Freelancing 101 or, How to Tick off Your Editor

GET YOUR WORK IN ON TIME.

Simple enough. So why did my new writer, when I called her 12 minutes after her assignment deadline had passed, tell me “It’s almost done”? Why, after my e-mailing her, calling her, repeating over and over again 5 PM, 5 PM, 5 PM, It has to be in by 5 PM! did her work come in at 5:28 PM?

And why, when I asked her about this, did she say: Well, it was almost in on time?

Almost = Not Good Enough.

For All You Writers:

On Freelance Weblogging, etc.
All sorts of fantastic inspiration for fellow bloggers

50 Tools to Help You in Your Writing
Sometimes I think all a writer needs is something to get inspired. Flipping through this list of reminders! suggestions! ways to improve! is a sure-fire way to get the juices flowing.

advertisers = bad writers?

From Direct Creative Blog:
“Some of the worst copywriters are ‘writers’ who enter the commercial copywriting profession. Why? Because they’ve learned the formal rules of writing so well, they can’t break free of the grammar and style shackles. They’re forever obsessing about what is correct rather than what is effective.”

I agree and disagree with this article. On the one hand, copywriters do need to be flexible about rules/style. Sometimes it’s OK to start a sentence with “and,” even though traditional rules dictate otherwise. It’s all about usage, with advertising, I’m learning. On the other hand, I know from experience that it’s harder to train a “free-thinker” in grammar than to train a “grammarian” in letting go.

To read the rest of the article, and learn what other grammar rules are up for grabs with ads, click the above link.

Now You Have Someone to Listen

(or, Why You Should PF-Blog)

I used to have this penpal friend. We wrote every few days or so, about everything from our jobs to our families to our favorite movies and foods. Doing that, I realized how much I enjoy writing my thoughts out, how nice it is to just say all the things I’ve got on my mind and have a response from someone. Do you know what I mean? Have you had this kind of thing?

It’s a lot like blogging, in a way. Or at least the blogs I really love. My favorites are the ones where authors talk about the everyday: the money they spend on groceries, the experience they had at the mall, whatever. There’s something to be said for just pouring your heart–especially to a not-real-life friend. Why is that, I wonder.

If you’re a PF reader (i.e., if you’re looking at this post right now), consider joining the blogosphere. You’ll love it–I’ll love it. You’ll find a community of down-to-earth, sincere storytellers and story-readers. It’s wonderful, it’s inspiring, I’m addicted.

Do You Know about the Must-Read Blog for Writers?

‘Tis the season for addictions, apparently, as I’m a new fan of this incredible blog: Copyblogger.

Writing about everything from top grammar mistakes to sure-fire headlines to blogging tips, author Brian Clark has me hooked.

Go. Now. You’ll love.

Creativity: Make a List

It’s easy for daily tasks to become routine: our jobs, our families, our way of life in general. With my job especially I’m sensitive to this, as accepting in-the-box, routine ways of doing things greatly hinders creativity. When I just let myself keep doing the same thing all the time, I get stagnant. I don’t look for new ways, new ideas, some kind of change. And that means I’m losing my edge and not growing forward.

That’s why I really like a recent post at this site (look for “tackle any issue with a list of 100″) that I came across: it gives a specific, tangible way to get your mind thinking creatively. Take a topic–any topic–and make yourself write 100 ways, things, ideas that are related. My pastor’s big on the 100 Things to Be Thankful for List. At my company, I want 100 Ways to Make the Department Better or 100 Ways to Write More Creatively or 100 Ideas for Catching my Editing Mistakes.

What about you? Have you tried this? I’m in the midst of one, and it’s a great exercise. When you start, you think you’ll have all these great ideas… and around 40 or so, you hit a wall. What’s so cool is breaking through that wall and discovering *new* and creative possibilities. Try it!

article 1

Yesterday, I talked to the magazine editor who bought my first article. She’s nine-months pregnant, I found out, so it’s understandable that’s she been hard to reach. The mag made a few changes to my piece, so she wanted to tell me that she’d e-mail me the new draft to check and edit.

She also got back to me about payment. The article is around 1100 words, but it’s a list piece–”A Dozen Great…”–you get the idea. I expected at least $100, as that’s how much I was paid for an essay that was placed in a book last year. I’d spent about ten hours on it, including phone interviews and light internet research. I probably would’ve been happy with $75, honestly.

So imagine my surprise when she dropped this news: $600 will be coming my way next month, when the piece is published. That’s $60 PER HOUR. Sweet!

magazine writing

For one of my classes last quarter, I had to create three magazine articles that I would actually submit for publication. My prof showed us the best ways to query and how to market writing to specific magazines, and his practical advice proved helpful.

I sold the first piece quickly, though I still haven’t been paid for it: this seems to be common in freelance magazine writing–editors are busy and hard to reach. It will appear in a June issue, my editor said in her one voicemail message.

I sold the second today, to a local newspaper. They will pay me $50 at the end of the month. I’m glad to have sold the article, especially because it benefits the shop I profiled, and they were very helpful there. But I’m disappointed too–the piece focuses on a national trend, and I queried at least three larger publications that never responded. A local paper’s OK, but smaller than I’d aimed at. I guess it’s always good to have backup options.