I asked each guest to share some parting words of wisdom or advice for other freelance writers. I hope you’ll find it a fitting close to our series. Here’s what they had to say:

Chris Bibey

1. Be willing to speak with anybody and everybody. Too many freelance writers avoid phone calls and personal meetings. If a client wants to talk on the phone, go for it. This is how you build long lasting relationships.

2. Ask your current clients to pass your name along to others. This is something you do not want to forget. As long as you do not pressure your clients, there is nothing wrong with asking for their help. Tell them you are expanding your business, and that you are hoping to land a few new clients in the near future. You will be surprised at how many clients are willing to refer you to people in their network. Soon enough their network becomes your network.

3. Start a blog and service based website. An online presence is very important. In the past, this was not so much the case. But in today’s day and age, the majority of people searching for a freelance writer are going to start online.

Angela Booth

For a new writer (and for any writer, for that matter) what counts is writing, and getting your writing in front of people who can buy it.

If I were a new writer starting out today, I’d start with the outsourcing sites like Elance. I’d spend around six months there, until I’d completed 50 to 100 projects, and had testimonials. Then I’d branch out into writing my own blogs, and would use those blogs as writing samples to target any market I was interested in.

I wish someone had told me way back when that I COULD write whatever I wanted to write. It would have saved me a lot of time and a lot of anguish. I’d have written more, with more confidence.

Jenna Glatzer

I know it’s not glamourous-sounding, but I’m still a fan of the old-fashioned method– sending out queries and letters of introduction (and even articles on spec, when necessary), getting those initial assignments, and kicking butt on them. To me, the right way to go about it is to have patience and work your way up while building experience and really earning better assignments. I have also heard of writers making great connections at a few prestigious writer’s conferences in NYC… I can’t vouch for that because I haven’t attended any, but it certainly can’t hurt.

Kristen King

Join and actively participate in professional organizations in the areas in which you would like to focus, and create a professional website for yourself.

Deb Ng

My advice to anyone starting out is to first research. Learn about the different types of writing. Figure out niches and areas of expertise. Read up on rates, scams and different types of clients. Learn how to format a manuscript or write a query letter. Don’t enter into it blind. When the writer is ready to begin, I recommend he first work on his query or pitch letter. Ask other writers how they pitch for jobs and find a formula that works. One never gets a second chance to make a first impression.

Allena Tapia

Don’t hang out with other writers too much (at least not for platform purposes), go find the people who cut the paychecks! Truly, other writers teach us, and there’s nothing wrong with that. And, heck, sometimes I hire other writers—but not every writer does that, so widen your circle.

Anne Wayman

It’s really hard for a beginner to start ghostwriting books I think. So I would suggest they begin by writing articles and maybe a blog with some ebooks in the area they think they’d like to ghostwrite. Some ghostwriting of articles might help too – even a couple of the really cheap ones. Developing the listening skills of interviewing will also help. Listening is key in ghostwriting.

I just want to offer a big THANK YOU to our guests for a fun and informative series, and to everyone who took part in the conversations here.

Now that you’ve received an introduction with some of the approaches available to you as a freelance writer, we’ll be getting back to to the business of query-free freelancing here with tips, tactics, and tools you can use to build your own writer platform (if you feel this method’s right for you). I hope you’ll be back for our next upcoming interview, which will be with Peter Bowerman. We’ll be talking about self-publishing books, and how publishing a book can be a valuable addition to your platform!

A major aspect of query-free freelancing is building a writer platform–your visibility and demand. There are many possible elements to a writer platform such as blogs, a professional website, published books, microblogging (Twitter), and speaking engagements. (If you’d like more examples, check out our past post listing 30 ways to build your writer platform.)

I asked our guests what they considered to be the most important aspect of a writer platform, based on the most effective elements of their own during their careers. Here are their thoughts:

Chris Bibey

There are a couple of things that come to mind here. One, every freelance writer needs a blog. Since starting my blog a couple years ago I have received a number of large projects from clients who found me in this manner. Yes, it takes time to develop a readership but once you are there it can help immensely.

