Author Blogging and “Faking it ’til You Make It” [Podcast]

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

Quick Tip: Make Sure Your Author Blog Reaches the Right Readers

Your author blog can be an important, and effective, book marketing tool. But I’ve seen countless authors complain that blogging isn’t worth their time, only to discover that they’re going about it in the wrong way. One of the biggest issues I’ve seen is that authors aren’t targeting the right readers with their blogs. And if you don’t reach the right audience, it should be

Freelance Ghostwriting for Businesses (Podcast)

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

All Freelance Writing Audio Post Series

Last week I started rolling out a new feature here at All Freelance Writing: a series of audio posts. These are audio versions of posts from the blog. There are three available right now, with more to come. A big part of my content plan for this community is to make more content available in different ways, so you have more options for how you

Getting Started as a Freelance Blogger (Podcast)

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

Cathy Miller to Guest Co-Host the Writers’ Podcast

I have a quick update for regular listeners of the All Freelance Writing Podcast. Due to some contractor work here this week I didn’t have as much quiet time as usual to record and edit the latest podcast episode. Rather than rush it tonight and release something I’m not proud of, I’ve decided to postpone this episode by one week. That means episode eight will

Everyday Marketing for Freelance Writers with Lori Widmer (Podcast)

In this seventh episode of the All Freelance Writing Podcast, I’m joined by guest co-host, Lori Widmer of the Words on the Page blog. We cover: The importance of regular or everyday marketing for freelance writers (along with some simple marketing tactics you can use even if you’re short on time — tip: these could work equally well for indie authors and bloggers) Lori’s e-book,

Revenue Streams for Writers: Blogs and E-books (Podcast)

Today I released the first podcast episode for 2015 (and sixth overall). In this episode I mostly deal with the topic of revenue streams for writers. First, I run through eleven blog revenue streams you can use to monetize blogs of your own. Then I tackle a question about e-book revenue (and share a story about my own first e-book, which is scheduled to be

Taking a Holiday From Your Blog (Podcast)

  Today marks not only my last working day of the year, but also the last All Freelance Writing Podcast episode of 2014. Episode 5 picks up where episode 4 left off, with more tips on keeping your blog active even while you take a holiday. In this episode I share tips on not only keeping your blog fresh with new content while you take time

Out With the Old, In With the New: A Year-end Check-in and 2015 Writing Goals

The year is almost over, and that means it’s time to evaluate progress and set goals for the New Year. So today I’d like to share an example with a follow-up from my previous progress check-in and also some new goals for my writing business in 2015. 2014 Year-End Check-In This year was very good in some ways. But in others I didn’t come close

Answers to Your Blogging Questions

Episode four of the All Freelance Writing Podcast was released last week, and the show notes were published today. This episode was a special Q&A feature covering blogging-related questions submitted by members of the community. Questions for this episode were submitted by Anne Wayman, KeriLynn Engel, and Emily Fowler as entries for episode two’s e-book giveaway. In this podcast episode, the following topics are covered: What

Authors Attack: Dealing With Negative Book Reviewers

  In the third episode of the All Freelance Writing Podcast, I’m joined by Princess Jones. We chat about extreme cases of authors behaving badly by attacking negative book reviewers. And we offer tips on how you can deal with negative book reviews more tactfully (hint: there is almost never an appropriate time for you to take on a reviewer). You can hear the latest episode below

Princess Jones to Guest Co-Host the All Freelance Writing Podcast

Just a quick announcement: Princess Jones will be my first guest co-host on the All Freelance Writing Podcast, co-hosting the third episode scheduled for Thursday, November 20th. As mentioned in the first episode, I’ll bring on occasional guest co-hosts for casual, frank discussions rather than taking the traditional route of bringing on interview subjects. In the upcoming episode, Princess and I will discuss negative book

It’s That Time Again: Writing Goals 3rd Quarter Check-in

October marks the start of my favorite time of year: when we hop from one holiday to the next. It kicks off with Halloween and continues straight through New Year’s Day. There’s decorating. Shopping. Family time. And a crazy work schedule. Fall and the beginning of winter are probably my most hectic time of the year as a freelance writer-blogger-publisher, largely because I have so

