Freelance Writing
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SageMommy.Com
If you love to read, you probably dream of this: sitting at home in your office… no,
even better, flopped across your bed tapping away on a state-of-the-art laptop
bought with the proceeds of your latest short story. If storytelling isn't your forte,
maybe you’re a nonfiction person, bursting with informative how-to’s ready to be
written in a punchy, humorous tone and published in a thick, glossy magazine
with a celebrity on the front. Either way, someone has to write the stuff everyone
else reads… why not you?
Pros: You can do most of your work from home at your convenience and request
assignments as your schedule allows. All you need is a computer with online
access, which you probably have if you’re reading this. Sure, it’s a tight market,
but success stories abound. If you have an innate way with words, you shouldn’t
hide your light under a bushel basket (or bury it in the unread annals of your PC).
Cons: Everyone thinks they are the next Caitlin Flanagan, or Stephen King, or
(insert other wildly successful writer’s name here). And everyone can’t be. It’s a
brutal market that is hostile to newcomers. You must be okay with organization
and time management, good with deadlines, and great with words.
The most common ways to make money writing are copywriting, professional
blogging, writing for web audiences, and writing for actual print. Most writers who
make a good income writing dabble in most or all of these. Regardless of how
you choose to make money, a personal website is a good way to showcase your
writing ability and "voice". I recommend getting a basic website from a reputable
brand such as Microsoft or Yahoo. Free websites are available through many
companies, but I prefer paying a few dollars a month for a professional quality
website to having my website covered with blinking ads for pornography and cell
phone ring tones. I've found that a few Google ads are usually enough to cover
any expenses. Note: If your sole source of writing income will be blogging, simply
having a blog ought to be enough.
Copywriting:
Have you ever noticed that the world is filled with words, on websites, in ads, and
even in junk mail? People are paid to write all those words. These anonymous
people are called copywriters.
I have been paid $10 to write 100 words on tourism in Spain, $60 to write 500
words on palmistry, and $5 each for hotel reviews. These are only a few
examples of my paying jobs as a copywriter. This is the "bread and butter" of my
writing career, the constant and sometimes boring way I fill the gaps between
more noteworthy work. Here's how you can break in:
1. Find the work. Set up accounts at freelance copywriting sites. I have personal
experience with both Elance and getafreelancer.com. If that's not enough for you,
Go Freelance offers unlimited access to their job listings for $2.95. You can also
try posting your resume and searching for leads on general jobs boards such as
Monster.com and Job.com--both of these are free, which is a huge plus for a
financially strapped beginner. I do regular web searches for terms such as
"freelance writing" and "copywriting job"--it sounds crazy, but I have found paying
work this way. Another good source of income for the copywriter can be reviewing.
Paid reviewing usually has a low rate--think $5 to $15 a job--but takes little time
and there are often 10 or more reviews available. This can add up to a lot of
money.
2. Apply for the jobs you find. Usually, you submit a proposal first. This tells your
prospective employer what you will write (it should be exactly what they asked for),
how much money you would charge, when you will deliver, and when/how you
expect to be paid. At first, people will be reluctant to hire you because you are new,
so keep your rates low and your turnaround time short. Apply for a whole lot of
jobs and be prepared for a lot of rejection. Eventually, someone will decide to give
you a try--for me, this took less than a week--and then the jobs will start trickling in.
3. Follow Through. Don't ruin your career before it's left the launch pad by not
delivering quality work before deadline.
Income: Varies by job, experience, and amount of work you are willing to perform.
I can make about $25 an hour if uninterrupted.
Intangibles: Once you get that first check or Paypal deposit, you can start calling
yourself a professional writer, which sounds and feels impressive. If you are a
decent writer, you will start seeing money quickly. Eventually, you will get a few
steady clients and not have to spend as much time searching.
Blogging for Dollars:
It is literally as easy as it sounds. Here are the steps:
1. Set up your blog. Blogger is the gold standard for blog hosts, but many people
are moving to other site such as MovableType and Typepad. Each has their own
pros and cons, but all provide a free and simple way to start your blogging
business. All will walk you through the process and provide templates.
2. Find advertising. Once you have established a blog and made a few posts,
your next step is to find blog advertising. I highly recommend Pay-Per-Post,
although I have worked for both Smorty and blogsvertise. I am an active
professional blogger for all three of them and can confirm that their process is
easy and their paychecks forthcoming.
3. Set up a Paypal account, because all of the blog advertising companies I know
of pay that way.
Income: I make only $25-50 a month this way, but it takes little time and is good
exposure. More regular and ambitious bloggers make thousands of dollars a
month.
Intangibles: This puts your name out there on a national and international level.
People that I personally know have been offered novel contracts, other writing
work, and paid positions as convention speakers from their blog. Having an active
blog is a bare minimum for the beginning writer, so this is something you should
be doing whether for money or not.
Writing for Web Audiences:
This is a vast category that could have its own entire website, so I will cover only
what has been relevant in my own writing career.