Having two books in print has also helped me grow as a writer. Not only has this brought forth additional projects, but it has allowed me to connect with others who can help me reach my goals.

Angela Booth

All of the above [e-boks, a blog, published books, speaking engagements], because at various times, I’ve used and have done all of the above, and will continue to do it, as time permits, and as projects require.

Jenna Glatzer

Some editors did find me through my website, but to be honest, most of it was just a matter of editors getting to know me through my work for them and their colleagues. As I proved myself, editors began batting my name around more and more, and taking me with them when they moved to other magazines and other publishers.

Kristen King

Having a website was absolutely essential to building my business. I now also have a blog, and they both bring in enough work to more than pay for their own overhead costs. My website and my involvement with American Independent Writers were the two biggest external contributors to my freelance success. Busting my butt nonstop to go after work was essential, but I don’t think it would have been nearly as effective without those two elements.

Deb Ng

For me it was my blog. My blog is the best thing that ever happened to me, my writing career, my “brand” and my reputation. Not everyone will have a successful writing blog, but I put out the right blog at the right time and it continues to grow today. I also speak at various blogging and social media conferences and write ebooks and together these have all helped to shape my success.

Allena Tapia

Often I think this whole “platform” business tends to accidentally connect us to other freelance writers. For me, that’s important because of my work at About.com. But, you know what? Other than freelancewrite.about.com, it’s not freelancers who pay me! It’s publishers, editors. So I would say that the most important part of your platform is the audience!! Select them carefully.

Anne Wayman

I’ve always thought speaking might be a good way to get writing assignments, but it looked as hard to get speaking engagements as it can be to get writing assignments, so I focused on the writing. Websites and now blogs are my most important marketing tool, but although I think every writer should have a site with samples, etc., it won’t be everyone’s prime method. Just as we’re all different, our marketing will be different too.

So there you have it. Get a website. Get a blog. Do what works for you, but for goodness sake get out there and do something! The sooner you get started, the sooner your platform can begin bringing in the gigs.

Come back tomorrow for the final post in our series, where our guest will share some parting words of wisdom.

I asked them whether or not they spent much time early on thinking about things like building a platform or networking, or if they instead stuck to the traditional querying process, letting their platforms build slowly over time.

Let’s get right to it:

Chris Bibey

Early on, I definitely spent more time on querying. In fact, I was sending out several query letters per day as well as many emails. Over time, I realized that I was putting too much effort into this and forgetting to build my online presence and business network. This led me to make more contacts, and to start my freelance writing blog. Looking back, I would have still started with regular queries but would have also been marketing myself in other ways. In my opinion, building a network and reputation is vital to freelance writing success. Just because you work alone, without a lot of personal interaction, doesn’t mean you should forget about building a network.

Angela Booth

I started writing professionally in the late 1970s, and early 1980s. Initially, I had no idea what I was doing. I considered myself a novelist (hence the book proposals.)

Then I started to write copy (advertising and press releases) for a business I was running. Other businesses asked me to write for them, and gradually, without realizing it, I became a copywriter. I wasn’t writing copy for anything other than fun at that stage, I enjoyed it, it was a challenge, so I did it.

I started writing for magazines too, at around that time. I sold the first article I proposed, which gave me a real taste for it.. :-) After that, I got into querying magazines I wanted to write for because I sensed that I could write for them. If you write enough, you soon learn to trust your instincts. If you think to yourself “I can write that”, you always can.

In those days, the 1980s, as now, it’s who you know, and who knows you. You have to write enough so that people know who you are, and what you can write.

If I were starting out today, I’d do things differently because you have so many more tools available.

Instead of writing book proposals, I’d write a book on a blog, and I’d wait for the reaction. No reaction? OK, dud. Reaction? Excellent. I’d keep on writing the book on the blog, and would then sell it as an ebook, and if I thought it really had legs, I’d develop a book proposal for print publishers, because the book already had an audience…

Instead of writing magazine queries, I’d start blogs on any topic I was interested in, and I’d approach magazine editors and other buyers of writing using the blogs as samples. I’d write something like: “I’ve been blogging on ________(whatever topic) at ___________ (Internet address). It struck me that your readers might be interested in ______________ (three ideas) _______ please let me know if you’d like me to develop these ideas further.”

