My hands trembled over the keyboard when I started to write my first entertainment article. Despite my wealth of experience, I was nervous. Entertainment writing is a different animal, I thought. It wasn't until I fully lost myself in the craft that I came to this comforting realization - writing is writing and good entertainment writing is still writing.…
For many, the phrase "freelance writing" conjures up images of famous magazines on a newsstand. Often the best-paid work, however, comes from companies that aren't in the publishing business at all. They're commissioning articles as part of their content strategy, to either connect with their customers or improve their website's search traffic.…
In a previous article, I wrote about Metasearch as being one fantastic engine for finding hidden writing jobs on the web. Well, Metasearch is dead. God bless the departed king. God save the new monarchs. The most meritorious successors, it seems to me, are the following...…
I have been freelancing for over 20 years and I can best describe my love affair with writing as feast or famine. Freelancing provides me with the opportunities to explore the subjects I am most passionate about: women's and family matters, education issues and the arts. The pay is steady and a nice supplement to my income as a part-time teacher.…
We are living in the age of the Internet and writers can now work wherever they want to work, writing for a magazine in California while enjoying a cup of hot chocolate in Vienna. However, having access to a laptop and an Internet connection is not always enough and, sometimes, even talent is inadequate. What if you really were in Vienna with that hot chocolate in your hand, but you could not write a single English word? Exactly, you wouldn't write for a publication in California. Or would you?…
I hurled the newspaper aside, appalled by the writer's shoddy treatment of her subject, humiliated by her failure to proofread and, even more, profoundly disappointed. I'd trusted this fellow word-slinger, and she let me down...…
I dropped out of school, went back several times, and after a series of jobs and "careers," which resulted in an extensive collection of hairnets and nametags, I finally got serious about being a writer, and figured out the first obstacle to working at home full time: money.…
Any author can understand what a bookstore owner or buyer looks for when evaluating new titles. Here are 7 tips for asking an indie bookstore to carry your book.…
To dislike making the shift from the vocation of your choice to bookkeeping is a common characteristic of any self-employed individual. Here is a minimal plan for keeping financial records with which your accountant can work.…
Being a freelance writer is not an easy job. You have to be your own personal manager, your own bookkeeper, your own publicist, the one who promotes your work, and, of course, a writer. However, this is the easy part when your clients are 12 flying hours away and you have to make everyone feel satisfied - including yourself. …
Poet Don Marquis once divided the world into two types of people: those who could tell you they had just bought a package of paper napkins and make you "thrill and vibrate with the intelligence" and those who could share the secrets of the universe and yet "fail to impress you with any sense of the importance of the news."…
Being self-published, and trying to see your creation become successful, can be a daunting task - especially if you have no one to counsel you. I've written several books and have close to a hundred book signings under my belt. The result is a traditional publisher signed me to a multi-book contract, and these books are carried by Barnes and Noble and several other chains now. In addition, my first book is now under consideration by a film company. That's the good news.…
I look the freelance plunge five years ago when I decided to pitch magazine editors. For two years, I queried a massive number of editors only to find that that strategy wasn't adding to my monthly income goals. So I opted to pitch businesses instead who need website, copy, blogs, social media, posts, newsletters, emails, press releases, descriptions for online directories, and more. In this way, I was able to double my income. This article will give four ways you can land writing gigs for business in this competitive online environment...…
I decided to reverse direction and dig up hidden jobs.…
Highly-targeted traffic to your blog: Ever thought about e-courses?…
The aphorism "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" is typically attributed to Charles Caleb Colton. If Colton studied law, clearly he was absent the day "Copyright Law" was discussed. When it comes to writing, imitation is frowned upon and there are many traps and obstacles for the unwary "fan fiction" author.…
Sometimes a story is jinxed. I learned this disheartening truth after a 340-word humorous piece I submitted, describing my eldest son Henry's take on his mother's writing life, was accepted not once, not twice, but thrice by three separate magazines which, ultimately, folded before the story could ever appear in print.…
My book is being sold by an online bookstore, which also offers a publishing service. So, they are not only my online bookstore, but my publisher as well. There's certainly more efficiency in having the online bookstore create the books it sells. However, there's also the potential for fraud.…
If you have teaching credentials, or years in the classroom, use these skills to write for…
My fingers trembled as I hammered out a first-person story on a manual typewriter at my…
In today's high-tech and uber-connected society, times have sure changed. You are now more likely to find details on a breaking news story on Twitter well before one of the major networks breaks it. Digital media has taken over newspapers and magazines, and long gone are the days of only the select few authors hand-picked by publishers getting book deals. Nowadays, just about anybody can self-publish in digital and/or print format.…
As a corporate blogger, I am always on the hunt for new ways to find potential clients. Have you heard about PRWeb? It's a highly visible press release service that allows companies to publish their news releases to the web.…
The agencies we work for tell clients we want to hear their ideas, even though these ideas are often (bleep). But, let's remember two things. First, the client probably feels like their idea is amazing and they're likely proud of it. Second, they're the ones paying the invoice. Hurting their feelings means hurting the project and your reputation. …
Writing essays for publications that publish strictly according to specific themes or theme lists can be…
LinkedIn is a great resource for potential writing client contacts. However, it often goes untapped.…
The next-best thing to getting cash for your writing is receiving something you otherwise would have paid for. In addition to cash, I have been paid with food, massages, auto maintenance and much more. I am a mystery shopper.…
An intense love for writing can certainly breed openness to receiving ideas. Inspiration often comes out of nowhere-music, dreams, and maybe even from people-watching. The influx of ideas could be so great at times that honing in on just one may be a problem. In fact, I'd been guilty of pushing a story idea away, putting one off as if it weren't as "worthy" as the rest of them. The problem is, sometimes that shelved idea could be the one that may start it all.…
Writing from personal perspectives can be a powerful way to connect to an audience that is familiar with your story. Since writing creative nonfiction is a combination of journalistic skills and storytelling abilities, there are vast opportunities to publish your work. This involves personal memoirs, cultural criticism, documentaries, poems and literary journals.…
The conference was less than 12 weeks away, which left less than a month for the actual authoring.…
I’m on the recliner in my family room, crouched over my laptop, taking advantage of those…
Writer overboard, writer overboard! Which scalawag turned him into a fish? It wasn't anyone in the crew, you say? Then who the devil thought the poor lad made a better anchor than a sailor? Ah, the compass points to the three biggest obstacles of writing income, also known as the three devils of writing. They are the most terrifying monsters to haunt the seven seas of writing and stop many a talented writer from earning the income he deserves.…
Many writers need planning to be easy, expedient, and effective, or else it just won’t get done. Microplanning is the solution ...…
Six months after our initial conversation, I finally got a "complimentary" copy of the book in my hands, and couldn't wait to curl up with it and a good cup of herbal tea. When I opened the book and started to skim through it, my heart sank. Though the stories were interesting, diverse and truly moving, what captured my attention was not the quality of the essays, but the shabby presentation. …
