Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer

How To Win Top Writing Assignments

Jenna Glatzer

• Éditeur: Nomad Press
• Année: 2004
• ISBN:
  9781936313136
• Sujet: Filología
• Sous-sujet: Escritura creativa

Step-by-step instructions on how writers can earn top dollar writing for magazines are provided in this book. Secrets are revealed about what the high-paying magazines really want, how to build relationships with editors, how to ascertain which sections of a magazine are open to freelancers, what kinds of stories are in demand, what to do if a deadbeat publisher doesn't pay up, how to market reprints, and how to become an expert in one's chosen writing field. Basic terms like query, clips, and source sheet are defined for beginning writers, and tips on everything from coming up with an idea to pitching a syndicated column are also included. Writers learn about the little-known sources top freelancers use to find new stories and experts. In addition, they learn how to get their first paying assignments even if they have no prior clips, how to negotiate for better pay, how to find high-paying magazines that aren't swamped with queries, and how to worm their way into editors' inboxes even if their e-mail addresses aren't publicized.

Chapter 1

SETTING THE STAGE

Inside This Chapter

• Getting started

• Setting goals

• Treating writing as a business

It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it up because by that time I was too famous.

—Robert Benchley

“I Write, Therefore …”

So, what’s a “real living” anyway, and can a freelance writer really earn one?

Let’s be realistic. I’m not stinking rich, and I know precisely one freelance magazine writer who I would say is rich.

But when I was 24 years old, I bought my first house in New York. On a lake. And I own a truck and a boat, pay for my own gut-wrenchingly expensive health insurance, and manage to have enough left over to start investing in real estate, plan for my retirement, eat sushi, and give my fiancé lavish gifts like vintage saxophones and Guatemalan fishing vacations for every holiday. All of that comes from the money I earn as a freelance writer and editor. If I can do it, you can, too.

Freelance writing is not a get-rich-quick scheme, so you must be prepared to put in the hours and hard work freelancing requires before you can command big paychecks. For most people, it’s important to keep some kind of a day job while building a freelancing career.

When I refer to freelance writing throughout this book, I’m talking about writing for magazines, e-zines, and newspapers. It’s easier to earn money writing copy for businesses—brochures, sales letters, press releases, and so on—but let’s face it, would you rather tell your friends that your byline is in this month’s People magazine, or that you’re responsible for the latest junk mail they just tore up?

I chose the former and have never looked back. When other people have complained about recession and lay-offs, I have felt gleefully immune. When they whine about their nasty bosses and gossiping co-workers, complain about waking up at the crack of dawn in winter to find the car battery needs a jumpstart, fret about being cooped up in an office on a beach day, being bored by their work, not getting recognized for their efforts, or hitting the glass ceiling, I furrow my brow and nod sympathetically, but I secretly pat myself on the back for the career choice I made.

I’m writing this book with a few assumptions in mind.

I will assume that you already have an excellent command of language, including grammar. If you do not, run out and get yourself a copy of The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White. Most editors will toss your query if you keep confusing “you’re” and “your.” Likewise, I presume you know well enough to spell check everything you send out, including “informal” emails. Everything you write contributes to the impression an editor has of you.

I will assume you have the discipline and the desire to motivate yourself to work on your writing as a career, not just as a hobby. Full-time writers do not, as some would have you believe, lie back in our lounge chairs sipping margaritas while waiting for the muse to pay a visit. Like all other workers, we must show up and we must produce, even when we don’t “feel inspired.”

I will assume that the idea of research doesn’t make you twitch. In my experience, more than half of being a successful magazine writer is being an excellent researcher.

I will assume that you have a strong enough ego that you won’t fall into a bone-crushing depression every time an editor rejects your work. Like death and taxes, rejections are a certainty of the freelance writer’s life. Decide honestly whether or not you can hack it.

And finally, I will assume that you’re actually a good writer.

You’re wasting editors’ time, as well as your own, if you start pitching ideas before you’re confident that you can deliver a well-written article.

If you know you’re good, you can’t fathom not writing, you read magazines voraciously, and have a strong curiosity about the world around you, you might have what it takes to be a freelance writer. But your potential and your classroom studies are not enough, by themselves, to earn you a career.

“Most people won’t realize that writing is a craft,” said Katherine Anne Porter, an acclaimed journalist and fiction writer whose work was published from 1922 to 1977. “You have to take your apprenticeship in it like anything else.” Her words are as relevant today as they were when she spoke them; perhaps even more so because of how competitive the field of magazine writing has become.

Back to School

How do you know if you’re a good writer? Take a writing class. Many colleges offer “continuing education” classes that are not as expensive as mainstream-classes. If this is impossible, take an online class or workshop. Make sure you take classes that offer feedback. Find the toughest professor and take his or her class. Ask for brutal honesty. Prepare to do battle with every piece of your brain that isn’t ready to become a professional writer yet. Read the magazines you want to target, and decide honestly if your work competes with what’s being published. If not, and you want more one-on-one help, hire an editor or writing coach with good credentials and references.