The blog would provide excellent writing samples, and it would show a degree of professionalism that’s attractive to editors and other buyers of writing. A blog shows commitment, and reliability.

Showing those things is essential when you’re a new writer. Most editors have been burned by writers many times. They come to expect it. Finding a writer who’s writing regularly with a degree of competence is like finding a gold nugget.

Putting it bluntly and no disrespect intended because I love writers, many writers are flakes. Receiving a commission is no guarantee the writer will actually complete the project on time, so a blog at least shows the editor that the writer can write, even when there’s no one jabbing him/ her with a cattle prod to get him/ her to do it.

Jenna Glatzer

I spent my time pitching and querying, working my way up. I think I would have done it all the same way again, considering it worked out just the way I hoped it would, and I felt like I had really earned my stripes. If I had tried to “cut the line” and get ahead faster, I probably would have flopped– I needed to do lots of lower-level assignments before I could have handled big features for national glossy mags. About the only thing I would change is that I would have liked to have learned a little earlier how to write a great query. That took some practice, especially because I was following all the rules in books that were outdated (which I didn’t realize, of course). Only after I started tossing out the rules and making up my own did I really take a major step forward in my career.

Kristen King

When I first started freelancing, I joined several online forums and e-mail discussion lists focused on freelance writing. At the same time, I began aggressively responding to posted job openings on freelance job sites and Craigslist while also advertising my services on Craigslist. I built a website for my freelance business and directed potential clients to the site for samples and details on the services I offered.

I also joined a regional organization for writers, Washington Independent Writers (now American Independent Writers) and started attending their seminars and volunteering to help with various events. This helped me build my network and develop relationships with seasoned writers while also providing me with scores of educational programs and opportunities.

Deb Ng

I think I did it just right. It was a combination of all the above. As I looked for work, I networked with other writers and potential clients and we all helped it each other. It was all the networking and helping that gave me the idea for my blog, which is now the number one online community for freelance writers. The only thing I would change is waiting so long to leave my job to freelance full time, otherwise I think I did it just right.

Allena Tapia

If I could go back in time, I’d definitely change a couple things! I feel like my approach was kind of scattered—I did a little of everything and I’m really not sure that’s the best approach. I would say that I was like a scatter gun—just shot out a bunch of stuff to see where it stuck.

Anne Wayman

I got started before the web. I remember the stacks of SASE and query letters. They worked, then I began to fall into the ghostwriting. I took a career twist (one of many) and began writing for the web, usually as in employee, then as a freelancer and that’s when I first started building my own websites and now blogs.

Considering the fact that every one of our guests is successful in their own specialty areas, it’s not surprising that for the most part they wouldn’t want to change things. Who could blame them! But what about you? How long have you been freelancing, and is your career where you want it to be right now? If not, what would you do differently?

Two more parts left in our series, and Monday we’ll pick it up again to talk about the tools and tactics our guests consider the most useful in developing your writing platform!

In this part of our interview series, you’ll find out how important each of our seven guests consider the querying process. Keep in mind that I asked them to share their thoughts on queries’ role based on the particular type of writing they most often do (which we introduced in our last post). Enjoy.

Chris Bibey

No matter what type of freelance writing projects you are concentrating on, it is very important to be open to sending query letters/emails on a regular basis. This is particularly true for newcomers who have yet to build a platform or a large network which can send work their way. Until clients are finding you, make sure you are finding them!

Angela Booth

It’s essential, simply because of what it teaches you.

Querying teaches you:

• How to think like a writer. How to come up with many, many ideas which are suitable for a particular market, and how to present those ideas well. Emotionally it teaches you how to be pragmatic, and to realize that there’s no such thing as rejection (yes, really).
• How to form relationships with buyers of your writing. You discover that they have challenges, and how you can help them with those challenges. You stop being so self-conscious and focused on yourself
• That the only mistake you can make as a writer is not to trust yourself, and your writing. It also teaches you that your writing counts, even if no one buys it, because you’ve learned something about yourself.

