Summary

If you've always dreamed of making a living as a writer, this book will take you where you want to go. Starting Your Career as a Freelance Writer, Second Edition, demystifies the process of becoming a writer and gives aspiring writers all the tools they need to become successful freelance writers, get their names in print, and start earning a healthy income from writing. Completely revised and updated, the second edition includes an entirely new section on the "online writer," discussing how to set up your own website, whether you need a blog, how to effectively participate in social networking sites, and information on electronic publishing, POD and more.

New chapters provide guidance on writing for international markets and other writing opportunities such as ghostwriting, speech writing, technical writing, copyediting, teaching, etc. This indispensable resource walks writers through the process of developing marketable ideas and then finding appropriate markets for those ideas.

It includes effective tips on how to set writing goals; make time for writing; hone research and interview techniques; create outlines and first drafts, approach editors (online and offline), and prepare and submit material. Writers will also discover the vital business issues of freelancing such as rights and contracts, plus how to manage income, expenses, and taxes. Author Moira Allen has more than 30 years experience both as a freelance writer and as an editor; her tips come from a keen understanding of what works from both sides of the desk.

Whether readers are looking to support themselves as full-time freelancers or supplement an existing career, no one wanting to make money as a writer can afford to be without this book.

“Few know the ins and outs of freelancing better than Moira Allen. In her comprehensive guide, she walks you through everything you need to know to get started and become successful. This is an essential read for freelance writers.” -Jeff Reich, editor, The Writer magazine

“This book is a clear, comprehensive, example packed, practical, and wise compendium of advice for any freelancer. Don’t be fooled by the title Moira Allen has given us an excellent introduction for beginners and an invaluable reference for experienced writers. My copy is already stickied with reminders.”-Noelle Sterne, editor, writing coach, and author of Trust Your Life: Forgive Yourself and Go After Your Dreams

“Moira Allen's advice is sound, practical, and comprehensive. Her long history of helping writers makes this book invaluable to the beginning freelancer.”-Barbara Florio Graham, author and publishing consultant

Author Biography

Moira Anderson Allen has been writing professionally for more than 30 years, contributing to such publications as Writer's Digest, The Writer, Byline, and Entrepreneur, among others. She is the author of seven books (including The Writer's Guide to Queries, Pitches, and Proposals, Allworth Press, 2010) and more than 300 published articles. Her versatile background includes technical writing, corporate editing, corporate newsletter directing, and operating her own publishing firm. A long-time instructor of freelance and creative writing at community colleges, Allen is often a speaker at writing conferences and workshops. She lives in Columbia, Maryland.

