Writing for a Living: How Badly Do You Want It?

I often hear people say that they want to be writers or that they wish they could do what I do for a living. Some people ask whether I can “get them into writing.” I tell them where they can look for work and give them suggestions about preparing a resume and samples for prospective clients. Most of them decide that’s too much “like work” and abandon the idea of being a writer at that point.

It is work. Not only do you have the work of doing your writing assignments, but you are your own Marketing, Customer Service, and Accounting Departments. As one of my clients pointed out, when you are self-employed, you only work half days, as in 12 hours each.

There are definite advantages, though, to being your own boss. You get to make decisions about who you will work with and what assignments you will take. When I used to work in an office, my income was decided by someone else and I got paid the same amount no matter how hard I worked. Now I get to decide what income level I want to achieve and how much work I need to take on to get it.

If this is something you really want to do, you will be prepared to do the leg work involved in finding out about markets and how to get started. There are many people who are willing to share what they know to help someone who has questions. Just don’t ask them to do the work for you. If this is something you really want to do, it won’t feel like work anyway.

Let Go of Your Fear of Getting Fired

Stop being afraid you’re going to get fired. When you are freelancing, you are working for yourself. The only person who can fire you is….you.

The relationship between yourself and a client is not the same one that exists between and employer and an employee. When you are dealing with a client, you are an independent businessperson and – dare I say it – your client’s equal.

When you are an equal, you negotiate terms instead of asking your boss for permission to do something. A client can’t take your job away from you like a boss can. If things aren’t working out, they can choose not to work with you anymore. The flip side to that idea is that you can also choose to tell the client that you won’t be available for any more assignments. Being a freelancer gives you that flexibility – you are “free” to take on an assignment or pass on it.

I think that sometimes we can get so concerned about not meeting the client’s expectations and losing the client that it gets in the way of our doing our best work. I know I’ve made mistakes in my work sometimes where I’ve missed something and turned in something that was other than what the client wanted. When it happens, I offer to make it right. There have been a few times where the client has decided to go elsewhere, and they certainly had every right to do so.

Now I focus on trying to keep my clients happy and give them what they want, as opposed to being worried about “one mistake and you’re out.” I can’t control what someone else decides to do, but I can let go of my fear of being “fired” and focus on working “with” and not “for” my clients.

BookRix: Social Networking for Writers

If you are looking for a new way to promote your work, you may want to visit Bookrix.com. This site was launched in the U.S. in December and now has an estimated 10,000 members. BookRix is a free resource where writers can upload content and have it published online in an ebook format – free of charge.

If you don’t have a web site and are looking for a way to display your writing samples, consider putting them up at BookRix. The site’s ViewRix technology prevents your work from being copied, and you retain all rights to it. BookRix allows members to create a profile page as well. You can upload images, videos, or start a blog. Visitors to the site can check out other writers’ work and write a review, if they are so inclined.

You can get more information about BookRix by visiting the web site or checking out the interview posted on LoveToKnow.com’s Freelance Writing channel.

When is the Right Time to Become a Freelance Writer?

I admit that I lurk around on various message boards and the discussion that I see get me thinking. I’ve been following one discussion about when it’s a good time to launch a career as a freelance writer. These options have been suggested, and both of them have valid points:

• Save up enough money until you have several months’ worth of expenses and go full time.
• Start part time while working in a “day” job and build up a good client base and ease into freelancing.

The idea here is to have some kind of a “fall back” position in case the whole freelancing thing doesn’t work out. I fully appreciate this idea, but there is something to be said for going full tilt and not worrying about the bridges you leave behind. If you are good at your craft and you look after your clients well, you won’t need them.

I must take exception to the idea that “security” comes from working for someone else. It doesn’t. Really. If you are an employee, your employer has the power to decide that your services are no longer required at any time. If the company needs to make cuts, your job may be affected, no matter how well you did your job. Where is the security in that?

If you want to be a writer, then be one. There is no better time than right now to get started. The freelancing has room for people who want to work at all different levels, from those who rely on the income to put food on the table to those who use their earnings to save for something special that they want. If you are waiting for the exact, risk-free time to launch your career, you will be waiting for a long time. It’s not going to happen.

And if you are holding back because you don’t have faith in your abilities, I found a great quote that covers that point too:

“The greater the artist, the greater the doubt; perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize.” (Robert Hughes, Time)

Now is the time. We can’t live in the past, because it’s gone. We don’t know what the future will bring (unless you have a crystal ball that works…I don’t). All we have is the present, so make the most of it and go after what you really want.

Would You Work for a Content Provider Company?

Before I continue with this post, I want to clarify that when I am talking about content provider companies, I mean those that pay a half-decent rate, not $1.00 for 500 words. I’ve worked for content providers, and I think there are some positive aspects to working for them.

• Steady Work

Since their business is providing content for site owners, these companies can probably supply you with work on a regular basis. You don’t need to find the work – the company looks after that aspect of it.

• Exposure to Several Topics

When you are just starting out or you don’t have a specific niche that you write about, why not become a generalist? Working for a content provider means that you have the opportunity to write about a variety of topics, all of which you can add to your resume under “experience.” Not a bad thing at all.

• Opportunity to Get Experience in New Areas

The content providers I have worked for were responsible for giving me the chance to write my first autoresponder series, e-book, sales letter, squeeze pages, and product descriptions. All of these were good experiences and are services that I can offer to clients, if need be.

