For this week’s short share we have an interesting one on timing your social media updates from SocialCaffeine.com. What do you think? Obviously the actual best times to post on social networks won’t be the same for everyone because of community and niche differences. But how close does your experience come to these recommended times? I’ve done the most testing on Twitter. My main account
Every year Lori Widmer of Words on the Page hosts Writer’s Worth Month. In Lori’s words, the mission of Writer’s Worth Month is “to reach freelance writers and help them gain confidence in the value of their skills.” In other words, it’s about helping you earn more and build a more successful writing business. To do this, Lori features a series of posts — both
In this week’s podcast I’m joined by Princess Jones (with whom I had a previous and entertaining conversation about crazy authors attacking book reviewers). In this episode we discuss some of the issues around selling your e-books (and physical books) directly through your own website. View the show notes or listen now.
My next Scrivener template is now available for download: a murder mystery novel template. This one is based on my own template that I’ve been using for my upcoming mystery series. It allows you to plan, outline, and draft your next murder mystery all in one project file. Plus, there’s a place to write up some of your promotional copy, like your book launch press
Do you have a blog attached to your freelance writer website or author site? If so, that’s a great move because fresh content can help you improve your search engine rankings. But are you really getting the biggest bang for your blogging time? Not if you aren’t sharing your blog posts on your homepage. I’ve talked before about my test results in blog frequency and
For this week’s “short share” we have an infographic from J6 Design called “8 Secrets to Writing Faster Blog Posts.” Overall, I think there are some great tips here, from creating self-imposed deadlines to avoiding the dreaded “edit while you write” syndrome. by j6design. What do you think? Do these ideas help you write blog posts faster? Are there any other tips you would add? Tell me
WordPress released a new update this week. It’s version 4.1.2, which is an important security release. Make sure you update your sites promptly if you don’t have automatic updates enabled. A security issue affecting numerous plugins was also identified, so don’t be surprised if you see a lot of plugin update notifications come through this week. Make sure you run those updates as soon as
Freelance writing is largely about the big picture. As you gain experience and build your professional reputation and visibility over time, you earn more money and freelancing becomes a more stable income source. That said, the big picture doesn’t motivate everybody. Sometimes you need to see changes now to convince yourself to even stick with this freelancing thing. If that sounds like you, you’re in
For this weekend’s short share, I wanted to feature an infographic that applies to authors and copywriters alike: What Really Makes a Good Story? from Tom Albrighton at ABCCopywriting.com. Check out the original discussion or leave a comment to tell me what you think. Are there other vital elements to a good story? Do you disagree with anything in the infographic?
In this week’s podcast I expand upon the topic of blog revenue, which I covered in a January episode. While I touch on a variety of business model options for bloggers, the episode pays particular attention to turning your blog into a direct business model in its own right through ad-supported content and premium features. Then, I tackle a community question about querying magazines and
I’ve been meaning to kick off a new, light, post series here for a while — one where I share a bite-sized bit of actionable information, or even something that’s simply entertaining. Most of these posts will be infographics — some which I’ll create and some from third party sources that I found interesting or helpful. Here is the first I wanted to share —
I’ve been working this week on the next Scrivener template in my writers’ resource collection — a mystery novel template. While it won’t be ready for release this week, I want to give you a chance to weigh in. Tell me what you want from a template. What would help you write your next mystery novel? When I was moving the first draft of a mystery novel
I can’t remember where I read it now — maybe on a blog, maybe on Reddit. But a few days ago I saw someone complaining about international freelancers. In this case they were talking about freelance development work and all of the competition they faced from overseas. This is something I see all the time. But then the conversation flipped. People weren’t only complaining about
On April 21st, just a couple of weeks away, Google is scheduled to roll out a new search algorithm update. This update focuses on mobile searches, and Google will start using mobile-friendliness as a ranking factor. What does this mean? If you get traffic from smartphones (it apparently doesn’t apply to tablet searches), and if your WordPress site isn’t mobile-friendly, you could take a significant
(Note: This post’s original review was published in 2015, but this AutoCrit review contains some updates as of March 25, 2025.) Some authors love the revision process. Some, not so much. I fall in the latter group. But if there’s one thing I dislike more than working on revisions, it’s the idea of automating the process with software. Revisions aren’t only about spelling
Setting goals, tracking your progress, and adapting when necessary are all important parts of running a business. So it doesn’t matter if you’re a freelance writer, an author trying to sell books, or a blogger trying to make money from your blogs. Goals are vital to your success. Now that we’re in April, it’s a good time to check in on any goals you might
Today’s reader question comes from Leigh Schrom: “Where do you locate publications that accept freelance work? Is the “Writer’s Market” the best source?” Writer’s Market is a source, and certainly a place you can start. But while it looks extensive as far as writer’s market directories go, the markets there still only represent a small portion of publications that work with freelance writers. And because most writers are
The latest episode of the writing podcast is up. This episode is all about branding for writers. It covers: Basic branding tips for writers Copyright concerns over sharing excerpts to your book to generate reader interest A tool to help you come up with better, brandable domain names for your professional website or blog View the show notes or listen below.
