From my window in Brooklyn, I can see Manhattan’s shiny, silver Financial District over the rooftops and through the trees. When I worked as an Assistant Editor at a national women’s magazine, I hardly ever looked out my windows-I missed the sunny part of the day anyway. But when my magazine folded and I found myself with a bit of severance pay, I decided to open the curtains.
If you only write about the latest news and the hottest trends, you may be missing out on one of the best niches for freelance writers – historical and nostalgic articles. Editors are paying top dollar for writers who can put a fresh spin on old topics, and I’m not just talking about Civil War […]
I have to confess that when I come across a situation that I don’t know how to handle, my first instinct is to run to the bookshop or the library to find a book on the subject. My husband jokingly claims that I don’t take a ‘pill for every ill’ but read a ‘book for every situation’. And if there isn’t one…well there is a market staring you straight in the face.
I like to find good homes for things. Every couple of years, I organize a garage sale. I sell things I no longer need or want for a dollar or two, or even for loose change. Of course, I also go to garage sales from time to time, often bringing home a treasure that someone else didn¹t want or need.
When I began my freelance writing career, I was sure that my first article was my ticket to the big time. I sent it off to a women’s magazine.
Attending my first Christian writers’ conference five years ago, I heard all sorts of rules: Always send an SASE. Write what you know. Study several issues of a magazine before querying. Query the little publications first. Write for free to get clips. Nurture your contacts. Anyone willing to work hard can be a writer.
This article is available for free distribution/reprint as a public service from the author. Read below for details. If you publish much work, chances are good that your work has appeared online without your permission. Recouping your losses is an aggravating and lengthy procedure, but it can be executed successfully. Here is the procedure for […]
I am a part time small business owner and a part time freelance writer. If I had to choose between the two, I’d choose the later, but that’s not quite an option. Yet. I’ve been seriously putting my ink scratches to paper for almost a year now and have been amazed at my own success. My aim was supplementary income, but being paid to write can be addictive and enormously satisfying.
I never thought I was a stupid person, or even particularly naive, until I started learning the hard way that trusting the wrong people in the publishing business can be heartbreaking as well as expensive. I hope someone will learn from my humiliation. My first lesson came when a literary agent called and gushed about […]
Before I had kids, I was a public school English teacher for about a decade. I spent my days teaching grammar, spelling, composition, and literature to students in grades ranging from middle school to high school. There were times that the decade felt more like a millennium, but it was who I was and what I did. When my first child was born, I hung up my pointer and whip, and became a full-time parent, only occasionally wondering about the outside world filled with other people’s children.