• Regular Pay

A content provider company will pay you on a regular schedule, whether they have been paid by their client or not. You know when and how much you are going to be paid when you accept an assignment.

The drawback to working for a content provider company is that you would make more money if you found the clients yourself. Not everyone is willing or able to be continuously pitching new clients, negotiating fees, and dealing with receivables they don’t get paid promptly. The freelance writing world should be big enough to include this type of working relationship as a viable option for writers.

What do you think? Would you work for a content provider if the pay was something you could live with, or are writers better off finding their clients on their own?

The “Bread and Butter” Client

There are some clients you can usually count on to keep you supplied with a steady stream of work. I call them “bread and butter” clients.

The work can vary, depending on what the client has available, and if you develop good relationships with a few of them, you can avoid a lot of the “feast or famine” times that seem to be a part of so many freelance writer’s lives.

The Trade Off

I have a few bread and butter clients that I’ve been working with for awhile now, and the arrangment works out pretty well. I know that I can probably get a certain amount of work from them each month, and hopefully I can fill in gaps in my schedule with other project work. I find that being hired for a specific project only tends to pay a bit better, but the work flow varies.

The trade off comes in the form of choosing steady work at a slightly lower rate of pay versus the uncertainty of project work that pays better. I like to have a combination of the two,and I don’t have a problem with taking on something that will keep me working on a regular basis.

If you could choose the kinds of clients that you would prefer to work with, would you stick to the bread and butter variety, or do you want to go after more lucrative projects that may be harder to land? Or does having a mix of both kinds make more sense to you?

4 Reasons You Should Consider “Small” Jobs

When you are looking for freelance writing work, are there some gigs that you pass on either applying for or accepting because they are too small? This may be a mistake, and here’s my take on why they are worth considering:

1. They can be completed relatively quickly.

You may not have time to commit to (another) large project right now, but taking on a smaller one means that you can get the work done and get paid quickly.

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Are You Passionate About Your Writing Career?

To be a freelance writer, you need to have good writing skills. That’s a given. You also need to be able to follow instructions carefully so that you clients get what they want. Having good communication skills helps you to develop good working relationships. All of these are skills that you can develop and improve on over time, but there is still a piece to the puzzle that is missing….we talk a lot about being “cool” like it’s something we should be striving for, but I wonder why we don’t value being passionate about what we do.

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Power Suits Not Included

by Ellen Goldstein

In Lisa Sonora Beam’s book The Creative Entrepreneur (Quarry Books, 2008), she presents the following journal prompt “Who is in my business advisory circle?” For the beginner freelance writer or editor, this can be a potentially traumatizing question. However, it doesn’t have to be. You don’t need an army of smart-phone-using, business-suited colleagues to have a business advisory circle (although for a few hours it might be nice); just a few people, some of whom you may already know, to give you advice about running a business.

Mine your friends and family.

Just as you have certain friends you talk to about relationships, you should have certain people with whom you can talk about your business. Even if none of your friends are freelance writers, they may still have experience with invoicing, paying taxes, researching lawyers, etc. Did you have a friend from elementary school who outsold everyone in Girl Scout cookies? Is she the marketing manager of some corporation? Call her up, remind her of your Girl Scout days, and ask her for advice.

When I took calculus in college, it was not my computer science friends (you know, the ones who took ordinary differential equations for fun) who helped me pass calculus. It was my French major friend who did not excel at math, but was a little more technical- and number-minded than I am, who got me through. In your advisory search, find someone who is farther along in her career than you, but not so far along that she can’t remember what it is like to be just starting out.

Find a consultant.

Get in touch with other freelancers you know. Offer to take them out for lunch and discuss the nitty gritty details of quarterly tax payments, as well as the more interesting aspects of your field. If you don’t know any freelancers (and even if you do), look into joining freelance and professional unions and associations. With a professional association, such as Editorial Freelance Association, you’ll find meetings, classes, resources, and even job leads. The National Writers Union or the Freelancers Union offer contract assistance and other business advice.

Look beyond traditional business mentoring models and check out local skillshares and barters. Bartering can be either a formal or informal exchange of goods or services, with no money changing hands. Craigslist has a barter section under its “for sale” section. Skillshares are more organized events where people lead workshops to teach other people what they know. Where else can you learn how to write a resume in the morning and fix your bicycle in the afternoon?

Find many consultants.
Maybe your consultant is actually a group. You might have luck finding business support in a group environment, such as a listserv, online forum, or support group. You can usually join a listserv for free, and become a part of valuable discussions, often about the very questions that plague you…or will soon enough. There are listservs for copy editors, science writers, poets, technical writers, and writing teachers, among many others.

Find a freelance support group. Get together with other people who are thinking of taking the freelance plunge or who have been practicing freelancers for years. Meet and discuss your insights, struggles, and coping methods. Set business goals for yourselves and work together to achieve them. Meetings are a great reason to leave the house and hang out with people who can talk shop with you.

And while building community, don’t forget to comment on your favorite blogs or freelance blog networks….

Ellen Goldstein is a freelance editor and poet living in Beverly, Massachusetts.

Don’t Abandon Your Job Search When the Weather Heats Up

I’ve been following a discussion on a message board where freelancers are talking about their plans for the summer and cutting back on their work load. I do think it’s important to take some time so that you can rest and regroup, I don’t think that you should take the summer off as far as looking for freelance writing work is concerned.

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