We have an interesting question for authors this week from an anonymous reader who created a soundtrack for their upcoming book. This is a topic that’s been on my mind recently as I was looking into BookTrack and also happened across an Amazon Prime music playlist featuring classical music for reading. While I’ve used soundtracks to help me write stories, listening to soundtracks or reading-specific playlists while I
I’ve been a customer of Elegant Themes for years, using their themes on several of my smaller sites and blogs. I loved their recent social media plugin, Monarch, which I use on my small business blog. And I was rather excited about their launch this week of Bloom, their new email opt-in plugin. While I was excited to test it out on a few of
When you’re just getting started as a freelance writer, the issue of rates can be a tricky one. How much should you charge? Should you bill hourly, per word, per project, or under some other rate structure? Should rates vary depending on the type of project? Today’s reader question is along these lines. This new freelancer, who asked not to be named so we’ll simply
Be sure to check out Episode 10 of the All Freelance Writing Podcast which was just released. You can listen below or read the show notes for the short version (and to get any recommended links from the show). This episode covers: Author blogging (why you need an author blog, how you can keep your blog from being too much of a time-suck, why you
When you work as a freelancer, sometimes you’ll struggle to reach your goals. But one of the most destructive things you can do when that happens is make excuses. Yet freelance writers makes excuses all the time to justify their lack of success in one area or another. After all, that’s easier than taking responsibility and making changes. Today let’s look at some of those
Did you know that you can turn your old blog posts into a .pdf e-book you can sell or give away to help build your email list? Right within WordPress? At least with the Anthologize plugin you can. This plugin lets you choose key blog posts and then group them into e-book sections before exporting. Now, it’s not a perfect solution. You’re supposed to be
This week’s quick tip comes from a question I received from Cathy Miller (my most recent guest co-host for the freelance writing podcast). Cathy’s thinking about making the move to Scrivener for freelance writing projects. But she’d heard from another writer that Scrivener projects don’t convert to Word well, especially when tables are involved. And most clients expect projects delivered in Word format, so that’s
It’s no secret to experienced freelance writers that having a specialty can simplify marketing and lead to much higher paying gigs. Clients are willing to pay you a premium for industry or niche expertise, especially those in higher-end pro level markets. It’s your specialized knowledge that lets them help clients brand themselves as authorities in their fields. Now some freelance pros specialize in types of writing rather
Episode 9 of the All Freelance Writing Podcast is now up. You can listen below or check out the show notes on the episode’s page. I’d like to thank Cathy Miller of Simply Stated Business. She joins me as the guest co-host for this episode. We chat about freelance ghostwriting for businesses, including the benefits of it, how you can find ghostwriting clients, and how
I skipped the podcast last week due to unexpected contractors being in-and-out here all week. So now we’ll have episodes two weeks in a row. In this week’s episode (Episode 8) I explore freelance blogging, with some tips on getting started. For example, I address a frequent question about choosing a specialty, and I offer some tips on building your first few portfolio pieces. Then
Note: This post is my first audio post. You can listen to the audio version at the end of the post. In the near future, you’ll be able to access this and other audio posts, along with the All Freelance Writing Podcast, by visiting FreelanceTheater.com. Lately I’ve been chatting with KeriLynn Engel about her freelance writing business, and the issue of anxiety came up — specifically
When you work as a writer — especially a freelance writer — your schedule can feel a bit scattered. You don’t have one job that you go to, where you follow a basic plan under one boss. You instead have to balance (or is that juggle?) multiple projects and multiple clients. Bouncing around from one project to another isn’t the most efficient use of your