Journalists. Public relations professionals. Frenemies of the highest order. No doubt you’ve seen journalists and bloggers complain about bad PR pitches. You may have even seen them here (like this lazy pitch from Upwork). Despite the tendency of writers to call out PR folks, the truth is many of us need them. We need their clients and employers as sources for stories. We need access to events.
Every May, Lori Widmer runs Writers Worth Month over on the Words on the Page blog. She features a collection of guest posts, profiles of experienced freelance writers, and her own tips and insight into realizing our worth (and getting paid what we’re worth) as freelance professionals. Each year I take part in this month-long event. This year I submitted a guest post and was profiled, sharing
We’re coming up on the midpoint of 2016. That means it’s a great time to reflect on our progress thus far. Most years I share my writing goals and resolutions with readers around January and then post a mid-year check-in around early July. This year I conducted my mid-year check-in early. And I highly recommend you do the same. Why Conduct an Early Mid-Year Review? The
Maybe you want to set a story in an exotic location you’ve never visited. Or perhaps you’re creating an entirely fictional setting for your book. How are you supposed to describe real (or just realistic) locations if you can’t show up, meet some locals, and check out similar areas for yourself? Whether you realize it or not, story setting inspiration is right at your fingertips, 24/7. I’m
This week on the All Freelance Writing Podcast, I tackle a question from Jeremy Tarrier. He was curious about how a writer might protect gender anonymity when writing under a pen name (or if it’s really even a problem). Listen now. This was an interesting topic for me because I actually have the opposite problem: I write under an ambiguous pen name that could easily
This week’s podcast episode is now up. If you aren’t subscribed yet, you can listen from the show notes page (or directly via SoundCloud). Listen now. This week’s episode features guest co-host, Yolander Prinzel (find her on Twitter). Yolander and I chat about serving as a critique partner, beta reader, or editor for friends and other writers you know well. Is it a good
Ah, the dreaded all-nighter. They’re gobs of fun, aren’t they? When you work as a freelance writer, they’re occasionally a necessary evil if you get behind on a project and you’re on a deadline. Thankfully I haven’t had one of those kinds of all-nighters in quite some time. In my case it’s usually somewhere between insomnia (due to stress or evil kitties conspiring against me)
Last week’s podcast is now up. If you aren’t subscribed yet, you can listen from the show notes page (or directly via SoundCloud). In this episode I pick up on my conversation with Dann Alexander, having answered another of his questions in Episode 18. This time Dann wanted some social media dos and don’ts when it comes to building your personal brand as a freelance
Do you ever feel like you aren’t living the life you really want to live? That your dreams and ambitions are going unfulfilled? That you’ve lost sight of things you’re passionate about, and you’re not quite sure when you got off-track? I do sometimes. Actually, these days, make that a lot. Maybe your dreams involve publishing your first novel. Maybe you dream of running a successful
One of my current projects is assembling a new media kit. As you might know, I have a background in public relations. So I’m keenly aware of the importance of earned media, and have been securing coverage for my clients for quite some time. While I’ve also secured my fair share of coverage for myself, with changing professional ambitions in my future, doing even more
Princess Jones is back at it again, co-hosting the All Freelance Writing Podcast. OK. She pretty much ran the show. But that’s why we had so much fun with this one. We chatted about fear and confidence issues writers often deal with. Listen now. (Extended cut) *Note: This episode contains explicit language. Also, if you prefer the shorter version you can find it at the bottom
I’m a bit late in sharing this, but last week’s podcast episode on writing motivation is now up. This one is the first solo episode after the re-launch. Dann Alexander (DannAlexander.com) and I were chatting on Twitter about show ideas. He suggested going back to basics as a way of staying motivated to write. He specifically brought up the idea of writing by hand rather than typing.