Writing for the internet can be either a career in itself or a stepping block into more
lucrative writing for magazines and books. Some people have become de facto
"experts" based solely upon their web presence. This is where writing shifts from
a job to a career.
There are a few sites that are always hiring writers. Some are easier to get to get
hired at than others; some pay in cash, some by ad revenues and some pay in
links to your other websites. Here are the ones I have had good experience with:
Suite 101: You get paid a percentage of your ad revenue, which can be significant.
A very professional site with editors and high traffic. Tell them 'emmiedahl'
referred you and I'll get brownie points.
Helium: The standards aren't as high, but it's still a good place to get your work
out there. It pays the same way as Suite 101.
eHow: Ditto.
About.com: They are always looking for writer "guides" to maintain different parts
of their site. If you are hired, you are an actual employee with a time commitment,
but you are guaranteed at least $720 a month in income.
Income: Varies widely
Intangibles: Having your name in print on a third party site brings a lot more
respect. If you are a professional quality writer, you and your work will be taken
very seriously.
Writing for Print:
This is the most lucrative and well respected writing. The best way to break in is
to follow the above avenues and then start sending queries to your favorite
magazines. There are hundreds of books written about queries, and about a shelf
of them at every public library. In general, a magazine or newspaper editor gets so
many queries from published authorities that the unpublished are immediately
ruled out. This is where your web experience will come in; if you ARE a published
writer in the field you hope to write about, it immediately places you higher than
90% of the letters in their in box.
Regardless of what you plan to write or where you wish to publish it, here are a
few books that will guide you on your way:
1. The Writer's Market is the industry expert on all sorts of writing. A new version is
published every year with updated information. It is the authoritative guide to who
is buying what. Think of it as a thousand or so pages of want ads for freelancer
writers. Even if your library has a copy, the serious writer will need this on a daily
basis.
2. Online Markets for Writers is a basic, easy-to-read beginner's guide to getting
your work published on the internet, including expanded lists of markets. I
borrowed this one from the library and took pages and pages of detailed notes.
3. Secrets of a Freelance Writer is not just about finding financial success as a
freelance writer, but also about the nitty-gritty basics of copywriting. A must-have if
you read my paragraph about copywriting and thought I was talking about the little
"c" after Coca-Cola.
There, for what it's worth, is all I know about freelance writing at this moment in
time. If you have advice or knowledge, or just want to say hi, email me at
shastamarshalls@sbcglobal.net. You can see the day-to-day mischief of a
freelance writer at my writing blog.
even better, flopped across your bed tapping away on a state-of-the-art laptop
bought with the proceeds of your latest short story. If storytelling isn't your forte,
maybe you’re a nonfiction person, bursting with informative how-to’s ready to be
written in a punchy, humorous tone and published in a thick, glossy magazine
with a celebrity on the front. Either way, someone has to write the stuff everyone
else reads… why not you?
Pros: You can do most of your work from home at your convenience and request
assignments as your schedule allows. All you need is a computer with online
access, which you probably have if you’re reading this. Sure, it’s a tight market,
but success stories abound. If you have an innate way with words, you shouldn’t
hide your light under a bushel basket (or bury it in the unread annals of your PC).
Cons: Everyone thinks they are the next Caitlin Flanagan, or Stephen King, or
(insert other wildly successful writer’s name here). And everyone can’t be. It’s a
brutal market that is hostile to newcomers. You must be okay with organization
and time management, good with deadlines, and great with words.
The most common ways to make money writing are copywriting, professional
blogging, writing for web audiences, and writing for actual print. Most writers who
make a good income writing dabble in most or all of these. Regardless of how
you choose to make money, a personal website is a good way to showcase your
writing ability and "voice". I recommend getting a basic website from a reputable
brand such as Microsoft or Yahoo. Free websites are available through many
companies, but I prefer paying a few dollars a month for a professional quality
website to having my website covered with blinking ads for pornography and cell
phone ring tones. I've found that a few Google ads are usually enough to cover
any expenses. Note: If your sole source of writing income will be blogging, simply
having a blog ought to be enough.
Copywriting:
Have you ever noticed that the world is filled with words, on websites, in ads, and
even in junk mail? People are paid to write all those words. These anonymous
people are called copywriters.
I have been paid $10 to write 100 words on tourism in Spain, $60 to write 500
words on palmistry, and $5 each for hotel reviews. These are only a few
examples of my paying jobs as a copywriter. This is the "bread and butter" of my
writing career, the constant and sometimes boring way I fill the gaps between
more noteworthy work. Here's how you can break in:
1. Find the work. Set up accounts at freelance copywriting sites. I have personal
experience with both Elance and getafreelancer.com. If that's not enough for you,
Go Freelance offers unlimited access to their job listings for $2.95. You can also
try posting your resume and searching for leads on general jobs boards such as
Monster.com and Job.com--both of these are free, which is a huge plus for a
financially strapped beginner. I do regular web searches for terms such as
"freelance writing" and "copywriting job"--it sounds crazy, but I have found paying
work this way. Another good source of income for the copywriter can be reviewing.
