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Page 1: Writer for Hire, 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 117

101 SECRETS TO

FREELANCE SUCCESS

Kelly James-Enger

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INTRODUCTION 1

PART 1MARKETING SELLING YOURSELF

AND YOUR WORK

1 BECOME A QUERY MASTER 3

2 FOCUS ON THE FRONT 5

3 USE THE TWO-PART TEST 7

4 SUBMIT QUERIES NOT ARTICLES 9

5 KEEP AN LOI IN YOUR ARSENAL 11

6 MATCH YOUR PITCH TO THE MARKET TYPE 13

7 DONrsquoT TAKE REJECTION PERSONALLY 16

8 LISTEN TO YOUR GUT 18

9 HARNESS SOCIAL MEDIA 19

10 SEARCH CRAIGSLIST FOR WORK 22

11 EMPLOY THE 24-HOUR RULE 24

12 FOLLOW UP ON EVERY PITCH 25

13 CREATE A PLATFORM 27

14 PITCH QUIZZES 29

15 MASTER COLD CALLS 31

16 WRITE FOR BUSINESSES33

17 SAY NO TO CONTENT MILLS 36

18 CLOSE BUSINESS 38

19 MARKET CONSTANTLY 39

PART 2EFFICIENCY MAKING THE MOST

OF YOUR TIME

20 ELIMINATE THE UGLIEST 43

21 TRACK YOUR TIME 44

22 RESLANT EVERY IDEA 46

23 WRITE TWO STORIES AT ONCE 48

24 MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR WORKDAY50

25 RIDE YOUR WORK WAVES52

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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26 SELL STORIES MORE THAN ONCE 53

27 BECOME A GHOST 57

28 FIND FACTS FAST 60

29 SWIM LIKE A SHARK 62

30 WORK WHEN YOUrsquoRE NOT REALLY WORKING63

31 REDEFINE ldquoFULL-TIMErdquo 65

32 WRITE ARTICLES AND BOOKS 67

33 OUTSOURCE WORK 68

34 NARROW YOUR FOCUS 70

35 CREATE YOUR OWN TEMPLATES 72

36 LOCATE SOURCES MORE QUICKLY 74

37 MASTER SERVICE WRITING76

38 CONSIDER ANOTHER CAREER 79

39 USE E-MAIL THE RIGHT WAY 81

40 PERFORM CPR 84

41 FORGET PERFECT 85

42 MAKE YOUR OWN RULES 87

PART 3RELATIONSHIPS BUILDING

AND MAINTAINING CONNECTIONS

43 FOLLOW THE PLATINUM RULE 89

44 EMBRACE A PROFESSIONAL PERSONA 91

45 CONNECT WITH OTHER WRITERS 93

46 SAY THANK YOU 94

47 KNOW HOW PERSONAL TO GET 96

48 CONDUCT MORE COMPELLING INTERVIEWS 97

49 MAKE CLIENTS LOVE YOU 100

50 CHOOSE RELATIONSHIPS OVER ASSIGNMENTS 102

51 LEARN TO SAY NO 104

52 REACH OUT THE RIGHT WAY 105

53 MASTER THE ONE-ON-ONE 107

54 NAME YOUR WHALES 111

55 ATTEND A CONFERENCE (OR TWO) 113

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56 AVOID EXPLOSIVES AND WAIFS 115

57 MAKE SOURCES LOVE YOU 117

58 GATHERmdashAND SHAREmdashINFORMATION 120

PART 4MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS

LIKE A BUSINESS

59 ASK FOR MORE 123

60 KNOW YOUR BOOK PUBLISHING OPTIONS 126

61 FORGET PER-WORD RATES 128

62 PLAN ON PAYMENT 129

63 MAKE EVERY DEADLINE 132

64 FIRE CLIENTS 133

65 USE THE FOUR-PART WORK TEST 136

66 FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS 137

67 COLLECT EVERY CHECK 140

68 QUESTION RESEARCH CLAIMS 142

69 FORGET ROYALTIES 145

70 COMPREHEND COPYRIGHT 147

71 KNOW YOUR DAILY NUT 150

72 SET BOTH KINDS OF GOALS 151

73 KNOW WHAT YOU CAN DEDUCT 152

74 CONSIDER OPPORTUNITY COST 154

75 DIVERSIFY YOUR WORK 156

76 PLAN TO PROMOTE 157

77 BLOG WITH PURPOSE 159

78 GET IN FRONT OF THE ROOM 162

79 BEAT THE FEAST-OR-FAMINE SYNDROME 165

80 BOOST YOUR VALUE 168

81 MANAGE YOUR MONEY 169

PART 5BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE

OF THE OFFICE82 BEAT BURNOUT 172

83 KEEP YOUR HAND IN 175

84 STOP STRESSING OVER SMALL STUFF 176

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85 KEEP AN INSPIRATION FILE 178

86 JUST WRITE IT 179

87 GET (AND STAY) PHYSICAL 181

88 WEAR A HAT 182

89 HAVE A BACKUP PLAN 184

90 SAY ldquoNOT RIGHT NOWrdquo 185

91 SET FOOD RULES 187

92 MAKE WAITING TIME WORK 189

93 LISTEN FOR YOUR INNER VOICE 190

94 PRACTICE DELIBERATELY 191

95 CREATE FREE TIME 193

96 FARM OUT YOUR KIDS 195

97 CELEBRATE YOURSELF 197

98 GET A PART-TIME JOB 198

99 STAY FLEXIBLE 200

100 FIND YOUR OWN PATH 203

101 SHOW UP ON YOUR MAT 204

INDEX 207

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INTRODUCTION 1

INTRODUCTION

I never intended to be a successful freelancer

I was an unhappy lawyer who wanted to escape a career I hated so I

quit to write full-time with a career plan that was murky at best I thought

Irsquod 1047297nally start (and hopefully 1047297nish) the novel Irsquod dreamed of for years and

write a few magazine articles here and there While I had two published

clips when I started freelancing in January 1997 (articles in Cosmopolitan and Bridersquos) I had zero connections in the publishing world no journalism

experience and no idea of what to expect But eventually Irsquod make some

money right That was what I hoped anyway

It took me almost two years of full-time freelancing before I knew I

could sustain a full-time freelance career Along the way I made pretty

much every mistake you can make I pitched markets Irsquod never read I wrote

horrendous queries I interviewed the wrong kinds of sources for articlesI rewrote stories over and overmdashand over I focused on what I wanted to

write instead of what clients wanted me to write I wrote vain little essays

that never got published

Considering how many things I did wrong itrsquos amazing I survived

those 1047297rst couple years of freelancing

But I did And I learned

I learned how to manage my time I learned how to turn one as-

signment into a long-term relationship with an editor I learned how

to make the most of my time by special izing I got over my fear of ask-

ing for more money and negotiated writer-friendly contracts that let

me resell my articles to other markets Over time I branched out into

lucrative specialties like ghostwriting copywriting and consulting I

published a couple of chick lit novels (although it took me a lot longer

than I expected) wrote nonfiction books and developed a speaking

business along the way

I started teaching writing classes writing about writing and presenting

at writers conferences and I wound up a freelancing ldquoexpertrdquo helping oth-

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WRITER FOR HIRE2

ers break into the business Today I have more than 1047297fteen years of full-time

freelancing under my belt and I make a respectable income even though I

work part-time hours (I have two little kids who are my 1047297rst priority)

I recently realized however that my success wasnrsquot due to my persis-

tence or even to luck Itrsquos because as I gained experience I discovered the

ldquosecretsrdquo of freelancingmdashthe rules of success if you will Uncovering and

embracing those rules took me from insecure struggling freelancer to

con1047297dent productive business owner

When you know the secrets of freelancing success you can do the same

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3

When you think successful freelancer what skill 1047297rst comes to mind If you

said writing yoursquore wrong Itrsquos sellingmdashand thatrsquos why the 1047297rst section of

this book is devoted to marketing

Irsquove seen dozens of former editors dabble in freelancing only to return

to staff jobsmdashand often the cause is their discomfort with marketing If

you canrsquot sell your writing you wonrsquot succeed as a freelancer The secrets

in this section will help you market more effi ciently to both new and regu-lar clients and ensure a steady stream of freelance work

