Freelance Writing Advice

What kind of freelance writing do you want to do?

It is a little hard to comment without knowing more specific goals. Is it to develop your profile as a literary commentator? To make as much money as possible? To build a platform you will later use to launch a book?

I think a good place to start is to think of anything you have that gives you an edge in a certain area. Like a fiction niche you know well, a type of writing you can do really fast, or any "ins" you have with a market or influential organization. There are still plenty of markets you can just submit queries or work to (I Google my specialty areas with words like "paid" "open call" etc and the time span set to the last 6 months or so.). IMHO stay away from job aggregating sites, they pay very little).

I would suggest thinking of some general ideas of what you could write, like: book reviews, commentaries on a particular topical issue, local knowledge new stories. Then hunt down markets and submit. Sometimes the least likely markets are actually quite receptive to a well thought out cold email.

Laura15 said:

I'd really like to get into freelance writing, but have absolutely no idea how to start, so I was looking for some advice. My main question is how to get work with no clips. I have had a book blog for nearly two years, but seen as that is all stuff I've published myself (and so obviously wasn't approved by an editor or anything) I'm not sure how much credibility that really gives me.

Click to expand...

How many people read it? I have about eleven readers of one of my blogs. No credibility there.

Laura15 said:

I was also wanting opinions on whether or not I need to set up a separate website for my writing services. I have my blog, but I don't think setting up a page on there about it would be as professional as having a second site called myfullname.com. My blog is self-hosted though, so I don't really want to have to pay hosting fees twice, and I don't know if it's worth it because I have no clips anyway to create any kind of online portfolio.

Click to expand...

My domain names are registered with both Network Solutions and GoDaddy, but GoDaddy is less expensive. I now host with HostGator, which allows multiple domain names to point to separate sites within your hosting space. I install WordPress for each site name, so I have a separate WordPress site for every domain name with a single hosting fee.

I also set up an email at each domain name and either leave them as separate accounts or simply point the emails to my main address. This allows comment forms, contact forms or whatever to maintain an email within the same domain name. More professional looking than having a contact link for sampledomain1.com sent to [email protected].

If you need help setting it up, feel free to PM me.

Jeff

Good luck, Laura! I'm with veinglory on finding your niche. If you want to make much money fairly soon, you need to get organized, put together a few articles—and submit a lot. Work with a critique griup or SYW to make sure your subs are the best quality you can write. Use a spreadsheet or story tracker to track all subs, rejections/acceptances and payments. Do you read romance? Try RT. The main thing is to just hammer away at submissions.

But also make sure everything you have written online is your best work. Edit your blog posts if necessary.

And good luck!

An online presence is helpful if your website is professional looking. Sloppy ones, especially if they contain pedestrian/bad writing and/or grammar and spelling mistakes will do just the opposite. It'll chase business away.

If you want to see how professional freelance writers do websites, check out ASJA and their list of member websites. Good place to get ideas. But most of those writers have years in the business and major clips. Since you have none, not sure you really need to showcase nothing but an eagerness to work in the field.

My suggestion for breaking in is to look at trade publications. Trades are generally easier in the edit process and more likely to take a chance on a beginner. And honestly, national magazines are a pain in the lower region, for the most part. The pitching is soul-sucking and, while the money is usually better, you often have to go through multiple "editing by committee" (which basically means the entire editorial staff gets to have a go at your work passes and often they change editorial direction on a whim. You can end up rewriting a piece from top to bottom again after countless, rigorous rewrites and edits. Sometimes you don't get paid until years after a story is turned in (pay on publication, not acceptance). In the long run, you can end up making more per hour (which, in the long run is what counts when it comes to your bottom line) writing for trades -- even though they typically pay less per word/piece) than the big boys.

You've been told to find a niche and tackle it. Very good advice. Take that niche and develop others, find ways to extend your niche into other markets and accumulate clips. Then put together a professional website with clips and you're on your way.

Don't expect anything to happen overnight, though. You have to work hard to establish yourself and be prepared to have setbacks. If freelancing came easy, everyone would do it.

Good luck.

While often difficult to do, and what isn't, I've found the surest way to break into freelance writing without clips is by getting an interview with someone well-know who is reluctant to give interviews to the general press reporters.

The second best way is to have some area of real expertise, and be able to write about it.

The third best way, and the most common, that still works well, is to read books and articles about freelancing, plant your but and read a few hundred magazines, online and off, of the type you might want to write for, and then learn how to write a good query. The query is eh lifeblood of a freelance writer. Lean what a good idea is, learn how to write a query, and send out at least half a dozen per week.

Like most things, freelancing is about knowledge, and about sweat equity. You get the knowledge by reading, and you put in the sweat equity by planting you butt and writing query after query, and then article after article.

James is totally right about the query. You need to demonstrate that you can write clear and concise, know what you're talking about, and can deliver what you are pitching. For many of my pieces, I had to do about half the reporting to be able to write a query. And not every story I did that for sold. But I was making a living solely as a freelance journalist. It's all about finding a good story and convincing an editor you are the one who should write it. I once was offered a finders fee by an editor who loved the story pitched but wanted a staff writer take over. I think it was about $150 or $200. But I did want to have this clip. I was able to convince him to let me do it. And made a few hundred.

A good place to start is pitching a feature to a newspaper. Newspapers work quickly so you can build up some clips quicker than with many magazines. I also would suggest telling the editor you are willing to write on spec. That just means they will only pay you if they publish the story. You're allowing them to make a decision after the read the final product. It takes the risk factor away for the editor.

I'm not so sure why you're even thinking about website right now. I would be way more focused on what sort of story ideas you can come up with and really learning how to pitch. Good luck.

Laura, you may want to try your local market as well. Sometimes local magazines list their submission guidelines on the first page. It might not be your end goal, but you can get a clip or two that way.

Another relative newcomer to freelancing here.

Any tips for querying? I've got solid ideas, and once somebody actually reads my damned pitch, they typically use them. Problem is, 99 times out of 100, it seems I get lost in the slush pile. Any ways to get folks attention better, or spice up a freelance pitch?

And what are the trades I've heard mentioned?

A freelance query is not going in a slush pile where some intern will sort through it, it is going directly to the acquiring editor. So it is more likely you just aren't pitching the right idea to the right places. The key thing is to really know the market and offer them something fresh and on target, that is, right in their wheelhouse but with an interesting twist or special access/expertise.

If you are looking for blogging work, check out http://jobs.problogger.net/. Since you haven't gotten paid for blogging yet, you'll probably get some pretty low rates (seriously - I used to get $10-$15 per article), but it is worth it to get more samples.

Another good way to find work is to look at websites that are related to your areas of interests and look to see if they are hiring or looking for contributors.