Ultimately, querying teaches you how to be professional.

Look on querying as auditioning.

When you’re a new writer, no one knows you. (You don’t know yourself as a writer, and what you can do either, so that’s no surprise.)

The queries and proposals you write are introductions. They show that you can write for a particular market you’re targeting, and if you keep targeting a market, people do respond.

I can remember targeting one particular market, a magazine. I sent many queries over several months, and finally the editor called me and commissioned me to write an article he wanted for an upcoming issue. This wasn’t an idea I presented, by the way. He knew I could write the feature because of my “auditions”. From then on, he kept sending me commissions, and when the magazine got a new editor, she started sending me commissions too. (This is rare, usually new editors like to find their own writers, so he must have said nice things about me.)

Querying is essential for books, too. I got my first multi-book contract by sending book proposals. I sent nine complete novel proposals (three chapters and an outline) to an editor over nine months. Finally I got a multi-book contract when the editor sent my proposals to another publishing house (MacDonald Futura), and one of their editors asked me to develop a series.

That’s the primary benefit of queries and proposals: people get to know you, and you get to know yourself. The self-knowledge is the most important. Once you KNOW that you can write on demand, you KNOW, and you stop worrying about it.

Jenna Glatzer

I think it’s extremely important in the early stages.

Kristen King

When it comes to proposal writing, for instance, a letter of introduction or referral from a fellow writer or previous client is far more relevant than a query simply because of the nature of the work. For resume writing, I partner with a resume service (to whom a fellow freelancer referred me), and secured the contract job after sending a letter of introduction and some writing samples. In terms of the magazine writing I do, it’s primarily for trade publications with very structured editorial calendars; although my input is welcomed, I typically write to assigned topics as opposed to pitching all of my own story ideas.

How important querying is really just depends on the type of writing you want to do — and exactly what you classify as a query letter. I’ve sent probably hundreds of letters of introduction over the last 5 years, but maybe one or two dozen query letters in which I pitched a specific idea to a specific publication.

Deb Ng

It’s one of the most important part of the job. It’s the sales pitch. It’s the first impression a writer makes on a potential client. The writers with the best clients also have the best queries or introductory letters.

Allena Tapia

Honestly, I didn’t query a lot at all. While I don’t think it’s UN-important, I’ve certainly done well without it.

Anne Wayman

If I wanted to write articles for magazines, online or off, I’d have to query. Ghostwriting books doesn’t build contacts for articles, although I do get asked to do guest posts on blogs, but that’s a mutual promo thing.

As you can see, there are differing opinions out there on how important queries really are. Some writers consider them essential. Others (like myself) do not, and manage to build successful careers without them. As you can also see from our guests’ responses, queries can have a different place depending on the type of writing involved (such as higher importance for those who work in magazine writing).

One of the things I found most interesting between the previous part of this series and their responses in this one (and why I broke it up the way I did) was the fact that some of the same people who noted their platforms and visibility (the query-free freelancing way of doing things: read good old PR) as the primary ways they get their own gigs also spoke in strong support of querying. It seems that for many a transition occurred–queries early on as a way of making connections, which eventually led to visibility and relationships which allowed future gigs to find the writers rather than vice versa.

Obviously I disagree with some here about the importance of querying, and that’s okay. Like I’ve said before, I want you to know you have options. Querying is one option. Query-free tactics are another. Some people are more comfortable with pitching. Some can’t afford to wait months to start landing regular gigs through the sometimes long querying process (and due to tech advances in just the last couple of years, many writers don’t have to anymore). That said, not all freelancers are going to feel inclined to build a platform and reputation publicly for exposure’s sake, just as all writer’s aren’t interested in the traditional query process. You can absolutely be successful and land fantastic clients and high-paying writing jobs as either a querying or query-free freelancer. That’s a choice only you can make when it comes to your own career.