1BECOME A QUERY MASTER

If you want to freelance for publications (whether trade or consumer print

or online) yoursquove got to be able to query and query well A query letter has

multiple functions It serves as a sales pitch a letter of introduction and

a writing samplemdashand itrsquos how you demonstrate that you understand the

editorrsquos market and can give her what she wants

New writers often struggle with query letters but the letters donrsquot have

to be complicated I 1047297nd that when you have a template to follow yoursquore

able to draft compelling queries more quickly

My template for a query includes a basic four-paragraph structure

PART ONEMARKETING SELLING YOURSELF

AND YOUR WORK

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WRITER FOR HIRE44

I say both are wrong The 1047297rst thing you should do is to eliminate the ug-

liest In other words do the thing that you most do not want to do There are

several compelling reasons why First when you start your morning with the

worst thing you must do (whether itrsquos writing the draft of a complicated article

revising a book chapter yoursquove been putting off or calling an editor to request

some contract changes) your day can only get better right

Second when you have something you donrsquot want to do and you donrsquot

do it right away you spend a good part of your workday coming up with

compelling (and increasingly more creative) reasons why you cannot do that

thing right now You promise yourself yoursquoll do it after you have some coffee

No yoursquoll do it before lunch Wait your blood sugar is 1047298agging so yoursquoll do

it after lunch Then you put it off until three 983152983149mdashand nothing gets done at

three 983152983149 Eventually you run out of steam and you run out of work time

and you promise yourself yoursquoll do the dreaded task tomorrow

Herersquos the thing First off the dreaded thing did not get done Thatrsquos bad

enough But second consider how much time and mental energy you wasted

throughout your day coming up with excuses (oops I mean reasons) why

you couldnrsquot do it right at that moment Thatrsquos not only a waste of time itrsquos a

drain on your emotional energy and leeches your productivity

Thatrsquos why I end every workday by identifying the thing I most do not

want to do the next morning and start every workday tackling that task

Eliminate the ugliest whatever your ldquouglyrdquo thing may be and watch your

productivity climb

21

TRACK YOUR TIME

I call myself a full-time freelancer but Irsquoll let you in on a secret While I say

I work full-time that doesnrsquot mean I work forty hours a week Early in my

career yes I worked those kinds of hours but since then Irsquove gradually

cut back on my total work time I have more regular clients which means Ispend less time marketing and Irsquove become much more effi cient when Irsquom

working Since I became a parent six years ago Irsquove managed to run a ldquofull-

timerdquo writing business putting in 1047297fteen to twenty hours a week

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WRITER FOR HIRE56

Reprint Rights Currently AvailableWork by Kelly James-Enger

Available as of March 22 2011 (latest additions marked with )

Parenting-Oriented

ldquoCommon Nutrition Mistakes of Smart Momsrdquo (feed kids

better) 850 words

ldquoKeeping an Open Heartrdquo (essay on open adoption benefits) 780

words [I include the rest of my story list here]

STEP 4 MAKE YOUR EDITOR HAPPY

Even though Irsquom offering a reprint I still keep my editorrsquos needs in mindWhat do I want To sell a story as many times as possible and make even

more money What does my editor want A story that will bene1047297t and ap-

peal to her readers Thatrsquos why I often ldquotweakrdquo my reprints to make them

more attractive to editors

For example I had a weight-loss piece that had originally run in a wom-

enrsquos magazine By rewriting the lead (so it was about feeling beautiful as you

slip into your dream gown the morning of your wedding instead of feel-ing con1047297dent in a swimsuit this summer) and making a few small changes

throughout the piece it became aimed at engaged women in their twenties

and thirties not moms who were struggling with leftover baby fat Give

your editor a piece that appears custom-made for her market and yoursquore

more likely to make a reprint sale

STEP 5 KEEP IN TOUCH

Itrsquos much easier to sell to an editor or market that has bought from you be-

fore than to constantly search out new markets Every three months or so

I update my master list making a note of the newest additions and send

it off along with a brief e-mail to editors who have purchased from me in

the past The hour I spend doing so always results in a few more sales and

keeps my name in front of clientsIf you write for specialized markets or on esoteric subjects you may

not have as much success with reprints But donrsquot ignore the opportunity

they present for subjects with wider market appeal Developing reprint

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89

Forget the idea of the writer tucked away in her garret todayrsquos successful

freelancers know how to create and maintain relationships with people

ranging from editors to sources to public relations pros to fellow writers

The good news is that in todayrsquos world of social media itrsquos easier than

ever beforemdashbut relationship building is more than simply ldquofriendingrdquo

everyone you know The secrets in this section wil l help you learn how

to connect and stay connected with the people who will help you suc-ceed as a freelancer

43

FOLLOW THE PLATINUM RULE

Yoursquore no doubt familiar with the Golden Rulemdashtreat others the way yoursquod

like to be treated Well when it comes to clients Irsquod suggest you up the

ante and employ the Platinum Rulemdashtreat them even better than yoursquod

like to be treated

As a freelancer yoursquore facing a lot of competition That means just get-

ting the job done isnrsquot enough Itrsquos the willingness to go beyond what editors

and clients require that sets you apart from the freelance pack

For example several years ago I interviewed a cake decorator for a

trade magazine story During the course of the interview she mentioned

that the magazine had recently run her photo Problem was the person in

the picture wasnrsquot her

PART 3

RELATIONSHIPS BUILDING

AND MAINTAINING CONNECTIONS

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MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 137

magazines pay more but Irsquom always looking at my hourly rate not

just the size of the check And sometimes the magazines that pay

less per word actually pay more per hour

3 WHATrsquoS THE PIA FACTOR PIA is my shorthand for Pain In the um

rear end Some clients and editors are annoying to work with Irsquom

thinking of an editor I work with who takes forever to respond to

queries then assigns stuff with ridiculously tight deadlines I love

her but therersquos de1047297nitely a PIA factor to working with her And if

that PIA factor on a particular project is high Irsquom either going to get

more money hellip or I might even walk away

4 WILL THIS WORK FURTHER MY CAREERmdashAND IF SO HOW So

for example when I wrote my first book Ready Aim Specialize I

received an advance of just $2500 I spent months researching (I

interviewed fif ty-six sources) and writing the book My hourly

rate was abysmal I made more as a teenaged lifeguard

But herersquos the thing I wanted to start writing books and I had to begin

somewhere So I said yes to the book added author to my CV and even

made royalties from it My 1047297rst book led to many others which has made

the 1047297rst low advance worth it

As a freelancer itrsquos within your control to take on work or turn it down

The four-part test has helped me stay on course and prevent me from agree-

ing to work based only on what it pays I suggest you look at other factorsas well to help you determine what projects meet your short-term and

long-term goals

66

FIGHT

FOR

YOUR

RIGHTS

When I speak at writers conferences the same questions always come up

How do I 1047297nd an agent How can I turn my blog into a book And should

I sign an all-rights contract

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WRITER FOR HIRE156

that assignment or client is worth it Just remember that when you say yes

to one project you may be saying no to another

75

DIVERSIFY YOUR WORK

When I started freelancing I planned to write magazine articles and work

on my novel That was my business plan

I learned pretty quickly though that magazine articles werenrsquot

enough I was pitching dozens of different magazines but my query suc-

cess rate wasnrsquot very high Even if I did get an assignment months elapsed

between the time I 1047297rst pitched an idea its eventual assignment and

getting paid for it That meant my cash 1047298ow looked more like a dribble

I broke free from my original plan and diversi1047297ed I started ldquostringingrdquo

or freelancing for my local paper and writing for a variety of local busi-

nesses which paid much more quick ly By the end of the year my cash1047298ow and workload were much more consistent [See 79 Beat the feast-

or-famine syndrome]