Paid reviewing usually has a low rate--think $5 to $15 a job--but takes little time
and there are often 10 or more reviews available. This can add up to a lot of
money.
2. Apply for the jobs you find. Usually, you submit a proposal first. This tells your
prospective employer what you will write (it should be exactly what they asked for),
how much money you would charge, when you will deliver, and when/how you
expect to be paid. At first, people will be reluctant to hire you because you are new,
so keep your rates low and your turnaround time short. Apply for a whole lot of
jobs and be prepared for a lot of rejection. Eventually, someone will decide to give
you a try--for me, this took less than a week--and then the jobs will start trickling in.
3. Follow Through. Don't ruin your career before it's left the launch pad by not
delivering quality work before deadline.
Income: Varies by job, experience, and amount of work you are willing to perform.
I can make about $25 an hour if uninterrupted.
Intangibles: Once you get that first check or Paypal deposit, you can start calling
yourself a professional writer, which sounds and feels impressive. If you are a
decent writer, you will start seeing money quickly. Eventually, you will get a few
steady clients and not have to spend as much time searching.
Blogging for Dollars:
It is literally as easy as it sounds. Here are the steps:
1. Set up your blog. Blogger is the gold standard for blog hosts, but many people
are moving to other site such as MovableType and Typepad. Each has their own
pros and cons, but all provide a free and simple way to start your blogging
business. All will walk you through the process and provide templates.
2. Find advertising. Once you have established a blog and made a few posts,
your next step is to find blog advertising. I highly recommend Pay-Per-Post,
although I have worked for both Smorty and blogsvertise. I am an active
professional blogger for all three of them and can confirm that their process is
easy and their paychecks forthcoming.
3. Set up a Paypal account, because all of the blog advertising companies I know
of pay that way.
Income: I make only $25-50 a month this way, but it takes little time and is good
exposure. More regular and ambitious bloggers make thousands of dollars a
month.
Intangibles: This puts your name out there on a national and international level.
People that I personally know have been offered novel contracts, other writing
work, and paid positions as convention speakers from their blog. Having an active
blog is a bare minimum for the beginning writer, so this is something you should
be doing whether for money or not.
Writing for Web Audiences:
This is a vast category that could have its own entire website, so I will cover only
what has been relevant in my own writing career.
Writing for the internet can be either a career in itself or a stepping block into more
lucrative writing for magazines and books. Some people have become de facto
"experts" based solely upon their web presence. This is where writing shifts from
a job to a career.
There are a few sites that are always hiring writers. Some are easier to get to get
hired at than others; some pay in cash, some by ad revenues and some pay in
links to your other websites. Here are the ones I have had good experience with:
Suite 101: You get paid a percentage of your ad revenue, which can be significant.
A very professional site with editors and high traffic. Tell them 'emmiedahl'
referred you and I'll get brownie points.
Helium: The standards aren't as high, but it's still a good place to get your work
out there. It pays the same way as Suite 101.
eHow: Ditto.
About.com: They are always looking for writer "guides" to maintain different parts
of their site. If you are hired, you are an actual employee with a time commitment,
but you are guaranteed at least $720 a month in income.
Income: Varies widely
Intangibles: Having your name in print on a third party site brings a lot more
respect. If you are a professional quality writer, you and your work will be taken
very seriously.
Writing for Print:
This is the most lucrative and well respected writing. The best way to break in is
to follow the above avenues and then start sending queries to your favorite
magazines. There are hundreds of books written about queries, and about a shelf
of them at every public library. In general, a magazine or newspaper editor gets so
many queries from published authorities that the unpublished are immediately
ruled out. This is where your web experience will come in; if you ARE a published
writer in the field you hope to write about, it immediately places you higher than
90% of the letters in their in box.
Regardless of what you plan to write or where you wish to publish it, here are a
few books that will guide you on your way:
1. The Writer's Market is the industry expert on all sorts of writing. A new version is
published every year with updated information. It is the authoritative guide to who
is buying what. Think of it as a thousand or so pages of want ads for freelancer
writers. Even if your library has a copy, the serious writer will need this on a daily
basis.
2. Online Markets for Writers is a basic, easy-to-read beginner's guide to getting
your work published on the internet, including expanded lists of markets. I
borrowed this one from the library and took pages and pages of detailed notes.
3. Secrets of a Freelance Writer is not just about finding financial success as a
freelance writer, but also about the nitty-gritty basics of copywriting. A must-have if
you read my paragraph about copywriting and thought I was talking about the little
"c" after Coca-Cola.
There, for what it's worth, is all I know about freelance writing at this moment in
time. If you have advice or knowledge, or just want to say hi, email me at
shastamarshalls@sbcglobal.net. You can see the day-to-day mischief of a
freelance writer at my writing blog.