I don't know where to begin, but I'm determined to begin.

Lynnetteviii said:

I don't know where to begin, but I'm determined to begin.

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That's a good start. Welcome to AW

Lynnetteviii said:

What type of writing would be most profitable for me?

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If you're going into it for money, you'll have a better chance of making money by waiting tables or selling Avon. Many people go into writing expecting a cash windfall when they haven't done any research on the realities of the business. Take a step back and first figure out what you can write about. Then learn how to write about it. Then learn how to edit what you've written. Then learn your markets. Then learn the submission process. (Every writer needs to learn these things, including those of us who write novels.) Again, learn your craft then learn the business. Your final goal shouldn't be how much money you can make at the end of the day. Your goal should be to produce the best damned possible writing you can. Getting paid is the by-product.

BenPanced said:

If you're going into it for money, you'll have a better chance of making money by waiting tables or selling Avon. Many people go into writing expecting a cash windfall when they haven't done any research on the realities of the business. Take a step back and first figure out what you can write about. Then learn how to write about it. Then learn how to edit what you've written. Then learn your markets. Then learn the submission process. (Every writer needs to learn these things, including those of us who write novels.) Again, learn your craft then learn the business. Your final goal shouldn't be how much money you can make at the end of the day. Your goal should be to produce the best damned possible writing you can. Getting paid is the by-product.

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I don't agree with all of what you've said here, Ben. Yes, if you're talking strictly about writing fiction, then trying to make a living is going to be tough.

However, there is more opportunity now than ever for non-fiction writers. Marketing, these days, is all about content. Companies need writers to create that content, and many find it more cost-efficient to use freelancers, than to keep writing staff on the payroll.

Lynnetteviii said:

This week I've created an Elance account and am working on a website, but haven't done much beyond that.

Does anyone have any tips for starting out? Is it at all possible to make around $50,000 a year, or am I just dreaming?


I'm hoping some of my skills from my corporate life could help me out in finding writing jobs. I've worked at US WEST, Mountain Bell, Ericsson, and Xcel Energy.


I have a CFA Charter (Chartered Financial Analyst)
I have an MBA
I'm working on my MFA


What type of writing would be most profitable for me?


Thank you so much for any help or tips.

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Hi, and welcome to AW! You're in the right place to learn about the business and craft of writing.

The first thing I'd recommend is to get to the library, and read everything you can get your hands on. A couple of titles I've read and highly recommend: Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer, by Jenna Glatzer; The Renegade Writer by Linda Formichelli and Diana Burrell; The Copywriter's Handbook by Bob Bly; and The Well-Fed Writer, by Peter Bowerman.

Get on the internet and read the blogs of some seasoned and successful pros. My favorites are: therenegadewriter.com (Linda Formichelli), makealivingwriting.com (Carol Tice), dollarsanddeadlines.blogspot.com (Kelly James-Enger), copyblogger.com (Jon Morrow, associate editor).

I really could go on and on--there's so much great info out there, if you know where to look.

Yes, you can make $50,000 a year. It's going to take a while to work up to it, but the amount of time it takes depends on you. If you actively market your business, you can be as successful as you want to be.

Having finance experience is huge. Some of the best rates are paid to writers who can write about finance.

Good luck! Keep us posted on your progress!

Hello there, I can share my experience so far. I've basically dived in head first to this thing, not as a part time gig but as my full time job right from the start. That is probably not typical and I understand it should take some time before I am making a decent income. It’s been a little over a month so far.

I second reading everything you can. The more you read about this business the more you understand that it is a business—paid professional writers are not an illusion, did not have to ‘hit it big,’ they are people who decided to become paid writers. In addition to reading about the business, I find it sort of comforting/insightful to look up writers I see in magazines, and get a sense of their background. A lot of times it instill a feeling of ‘if this guy can do it I can too.’


The most difficult thing for me so far is simply coming up with ideas. A solid idea turned into a solid query sent to a matching publication takes a lot of stars aligning. It seems most writers are very systematic in their approach (and books will teach you things like this), creating a idea matrix for example. Much of my work in the beginning is simply scouting publications and adding them to a database.


For me so far I have about 1500 published words from my 1-2 months of effort. Not much. But I see it as a slow process of building a network of editors (for example the two editors I worked with this month would probably give me another 1500 words next month if I wanted them). I also haven’t made much money. But I see the product as words sold, and long term the idea is to increase the rate per word to normal market levels. So if I were a more established writer my words sold last month would amount to $500-$2,000 in income. Of course if I were a more established writer I would have more words sold, and I can easily see that becoming $50k (though I have more modest goals).


One thing I can get better at is opening myself up to more work—I basically exclusively target consumer magazines as my source of income. But I’ve also noticed any time I pursue outside sources of income it distracts me from my work and I’m not nearly as productive in my target market.

Anyway good luck, I just found it helpful (and still do) to hear other people’s situation and experiences.

Lynnetteviii said:

Is it at all possible to make around $50,000 a year, or am I just dreaming?