Find writing courses at:

• www.absoluteclasses.com
• www.writersdigest.com/wds
• www.writing-world.com/classes

Believe it or not, editors want to hire you. They do not relish boomeranging your work back to you with a form rejection letter; most editors are searching for reliable and talented freelance writers, and will gladly hand you an assignment if you can prove yourself. But editors complain over and over that writers haven’t done their homework before approaching their magazines. Part of that homework is to learn things like proper format and what belongs on a source sheet, but most important is to read and analyze the work of writers who are doing exactly what you want to do; that is, you must study magazines.

Although some writers have ridiculous beginner’s luck and land a national glossy magazine assignment on their first shot, that’s not necessarily a good thing. Most writers should get wet in the kiddie pool before they try to swim in the ocean. It can be brutal out there, especially if your swimming skills aren’t yet honed. You don’t want to land a killer assignment and then have to ask yourself, “Uh-oh … what do I do now?”

“The truth is that a lot of people are not ready for prime time, although they may think they are,” says Stephanie Abarbanel, senior articles editor at Woman’s Day. “People send me queries for years and they’re just not ready, and then one day they send me something that’s just great because they’ve been writing for smaller markets and they’ve honed their skills.”

Editors at major magazines don’t have time to hold a beginning writer’s hand, and in most cases, it’s presumptuous to expect to start at the top. Don’t jump in planning to cut the line. Just jump in and plan to advance quickly.

First, go over your reasons for becoming a freelance writer. What are your goals? To help yourself figure that out, ask yourself these questions:

• What are the reasons I want to become a full-time freelance writer?
• What are the reasons I haven’t done it already?
• What are the ways I’m going to get rid of those barriers?

Becoming clear about your goals, what’s holding you back, and how you plan to overcome your obstacles can speed up your path to success. For many, the “fear factor” is financial insecurity. Kristen Kemp desperately wanted to write fulltime, but wasn’t ready to let go of the steady paycheck she earned as an associate editor at Cosmopolitan. So her goal was to earn as much money from her writing as she did from her day job; for her to feel comfortable leaving a staff position, she had to earn $30,000 a year as a freelance writer. She accomplished that in 1999 and has been freelancing for top women’s and teen magazines ever since.

For some, the major fear is that they won’t have enough ideas to sustain them over a long period of time, or that their current clients won’t last, or that they’ll break under the pressure of constant deadlines, tough rounds of editing, and too-frequent rejections.

Stocking Up

Luckily, a freelance writer doesn’t have many start-up expenses, but don’t try to skimp on the necessary tools. Your freelancing toolbox should contain the following items:

• A computer with a word-processing program that includes spell checking (or access to one)
• A good printer that won’t streak
• Copies of several magazines that you’d like to approach in the future
• Stamps and envelopes
• A subscription to www.WritersMarket.com or a current copy of the Writer’s Market book
• An index card file or a computerized manuscript tracking program
• Computer disks or CDs (to back up all your articles and queries)
• A daily planner
• Internet access: If you have Internet access at home, you don’t even need to buy a dictionary or thesaurus; you can find them online at www.onelook.com and www.rhymezone.com, respectively

Whatever it is that stands in your way, make it your goal to move it out of the way. As Kristen advises, most people shouldn’t quit their jobs “cold turkey” and expect to freelance full-time without any experience behind them. Take your time to build up your credits, your confidence, your bank account, and your skills—but keep that ultimate goal in mind: You are working toward supporting yourself through your writing.

Minding Your Business

Writers who think themselves “artists” should probably stick to poetry and diary entries. If you intend to sell what you write, and to make a living from it, you need to convey an image that does not jell with the eccentric, tortured, starving artist cliché. You need to become a businessperson.

What does this entail? Well, if you’re thinking about cash, then everything associated with your name must be nothing less than 100 percent clean, clear, crisp, and company-minded.

Clean

Your letters should be neatly typed, neatly signed, neatly folded, and neatly sealed into a neat envelope. Double-check to be sure names are spelled properly, spacing has held up in printing, nothing has smudged, and you’ve signed the letter. Using bright, floral stationery and envelopes with fun seals will make you look like an artist. Using white or cream-colored matching envelopes and stationary with noticeable, frill-free letterhead will make you look like a businessperson. Believe me; when you receive your neat check, you’ll be very thankful if you’ve come across as the latter.

Clear

Your ideas must be expressed in an organized and easily understandable manner. Whenever you send a letter or make a phone call, you should have all potential questions already answered in your mind. Do not propose a dozen half-baked article ideas. Stick to one or two at a time, and do enough research and thinking ahead of time to be able to explain all the basics without stammering.

You never know when an editor is going to call and ask questions before assigning you a piece. Before Writer’s Digest assigned me an article about book packaging, then-editor Melanie Rigney wanted answers to several questions: Which publishers use book packagers? How long has this practice been going on? What kinds of books are packaged? What kind of experience does a writer need to break in with a book packager? Because I had done some research ahead of time and was clear about my subject matter, I was able to answer all of these questions with ease, and that resulted in a feature assignment.

The Phone Tone

When speaking to an editor on the phone, always hang up first. You know the feeling when someone is ...