The world is full of people who would love to earn a living as a freelance writer (if anyone understands the draw, I’m sure it’s all of you). However, many of them are discouraged when they look into freelancing for magazines specifically — the magazines generally control the pay, you have to pitch them (send a query letter) in many cases to sell your idea before you even get the gig, and many of those magazines don’t pay until publication (which can be months after you write the article).

What a drag!

I’ve never bought into that model. When you visit the doctor, do you tell them how much you’ll pay them and when? No. How about your contractors, plumbers, maid service, daycare provider, or lawyer? No? Didn’t think so. Yet for some reason, writers are often undervalued and abused compared to other service providers.

Fortunately the publishing world is changing. It’s very possible to earn just as much writing on the Web or for private companies as you can through print publications. I, and many of my colleagues, do it every day–and yes, you can earn $1.00 per word or more. Despite some of the misconceptions out there, that’s a perk far from reserved for the magazine industry. Do you know what’s better? I almost never have to send queries to keep the gigs coming in (most falling in the $.50 – $1.25 per word range). Some writers send dozens every week.

I’m a query-free freelancer. And with Web publishing happening instantly and businesses in need of content or copy yesterday, why should you wait? Unless your real focus is wanting to see your name in print in a particular publication, rather than making an overall living, you really shouldn’t.

Clients are out there, and they’re willing not only to pay on delivery, but even before you start if you’ve built your reputation and demand. In other words, new or aspiring writers shouldn’t feel discouraged by the magazine pay structure anymore. There are other options (and for equally-respectable publications and clients). Honestly, as that online competition grows and magazines focus even more on their own online content, I think we’ll see even them loosen the reigns in time (although it may be quite some time!).

We spend a lot of time here at All Freelance Writing helping writers improve their marketing and networks. We talk about diversifying income streams so you maximize your earnings as well as your enjoyment in your work. Now I’m working on a proposal for The Query-Free Freelancer, a nonfiction book showing writers how to use the Web, commercial clients, and their own writer platform to take more control over their own writing careers, including how much they make and when they get paid.

Better yet, using my system (which really just amounts to good old fashioned PR – come on, you knew it would) they won’t waste any more time writing dozens of queries in the hopes of landing a few gigs. Or at least they won’t have to.

I’m not only going to be talking about writer platforms in the book… I’m putting mine to work now! I’m launching QueryFreeFreelancer.com shortly (as soon as my coder finishes coding the design). It’s going to be part-blog, part free membership site. There will be lots of free goodies and tools for subscribers (everything from free reports to exclusive Web and blog templates you can use to build your own portfolios, professional sites, or blogs).

We’ll even be kicking it off with a round table style discussion with a great group of freelancers (so far we’ve confirmed Deb Ng, Linda Formichelli, Angela Booth, Chris Bibey, and Allena Tapia). [EDIT: Peter Bowerman, Jenna Glatzer, Kristen King, and Anne Wayman have now also confirmed.] We’ll have a good mix of folks who have attracted clients and publishers both using queries and not relying on them. It’s meant to be a two-sided discussion, and will serve as a several-part introductory series to the new site. What can I say? I’m already excited and looking forward to hearing what these (and hopefully a few other) freelancers have to say!

But in the meantime, I’d like to open things up to you! Leave a comment and tell us how you get most of your freelance writing jobs. Do you query publications? Why? (Do you specifically want to write for magazines, or is it simply what you were taught to do in the past?) How many queries do you send in an average week or month? If you don’t rely on queries, what kind of writing do you do? What kind of clients do you work for? What tools and strategies throughout your writer’s platform and network have been most successful for you? I hope you’ll share. :)