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It's possible, but highly unlikely in your first year of freelancing. In five years though, if you take your writing seriously, learn, network with other freelancers, and treat it like a business, there's no reason you can't touch that number.

Good luck!

Lynnetteviii said:

Hello everyone,


I'm new to the world of freelance writing and am finding it intimidating. I don't know where to begin, but I'm determined to begin. This week I've created an Elance account and am working on a website, but haven't done much beyond that.


Part of the problem is in forging a new path. I've been in the corporate world my entire adult life. It hasn't always been bad, but my new boss and all of my co-workers are engineers. I have nothing against engineers (or people with severe personality disorders) but my boss is upset that I'm not obsessed with numbers or doing things by a set process. And that's okay, because I'm not. I'm obsessed with words. That's why I've been working every night for my MFA in creative writing.


Does anyone have any tips for starting out? Is it at all possible to make around $50,000 a year, or am I just dreaming?


I'm hoping some of my skills from my corporate life could help me out in finding writing jobs. I've worked at US WEST, Mountain Bell, Ericsson, and Xcel Energy.


I have a CFA Charter (Chartered Financial Analyst)
I have an MBA
I'm working on my MFA


What type of writing would be most profitable for me?


Thank you so much for any help or tips.

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Start with connections that you have, including the engineers, and anyone in the financial field that you might know. The MBA and CFA might be more useful to freelance writing. The engineers almost certainly need someone to translate from engineering into English, especially in proposals and similar things. You might look for clients in banking, insurance, and other related fields. My experience is that the insurance agencies have a problem with literacy. Make yourself available to write or rewrite advertising material and anything else they have.

If you know about the financial side of public utilities, then that kind of company can use you.

How much you can earn through freelancing is determined by how well you write, but your work ethic, and by how much you learn about the business. Writing is a business, and like all small businesses, some go broke, and other succeed wildly. Never listen to anyone who tells you you shouldn't write for money. Maybe they shouldn't, but this is always personal advice, and has no bearing at all on you.

There's a LOT of money to be made freelancing. Or by writing fiction, for that matter. It isn't about luck, and it isn't about odds. It purely about your talent level, your work ethic, and your knowledge of the business.

But I will say that $50,000 is not the same for the self-employed as it is for those who work for others. Most 50k jobs out there come with health insurance, paid vacation, some sort of retirement plan, sick leave, the employer pays half your SSI, taxes are taken right out of your check, etc. None of this is true for the self-employed.

A good rule of thumb is to determine the lifestyle that will satisfy you, and then double how much you have to make to live that lifestyle. In other words, as a self-employed freelance writer, 50k will give you roughly a 25k lifestyle.

If you've never freelanced, you have LOT to learn, and the advice to go to the library and read everything there is good. There are also websites that can help.

As with almost any business, you probably won't earn much, or anything, your first year. Maybe not for three or four years. Since you're starting off cold, you need a nice nest egg, a way to support yourself until you start earning good money.

There is good money in freelancing. Very good money. 100k per year is not at all out of the question. But it's a business, and like any business, you have to know all there is to know about it before jumping in with both feet. The number one thing you need to know is whether you're good enough to sell your work to top markets and companies.

A good place to start might be trade publications so that you can combine your business knowledge with your writing. You are going to need clips for many of the publications you probably want to write for.

Pitch. Pitch. Pitch. You will need to treat pitching story ideas like it is your job. Do it often. Not every idea will be accepted.

Are you getting your MFA in nonfiction? If so, your teachers probably have some connections. Connections can make a world of difference! Good luck!

I have doubts about 50k

I totally agree with Gettingby and Miller. First of all, almost NO true freelancers make $50,000 a year. Playboy and some of the other big monthlies, like Atlantic and New Yorker, pay up to $5,000 a story, but you've got to have a whale of a platform to command that (meaning you've got to be famous).

Most of the smaller books pay a couple hundred to maybe $1,000. Some as low as $50, especially for the on-line editions.

But those smaller books are not general interest. They are content driven, meaning you have to know your stuff. You can't BS your way through with wonderful writing alone.

Yes, start with trades, and those in your specialty. They won't pay much, but they'll get your foot in the door. A good track record has a snowball effect.

Speaking of the engineers, if you have a fairly good knowledge of what it is they do (which can vary a lot by the engineer), there are fairly lucrative opportunities in technical writing, from what I gather.

I don't know a huge amount, but...I do have a couple of buddies who support themselves this way, so it might be worth looking into. There aren't that many people out there who are both technically competent in certain subjects *and* are capable writers.

Welcome aboard ..

Miller Robert said:

I have doubts about 50k

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DennisB said:

I totally agree with Gettingby and Miller. First of all, almost NO true freelancers make $50,000 a year. Playboy and some of the other big monthlies, like Atlantic and New Yorker, pay up to $5,000 a story, but you've got to have a whale of a platform to command that (meaning you've got to be famous).

