Use Current Events to Promote Your Novel By Alice J. Wisler
Without being cheesy or over-the-top, you can tactfully use current events to sell your story. In fact, many authors get their book ideas by reading the paper. …
Articles
How To Avoid Becoming a Writing Hermit By Lisa Evans
Two years ago, I quit my full-time job as a marketing professional to follow my dream and become a freelance writer. Eager to escape the gray cubicle walls that confined me, I conjured images of myself lounging on the sofa in my pajamas, my laptop resting on my knees as I methodically tapped out story after story. I enjoyed my new wardrobe - happy to have ditched the high-heels and pencil skirts - and relished the freedom to make my own schedule, but was shocked to find that I missed the office. Well, not the office exactly, but the daily jaunts to the coffee shop downstairs, chatting with co-workers in the office kitchen and team meetings that I'd previously found tedious and futile that now seemed welcome distractions to the loneliness I faced in my new life as a writer. …
Mentoring Other Writers: What’s In It For You? By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
Mentoring another writer may sound like giving away your industry knowledge for nothing or boosting a competitor. But really, mentoring is good for your protege's writing career and yours. Mentoring can benefit you beyond feeling good about helping another person who is new to the business. …
MARKETING STRATEGY RESULTS IN $6000 IN ASSIGNMENTS BY JOHN K. BORCHARDT
Tradeshows offer a unique marketing opportunity for freelance writers. Many industries and trade associations ranging from the oil, chemical and food industries to home builders and restaurant owners have tradeshows to exhibit the latest in equipment and services to their members. I tried out my new strategy at Houston's May 6-9 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC). This is a major annual tradeshow. In 2012, there were more than 2,500 trade show booths and 89,400 attendees. So far my payoff from attending the tradeshow and marketing there is $6,000... …
Testify! Turning Testimonials Into Dollars By Melissa Mayntz
Every freelance writer knows the value of a published clip to establish professional credibility, but a clip does not tell a potential client or new editor what type of person you are to work with, how good your writing is before editing, or whether you're worth working with on a regular basis. How, then, can a writer share that information without seeming to brag? The answer is simple - have someone else say it for you. …
Add Some Military Flavor to Your Next Article By Dan Heaton
Want to work up a history on the old Army fort on the edge of your town? Perhaps you are just trying to find out what Grandpa did during World War II. All of this has become much, much easier today, thanks to the many resources now available online to the writer willing to spend a little time in research. …
Queries Going Out = Money Coming In By Cynthia Bombach Helzel
It's tempting to put querying aside while you're working on assignments, and then pick it up again when the work runs out. The problem is that, by then, it's too late. You end up with a gap in your assignments - and your income. …
Meet, Greet, and Take Action By Debra Holland
Writers are often a great source of support for each other. Few professions have so many members willing to educate others in their field. The experience and expertise of other writers can help you at all levels of your career. Joining writers groups and professional organizations, participating in online forums, writing your own blogs and following other author blogs, and getting to know people at writing classes and conferences, are all traditional ways to become acquainted with other authors. However, networking also involves giving back. Share your knowledge with other authors and offer them encouragement and inspiration... …
Five Ways to Make (Not Spend!) Money at Conferences By Gabi Logan
Any competent writer who puts himself or herself in the right place at the right time can achieve these essentially effortless results. Here are five ways you, too, can start making money at conferences instead of just spending it...…
When Soliciting Book Reviews, Professionalism Matters By Yocheved Golani
Some authors shoot themselves and their publishers in the wallet with naivete about the book-reviewing industry. The problem is two-fold... …
Thinking Out of the Box to Sell Books By Diane Craver
Even though my books are not in a mortar and brick bookstore, I have successfully sold copies of my Christmas book in some unusual places of business... …
The Rewards of Face-to-Face Employment Interviews for Freelancers By John K. Borchardt
After a frustrating dry spell in terms of getting new corporate clients I changed my marketing strategy. Actually, this new strategy is the old strategy I used when I first became a full-time freelancer. Specifically, I returned to a focus on medium and large-size companies ($500 million to more than $1 billion in annual sales) located in my city (Houston). I had drifted into doing long-distance marketing by e-mail with interviews by telephone. I got some very good short-term gigs over the years. However, overall I had a low response rate to the letters of introduction I e-mailed to corporate contacts. In addition, in most cases these clients had no loyalty when their work assignments were intermittent (1 to 4 assignments per year). …
Five Reasons Writers Get Ripped Off Online By Jude Chukwuemeka
It sometimes looks as if writers are the most vulnerable set of talented workers in this world. If only employers knew what writers go through to complete their projects! …
PR For My Book Increased My Other Business Income By $60K By Clyde Morgan, MD
In November, 2010, I self published The 2766th Provisional Headquarters Flight WW II with BookLocker.com. The book generated sufficient PR in the first year to bring in an increased income of $60,000.00 for my clinic during a year when most physicians I know fought to stay even...…
Promoting Your Freelance Business via Direct Mail By Angie Papple Johnston
As freelance writers, most of us have to advertise our services. Spending $100 to make $125 isn't worth the effort - but spending $100 to get a few long-term clients (and their referrals) is a really big deal. The key to effective marketing is to reach the right audience. If you don't, you're watching your hard-earned money circle the drain... …
Freelance Writer Does NOT Mean Free Content! By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