Diversifying isnrsquot just practical itrsquos smart Your ability to perform a va-

riety of different kinds of work makes you more marketable to clients and

ensures that you keep up with an ever-changing freelance market [See

80 Boost your value]

My 2011 survey of more than two hundred full-time freelancers re-vealed that theyrsquore performing a wide array of work which includes

bull Blogging (whether they blog for others or produce income from their

own blogs)

bull Editing (all types)

bull Ghostwriting (books articles blogs)

bull Proofreading

bull Public speaking

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MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 167

as soon as you get an assignment take the 1047297rst steps you need to For ar-

ticles that usually means doing background research and identifying po-

tential sources After Irsquove come up with potential sources (whether experts

or ldquoreal peoplerdquo anecdotes) I start contacting them to line up interviews I

have to have my interviews done before I can write the piece

CREATE A BUM PER

Herersquos something I didnrsquot anticipate when I 1047297rst started freelancingmdashhow

long it would take for me to get paid for an assignment You canrsquot control

when work is assigned or how long it takes an editor to approve it so you can

actually get paid for it For example I pitched a piece to a magazine in May

which was assigned in July I turned the story in in August and in September

reworked the piece per my editorrsquos speci1047297cations After she accepted the story

she put payment throughmdashand I received my check in early November

Just as you assume work will take you longer than you expect to 1047297nish

you must assume that it will also take longer than you expect to get paid

That means you need to have a 1047297nancial ldquobumperrdquo to rely on when clientsare slow to cut checks Ideally you should have at least three monthsrsquo worth

of income in the bank that way you can withdraw from your ldquobumperrdquo

account when itrsquos taking time to collect your receivables

STAY ON TO P OF YOUR INVOICES

Just as you follow up on queries and letters of introduction you should stay

on top of your invoices Note the payment cycles of your regular clients so you can check on invoices that remain unpaid once theyrsquore overdue [See

67 Collect every check ]

HAVE A MIX O F EGGS

Yoursquove heard ldquodonrsquot put all your eggs in one basketrdquo The same goes for

your freelance work Itrsquos easier to work for a small number of clients but

be careful about having too few projects going at any time For examplelast year I was counting on a book proposal selling so I didnrsquot do much mar-

keting Then when the book didnrsquot sell I suddenly found myself with little

workmdashand little money

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172

Yes yoursquore a freelancer but you have a life too (I hope) Creating work

life balance maintaining a positive outlook nurturing your creativity and

staying physically and mentally healthy all have a tremendous impact on

your productivity and long-term success as a freelancer The secrets in this

1047297nal section will help you avoid burnout deal with writerrsquos anxiety juggle

your freelancing with the rest of your life and set the stage for a successful

happy life both in and out of your offi ce

82

BEAT BURNOUT

Freelancing full-time has a lot of perks You get to make a living from your

words you can write from a home offi ce in sweats and thick 1047298uffy socks

and you can work as little or as much as you want (At least you can in the-

orymdashsometimes you face freelance droughts or have to work weekends

and nights to meet all your deadlines)

Sure there are the inevitable hassles with slow-to-respond editors de-

layed checks and mangled edits But overall most freelancers love what

they do and the way theyrsquore able to work A survey of full-time freelancers

I conducted in 2011 found that 90 percent ldquode1047297nitelyrdquo planned to continue

their careers another 7 percent said they ldquoprobablyrdquo would So you may be

surprised to 1047297nd yourself suffering from burnout at some point

PART 5

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE

AND OUTSIDE OF THE OFFICE

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BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF T HE OFFICE 189

If yoursquove never had food issues you may not need a set of rules like this

and if so yoursquore lucky If you 1047297nd yourself turning to food out of boredom

or anxiety though I suggest you decide how and when yoursquoll eat Both

your waistline and your productivity will bene1047297t

92

MAKE WAITING TIME WORK

In one of my favorite episodes of The Simpsons ldquoMr Plowrdquo Homer decides

to launch his own snow-shoveling business With the help of singer Linda

Ronstadt he creates a television ad that runs in the wee morning hours

(the only time slot he can afford)

After the ad runs for the 1047297rst time he sits back and announces to his

family ldquoNow we play the waiting gamerdquo But after only the briefest of

pauses Homer loses his patience ldquoThe waiting game sucksrdquo he declares

ldquoLetrsquos play Hungry Hungry Hipposrdquo

Homer is so so right The waiting game truly does suck

I know because Irsquove played it beforemdashand Irsquom playing it now I have

not one but four potential book projects that may or make not go for-

ward My agent is shopping around a book proposal I ghostwrote for

a client Another agent is shopping the updated version of a book I co-

authored to its original publisher A publisher has expressed interest in

one of my own books but the editor has yet to send the contract And

another potential client is about to sign me to ghostwrite her propos-

almdashany day

So that means I have four potential book projects in the works but

nothing has signed yet So I wait And wait And wait Every time the

phone rings or my e-mail chimes I take a breath This could be it This

could be the call But itrsquos not my agent or the AWOL editor or my poten-

tial client Itrsquos another freelancer or a former student or a spammer AndIrsquom getting annoyed

I know that something will shake loose hopefully in the next few days

And I do have a few magazine articles to write but not nearly enough work

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E A N

W7416

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 4

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 e 7 x M E M T A u N A I 4 M A E x B k V B

0 4 T i 0 x M w 0 5 N z g x N T k 5 N j M 1 N D k x A A = =

781599 6354919

51699

ISBN-10 1-59963-549-6ISBN-13 978-1-59963-549-1

US $1699(CAN $2950)

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 0

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 W 6 1 4 C M T M D M T A w A T E F V V B D

0 4 L U E M M D M 1 M z E z N j U 0 N z k 0 K A = =

35313 654790 4 U P C

WRITING REFERENCE

EXPERT ADVICE TO HELP YOU LAUNCHmdashAND SUSTAINmdash

A SUCCESSFUL FREELANCE WRITING CAREER

If your goal is to see your words in print and get paid for them you need

proven strategies and techniques that will help you work efficiently and

target top-paying markets Writer for Hire delivers with smart practical

advice for building a successful freelance career and getting the maxi-

mum mileage out of every piece you write

Written by expert freelancer Kelly James-Enger whose work has

appeared in dozens of national magazines including Redbook and Self this book brings you

bull 101 tips techniques advice and examples on building and main-

taining a freelance career that you can apply right away

bull Concrete advice on the business of writing including manag-

ing deadlines querying effectively working withmdashand vettingmdash

potential clients and handling taxes and invoices

bull Proven strategies for maintaining your success as a freelance

writer from securing repeat writing gigs and networking (in-

person and online) to establishing yourself as an expert and

working efficiently under tight deadlines

Writer for Hire provides all the tools you need to get published more oftento make more money and to sustain a profitable satisfying career as a

freelance writer

Page 2: Writer for Hire, 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

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INTRODUCTION 1

PART 1MARKETING SELLING YOURSELF

AND YOUR WORK

1 BECOME A QUERY MASTER 3

2 FOCUS ON THE FRONT 5

3 USE THE TWO-PART TEST 7

4 SUBMIT QUERIES NOT ARTICLES 9

5 KEEP AN LOI IN YOUR ARSENAL 11

6 MATCH YOUR PITCH TO THE MARKET TYPE 13

7 DONrsquoT TAKE REJECTION PERSONALLY 16

8 LISTEN TO YOUR GUT 18

9 HARNESS SOCIAL MEDIA 19

10 SEARCH CRAIGSLIST FOR WORK 22

11 EMPLOY THE 24-HOUR RULE 24

12 FOLLOW UP ON EVERY PITCH 25

13 CREATE A PLATFORM 27

14 PITCH QUIZZES 29

15 MASTER COLD CALLS 31

16 WRITE FOR BUSINESSES33

17 SAY NO TO CONTENT MILLS 36

18 CLOSE BUSINESS 38

19 MARKET CONSTANTLY 39

PART 2EFFICIENCY MAKING THE MOST

OF YOUR TIME

20 ELIMINATE THE UGLIEST 43

21 TRACK YOUR TIME 44

22 RESLANT EVERY IDEA 46

23 WRITE TWO STORIES AT ONCE 48

24 MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR WORKDAY50

25 RIDE YOUR WORK WAVES52

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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26 SELL STORIES MORE THAN ONCE 53