Most of the smaller books pay a couple hundred to maybe $1,000. Some as low as $50, especially for the on-line editions.

But those smaller books are not general interest. They are content driven, meaning you have to know your stuff. You can't BS your way through with wonderful writing alone.

Yes, start with trades, and those in your specialty. They won't pay much, but they'll get your foot in the door. A good track record has a snowball effect.

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When we speak of freelancing, it doesn't mean strictly writing for magazines. It means blogging, ad copy and web content as well. There is more than one way to get to where you want to be as a freelance writer. Yes, it's already been said that it will take a while to build up a reputation and a client list, but it really is reasonable to expect to make $50,000/year.

The really hard part is the marketing. However, I can't emphasize enough how important it is to your business. In order to make the kind of income you want to make, you must always actively market yourself and your services.

Melina said:

When we speak of freelancing, it doesn't mean strictly writing for magazines. It means blogging, ad copy and web content as well. There is more than one way to get to where you want to be as a freelance writer. Yes, it's already been said that it will take a while to build up a reputation and a client list, but it really is reasonable to expect to make $50,000/year.

The really hard part is the marketing. However, I can't emphasize enough how important it is to your business. In order to make the kind of income you want to make, you must always actively market yourself and your services.

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I'm not sure I completely agree with the "market yourself" piece. I think it depends what kind of writing you want to do and what kind of freelancer you want to be. The closest I came to marketing myself was attaching relevant clips to a pitch letter. It worked for the places I was trying to write for. But I strictly focused on writing news stories. I never felt like I had a service to offer, but rather a story to tell.

Did you not pitch stories to editors? That's marketing yourself.

What do you think fits you best? Do you know how to write whitepapers? Press releases? Do you have any experience in writing PR or marketing materials? Take what you've done in the corporate world and leverage it. If you don't have any specific writing background, learn to do some specialty things like those listed above. In the meantime, market yourself as a business writer. You could handle blog posts and perhaps website copy for certain business-related websites with your background, no doubt.

I've made a living as a freelancer from 2008 on, so please don't believe people who tell you that you can't. But it is important to take an inventory of your skills and how you can best market those to the paying clients. Then look for those clients online and especially look for marketing companies that hire writers for various projects, then email them with an offer of services and your qualifications.

as rx redd once said

I was fortunate enough to take a class with Rex reed when i was in my teens.
He said
forget what you learned in school, forget what your teachers said to you, forget it all. Forget about taking a course and all that tommy rot.
Writers write because they want to , a writer writes because they have to, it's in them. To force the issue with a course is like shooting yourself in the foot, then trying to tie your good leg up and dancing in pointe shoes. It doesn't work. If you want to write, then write.
Then forget abotu paying to getting a job. Thats so wrong in so many ways. Get a copy of writers alamanc, and if you look at WHAM, AWOC, here, see whats out there. then have the guts and balls to send a manuscript over. Thst how its doen, and you know how i know I ahve been going it for over 34 years! continually published every year since 1981.
find your nische and what you enjoy writing and glean looking for open calls, sumbmittal guidelines and so on. and then jump in feet first. Taking courses are a safe way to be dissapointed ad critiqued. My aunt took a course and continued to get a degree in it and never has been published and she hates me because I just jumped in. and got it done. Take Rex Reeds advice, write because you want to and then send send send.... BTW I am always here to help you find a place to submit

Lynnetteviii said:

What type of writing would be most profitable for me?

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Your resume.

Sorry, but if you're starting with that question, you can likely forget about success as a writer. Find yourself a real job and write as a sideline.

If you are looking for the most consistent money, technical writing and script writing are the better bets. You won't succeed at script writing, so start writing technical manuals.

Jeff

WeaselFire said:

Your resume.

Sorry, but if you're starting with that question, you can likely forget about success as a writer. Find yourself a real job and write as a sideline.

If you are looking for the most consistent money, technical writing and script writing are the better bets. You won't succeed at script writing, so start writing technical manuals.

Jeff

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Where to begin?

There is nothing wrong with wanting to make money from writing. Plenty of people do it. I am a full-time freelancer, and I won't tell you my income but it is a lot more than $50,000.

There are SO many ways to make money out of writing. Features writing (magazine and newspapers) is one way, but it is hard work and the pay varies wildly; I've been paid anywhere between 20c and 80c per word for features, and sometimes that equates to $400 for a piece that takes 15 minutes to write, whereas others might pay $1000 but take 5 full days to research and write. The pitching process can also be time consuming, frustrating and fruitless. So on the whole, it's unpredictable and earning a living from it (solely) is very hard work.

So, combine it with other kinds of writing. More lucrative options are corporate copywriting, technical writing, tender/proposal writing, content development, marketing/advertising copy ... there are so many options. These are all completely legitimate, necessary and rewarding ways to get paid to write. And they are "real jobs", incidentally.

You don't have to fall on the writerly sword and live a life of poverty for your art. Besides, corporate writing (especially proposal writing) gives me time for creative writing without starving my children. Everybody wins!