Allena's Freelance Writing Blog

What kind of writer are you? Are you a full time freelancer (or wanna be?). Are you doing this part time for just a little extra money? Or is writing more of a hobby for you? Do you view yourself as an artist- are as a salesman? Read this article about the 6 different kinds of freelance writers, and then come back and tell me where you fit in. I promise to target at least some articles to each kind of writer that replies!

As many of you may have read, this reader wasn't having any luck with their queries to magazines back in the Spring. Yesterday I got another writer with the same problem, and have expounded on three more reasons your pitch may not be working.

I know this is a tough nut to crack, and I know the rejections are annoying. But, it's not impossible- I swear. If at all possible, go for volume. Send out a spate of 10 to 15 well-written, well-aimed pitches in one weekend. Cover your bases, increase your odds. If you give up, you will never be printed. It's as simple as that.

Are you successfully getting published? I'd like to know how many pitches you send out in a month.

I gather that many writers view this career as one in which they can kind of keep to themselves and be solitary. Did you know Edgar Allen Poe wrote in a dank basement and eschewed interaction? But I don't think freelancers can do that. I see freelancing as marketing, socializing, interviewing, and so on. Sure, a lot of it can be done from your home, but not all of it, right? Are there any freelancers out there who avoid interaction and get away with it? I'd love to hear from you. How do you pull that off? What is your niche area?

For the rest of us, be sure to read all about how to conduct an interview, how to get over the fear of interviewing, and whether or not to send your subject the interview questions ahead of time (do you? I do).

Here's to a great Monday!

Over at my personal blog, I keep a "word collection"- sort of a scrapbook of quotes and etc. I know it's odd- but I love words. Now, here at About.com, some of the words we use may throw you for a loop. There is a little learning curve in this business, just like any other. Tonight, I added the words copy, copywriting and kill fee to this site's dictionary. Is there anything else that's lacking? Let me know if there's a term that has always confused you or left you with an incomplete definition. I'll see what I can come up with!

When Michael Stelzner wrote me about the Copywriting Success Summit, I was open to it, but not convinced. But, after reading only 6 words, I was ready to sign up. Want to know those 6 words?

Brian Clark, Bob Bly, Peter Bowerman.

Those are some pretty big names. And you get to speak with them directly (virtually) with questions and comments? Come on! Can't beat that.

The Copywriting Sucess Summit is 4 weeks of live online classes such as "Making Money Writing Case Studies" and "Pricing Your Copywriting Services." The value here is incredible- I mean, I just saw Peter Bowerman's book at B & N yesterday- I'm excited! This summit is perfect for freelancers who want to get into this lucrative field, as well as for those beginner and intermediate copywriters who want to learn how to take things to the next level.

But, like most conferences, they've got that Early Bird Discount thing going on, so you better check it out ASAP- early bird ends on Thursday. (Sorry! I just found out and told you as quickly as possible!)

See you there?

So, I figured out from this post about my writing schedule that many writers don't track the hours they spend on their craft. I think you should, and here's why:

• In order to watch your bottom hourly rate.
• To analyze how much time you're actually working/writing versus Twittering, blogging, playing, paying bills, creating bills and other administrative tasks.
• Help you determine rates for future jobs (if one web copy makeover takes you 2 hours, chances are that the next project will be similar).

As for the why, I want to send that back to you. Why don't you track your writing hours? Or, if you do, how? (I use a simple Excel spreadsheet). Thanks for commenting!

I recently wrote a 1200 word article for a medium-size lifestyle magazine publication, complete with layperson quotes, professional quotes, cited research and a sidebar. Between the editor and I, it went through three drafts. I did the article in 4 distinct phases (research, interviews, write and revise), and it took me a total of 13 hours. The article will pay $600, which is about 50 cents per word (without the sidebar), or about $45 per hour of my time.

Now, I'm ok with both these numbers, but when I mentioned that the article took me a total of 13 hours, my editor seemed surprised. This worries me, as freelance writers know that time is money!

Are other freelancers cranking out magazine articles much faster than this? Is 13 hours too long for a 1200 word piece with 3 drafts? How long does it take you to write an article from beginning to end?

Although my comments about making a living and paying the bills may intimate that my career is all about the moolah, I am also a freelance writer due to sheer joy in working with words. Here are 10 additional career paths that freelance writers may want to explore. All of these fields relate to communication and/or working with the written language, and many of them can be done in a freelance capacity.

• Editing and proofreading. Look, not every writer can (or should) also be an editor or proofreader, and vice versa. But for those who are strong enough in both, this is often the first branch off the freelance writing tree.
• Freelance reading services. Yes, you can get paid to read. Publishers, agents, book summarizing services and audio book recorders are examples of industries that pay others to read their material.
• Translation. The growing population of ESL speakers in the U.S. means that this market is a rich one.
• Blogging. Ok, some writers consider this a niche of freelance writing, but wither way, be sure to get started in blogging here at About.com.
• Indexing. Guess what? Most of the indexes in non-fiction books are done by freelancers. Take a look at the American Society for Indexing FAQ.
• PR and Marketing. These fields rely on the printed word, and often target the same types of publications that freelance writers are accustomed to working with. There's a lot to learn about the PR and marketing field before you get started though.
• Virtual assistant. Since administrative tasks rely on dealing with the written word, you may want to think about selling your business writing services under the auspices of a VA business.
• Grant research and writing. Since grants are presented almost entirely through the written word, you've got a definite advantage as a writer who is used to laying out ideas in the medium.
• Teaching. Whether you're teaching about writing at the local community college, or instructing ESL speakers at a non-profit in your area, teaching about words and their meanings may be second nature for you.
• Creative writing. Tired of writing user manuals and articles about baby bottles? It might be time to flex your creative muscles instead.

This post is mostly for the newb writers that come to visit me. You know how you read all my pages about writing, and others' pages about writing, and books about writing, and etc. . . and you just get a brain drain and go lay on the couch instead? Don't you wish that you could just skim and absorb all this new career info by osmosis?

Well, now you can. Sort of.

As I mentioned before, Michael Stelzner runs a Top Ten Blogs for Writers contest every year. The 40ish semi-finalists were announced this past week, and you could not find a better reading list. I completely and totally urge every single new freelancer out there to peruse the list, choose a few blogs that appeal to you, and squeeze them into your daily web routine.

It's as close to osmosis as you're going to get!

I really hate to see good (but new) writers working for pennies via online content generation sites (and I know that I'm not alone in that sentiment). But my alternative may surprise you.

Work for free.

What I really mean is volunteer. Find a great cause, find a great group, and offer your writing services. For example, right before I started this post I visited Volunteermatch.org, which allows users to search jobs by locale- or no location at all! Taking advantage of the "search for virtual opportunities" option with "writing" as the keyword yielded the following opportunities:

• A career training institute for disadvantaged youth in need of a grant writer.
• A human rights advocacy group looking for a writer to create their organizational materials such as brochures and press releases.
• An enviromental group who needs a newsletter writer.

One thing I notice about all of these opportunities is that there are companies, websites and even other non-profits who will pay for these exact same tasks. But, you won't get them to hire you without some kind of proof that you can turn out a polished final project. I hope you check it out.