Where Are They Now? – Yolander Prinzel

Earlier this month, we caught up with two writers who used to be regular contributors to this blog — LaToya Irby and Rebecca Garland. Today an old reader favorite makes her return. Yolander (Yo) Prinzel is a freelance finance and insurance writer who specializes in ghostwriting now. She’s also one of my “go-to gals,” meaning she puts up with more of my rants and ridiculousness

Writing Challenges as a Motivational Strategy

In our last Monday Motivation post I wrote about self-motivation and what a struggle it can sometimes be. In that post, I also mentioned we’d be talking more about gamification in the future as a way to keep yourself motivated to write. Today we’re going to start by looking at one example of gamification for writers: setting writing challenges for yourself. I don’t know about

Podcast: Freelance Blogging (with Sharon Hurley Hall)

Sharon Hurley Hall joins me for the latest episode of the All Freelance Writing Podcast. We chat about a wide range of issues related to freelance blogging. For example, you’ll learn: The difference between business blogging and niche / publication blogging (and benefits of each); The difference between blogging for small businesses and larger corporate clients; How much you can really earn as a freelance blogger (if

When Self-Motivation is a Struggle

Not even a month in, and I find myself wondering why I chose to start a motivational series of blog posts on Mondays. Perhaps I just liked the alliteration of a “Monday Motivation” series (probably). Today I find myself struggling to find the motivation to write, or do much of anything other than curl up with a good book. If the series’ posts came later

Podcast: Risks of False Authority and Becoming an Insta-Expert (with Philippa Willitts)

In the latest All Freelance Writing Podcast, I’m joined by UK freelance journalist, Philippa Willitts. Philippa and I discuss “insta-experts” and the dangers of building a false sense of authority instead of legitimate expertise in your writing niche or industry. This is a follow-up to my previous post and podcast episode, An Open Letter on Trust, “Experts,” and Blogging. (Be forewarned, the older post contains quite

Podcast: Writing Confidence & Dealing with Rejection (with Dann Alexander)

In the latest All Freelance Writing Podcast, I’m joined by fellow freelance writer and indie author, Dann Alexander. Dann and I pick up where Princess and I left off in Episode 19 on fear and confidence issues to discuss rejection and its impact on a writer’s confidence. Dann brings a unique perspective in that he has a very optimistic outlook on rejection as a writer, while being someone

Where Are They Now? – Rebecca Garland

It’s time to catch up with another former regular contributor (from this blog’s days as All Freelance Writing). This week’s guest is Rebecca Garland. Rebecca covered not only issues related to being a work at home parent, but also grammar and ESL topics thanks to her experience as a high school English teacher in her full-time job. Rebecca has been writing for clients for 11 years now. Even

Paula Hendrickson on Choosing Her Freelance Writing Specialty

Freelance writers would be wise to specialize. I’ve given this advice for years, and for good reason. Whether you choose to specialize in a niche or industry (or even type of writing or type of client base), you’ll generally earn more as a specialist. But there are other benefits too, as today’s guest points out. In my interview series talking to freelance writers about their

Year-end Planning & Goal-Setting: The “Screw 2016” Edition

I’m just going to come right out and say it: 2016 sucked. Yes. Past tense. I refuse to let it take, destroy, or corrupt anything else I hold dear. I declare 2016 officially over. I’ve decided to spend the next several weeks living in some limbo-like state free from the confines of time and space. You are welcome to join me. Because I’ve decided to leave

Freelancing Hits and Misses: Reflections from Sharon Hurley Hall

When I first decided to go freelance I had no idea it would turn into a permanent life choice. At the time, I already had almost 20 years of solid journalism writing experience under my belt, but going online felt like an unfamiliar and slightly scary world. So I did what I do best: experimented till I found what worked. Looking back on it after

Where Are They Now? – LaToya Irby

Before this site was re-branded in 2013 under the All Freelance Writing brand, it was known as All Freelance Writing. For a while, All Freelance Writing was a group blog with a handful of regular contributors. The site’s 10-year anniversary felt like a great time to reach out and reconnect with some of those writers. So, this month, four former contributors to the blog will

Fears & Doubts Writers Face: New Monday Motivation Series

This post is the first in a new “Monday Motivation” series designed to encourage you to take risks with your writing and keep pushing forward despite the fear, doubts, and confidence issues that often creep into a writer’s mind. You’ll find a mix of personal stories, tips, exercises, reality checks, and motivational quotes and resources every Monday moving forward.  Fear. Doubt. A lack of confidence

NaNoWriMo 2016: Plan & Resources

NaNoWriMo 2016 is well underway. Plotters have their stories outlined. Pantsers have hit the ground running. And aspiring and experienced novelists alike have that 50k word target in their sights. Today let’s talk about the NaNoWriMo writing process — what we’re working on, how we’ve scheduled our writing time during November, and what tools and resources we use to keep us on track. NaNoWriMo 2016:

Podcast: Round Table Chat on the Changing Freelance Writing Industry

The All Freelance Writing Podcast returns today with a very special episode. This is the first group episode of the show. I’m joined by my “go-to gals” — Yolander Prinzel, Cathy Miller, and Lori Widmer — for a round table style discussion about the changing freelance writing industry and what they’ve learned as veterans in their field. The ladies weigh in on several things including:

Falling Behind During NaNoWriMo? 3 Tips to Get You Back on Track

NaNoWriMo has barely started, and I’m already behind this year. I changed my novel idea at the last minute (I believe around 10:00 p.m. the night before). I still haven’t finished the scene-by-scene outline, though I hope to by tomorrow morning. And it’s now November 3rd and I haven’t even begun drafting my novel yet. That seems like a cause for concern, right? But I’m

The Evolution of the Freelance Writing Industry: 10 Years of Positive Changes

All Freelance Writing has served the freelance writing community for ten years now. And what a journey it’s been! Not only has this site changed significantly, going through two re-brandings — from SixFigureWriters.com to AllFreelanceWriting.com to AllFreelanceWriting.com, but the industry itself has changed quite a bit in that time. Some of those changes are good. Some, not so much. And lately we’ve even seen trends

All Freelance Writing is 10 Years Old. Help Me Celebrate All November.

Can you believe it? All Freelance Writing is 10 years old this month. Since November of 2006, I’ve been helping new writers build successful writing careers through better business and marketing practices. You may have noticed a lack of updates here recently. That’s because I’ve been busy working on some new things on the back-end. So think of today as a sort of re-launch. A