Introduction	p. 1
Getting Started	p. 3
So You Want to Be a Freelance Writer	p. 5
What is a Freelancer?	p. 6
How Much Can You Earn?	p. 7
What Does It Take to Become a Freelancer?	p. 9
Getting Started	p. 13
The Necessities	p. 13
Optional Extras	p. 17
Making Time to Write	p. 21
Treat Time as an Investment	p. 21
Examine Your "Time Budget"	p. 21
Examine Your Priorities	p. 22
Eliminate Time-Wasters	p. 23
Teach Others to Respect Your Time	p. 24
Setting Goals	p. 25
Defining Effective Writing Goals	p. 25
Short-Term vs. Long-Term Goals	p. 26
Review Your Progress	p. 27
Coping with Rejection	p. 29
But why?	p. 29
"Good" Rejection Slips	p. 30
Self-Honesty	p. 30
It Sank. Get Over It.	p. 31
Starting Your Article	p. 33
Finding Ideas	p. 35
What Do Editors Want?	p. 35
Digging for Ideas	p. 36
Brainstorming Ideas	p. 37
Focus and Expand	p. 38
Don't Eliminate the Negative	p. 40
Categories, Subjects, Topics, and Slants	p. 41
Category	p. 41
Subject	p. 42
Topic	p. 42
Slant	p. 42
The Outline Demystified	p. 45
Five Ways to Approach the Outline	p. 46
Working Within a Word Budget	p. 48
Conducting Research on the Web	p. 51
Defining Effective Search Terms	p. 51
Is It Accurate?	p. 52
Using Published Sources	p. 54
Conducting Interviews	p. 57
Making Contact	p. 57
Before the Interview	p. 59
During the Interview	p. 60
After the Interview	p. 62
E-mail Interviews	p. 62
E-mail Surveys	p. 64
Using Interview Material	p. 65
Starting Your First Draft	p. 67
Step One: Identify Your Subject	p. 67
Step Two: Identify Your Subtopics	p. 68
Step Three: Identify Your Audience	p. 69
Step Four: Identify Your Limits	p. 69
Step Five: Identify Your Structure	p. 69
Style and Presentation	p. 70
Beginnings, Middles, and Ends	p. 71
Sidebars	p. 72
Five Flaws that Can Lead to Rejection	p. 73
Personal Experience Articles	p. 75
Experiences to Share	p. 75
Experiences that Enrich	p. 76
Experiences to Avoid	p. 77
Experiences to Endure	p. 77
First Experiences	p. 78
Experience as Expertise	p. 79
Using Experiences Wisely	p. 80
Getting the "I" Out	p. 80
Some Final Tips	p. 81
Finding the Right Markets	p. 83
Exploring the Markets	p. 85
Finding Free (and Almost Free) Magazines	p. 87
Evaluating a Market: Is it Right for You?	p. 88
Should You Write for Free?	p. 94
Writing for Special-Interest Publications	p. 97
"But I'm Not an Expert"	p. 97
Understanding the Markets	p. 98
Magazine "Must-Haves"	p. 98
Should You Specialize or Generalize?	p. 100
Writing for Newspapers	p. 103
How Do Magazine and Newspaper Writing Differ?	p. 104
Finding Freelance Opportunities	p. 105
Types of Newspaper Articles	p. 106
Do You Need Pictures?	p. 107
Querying a Newspaper	p. 107
Writing the Article	p. 109
Don't Overlook the Internet	p. 112
Once You Have Your Foot in the Doorà	p. 112
Queries and Submissions	p. 113
The Submission Process	p. 115
Whom to Contact	p. 115
What to Send	p. 116
Simultaneous and Multiple Submissions	p. 118
Waiting for an Answer	p. 119
The Editor Respondsà	p. 120
After the Acceptance	p. 121
Tracking Submissions	p. 122
Will an Editor Steal Your Ideas?	p. 124
How to Write a Successful Query	p. 125
Elements of a Query	p. 126
Hooks to Avoid	p. 127
Format	p. 129
Multiple-Pitch Queries	p. 130
Common Query Problems	p. 131
E-mail Queries	p. 135
Elements of the E-mail Query	p. 136
Formating Your Manuscript	p. 141
Print Manuscripts: The Basics	p. 141
Fonts and Format	p. 142
Electronic Submissions	p. 142
Counting the Words	p. 142
Other Format Issues	p. 143
Do You Need a Cover Letter?	p. 145
When to Use a Cover Letter?	p. 145
Ten Things to Leave Out of Your Letter	p. 147
Rights and Contracts	p. 149
Understanding Rights and Copyright	p. 151
A Writer's Rights	p. 152
Electronic Rights	p. 154
Use vs. Payment	p. 156
Protecting Your Rights	p. 156
Understanding Contracts	p. 159
Understanding Terms	p. 160
Negotiating Contracts	p. 161
Understanding Your Position	p. 161
What Isn't a Contract	p. 162
Making Your Own Contract	p. 163
Some Tricky Contract Issues	p. 163
Setting Fees and Getting Paid	p. 167
By the Word vs. by the Hour	p. 167
When Time Isn't the Only Factor	p. 168
Handling "Pay on Publication" Markets	p. 169
Asking for More Money	p. 170
Getting Paid	p. 172
Handling Income and Expenses	p. 175
Tracking Your Business	p. 176
Why All This Trouble?	p. 178
Preparing Your Taxes	p. 179
Deducting Expenses	p. 179
Estimated Taxes	p. 182
Surviving an Audit	p. 183
Get an Accountant!	p. 183
Keeping Records	p. 187
Contracts and Letters of Agreement	p. 187
Correspondence	p. 187
Invoices	p. 188
Clips	p. 188
Manuscripts	p. 189
Keeping Electronic Records	p. 189
The Online Writer	p. 193
The Writer and the Internet	p. 195
Creating a Writer's Web Site	p. 199
Five Great Reasons for a Web Site	p. 199
Elements of a Successful Web Site	p. 206
Making Money from Your Site	p. 208
Three Things Your Web Site Can Do Without	p. 209
The Greatest Danger of Allà	p. 209
How Social Networking Sites Help Writers	p. 211
Facebook	p. 211
Linkedin	p. 212
Twitter	p. 212
Using Social Network Sites	p. 213
Getting Started	p. 214
Beyond the Basics	p. 216
More Information	p. 217
To Blog or Not to Blog	p. 219
Why Blog?	p. 220
Speaking of Numbersà	p. 222
Blogging vs. "Writing"	p. 223
Taking the Plunge	p. 225
Tools for the Blogger	p. 226
Expanding Your Writing Business	p. 229
Selling Reprints	p. 231
Writing for International Publications	p. 237
Selling Photos	p. 241
Photo "Ops"	p. 241
Basic Equipment	p. 242
Submitting Photos	p. 244
Obtaining Photos from Other Sources	p. 246
Submitting Photos Without Manuscripts	p. 247
Selling (and Syndicating) a Column	p. 249
Choosing a Column Topic	p. 250
Pitching Your Column	p. 251
Self-Syndicating Your Column	p. 254
Writing (and Selling) a Nonfiction Book	p. 259
Why Write a Book?	p. 260
Getting Started	p. 261
Finding a Publisher	p. 262
Preparing a Proposal	p. 264
The Publishing Process	p. 267
Do-It-Yourself Publishing	p. 269
Self-Publishing	p. 269
Subsidy Publishing	p. 270
Subsidy Print-on-Demand Publishing	p. 271
Electronic Publishing	p. 272
Commercial Freelancing	p. 275
Writing for Businesses	p. 277
What Does a Copywriter Do?	p. 278
What Do You Need to be a Copywriter?	p. 279
Getting the Work	p. 282
SIDEBAR: The Cold Call, by Peter Bowerman	p. 282
Becoming a Successful Copywriter	p. 285
Writing Copy	p. 287
Direct Sales Letters	p. 289
Press Releases	p. 290
Writing Web Content	p. 292
Commercial Freelancing: Where's the Money?	p. 293
Defining the Project	p. 293
Determining a Timeline	p. 294
Setting Fees	p. 294
Get It in Writing	p. 295
Follow up!	p. 298
Conclusion: Taking the Plunge	p. 299
Full-Time Freelancing: Taking the Plunge	p. 301
When to Plunge-and When Not To	p. 301
A Writer's Checklist	p. 302
Making a Plan	p. 303
About the Author	p. 307
About the Contributors	p. 309
Index	p. 311
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Supplemental Materials