Update: As of May 6, 2016, I’ve finished this process and my name is officially and legally “Jennifer Mattern” again. Chances are good you’ve only ever known me as “Jenn Mattern.” But that’s not my legal name, and it hasn’t been since 2012 when I got married. Soon that will change. I’ve decided to go back to my maiden name. On numerous occasions, I’ve talked with
The All Freelance Writing Podcast officially re-launched yesterday with Episode 17. Lori Widmer stopped by the show again to serve as my guest co-host, so a big “thank you” to Lori. Some of the things we touch on in this episode include: The Huffington Post, and Stephen Hull’s stance that he’s “proud” to not pay their bloggers; Why freelance professionals should care about (and keep
The All Freelance Writing Podcast has been on a break for several months while I sorted out some technical issues and figured out the direction I wanted to take the show. I’m happy to announce the podcast is re-launching later this week. Today I’d like to give you some background on the upcoming changes. Plus, I’ll share a couple of sneak peek clips from one
Frequent migraines. Feeling weak and ice cold most of the time. Severe insomnia. Significant, and sudden, weight gain. Constant pain. Multiple miscarriages, and the emotional baggage that comes with each one. Ongoing exhaustion so bad I could barely drag myself out of bed for months. That was just a small sampling of my own personal hell for a few years. These health issues had the
Every week I receive dozens of guest post pitches across all of my blogs, and it’s not uncommon for that to creep over 100 in a week (and those are just the ones making it past my inbox filters; imagine how many bigger blogs must have to sort through). Yet I respond to less than 10% of those pitches. Even fewer result in guest posts
A friend and member of the All Freelance Writing community contacted me recently with a question about being a more prolific writer and balancing multiple writing ambitions. She asked to remain anonymous but agreed to let me share her question here in the hopes my answer might help someone else in a similar predicament. Here’s the gist: This is a writer in a similar position
This post was originally published on Yolander Prinzel’s blog in 2014. It was relocated to All Freelance Writing when that blog was shut down. When you decided to become a freelance writer, you probably didn’t think those old math classes would come in handy. It turns out they will. I hope you paid attention. Not understanding basic math can cost you dearly, whether it happens
At the start of each year we talk a lot about goals and planning here at All Freelance Writing. And that’s for good reason. It’s much easier to get from where you are now to where you ultimately want to be when you have a plan in place, and every good plan starts with a goal. That said, we sometimes get stuck on the concept of
Happy New Year! I hope 2016 is off to a great start for all of you. I’m excited to be back to work. There’s something about the fresh slate of a new year that ignites a fire under me to tackle big things. Even if you don’t have big projects planned, now is a great time to make other tweaks to your business. If you’re
Today marks the start of my usual year-end vacation, meaning I won’t be around much until the New Year (January 4th in this case). Before taking these yearly breaks I spend a lot of time evaluating my previous year. It’s how I set goals for the next year, but it’s also when I look at the tools and processes I’ve been using to decide what
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) began yesterday. NaNoWriMo is the annual month-long challenge to write a 50,000 word first draft of a novel. I’ve only taken part during two years so far, and I’ve managed to reach my goal both times. I’m hoping to make this year my third. I’m approaching this NaNoWriMo a bit differently than previous years. My goal is to actually hit
Update: I’ve decided to hold off on the podcast’s relaunch until early in the New Year so it wouldn’t go through a start-stop phase right away due to my already-scheduled vacation time in November and December. It will return in January. If you were a regular listener of the All Freelance Writing podcast, you’ve probably noticed that the show has been on hiatus for a
The freelance writing rate calculator here at All Freelance Writing was designed to help freelancers calculate their base rates. These would be the minimum rates you need to charge to cover the bare basics. Then you would figure out a premium based on your credentials and experience. There’s another way you can use this free tool however. And it can help you reach your ideal
National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, is a little over two weeks away. But if you plan to take part in it this year, you shouldn’t wait until November 1st to think about your new manuscript. Instead, use the rest of October for planning and outlining. Then, when NaNoWriMo begins, you’ll be ready to jump into your story. How I’m Spending My October Getting Ready
I’ve always loved the concept of mind mapping, but it’s not something I’ve done regularly. It’s something I’d prefer to use software for rather than one of my white boards but, quite frankly, I found every solution I came across to be ugly. Petty, I know, but if I’ll be looking at an organizational tool a lot, I prefer it to be clean and visually
There are days when 24 hours just isn’t enough. I’m sure you’ve experienced at least a few of those. Wouldn’t it be great if you could find an extra hour without having to sacrifice sleep or something else you love to do? Finding that extra hour a day might be easier than you think. The trick? Create a “5-minute list.” What is a 5-Minute List? Your 5-minute
When I share resources for writers here, they’re usually along the lines of e-books or other downloads. But today I want to recommend something different — a new mouse that’s ideal for those long hours we writers can spend in front of our computers. More specifically, let’s look at vertical mice. I didn’t even know what a vertical mouse was until Anne Wayman mentioned them
I was contacted several days ago by a fellow freelance writer and blogger. He was having problems on his WordPress site where his theme was no longer compatible with the WordPress core. It caused elements of his site to disappear. Another colleague pointed him in my direction, and thankfully I was able to find a patch. The problem? The patch was for a different version of