27 BECOME A GHOST 57

28 FIND FACTS FAST 60

29 SWIM LIKE A SHARK 62

30 WORK WHEN YOUrsquoRE NOT REALLY WORKING63

31 REDEFINE ldquoFULL-TIMErdquo 65

32 WRITE ARTICLES AND BOOKS 67

33 OUTSOURCE WORK 68

34 NARROW YOUR FOCUS 70

35 CREATE YOUR OWN TEMPLATES 72

36 LOCATE SOURCES MORE QUICKLY 74

37 MASTER SERVICE WRITING76

38 CONSIDER ANOTHER CAREER 79

39 USE E-MAIL THE RIGHT WAY 81

40 PERFORM CPR 84

41 FORGET PERFECT 85

42 MAKE YOUR OWN RULES 87

PART 3RELATIONSHIPS BUILDING

AND MAINTAINING CONNECTIONS

43 FOLLOW THE PLATINUM RULE 89

44 EMBRACE A PROFESSIONAL PERSONA 91

45 CONNECT WITH OTHER WRITERS 93

46 SAY THANK YOU 94

47 KNOW HOW PERSONAL TO GET 96

48 CONDUCT MORE COMPELLING INTERVIEWS 97

49 MAKE CLIENTS LOVE YOU 100

50 CHOOSE RELATIONSHIPS OVER ASSIGNMENTS 102

51 LEARN TO SAY NO 104

52 REACH OUT THE RIGHT WAY 105

53 MASTER THE ONE-ON-ONE 107

54 NAME YOUR WHALES 111

55 ATTEND A CONFERENCE (OR TWO) 113

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56 AVOID EXPLOSIVES AND WAIFS 115

57 MAKE SOURCES LOVE YOU 117

58 GATHERmdashAND SHAREmdashINFORMATION 120

PART 4MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS

LIKE A BUSINESS

59 ASK FOR MORE 123

60 KNOW YOUR BOOK PUBLISHING OPTIONS 126

61 FORGET PER-WORD RATES 128

62 PLAN ON PAYMENT 129

63 MAKE EVERY DEADLINE 132

64 FIRE CLIENTS 133

65 USE THE FOUR-PART WORK TEST 136

66 FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS 137

67 COLLECT EVERY CHECK 140

68 QUESTION RESEARCH CLAIMS 142

69 FORGET ROYALTIES 145

70 COMPREHEND COPYRIGHT 147

71 KNOW YOUR DAILY NUT 150

72 SET BOTH KINDS OF GOALS 151

73 KNOW WHAT YOU CAN DEDUCT 152

74 CONSIDER OPPORTUNITY COST 154

75 DIVERSIFY YOUR WORK 156

76 PLAN TO PROMOTE 157

77 BLOG WITH PURPOSE 159

78 GET IN FRONT OF THE ROOM 162

79 BEAT THE FEAST-OR-FAMINE SYNDROME 165

80 BOOST YOUR VALUE 168

81 MANAGE YOUR MONEY 169

PART 5BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE

OF THE OFFICE82 BEAT BURNOUT 172

83 KEEP YOUR HAND IN 175

84 STOP STRESSING OVER SMALL STUFF 176

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85 KEEP AN INSPIRATION FILE 178

86 JUST WRITE IT 179

87 GET (AND STAY) PHYSICAL 181

88 WEAR A HAT 182

89 HAVE A BACKUP PLAN 184

90 SAY ldquoNOT RIGHT NOWrdquo 185

91 SET FOOD RULES 187

92 MAKE WAITING TIME WORK 189

93 LISTEN FOR YOUR INNER VOICE 190

94 PRACTICE DELIBERATELY 191

95 CREATE FREE TIME 193

96 FARM OUT YOUR KIDS 195

97 CELEBRATE YOURSELF 197

98 GET A PART-TIME JOB 198

99 STAY FLEXIBLE 200

100 FIND YOUR OWN PATH 203

101 SHOW UP ON YOUR MAT 204

INDEX 207

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INTRODUCTION 1

INTRODUCTION

I never intended to be a successful freelancer

I was an unhappy lawyer who wanted to escape a career I hated so I

quit to write full-time with a career plan that was murky at best I thought

Irsquod 1047297nally start (and hopefully 1047297nish) the novel Irsquod dreamed of for years and

write a few magazine articles here and there While I had two published

clips when I started freelancing in January 1997 (articles in Cosmopolitan and Bridersquos) I had zero connections in the publishing world no journalism

experience and no idea of what to expect But eventually Irsquod make some

money right That was what I hoped anyway

It took me almost two years of full-time freelancing before I knew I

could sustain a full-time freelance career Along the way I made pretty

much every mistake you can make I pitched markets Irsquod never read I wrote

horrendous queries I interviewed the wrong kinds of sources for articlesI rewrote stories over and overmdashand over I focused on what I wanted to

write instead of what clients wanted me to write I wrote vain little essays

that never got published

Considering how many things I did wrong itrsquos amazing I survived

those 1047297rst couple years of freelancing

But I did And I learned

I learned how to manage my time I learned how to turn one as-

signment into a long-term relationship with an editor I learned how

to make the most of my time by special izing I got over my fear of ask-

ing for more money and negotiated writer-friendly contracts that let

me resell my articles to other markets Over time I branched out into

lucrative specialties like ghostwriting copywriting and consulting I

published a couple of chick lit novels (although it took me a lot longer

than I expected) wrote nonfiction books and developed a speaking

business along the way

I started teaching writing classes writing about writing and presenting

at writers conferences and I wound up a freelancing ldquoexpertrdquo helping oth-

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WRITER FOR HIRE2

ers break into the business Today I have more than 1047297fteen years of full-time

freelancing under my belt and I make a respectable income even though I

work part-time hours (I have two little kids who are my 1047297rst priority)

I recently realized however that my success wasnrsquot due to my persis-

tence or even to luck Itrsquos because as I gained experience I discovered the

ldquosecretsrdquo of freelancingmdashthe rules of success if you will Uncovering and

embracing those rules took me from insecure struggling freelancer to

con1047297dent productive business owner

When you know the secrets of freelancing success you can do the same

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3

When you think successful freelancer what skill 1047297rst comes to mind If you

said writing yoursquore wrong Itrsquos sellingmdashand thatrsquos why the 1047297rst section of

this book is devoted to marketing

Irsquove seen dozens of former editors dabble in freelancing only to return

to staff jobsmdashand often the cause is their discomfort with marketing If

you canrsquot sell your writing you wonrsquot succeed as a freelancer The secrets

in this section will help you market more effi ciently to both new and regu-lar clients and ensure a steady stream of freelance work

1BECOME A QUERY MASTER

If you want to freelance for publications (whether trade or consumer print

or online) yoursquove got to be able to query and query well A query letter has

multiple functions It serves as a sales pitch a letter of introduction and

a writing samplemdashand itrsquos how you demonstrate that you understand the

editorrsquos market and can give her what she wants

New writers often struggle with query letters but the letters donrsquot have

to be complicated I 1047297nd that when you have a template to follow yoursquore

able to draft compelling queries more quickly

My template for a query includes a basic four-paragraph structure

PART ONEMARKETING SELLING YOURSELF

AND YOUR WORK

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WRITER FOR HIRE44

I say both are wrong The 1047297rst thing you should do is to eliminate the ug-

liest In other words do the thing that you most do not want to do There are

several compelling reasons why First when you start your morning with the

worst thing you must do (whether itrsquos writing the draft of a complicated article

revising a book chapter yoursquove been putting off or calling an editor to request

some contract changes) your day can only get better right

Second when you have something you donrsquot want to do and you donrsquot

do it right away you spend a good part of your workday coming up with

compelling (and increasingly more creative) reasons why you cannot do that

thing right now You promise yourself yoursquoll do it after you have some coffee

No yoursquoll do it before lunch Wait your blood sugar is 1047298agging so yoursquoll do

it after lunch Then you put it off until three 983152983149mdashand nothing gets done at

three 983152983149 Eventually you run out of steam and you run out of work time

and you promise yourself yoursquoll do the dreaded task tomorrow

Herersquos the thing First off the dreaded thing did not get done Thatrsquos bad

enough But second consider how much time and mental energy you wasted

throughout your day coming up with excuses (oops I mean reasons) why

you couldnrsquot do it right at that moment Thatrsquos not only a waste of time itrsquos a

drain on your emotional energy and leeches your productivity

Thatrsquos why I end every workday by identifying the thing I most do not

want to do the next morning and start every workday tackling that task

Eliminate the ugliest whatever your ldquouglyrdquo thing may be and watch your

productivity climb

21

TRACK YOUR TIME

I call myself a full-time freelancer but Irsquoll let you in on a secret While I say

