Please help me find a job I love.

[Merandab4]

Hi,
I have a degree in journalism and would like to learn about freelance writting. Does anyone have any info?

 

[tar heel]

There are lots of opportunities for freelance writers, BUT my experience is that you need to have a pretty good portfolio of clips to get anyone to look at you seriously. I've been doing freelance journalism work for almost 20 years (sometimes my only job and other times just doing a tiny bit), but I had worked as a newspaper reporter and at two colleges before I started. I also have found that freelance writing does not pay well. I do more editing/page layout/public relations work than feature writing.

I'm assuming that you don't have a lot of clips. My advice would be to get some. If there is a small newspaper or bureau of a larger newspaper where you live, talk to them about doing some work. This will not pay much, but it could give you both clips and a good reference. They will especially appreciate you offering story ideas. Maybe you could suggest a series of features about cool things going on in schools, since that is an area you know. As far as fashion goes, just about every paper does something on back-to-school fashions. Make sure to read the publications to get an idea of the kind of things they do first.

Also, if there is a larger daily newspaper that serves your area -- even if the main office is an hour away -- contact the travel editor and home/gardens editor there. At many papers, both of those sections use freelancers. It's been years since I've done one, but airline magazines used to be almost exclusively freelance and paid better than a lot of places.

Once you get some work, make a couple rules for yourself about your minimum amount of $ and whether you work on speculation (I don't), which is when you do the story, then someone decides whether they want it.

Good luck.