We have three more parts left in our series. Tomorrow come back and find out what you might want to know most: how our guests personally found gigs early in their careers (we were all new at some point after all).

It’s also important that you understand queries or query-free approaches to freelancing can vary depending on the type of writer you are. For example, query letters will have a larger role in freelance magazine writing than they would on the Web. On the other hand cold call pitching might work in commercial writing, but it might annoy editors with national publications.

I’m regularly asked how writers earning decent rates find their gigs (or where they find their gigs). For me it’s the query-free approach where my clients most often find me. I understand that alone isn’t very helpful for a new writer. Our guests come from a mix of backgrounds, from ghostwriting books to writing for corporate clients, and here they share how they find new work.

Let’s get to it. I asked our guests what types of projects they most often take on for clients and how they land most of their freelance writing jobs. Here’s what they had to say:

Chris Bibey

The majority of my projects consist of commercial and Web writing. In the past, magazine writing was a large portion of my workload, but over the past year this has died down a bit. Many of my Web writing clients have asked me to work for them in a more traditional sense, such as on marketing material, and vice versa.

I land new clients in a number of different ways. At this time, networking and client referrals seem to be in the lead. That being said, I am always sending queries when I have the time to do so.

Angela Booth

I’ve contributed to several magazines every month for the past 15 years, and have many copywriting clients who’ve been with me for years too. New clients usually present some form of commercial writing, whether for Web or print, although I do take on (book) ghostwriting clients too.

[Most jobs come] either via word of mouth / personal recommendation, or via visibility.

Jenna Glatzer

I mostly write books now, but I also write for magazines. Every now and then, I also do every other type of writing you can imagine, but those are the main two. At this point, most of my jobs come to me through editors who’ve either worked with me in the past, or who work with other editors who’ve worked with me.

Kristen King

The two types of work I’m doing the most right now are marketing content (including executive-level resumes) and proposal writing. I also accept smaller projects such as book editing or magazine feature articles, but they tend to be a much smaller proportion of my workload and are rather sporadic these days, whereas in the past they were a much bigger chunk.

My freelance work comes to me from four sources: word of mouth and referrals, repeat business, clients coming to me (eg, finding my website, etc.), and actively seeking out work. My actively seeking work is definitely the smallest proportion of that at this point — 3+ years into full-time freelancing — but was pretty much my sole source of work when I was freelancing part time from 2004 to 2006.

Deb Ng

Most of my writing jobs now are writing for the web in some capacity, usually blogging and social media content. In fact, I haven’t had a print client in a couple of years now because my web projects have been so lucrative.

Nowadays most of my writing clients contact me via my blog. However, I also find clients by cold calling and traditional job ads. I like to find local businesses that may need writers from time to time, for instance graphic and web designers. I send them a packet about me that includes a bio, brief writing resume, samples of my writing and business card. I follow that up with a cold call. I’d say 1 out of every 10 calls lands a client.

Allena Tapia

I am completely a combination. My regular work at About.com is writing for the web, but I want more magazine pieces, and the past couple months I’ve been doing a huge content project for Cengage. Then, I add in my local clients- editorial director at a local magazine, some non-profit marketing pieces and !!! you’ve got the weirdest mix possible!

Recently, I’ve found more and more people find me through word of mouth—editors talk! Also, I have a lot of repeat work from past clients. For example, I responded to an ad for freelance writers for a specific magazine about a year and a half ago. I turned around my first assignment early, making sure it was polished to near perfection. The editor then began to think of me when she needed something in a hurry, or another writer left her in a lurch. I’ve now appeared in nearly every issue. Last week, she received a piece from a writer that she didn’t like—and it was the lead piece on the Sotomayor nomination! She needed it reworked entirely over the weekend, and she thought of me! So now I have the cover of a major nomination in my field (Latino issues), of a major current event— in a magazine that is nationally distributed!

Anne Wayman

Most of my clients hire me to ghostwrite books for them. My clients come from two sources – return clients and through my websites which I guess is my strong visibility. I worked with a ghostwriting broker for awhile, but I do way better on my own.

