it for $100 to a local paper.

My best advice is to just do it, check your grammar, write as if you were telling a story, and if possible, go to the office of the newspaper and tell them you have something they may be very interested in (IF it's a small local paper. Don't do this with larger newspapers/magazines).

It worked for me, and I've since written close to a hundred published articles over the last 5 years.

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!