Jennifer MatternYour first freelance writing job can be the most difficult to land. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Potential clients are all around you, and you might be closer to your first than you realize. Or maybe they’re halfway across the world and you just haven’t figured out how to find them yet. Let’s look at some ways you can land your first … read more
Whether you’re a new freelance writer or you’re still deciding whether or not to launch a freelance writing business, the costs are something you’ll need to consider. Fortunately, becoming a freelance writer doesn’t have to be expensive. You can do it for under $100 up front. And you can certainly launch with even less than that. Let’s look at some of the costs involved in … read more
‘Tis the season to launch new business ventures, evaluate your freelance career, and make plans to do even better in the New Year. So why not treat yourself to one of the long-time best, and recently updated, books that can help you do just that? I’m talking about Peter Bowerman’s The Well-Fed Writer. Earlier this year, Peter released the third edition of this essential inclusion … read more
One of the biggest perks of freelance writing is the stability. Unlike working full-time for a single employer, losing a gig (by choice or otherwise) doesn’t mean you lose all your income at once. That’s because you diversify your writing income when you freelance, splitting your working hours between different projects for different clients. But there are other ways to diversify your income beyond simply … read more
March 10, 2021 – UPDATE: The PRO Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives and will make its way to the Senate. The act previously failed in the Senate, and this is the most likely time we could see amendments to remove the freelance-career-killing ABC test. Remember, this is the first step in codifying the ABC test in federal law. The Biden administration has … read more
I can’t believe the issue of revenue sharing models is still relevant today in the writing community, but here we are. In this past week alone, companies exploiting these models have come up twice right in my Twitter feed. So, clearly, it’s time for a fresh look. Summary: Revenue share models are never about helping you as a writer, but they’re almost always marketed this … read more
In the latest featured collection of freelance writing markets, today we’ll look at print markets paying writers $500 or more per piece. Please note, some of these print markets have both print and online versions so project types and payment might vary between them. Also note that while these markets advertise rates of $500 or more for at least one project type, they may also … read more
NOTE: This post on bullet journals for writers is a significantly updated version of my 2018 post on how I use various types of journaling to manage nearly everything in my business and my life. In this 2021 update, the focus is much more centered on bullet journals in particular. Here you’ll find my updated list of bullet journal spreads and even more bullet journal … read more
I recently caught up with fellow freelance writer and author of The Well-Fed Writer, Peter Bowerman. One topic that came up in our conversation was professional ethics and some of the problematic behavior we’ve seen in the writing community in recent years. Or, as Peter put it, we discussed the issue of “ethics creep.” What I’d like to do today is explain what this means. … read more
It’s that time of year again. No doubt, if you haven’t already, you’ll start to see freelance industry surveys. They might summarize 2020, or they might offer trend predictions for 2021. Industry surveys can be fun to review, but be careful about using them to make serious business decisions. Let’s look at why industry surveys can be interesting. Then we’ll go into some common flaws … read more