Anyone seeing some common themes in there? Like referrals? Keeping clients happy so they keep coming back and referring you to others is a big part of query-free freelancing, and as you can see here it’s equally true when you land your initial gigs through queries. Speaking of queries, come back tomorrow and you’ll find out exactly how important querying was (or is) in the careers of each of our guests, and how important they feel querying is for new writers too.

While I fully support the query-free way of doing business because of my own background, I know it’s not the only way to manage your freelance writing career, and I’ll never pretend here that it is. It’s just one option (and a great one if I will say so myself). But I don’t want you to do what works for me. I want you to know your options, so you can find the best route to success for you.

Other writers have been successful in their own methods, and this week they’ll be sharing some of their thoughts here. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Today is the first in our series with several freelancers. Get to know them a bit below (in alphabetical order):

Chris Bibey – Chris Bibey is a freelance writer and author based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In addition to his regular workload, Chris mentors more than 20 students per month through his freelance writing course.

Angela Booth – Angela Booth is a copywriter, writing teacher and author.

In almost 30 years of professional writing, she’s learned many tricks of the writing trade, and shares that information with writers in Web sites, blogs, ebooks, and writing courses. You’ll find a list of her writers’ products here: http://fabfreelancewriting.com/Buy/buy-ebooks.html

You can subscribe to her weekly writing tips here: http://www.freelancewritingezine.com/

Jenna Glatzer - Jenna Glatzer is the author or ghostwriter of 18 books, including Celine Dion’s authorized biography (Celine Dion: For Keeps) and The Marilyn Monroe Treasures. She’s also the author of several books for writers, the most popular of which is Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer. She’s also a contributing editor at Writer’s Digest, and has written for more than 100 magazines and web publications, such as Woman’s World, Prevention, Physical, Women’s Health & Fitness, AOL, MSN, and Salon.com. Please visit her site at www.jennaglatzer.com to buy her books and learn more about Jenna.

Kristen King – Virginia copywriter and consultant Kristen King has been writing and editing for business and publication for 5+ years.

She holds a Master of Professional Studies in publishing from the George Washington University and a BA in English from the University of Mary Washington.

Visit her online at Inkthinker Blog, Inkthinker Communications, KristenKing.com, or http://twitter.com/kristenking.

Deb Ng – Deborah Ng is a freelance writer, professional blogger, and social media consultant who built Freelance Writing Jobs as a labor of love in 2005. Originally, a place for work from home moms to gather and discuss available opportunities, FWJ is now the number one online community for freelance writers.

In addition to blogging for herself, Deb’s past clients include Oxygen Media, About.com, the BlogWorld Expo blog, and many more.

Allena Tapia – Allena is a full time career freelance writer specializing in helping new freelancers at www.freelancewrite.about.com. Her firm GardenWall Publications holds contracts with major publishers like ME Sharpe and Gale Cengage, and her work has appeared in regional and national magazines such as Latino Leaders, Adelante, and Positively. She is profiled in Kate Lister’s work-at-home bible Undress for Success; the Naked Truth About Working at Home. She teaches classes and seminars on writing, blogging and social networking through Lansing Community College in Lansing, Michigan. In her “spare time” she is a book reviewer for Sacramento Book Review and Apex Reviews.

Anne Wayman – Anne Wayman has been freelance writing over 30 years. She writes for writers at www.aboutfreelancewriting.com, coaches writers and ghostwrites books. Her credits are at www.annewayman.com.

I had previously also confirmed Linda Formichelli and Peter Bowerman as guests. Unfortunately they each had to pull out due to other constraints (such as Peter’s new Well-Fed Writer book due for release soon). Before you get too upset, Peter has agreed to be a guest in an upcoming separate interview, and I promise to try to set up the same with Linda Formichelli. In the meantime, you can read a recent interview I did with Linda for All Freelance Writing on writing nonfiction books–a great topic if you’re considering nonfiction publishing as a part of your writer platform!

Remember to check back again tomorrow, when we’ll get into the meat of the interviews finding out what type of work each of these writers is most often involved in and how they they get most of their freelance writing jobs.