I had just finished graduate school and needed a job. The problem with getting a Master’s in English with emphasis in Creative Writing is that there is no career development course in the curriculum. There may not be one in any other major either, but with this particular course of study, it seems to be completely necessary. If you’re really interested in being a teacher,
So perhaps you’ve done the hard part already and written a book. Or maybe you’re just doing some research because you’re thinking about writing a book. Either way, you should know that the publishing landscape today looks vastly different than it did a mere 15 years ago. Heck, it looks vastly different than it did 2 years ago. Authors today have a lot more options —
Do you have a marketing plan in your head? Do you complete marketing related tasks, day after day, without any real organization? If you answered yes to both of these questions, you are in the same boat as many freelance writers. It is true that any marketing is better than none at all. However, an organized plan will go a long way in helping you
It’s crossed the mind of every freelancer at one point or another, perhaps on the day that a major deal falls through or you learn you’re looking at a divorce or pregnancy. Is there a good time to stop freelance writing? While our knee jerk reaction may be to immediately deny the thoughts of walking away or scaling back, logically there are some times when
It’s no secret that I manage multiple blogs. Currently I have 50 active WordPress installations — large blogs, small blogs, author sites, business sites, and several in various pre-launch phases. Every work day I have to manage these blogs, including the ones that haven’t launched yet. What does this include? Approving comments that are in moderation queues Deleting spam comments Upgrading any out of date
Some surprises are nice: surprise birthday parties, surprise gifts, surprise breakfast in bed. Other surprises are not so nice, specifically surprises that cost you. When you’re a fulltime writer, your income fluctuates often, so surprises are typically unwelcome. But they happen, even to the most experienced writers. Success and longevity hinge on your ability to manage these surprises. A big project falls through. Not every
Have you heard the phrase “content marketing” before but wondered how it applies to you as a blogger? After all, you’re already focused on content every time you write a blog post. Why should you worry about it beyond that, and how can it affect your blog marketing? Let’s take an introductory look at content marketing strategies and why they’re important for bloggers and business
I was recently interviewed by Dava Stewart of SmilingTreeWriting.com about independent writing and publishing. I’d like to share a portion of that with you below. If you’d like to read more, please check out the full interview. Dava Stewart: Recently, I heard a well known writer talking about the often repeated phrase “there are no gatekeepers anymore.” He suggested that every reviewer on Goodreads or Amazon
Working as freelance writers, we don’t have an employer or supervisor looking over our shoulder to hold us accountable for how we spend our time. Instead that responsibility falls on us. I’ve always been big on planning and organization to help me get more worked into my schedule. I keep daily and weekly to-do lists. I have four white boards and two bulletin boards in
There are many reasons why freelance writers often times overlook cold calling as a viable marketing method. While some people are frightened at the thought of picking up the phone and making these calls, others shy away because they don’t feel as if they have enough time in their schedule. Let’s take a closer look at three of the best ways to save time as
Recently we talked about the basics of blog content audits. In the comments, Joanna Haugen asked about using spreadsheets to track your plans and progress as you go through the content audit process. I promised a simple tutorial on creating one, and that’s what you’ll find here. Export Your WordPress Data The first thing you’ll want to do is export key data from WordPress. You
This year I’m participating in NaNoWriMo for the first time. For those of you not familiar with the acronym, it stands for National Novel Writing Month and it’s organized by the Office of Letters and Light. Participants begin writing on November 1st, and the goal is to write a 50,000-word novel by midnight on November 30th. As I said, this is my first year participating, but I’ve
One of the hardest things to do as a freelancer is also one of the most critical. You need to find a comfort zone in your professional life. If you don’t find a happy medium where you’re driven to succeed without overwhelming yourself with projects and obligations, your professional life will quickly bleed over into your personal life – and soon you find yourself trapped
Bloggers are expected to come up with fresh content ideas on a regular basis. But sometimes those ideas don’t come easily. As bloggers, we’re not immune from writer’s block. Fortunately there’s an easy way to brainstorm new blog post ideas. Start with a basic blog post type, and move on from there. While it’s wonderful if you have a long list of specific blog post
If you asked my 20-year-old self what kind of job I wanted after graduating college, writing would not have been my answer. But, if you asked that same me what I was passionate about, I would have answered “writing” without hesitation. I’ve talked to many people who, like I was, are afraid to follow their dreams of being a full-time freelance writer because they’re worried
In terms of magazine writing, it has been my experience that editors will often change the title you give an article. Know this going in. So, you may ask, why am I devoting an entire post to writing a great title? Well, because it could get your article accepted–or at least help you get an editor’s attention. When you send a query letter in, having
When it comes to blogging, how your words are visually presented to the reader can be just as important as what you write. People read differently on the Web than they do in print. And your blog post formatting should reflect that. Here are five basic blog formatting tips that can help you improve your blog post presentation. 1. Use subheadings. Subheadings break up your
You could spend several hours each day cold calling prospects. You could send out hundreds of letters to editors. You could send cold emails until your fingers are ready to fall off. But guess what? If you don’t have somewhere to send these prospects you are spinning your tires. In other words, you need a professional website for your freelance writing business. Sure, you can