The details and pitch of the "copywriter wanted" ad sounded too slick but I applied anyway. I sent a cover letter, CV, resume and links to purchased, published works. I spent a good 15 minutes crafting the right approach and selecting the ideal links. A few weeks later, I received a bulk e-mailed form letter inviting me to send them a 500-word blog entry. Doing so would enter me into the next round of the selection process. Excuse me, second round? Is this a reality TV show or an employment opportunity? …
BUILDING YOUR BOOK-REVIEWING PRACTICE: FIVE TIPS FOR FINDING TITLES TO PITCH By Erika Dreifus
As a frequent (and frequently paid) book reviewer, and a former teacher of courses in how to establish a book-reviewing practice, I was pleased to see a recent WritersWeekly.com article spotlighting this work. But I'd like to expand the discussion... …
How to Get Paid By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
Sometimes the check doesn't arrive or the automatic deposit doesn't hit the account. Then what? I've had a few editors not pay when they said they would. What a writer does next can affect not only when he gets paid, but also the editor/writer relationship... …
YES, APPLE WANTS YOUR RIGHTS…And So Does (Almost) Everybody Else! By Angela Hoy
It seems to me that Apple wants to corner the market through force, and squeeze more out of everyone, just like Amazon's been doing for years. How better to increase your income than to claim rights to others' creations, and force the creators to use your store when selling those creations, all the while further increasing your take? …
BookLocker Helped Turn Some Sunny Day Into A Commercial Success By Tom Douglas
It's been more than ten years now so I guess I can be excused for not being able to remember who it was that suggested I subscribe to WritersWeekly.com. I wish I could remember though because I would like to thank him or her for steering me in the right direction that would eventually lead to a very successful book writing career... …
Saying No to Writing for Pennies! By DeAnn Rossetti
As freelance writers struggle to make a living during this "Great Recession II," we've all seen the "writers wanted" ads on Craigslist and elsewhere that outline -- in great detail -- the hefty amount of work, the long hours and the many qualifications for a particular job... …
Write Short Book Reviews to Earn Extra Money By Barbara Weddle
If, as I do, you enjoy reading so much that you read the labels on canned foods, why not, after you've read a book, try your hand at writing a book review and pick up an extra $50 or $100 a month? Writing a general book review doesn't require any special expertise, only a good command of grammar and basic writing skills. Here's how to go about it... …
Fair Pay…or Cruel and Unusual Punishment? By Rich Mintzer
Writer's chat rooms and discussion boards are constantly flooded with comments about rates for writers. New writers argue that they take what they can get to build a portfolio, while veteran writers argue that you should receive fair pay for your work, adding that you will never be respected if you simply give your work away. Yet, even long-time writers have fallen prey to some less than "acceptable" rates rather than turning down work considering the current economic state... …
How to Get Art for Articles By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
Writers are primarily words people, so it surprises many to discover that editors of magazines and newspapers often want writers to supply artwork to accompany articles, too. A photo, chart or other illustration makes an article more appealing to readers, and helps break up long stretches of text... …
Historical Fiction vs. History: Your Story of the Past Depends on Your Future Choice By James Rada, Jr.
The key for both engaging historical fiction and history is that they both should be about people so that readers have someone to identify with... …
Integrity – The Tool Within You By Thomas Smith
I want to share a secret with you. A secret that will help you make your reputation as a writer and land repeat assignments with editors in every field... …
Cold Calling: Seven Strategies to Take Away the Pain By Freya Shipley
Writers are a relatively introverted bunch. To many of us, the idea of phoning a potential client to say, "Hire me!" is downright scary... …
A Texas Tea and Book Party By Celia Yeary
Three years ago, the release of my first novel excited me, yes, but it also threw me into a dither. A dither, if you've never been in one, is similar to mild hysteria and confusion. All other authors I knew at the time talked about book signings, and I attended a couple of them. In my opinion, that might not work for me, as they don't seem to work very well unless you are the author of the Harry Potter series. How many readers would drive to a bookstore and buy my book? I feared not many, and there I'd be, all alone in public, people walking past me, ignoring the books on the table. The thought of buying a big stack of books and not selling them didn't make me comfortable, either... …
A REAL GHOST STORY! By Scott Rose
The good news is that when you agree to ghost write a book truly as a ghost, with no credit given to you as a writer, you will make a lot more money than if you were given credit. Here's the rub, though; your ghost contract prohibits you from ever telling anybody that you worked on the book. It also specifies your legal liabilities if you ever spill the beans to anybody, even to your mother or your best friend. Legally bound to secrecy, how are you supposed to get your next ghost writing job? Here are some tricks of the trade... …
Writing Samples: What to Send and How to Send Them By Rich Mintzer
What should I send? That's the question so many writers ponder when asked to "send clips" or "writing samples." At first it seems as if the answer should be quite simple, a few of your best samples that fit the topic. But then you stop and wonder what else they may be looking for...…
Don’t Give Away Writing to Win Work By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
People using the Internet to hire a writer often feel reluctant paying a stranger in a remote location for work, but you should not have to submit something on spec that you cannot possibly sell elsewhere. What's a writer to do? …
Document Conversion Provides Freelance Income Opportunities By John K. Borchardt
Document conversion, rewriting and reformatting documents to make them suitable for different media, can be a useful source of income for freelancers.…
Blogging to Sell Books By Eric D. Goodman
I've always identified myself as a writer. Only recently have I come to admit that I'm also a blogger. I blog about writing, about the love of literature, about all things literary. But the truth is, I blog to sell books... …