2014 Freelance Writing and Publishing Goals

This week is my last work week of 2013. That means it’s time to take a look back at my progress this year — both my successes and failures. And it’s time to think about goals and resolutions for 2014. You can find mine below, and I hope you’ll share some of your own in the comments. Let’s start with some of my biggest goals

A Belated 4th Quarter Business Check-In

Normally I post my quarterly business goals and plans at the beginning of each quarter, and I try to post a follow-up in the next update to let you know how I did. Plans always unexpectedly change in one way or another, but this past quarter might have been the worst. As you might know, I took off for an extended leave of several months

Introducing a New Series on Freelance Ghostwriting

For close to two years I’ve been revamping my writing business to focus more on ghostwriting. This change in strategy has done amazing things for my career. It’s made me fall in love with freelancing all over again and helped me develop a focus, security and stability that I’d felt was lacking before. Like many freelancers, I’d always dabbled in ghostwriting. But I didn’t really

Updates and Oversharing

As you might remember, All Freelance Writing was supposed to be nonexistent at this point. It was scheduled to be merged with two other sites and relaunched as AllFreelanceWriting.com back in July. Clearly July has passed, and this site is still here. I’ve been MIA for several months. And I’m ready to share a few updates on what’s happening and what the new plan is

Happy Holidays! Preparing for 2013

Update: I’ve decided to extend my vacation until Monday, January 7th to spend some more post-holiday downtime with family. I will not be back to regular posting here until that week, but our other contributors will continue to post on their usual schedules.  This week was my last work week in 2012. I’m now on vacation until January 2nd. I hope you’re all enjoying a

Why I Won't Pursue a Publisher for The Query-Free Freelancer

Yesterday on Twitter I noted that I finally made a decision regarding the book I’m working on — The Query-Free Freelancer — and whether I would pursue a traditional publisher or opt to self-publish the book. I’ve chosen the latter. I put a lot of thought into this over the last few months, and was already leaning towards the self-publishing route. But recent events in

Late Shift

Note: This post originally appeared at FreelanceTheater.com on February 9, 2010. The Freelance Theater audio play series is now a part of All Freelance Writing. One of the sometimes best / sometimes worst aspects of freelancing is how much time you’ll spend working alone. While it can be nice to avoid the politics and drama of a traditional office environment, there is also no 5pm

The Dead Don’t Write

Note: This post originally appeared at FreelanceTheater.com on October 30, 2009. The Freelance Theater audio play series is now a part of All Freelance Writing. Have you ever had a “vampire client” — one who seems to suck the life out of you? Maybe they don’t pay enough so you push yourself to the edge of burning out regularly as you cram in countless projects.

Does Query-Free Freelancing Work with Larger Media?

In Yo’s last post, she mentioned the ups and downs freelancers face. Today I’m going to share a story that incorporates a bit of both. First, it’s an excellent case of query-free freelancing attracting more than commercial writing clients. On the other hand, it also shows how breaking one of my own rules ended up being a waste of time on a day when when

Freelance Writers: How Do You Handle Vacations?

I haven’t had a “real” vacation in about 12 years. After college it was just about not having the money to go (nonprofit work at the time paid far from well). Then I was going through the startup phase in my business (PR firm them), so there simply wasn’t time. Then it was client issues — when you’re on retainer as a consultant, you have

Why Query-Free Freelancers Love Freebies

Today I’m going to give you a quick tip for better query-free freelancing: give things away for free! People love freebies. If they feel they’ll get something for nothing, they’ll often stop and take notice even if they would have otherwise passed you by. Freebies are especially important during growth phases where you’re trying to expand your visibility or reach within your target market. To

Overcoming Freelance Stress

Being a freelance writer can be stressful at times. That stress may be because you have a lot of work going on at once, or because work is slow and you’re stressing while you try to find new clients. No matter what the reason is, you have to deal with the stress before it completely consumes you. I’ve been particularly stressed with work lately. It’s

Weekly Writing Challenge: Mix it Up

It’s easy to get stuck in a certain way of working. Sometimes our methods can become stale and negatively affect our productivity as writers. So this week’s challenge is about scheduling, and how mixing it up once in a while can keep your work fresh. If you think you’re already working as productively as you possibly can, there’s no need to take part in this