I work full-time that doesnrsquot mean I work forty hours a week Early in my

career yes I worked those kinds of hours but since then Irsquove gradually

cut back on my total work time I have more regular clients which means Ispend less time marketing and Irsquove become much more effi cient when Irsquom

working Since I became a parent six years ago Irsquove managed to run a ldquofull-

timerdquo writing business putting in 1047297fteen to twenty hours a week

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WRITER FOR HIRE56

Reprint Rights Currently AvailableWork by Kelly James-Enger

Available as of March 22 2011 (latest additions marked with )

Parenting-Oriented

ldquoCommon Nutrition Mistakes of Smart Momsrdquo (feed kids

better) 850 words

ldquoKeeping an Open Heartrdquo (essay on open adoption benefits) 780

words [I include the rest of my story list here]

STEP 4 MAKE YOUR EDITOR HAPPY

Even though Irsquom offering a reprint I still keep my editorrsquos needs in mindWhat do I want To sell a story as many times as possible and make even

more money What does my editor want A story that will bene1047297t and ap-

peal to her readers Thatrsquos why I often ldquotweakrdquo my reprints to make them

more attractive to editors

For example I had a weight-loss piece that had originally run in a wom-

enrsquos magazine By rewriting the lead (so it was about feeling beautiful as you

slip into your dream gown the morning of your wedding instead of feel-ing con1047297dent in a swimsuit this summer) and making a few small changes

throughout the piece it became aimed at engaged women in their twenties

and thirties not moms who were struggling with leftover baby fat Give

your editor a piece that appears custom-made for her market and yoursquore

more likely to make a reprint sale

STEP 5 KEEP IN TOUCH

Itrsquos much easier to sell to an editor or market that has bought from you be-

fore than to constantly search out new markets Every three months or so

I update my master list making a note of the newest additions and send

it off along with a brief e-mail to editors who have purchased from me in

the past The hour I spend doing so always results in a few more sales and

keeps my name in front of clientsIf you write for specialized markets or on esoteric subjects you may

not have as much success with reprints But donrsquot ignore the opportunity

they present for subjects with wider market appeal Developing reprint

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89

Forget the idea of the writer tucked away in her garret todayrsquos successful

freelancers know how to create and maintain relationships with people

ranging from editors to sources to public relations pros to fellow writers

The good news is that in todayrsquos world of social media itrsquos easier than

ever beforemdashbut relationship building is more than simply ldquofriendingrdquo

everyone you know The secrets in this section wil l help you learn how

to connect and stay connected with the people who will help you suc-ceed as a freelancer

43

FOLLOW THE PLATINUM RULE

Yoursquore no doubt familiar with the Golden Rulemdashtreat others the way yoursquod

like to be treated Well when it comes to clients Irsquod suggest you up the

ante and employ the Platinum Rulemdashtreat them even better than yoursquod

like to be treated

As a freelancer yoursquore facing a lot of competition That means just get-

ting the job done isnrsquot enough Itrsquos the willingness to go beyond what editors

and clients require that sets you apart from the freelance pack

For example several years ago I interviewed a cake decorator for a

trade magazine story During the course of the interview she mentioned

that the magazine had recently run her photo Problem was the person in

the picture wasnrsquot her

PART 3

RELATIONSHIPS BUILDING

AND MAINTAINING CONNECTIONS

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MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 137

magazines pay more but Irsquom always looking at my hourly rate not

just the size of the check And sometimes the magazines that pay

less per word actually pay more per hour

3 WHATrsquoS THE PIA FACTOR PIA is my shorthand for Pain In the um

rear end Some clients and editors are annoying to work with Irsquom

thinking of an editor I work with who takes forever to respond to

queries then assigns stuff with ridiculously tight deadlines I love

her but therersquos de1047297nitely a PIA factor to working with her And if

that PIA factor on a particular project is high Irsquom either going to get

more money hellip or I might even walk away

4 WILL THIS WORK FURTHER MY CAREERmdashAND IF SO HOW So

for example when I wrote my first book Ready Aim Specialize I

received an advance of just $2500 I spent months researching (I

interviewed fif ty-six sources) and writing the book My hourly

rate was abysmal I made more as a teenaged lifeguard

But herersquos the thing I wanted to start writing books and I had to begin

somewhere So I said yes to the book added author to my CV and even

made royalties from it My 1047297rst book led to many others which has made

the 1047297rst low advance worth it

As a freelancer itrsquos within your control to take on work or turn it down

The four-part test has helped me stay on course and prevent me from agree-

ing to work based only on what it pays I suggest you look at other factorsas well to help you determine what projects meet your short-term and

long-term goals

66

FIGHT

FOR

YOUR

RIGHTS

When I speak at writers conferences the same questions always come up

How do I 1047297nd an agent How can I turn my blog into a book And should

I sign an all-rights contract

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WRITER FOR HIRE156

that assignment or client is worth it Just remember that when you say yes

to one project you may be saying no to another

75

DIVERSIFY YOUR WORK

When I started freelancing I planned to write magazine articles and work

on my novel That was my business plan

I learned pretty quickly though that magazine articles werenrsquot

enough I was pitching dozens of different magazines but my query suc-

cess rate wasnrsquot very high Even if I did get an assignment months elapsed

between the time I 1047297rst pitched an idea its eventual assignment and

getting paid for it That meant my cash 1047298ow looked more like a dribble

I broke free from my original plan and diversi1047297ed I started ldquostringingrdquo

or freelancing for my local paper and writing for a variety of local busi-

nesses which paid much more quick ly By the end of the year my cash1047298ow and workload were much more consistent [See 79 Beat the feast-

or-famine syndrome]

Diversifying isnrsquot just practical itrsquos smart Your ability to perform a va-

riety of different kinds of work makes you more marketable to clients and

ensures that you keep up with an ever-changing freelance market [See

80 Boost your value]

My 2011 survey of more than two hundred full-time freelancers re-vealed that theyrsquore performing a wide array of work which includes

bull Blogging (whether they blog for others or produce income from their

own blogs)

bull Editing (all types)

bull Ghostwriting (books articles blogs)

bull Proofreading

bull Public speaking

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MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 167

as soon as you get an assignment take the 1047297rst steps you need to For ar-

ticles that usually means doing background research and identifying po-

tential sources After Irsquove come up with potential sources (whether experts

or ldquoreal peoplerdquo anecdotes) I start contacting them to line up interviews I

have to have my interviews done before I can write the piece

CREATE A BUM PER

Herersquos something I didnrsquot anticipate when I 1047297rst started freelancingmdashhow

long it would take for me to get paid for an assignment You canrsquot control

when work is assigned or how long it takes an editor to approve it so you can

actually get paid for it For example I pitched a piece to a magazine in May

which was assigned in July I turned the story in in August and in September

reworked the piece per my editorrsquos speci1047297cations After she accepted the story

she put payment throughmdashand I received my check in early November

Just as you assume work will take you longer than you expect to 1047297nish

you must assume that it will also take longer than you expect to get paid

That means you need to have a 1047297nancial ldquobumperrdquo to rely on when clientsare slow to cut checks Ideally you should have at least three monthsrsquo worth

of income in the bank that way you can withdraw from your ldquobumperrdquo

account when itrsquos taking time to collect your receivables

STAY ON TO P OF YOUR INVOICES

Just as you follow up on queries and letters of introduction you should stay

on top of your invoices Note the payment cycles of your regular clients so you can check on invoices that remain unpaid once theyrsquore overdue [See

