I dragged my feet for years regarding phone technology. Before I had kids, I didn’t really want to be reached by phone every second. I liked coming home to messages and not being bothered during the day. Now, six years later, I have a smart phone (iPhone to be exact, although not the latest model), attached to me at all times. It’s like my lifeline
Authors are notorious for having poorly-designed websites. That’s not to say all authors have dated, crappy sites littering the Web. But more in this group do than most others I’ve come across. Sometimes author site designs are downright frightening, looking like someone formatted some text in Word and slapped it on the Web in the mid to late-90s, never to update it again. The saddest
It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of either content mills or extremely low-paying private clients (like the webmasters on bidding sites willing to pay a whopping $1-5 per article). As far as I’m concerned it’s an irresponsible business move to take on these kinds of gigs without pursuing something better early on (and an irresponsible move I made myself back in the day —
Today Evelyn Lafont and I talk about beta readers for your books and e-books. Evelyn Lafont is a first-time fiction indie author, with her e-published novella Vampire Relationship Guide Volume One: Meeting and Mating scheduled for release on March 31st. Having only published nonfiction so far myself, I’ve seen benefits in working with beta readers — early readers who provide feedback before you release your
When it comes up in conversation about my schedule, as it usually does, that I get up at 4 in the morning and jump right into writing until 6, I usually get the same response – Wow, that sucks! And it does, kind of. It’s not fun getting up at 4 in the morning. But it is fun getting things done efficiently and it only
You have many jobs as a freelance writer. One of the most important is marketing. You want everybody to know what you do. The more people you tell the better chance you have of landing new clients and making more money. Over the past couple of years, I have handed out hundreds upon hundreds of business cards. Are you doing the same? There is a
Book spines — oh, they’re important alright. I was reminded just how important they are on my weekend book-buying binge at our (sadly) closing Borders. At the end of the day I left with nearly 30 new mysteries. And then I ordered 11 more online to fill in the gaps in the series, and still have another order or two to place in coming weeks
As an e-book publisher should your rankings be based on your low-ball rates or on the merit of your work? Coming from the traditional side of e-book publishing, I’m a fan of the latter. I believe in premium pricing when you put out quality work. And I believe in letting your individual market help determine your rates — not Amazon or the general masses. Nonfiction
It’s mid-March. And that means we’re nearly through with the first quarter of 2011 already. How are your goals and resolutions for the year shaping up? Is your freelance writing business growing? Do you need to pick up the pace a bit? So far I’m reasonably happy with my progress for the year. I’ve: finished outlining the first book in my novel series; gotten my
I’m not used to doing big projects. Most of my projects are either a one-time set of articles or a recurring set of articles. It’s easy to quote those since I do them all the time. Recurring payments are either set up on an automatic subscription or invoiced weekly. When I do a one-time set of articles, I ask for an upfront deposit and the
With the introduction of e-readers it’s become almost essential for authors of print books to offer e-book versions of their works if they want to reach a broader market. But e-books have been around for a while now, and they serve purposes beyond being alternative versions of existing books. Sometimes it’s best to only e-publish your work. Let’s take a look at some situations where
When you host your own professional site or blog, you have several hosting options. Many freelance writers use shared hosting accounts, especially when starting out. While it can be a cost-effective option until you need more resources, there’s another concern — shared IP addresses. The IP address is basically a number that identifies the server you host your site or blog on. When you use
I made the mistake on Twitter yesterday of searching for “freelance writing” to see what people in the community were talking about. Wow. Just wow. I can’t remember the last time I saw so much spam and so many crap freelance writing jobs in one place. So it got me thinking about finding jobs on Twitter — more specifically finding good freelance writing jobs while
Can you handle more than one publishing project at a time, or do you have to be completely focused on one thing? I fall into the former group, actually thriving when other people might feel overwhelmed. And there’s no reason to push yourself to that overwhelmed status in order to handle multiple projects. You just have to know how to set limits and work with
Do you ever get low-balled offers for your freelance writing services? Does it piss you off when you see countless other content producers offering to write for a penny per word while you try to make ends meet by charging professional rates? Do you feel like others are holding you back? They’re not. You are. Remember, no one owes you a living as a freelance
One of the best ways to land new clients and make more money is to ask for referrals. Believe it or not, your current clients may be able to send a lot of new business your way – if you play your cards right. Freelance Writing Referral Tips 1. Don’t jump the gun. Your client is not going to pass your name around to others
Catchy title, eh? Everybody likes to get paid a little extra for their work—and writers are no exception. When you write for magazines, you will sometimes have the opportunity to hold out for a bit of extra cash. Here are some of the top ways to earn more from a print article: Reprints/Royalties I wrote for a magazine that wanted to publish my article again,
Book marketing and book publicity aren’t afterthoughts to writing your book or e-book. You should be thinking about book marketing before you even sit down and begin writing. While pre-launch book marketing efforts are important for all authors, they’re especially vital to indie authors. Because indie publishing means you’re going into business and bringing your own product to market, you can’t afford to neglect the
I’ve been working nights for years. This wouldn’t be a big deal if I wasn’t already working days and mornings, too. I’ve mentioned a few (dozen) times already, but I have the two kiddos to get up and out of the house every morning, while I get up and out of the house as well to head to the school where I teach at-risk teenagers.
[dropcap style=”font-size: 37px; margin-top:-2px; margin-bottom:-10px; margin-right:2px; color: #9b9b9b;”]D[/dropcap]o you want to publish a book in print? Do you really need the backing and validation of a traditional publisher, or can you go it alone? Indie publishing is actually a balance more than the antithesis of a traditional publishing contract. [quote] You choose the best people for your project…. [/quote]You don’t do everything entirely on your
Do you ever feel flustered under the pressure of your freelance work? Do you have a client who sometimes drives you crazy? Do you fear losing a gig because you don’t know where the next one will come from? Do you constantly worry about money because you aren’t earning as much as you’d like? First: take a step back. Next: breathe. Freelancing, or running any