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The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

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Excerpts

(From Chapter 5: Coping With Rejection)

It Sank. Get Over It.

Someone created a T-shirt with a picture of the Titanic on the front and, on the back, the words: “It sank. Get over it.” The same can be said of rejection.
     “Getting used to” rejection doesn’t mean that rejection loses its sting. It doesn’t. Nor is that a bad thing: I suspect that the day rejection ceases to hurt is the day one has lost one’s passion for writing. Pain isn’t a bad thing. Pain simply means we care.
     At the same time, there are things you can do to ease the sting. The next time your material comes back with one of those awful slips, try one of these:
[begin bulleted list]
·       Have a rejection party. “Celebrate” your rejection with a pizza, a dish of ice cream, a trip to the movies. You have a right to celebrate: You have to be a writer to be rejected.
·       Start a rejection slip file. Besides being useful for taxes (it proves to the IRS that you’re conducting a business), it can come in handy down the line, when you’re famous. Then you’ll be able to say, with a smug flourish, “Well, I was rejected 48 times before my story/novel/article was accepted by Megabucks Publishing...”
·       Send your material to the next publisher on your list.
·       Write something else. Better yet, start writing something else the minute your last piece is finished and out the door. Rejection stings less when your mind is occupied with a newer, and therefore more interesting, project.
[end bulleted list]
     Remember, there is something worse than rejection, and that’s never writing (or submitting) anything to be rejected in the first place.