67 Collect every check ]

HAVE A MIX O F EGGS

Yoursquove heard ldquodonrsquot put all your eggs in one basketrdquo The same goes for

your freelance work Itrsquos easier to work for a small number of clients but

be careful about having too few projects going at any time For examplelast year I was counting on a book proposal selling so I didnrsquot do much mar-

keting Then when the book didnrsquot sell I suddenly found myself with little

workmdashand little money

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172

Yes yoursquore a freelancer but you have a life too (I hope) Creating work

life balance maintaining a positive outlook nurturing your creativity and

staying physically and mentally healthy all have a tremendous impact on

your productivity and long-term success as a freelancer The secrets in this

1047297nal section will help you avoid burnout deal with writerrsquos anxiety juggle

your freelancing with the rest of your life and set the stage for a successful

happy life both in and out of your offi ce

82

BEAT BURNOUT

Freelancing full-time has a lot of perks You get to make a living from your

words you can write from a home offi ce in sweats and thick 1047298uffy socks

and you can work as little or as much as you want (At least you can in the-

orymdashsometimes you face freelance droughts or have to work weekends

and nights to meet all your deadlines)

Sure there are the inevitable hassles with slow-to-respond editors de-

layed checks and mangled edits But overall most freelancers love what

they do and the way theyrsquore able to work A survey of full-time freelancers

I conducted in 2011 found that 90 percent ldquode1047297nitelyrdquo planned to continue

their careers another 7 percent said they ldquoprobablyrdquo would So you may be

surprised to 1047297nd yourself suffering from burnout at some point

PART 5

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE

AND OUTSIDE OF THE OFFICE

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BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF T HE OFFICE 189

If yoursquove never had food issues you may not need a set of rules like this

and if so yoursquore lucky If you 1047297nd yourself turning to food out of boredom

or anxiety though I suggest you decide how and when yoursquoll eat Both

your waistline and your productivity will bene1047297t

92

MAKE WAITING TIME WORK

In one of my favorite episodes of The Simpsons ldquoMr Plowrdquo Homer decides

to launch his own snow-shoveling business With the help of singer Linda

Ronstadt he creates a television ad that runs in the wee morning hours

(the only time slot he can afford)

After the ad runs for the 1047297rst time he sits back and announces to his

family ldquoNow we play the waiting gamerdquo But after only the briefest of

pauses Homer loses his patience ldquoThe waiting game sucksrdquo he declares

ldquoLetrsquos play Hungry Hungry Hipposrdquo

Homer is so so right The waiting game truly does suck

I know because Irsquove played it beforemdashand Irsquom playing it now I have

not one but four potential book projects that may or make not go for-

ward My agent is shopping around a book proposal I ghostwrote for

a client Another agent is shopping the updated version of a book I co-

authored to its original publisher A publisher has expressed interest in

one of my own books but the editor has yet to send the contract And

another potential client is about to sign me to ghostwrite her propos-

almdashany day

So that means I have four potential book projects in the works but

nothing has signed yet So I wait And wait And wait Every time the

phone rings or my e-mail chimes I take a breath This could be it This

could be the call But itrsquos not my agent or the AWOL editor or my poten-

tial client Itrsquos another freelancer or a former student or a spammer AndIrsquom getting annoyed

I know that something will shake loose hopefully in the next few days

And I do have a few magazine articles to write but not nearly enough work

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E A N

W7416

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 4

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 e 7 x M E M T A u N A I 4 M A E x B k V B

0 4 T i 0 x M w 0 5 N z g x N T k 5 N j M 1 N D k x A A = =

781599 6354919

51699

ISBN-10 1-59963-549-6ISBN-13 978-1-59963-549-1

US $1699(CAN $2950)

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 0

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 W 6 1 4 C M T M D M T A w A T E F V V B D

0 4 L U E M M D M 1 M z E z N j U 0 N z k 0 K A = =

35313 654790 4 U P C

WRITING REFERENCE

EXPERT ADVICE TO HELP YOU LAUNCHmdashAND SUSTAINmdash

A SUCCESSFUL FREELANCE WRITING CAREER

If your goal is to see your words in print and get paid for them you need

proven strategies and techniques that will help you work efficiently and

target top-paying markets Writer for Hire delivers with smart practical

advice for building a successful freelance career and getting the maxi-

mum mileage out of every piece you write

Written by expert freelancer Kelly James-Enger whose work has

appeared in dozens of national magazines including Redbook and Self this book brings you

bull 101 tips techniques advice and examples on building and main-

taining a freelance career that you can apply right away

bull Concrete advice on the business of writing including manag-

ing deadlines querying effectively working withmdashand vettingmdash

potential clients and handling taxes and invoices

bull Proven strategies for maintaining your success as a freelance

writer from securing repeat writing gigs and networking (in-

person and online) to establishing yourself as an expert and

working efficiently under tight deadlines

Writer for Hire provides all the tools you need to get published more oftento make more money and to sustain a profitable satisfying career as a

freelance writer

Page 3: Writer for Hire, 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 317

26 SELL STORIES MORE THAN ONCE 53

27 BECOME A GHOST 57

28 FIND FACTS FAST 60

29 SWIM LIKE A SHARK 62

30 WORK WHEN YOUrsquoRE NOT REALLY WORKING63

31 REDEFINE ldquoFULL-TIMErdquo 65

32 WRITE ARTICLES AND BOOKS 67

33 OUTSOURCE WORK 68

34 NARROW YOUR FOCUS 70

35 CREATE YOUR OWN TEMPLATES 72

36 LOCATE SOURCES MORE QUICKLY 74

37 MASTER SERVICE WRITING76

38 CONSIDER ANOTHER CAREER 79

39 USE E-MAIL THE RIGHT WAY 81

40 PERFORM CPR 84

41 FORGET PERFECT 85

42 MAKE YOUR OWN RULES 87

PART 3RELATIONSHIPS BUILDING

AND MAINTAINING CONNECTIONS

43 FOLLOW THE PLATINUM RULE 89

44 EMBRACE A PROFESSIONAL PERSONA 91

45 CONNECT WITH OTHER WRITERS 93

46 SAY THANK YOU 94

47 KNOW HOW PERSONAL TO GET 96

48 CONDUCT MORE COMPELLING INTERVIEWS 97

49 MAKE CLIENTS LOVE YOU 100

50 CHOOSE RELATIONSHIPS OVER ASSIGNMENTS 102

51 LEARN TO SAY NO 104

52 REACH OUT THE RIGHT WAY 105

53 MASTER THE ONE-ON-ONE 107

54 NAME YOUR WHALES 111

55 ATTEND A CONFERENCE (OR TWO) 113

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56 AVOID EXPLOSIVES AND WAIFS 115

57 MAKE SOURCES LOVE YOU 117

58 GATHERmdashAND SHAREmdashINFORMATION 120

PART 4MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS

LIKE A BUSINESS

59 ASK FOR MORE 123

60 KNOW YOUR BOOK PUBLISHING OPTIONS 126

61 FORGET PER-WORD RATES 128

62 PLAN ON PAYMENT 129

63 MAKE EVERY DEADLINE 132

64 FIRE CLIENTS 133

65 USE THE FOUR-PART WORK TEST 136

66 FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS 137

67 COLLECT EVERY CHECK 140

68 QUESTION RESEARCH CLAIMS 142

69 FORGET ROYALTIES 145

70 COMPREHEND COPYRIGHT 147

71 KNOW YOUR DAILY NUT 150

72 SET BOTH KINDS OF GOALS 151

73 KNOW WHAT YOU CAN DEDUCT 152

74 CONSIDER OPPORTUNITY COST 154

75 DIVERSIFY YOUR WORK 156

76 PLAN TO PROMOTE 157

77 BLOG WITH PURPOSE 159

78 GET IN FRONT OF THE ROOM 162

79 BEAT THE FEAST-OR-FAMINE SYNDROME 165

80 BOOST YOUR VALUE 168

81 MANAGE YOUR MONEY 169

PART 5BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE

OF THE OFFICE82 BEAT BURNOUT 172

83 KEEP YOUR HAND IN 175

84 STOP STRESSING OVER SMALL STUFF 176

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 517

85 KEEP AN INSPIRATION FILE 178

86 JUST WRITE IT 179

87 GET (AND STAY) PHYSICAL 181

88 WEAR A HAT 182

89 HAVE A BACKUP PLAN 184

90 SAY ldquoNOT RIGHT NOWrdquo 185

91 SET FOOD RULES 187

92 MAKE WAITING TIME WORK 189

93 LISTEN FOR YOUR INNER VOICE 190

94 PRACTICE DELIBERATELY 191

95 CREATE FREE TIME 193

96 FARM OUT YOUR KIDS 195

97 CELEBRATE YOURSELF 197

98 GET A PART-TIME JOB 198

99 STAY FLEXIBLE 200

100 FIND YOUR OWN PATH 203

101 SHOW UP ON YOUR MAT 204

INDEX 207

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 617

INTRODUCTION 1

INTRODUCTION

I never intended to be a successful freelancer

I was an unhappy lawyer who wanted to escape a career I hated so I

quit to write full-time with a career plan that was murky at best I thought

Irsquod 1047297nally start (and hopefully 1047297nish) the novel Irsquod dreamed of for years and

write a few magazine articles here and there While I had two published

clips when I started freelancing in January 1997 (articles in Cosmopolitan and Bridersquos) I had zero connections in the publishing world no journalism

experience and no idea of what to expect But eventually Irsquod make some

money right That was what I hoped anyway

It took me almost two years of full-time freelancing before I knew I

could sustain a full-time freelance career Along the way I made pretty

much every mistake you can make I pitched markets Irsquod never read I wrote

horrendous queries I interviewed the wrong kinds of sources for articlesI rewrote stories over and overmdashand over I focused on what I wanted to

write instead of what clients wanted me to write I wrote vain little essays

that never got published

Considering how many things I did wrong itrsquos amazing I survived

those 1047297rst couple years of freelancing

But I did And I learned

I learned how to manage my time I learned how to turn one as-

signment into a long-term relationship with an editor I learned how

to make the most of my time by special izing I got over my fear of ask-

ing for more money and negotiated writer-friendly contracts that let

me resell my articles to other markets Over time I branched out into

lucrative specialties like ghostwriting copywriting and consulting I

published a couple of chick lit novels (although it took me a lot longer

than I expected) wrote nonfiction books and developed a speaking

business along the way

I started teaching writing classes writing about writing and presenting

at writers conferences and I wound up a freelancing ldquoexpertrdquo helping oth-

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 717

WRITER FOR HIRE2

ers break into the business Today I have more than 1047297fteen years of full-time

freelancing under my belt and I make a respectable income even though I

work part-time hours (I have two little kids who are my 1047297rst priority)

I recently realized however that my success wasnrsquot due to my persis-

tence or even to luck Itrsquos because as I gained experience I discovered the

ldquosecretsrdquo of freelancingmdashthe rules of success if you will Uncovering and

embracing those rules took me from insecure struggling freelancer to

con1047297dent productive business owner

When you know the secrets of freelancing success you can do the same

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 817

3

When you think successful freelancer what skill 1047297rst comes to mind If you

said writing yoursquore wrong Itrsquos sellingmdashand thatrsquos why the 1047297rst section of

this book is devoted to marketing

Irsquove seen dozens of former editors dabble in freelancing only to return

to staff jobsmdashand often the cause is their discomfort with marketing If

you canrsquot sell your writing you wonrsquot succeed as a freelancer The secrets

in this section will help you market more effi ciently to both new and regu-lar clients and ensure a steady stream of freelance work

1BECOME A QUERY MASTER

If you want to freelance for publications (whether trade or consumer print

or online) yoursquove got to be able to query and query well A query letter has

multiple functions It serves as a sales pitch a letter of introduction and

a writing samplemdashand itrsquos how you demonstrate that you understand the

editorrsquos market and can give her what she wants

New writers often struggle with query letters but the letters donrsquot have

to be complicated I 1047297nd that when you have a template to follow yoursquore

able to draft compelling queries more quickly

My template for a query includes a basic four-paragraph structure

PART ONEMARKETING SELLING YOURSELF

AND YOUR WORK

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 917

WRITER FOR HIRE44

I say both are wrong The 1047297rst thing you should do is to eliminate the ug-

liest In other words do the thing that you most do not want to do There are

several compelling reasons why First when you start your morning with the

worst thing you must do (whether itrsquos writing the draft of a complicated article

revising a book chapter yoursquove been putting off or calling an editor to request

some contract changes) your day can only get better right

Second when you have something you donrsquot want to do and you donrsquot

do it right away you spend a good part of your workday coming up with

compelling (and increasingly more creative) reasons why you cannot do that

thing right now You promise yourself yoursquoll do it after you have some coffee

No yoursquoll do it before lunch Wait your blood sugar is 1047298agging so yoursquoll do

it after lunch Then you put it off until three 983152983149mdashand nothing gets done at

three 983152983149 Eventually you run out of steam and you run out of work time

and you promise yourself yoursquoll do the dreaded task tomorrow

Herersquos the thing First off the dreaded thing did not get done Thatrsquos bad

enough But second consider how much time and mental energy you wasted

throughout your day coming up with excuses (oops I mean reasons) why

you couldnrsquot do it right at that moment Thatrsquos not only a waste of time itrsquos a

drain on your emotional energy and leeches your productivity

Thatrsquos why I end every workday by identifying the thing I most do not

want to do the next morning and start every workday tackling that task

Eliminate the ugliest whatever your ldquouglyrdquo thing may be and watch your

productivity climb

21

TRACK YOUR TIME

I call myself a full-time freelancer but Irsquoll let you in on a secret While I say

I work full-time that doesnrsquot mean I work forty hours a week Early in my

career yes I worked those kinds of hours but since then Irsquove gradually

cut back on my total work time I have more regular clients which means Ispend less time marketing and Irsquove become much more effi cient when Irsquom

working Since I became a parent six years ago Irsquove managed to run a ldquofull-

timerdquo writing business putting in 1047297fteen to twenty hours a week

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1017

WRITER FOR HIRE56

Reprint Rights Currently AvailableWork by Kelly James-Enger

Available as of March 22 2011 (latest additions marked with )

Parenting-Oriented

ldquoCommon Nutrition Mistakes of Smart Momsrdquo (feed kids

better) 850 words

ldquoKeeping an Open Heartrdquo (essay on open adoption benefits) 780

words [I include the rest of my story list here]

STEP 4 MAKE YOUR EDITOR HAPPY

Even though Irsquom offering a reprint I still keep my editorrsquos needs in mindWhat do I want To sell a story as many times as possible and make even

more money What does my editor want A story that will bene1047297t and ap-

peal to her readers Thatrsquos why I often ldquotweakrdquo my reprints to make them

more attractive to editors

For example I had a weight-loss piece that had originally run in a wom-

enrsquos magazine By rewriting the lead (so it was about feeling beautiful as you

slip into your dream gown the morning of your wedding instead of feel-ing con1047297dent in a swimsuit this summer) and making a few small changes

throughout the piece it became aimed at engaged women in their twenties

and thirties not moms who were struggling with leftover baby fat Give

your editor a piece that appears custom-made for her market and yoursquore

more likely to make a reprint sale

STEP 5 KEEP IN TOUCH

Itrsquos much easier to sell to an editor or market that has bought from you be-

fore than to constantly search out new markets Every three months or so

I update my master list making a note of the newest additions and send

it off along with a brief e-mail to editors who have purchased from me in

the past The hour I spend doing so always results in a few more sales and

keeps my name in front of clientsIf you write for specialized markets or on esoteric subjects you may

not have as much success with reprints But donrsquot ignore the opportunity

they present for subjects with wider market appeal Developing reprint

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1117

89

Forget the idea of the writer tucked away in her garret todayrsquos successful

freelancers know how to create and maintain relationships with people

ranging from editors to sources to public relations pros to fellow writers

The good news is that in todayrsquos world of social media itrsquos easier than

ever beforemdashbut relationship building is more than simply ldquofriendingrdquo

everyone you know The secrets in this section wil l help you learn how

to connect and stay connected with the people who will help you suc-ceed as a freelancer

43

FOLLOW THE PLATINUM RULE

Yoursquore no doubt familiar with the Golden Rulemdashtreat others the way yoursquod

like to be treated Well when it comes to clients Irsquod suggest you up the

ante and employ the Platinum Rulemdashtreat them even better than yoursquod

like to be treated

As a freelancer yoursquore facing a lot of competition That means just get-

ting the job done isnrsquot enough Itrsquos the willingness to go beyond what editors

and clients require that sets you apart from the freelance pack

For example several years ago I interviewed a cake decorator for a

trade magazine story During the course of the interview she mentioned

that the magazine had recently run her photo Problem was the person in

the picture wasnrsquot her

PART 3

RELATIONSHIPS BUILDING

AND MAINTAINING CONNECTIONS

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MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 137

magazines pay more but Irsquom always looking at my hourly rate not

just the size of the check And sometimes the magazines that pay

less per word actually pay more per hour

3 WHATrsquoS THE PIA FACTOR PIA is my shorthand for Pain In the um

rear end Some clients and editors are annoying to work with Irsquom

thinking of an editor I work with who takes forever to respond to

queries then assigns stuff with ridiculously tight deadlines I love

her but therersquos de1047297nitely a PIA factor to working with her And if

that PIA factor on a particular project is high Irsquom either going to get

more money hellip or I might even walk away

4 WILL THIS WORK FURTHER MY CAREERmdashAND IF SO HOW So

for example when I wrote my first book Ready Aim Specialize I

received an advance of just $2500 I spent months researching (I

interviewed fif ty-six sources) and writing the book My hourly

rate was abysmal I made more as a teenaged lifeguard

But herersquos the thing I wanted to start writing books and I had to begin

somewhere So I said yes to the book added author to my CV and even

made royalties from it My 1047297rst book led to many others which has made

the 1047297rst low advance worth it

As a freelancer itrsquos within your control to take on work or turn it down

The four-part test has helped me stay on course and prevent me from agree-

ing to work based only on what it pays I suggest you look at other factorsas well to help you determine what projects meet your short-term and

long-term goals

66

FIGHT

FOR

YOUR

RIGHTS

When I speak at writers conferences the same questions always come up

How do I 1047297nd an agent How can I turn my blog into a book And should

I sign an all-rights contract

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WRITER FOR HIRE156

that assignment or client is worth it Just remember that when you say yes

to one project you may be saying no to another

75

DIVERSIFY YOUR WORK

When I started freelancing I planned to write magazine articles and work

on my novel That was my business plan

I learned pretty quickly though that magazine articles werenrsquot

enough I was pitching dozens of different magazines but my query suc-

cess rate wasnrsquot very high Even if I did get an assignment months elapsed

between the time I 1047297rst pitched an idea its eventual assignment and

getting paid for it That meant my cash 1047298ow looked more like a dribble

I broke free from my original plan and diversi1047297ed I started ldquostringingrdquo

or freelancing for my local paper and writing for a variety of local busi-

nesses which paid much more quick ly By the end of the year my cash1047298ow and workload were much more consistent [See 79 Beat the feast-

or-famine syndrome]

Diversifying isnrsquot just practical itrsquos smart Your ability to perform a va-

riety of different kinds of work makes you more marketable to clients and

ensures that you keep up with an ever-changing freelance market [See

80 Boost your value]

My 2011 survey of more than two hundred full-time freelancers re-vealed that theyrsquore performing a wide array of work which includes

bull Blogging (whether they blog for others or produce income from their

own blogs)

bull Editing (all types)

bull Ghostwriting (books articles blogs)

bull Proofreading

bull Public speaking

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MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 167

as soon as you get an assignment take the 1047297rst steps you need to For ar-

ticles that usually means doing background research and identifying po-

tential sources After Irsquove come up with potential sources (whether experts

or ldquoreal peoplerdquo anecdotes) I start contacting them to line up interviews I

have to have my interviews done before I can write the piece

CREATE A BUM PER

Herersquos something I didnrsquot anticipate when I 1047297rst started freelancingmdashhow

long it would take for me to get paid for an assignment You canrsquot control

when work is assigned or how long it takes an editor to approve it so you can

actually get paid for it For example I pitched a piece to a magazine in May

which was assigned in July I turned the story in in August and in September

reworked the piece per my editorrsquos speci1047297cations After she accepted the story

she put payment throughmdashand I received my check in early November

Just as you assume work will take you longer than you expect to 1047297nish

you must assume that it will also take longer than you expect to get paid

That means you need to have a 1047297nancial ldquobumperrdquo to rely on when clientsare slow to cut checks Ideally you should have at least three monthsrsquo worth

of income in the bank that way you can withdraw from your ldquobumperrdquo

account when itrsquos taking time to collect your receivables

STAY ON TO P OF YOUR INVOICES

Just as you follow up on queries and letters of introduction you should stay

on top of your invoices Note the payment cycles of your regular clients so you can check on invoices that remain unpaid once theyrsquore overdue [See

67 Collect every check ]

HAVE A MIX O F EGGS

Yoursquove heard ldquodonrsquot put all your eggs in one basketrdquo The same goes for

your freelance work Itrsquos easier to work for a small number of clients but

be careful about having too few projects going at any time For examplelast year I was counting on a book proposal selling so I didnrsquot do much mar-

keting Then when the book didnrsquot sell I suddenly found myself with little

workmdashand little money

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172

Yes yoursquore a freelancer but you have a life too (I hope) Creating work

life balance maintaining a positive outlook nurturing your creativity and

staying physically and mentally healthy all have a tremendous impact on

your productivity and long-term success as a freelancer The secrets in this

1047297nal section will help you avoid burnout deal with writerrsquos anxiety juggle

your freelancing with the rest of your life and set the stage for a successful

happy life both in and out of your offi ce

82

BEAT BURNOUT

Freelancing full-time has a lot of perks You get to make a living from your

words you can write from a home offi ce in sweats and thick 1047298uffy socks

and you can work as little or as much as you want (At least you can in the-

orymdashsometimes you face freelance droughts or have to work weekends

and nights to meet all your deadlines)

Sure there are the inevitable hassles with slow-to-respond editors de-

layed checks and mangled edits But overall most freelancers love what

they do and the way theyrsquore able to work A survey of full-time freelancers

I conducted in 2011 found that 90 percent ldquode1047297nitelyrdquo planned to continue

their careers another 7 percent said they ldquoprobablyrdquo would So you may be

surprised to 1047297nd yourself suffering from burnout at some point

PART 5

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE

AND OUTSIDE OF THE OFFICE

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BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF T HE OFFICE 189

If yoursquove never had food issues you may not need a set of rules like this

and if so yoursquore lucky If you 1047297nd yourself turning to food out of boredom

or anxiety though I suggest you decide how and when yoursquoll eat Both

your waistline and your productivity will bene1047297t

92

MAKE WAITING TIME WORK

In one of my favorite episodes of The Simpsons ldquoMr Plowrdquo Homer decides

to launch his own snow-shoveling business With the help of singer Linda

Ronstadt he creates a television ad that runs in the wee morning hours

(the only time slot he can afford)

After the ad runs for the 1047297rst time he sits back and announces to his

family ldquoNow we play the waiting gamerdquo But after only the briefest of

pauses Homer loses his patience ldquoThe waiting game sucksrdquo he declares

ldquoLetrsquos play Hungry Hungry Hipposrdquo

Homer is so so right The waiting game truly does suck

I know because Irsquove played it beforemdashand Irsquom playing it now I have

not one but four potential book projects that may or make not go for-

ward My agent is shopping around a book proposal I ghostwrote for

a client Another agent is shopping the updated version of a book I co-

authored to its original publisher A publisher has expressed interest in

one of my own books but the editor has yet to send the contract And

another potential client is about to sign me to ghostwrite her propos-

almdashany day

So that means I have four potential book projects in the works but

nothing has signed yet So I wait And wait And wait Every time the

phone rings or my e-mail chimes I take a breath This could be it This

could be the call But itrsquos not my agent or the AWOL editor or my poten-

tial client Itrsquos another freelancer or a former student or a spammer AndIrsquom getting annoyed

I know that something will shake loose hopefully in the next few days

And I do have a few magazine articles to write but not nearly enough work

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1717

E A N

W7416

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 4

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 e 7 x M E M T A u N A I 4 M A E x B k V B

0 4 T i 0 x M w 0 5 N z g x N T k 5 N j M 1 N D k x A A = =

781599 6354919

51699

ISBN-10 1-59963-549-6ISBN-13 978-1-59963-549-1

US $1699(CAN $2950)

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 0

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 W 6 1 4 C M T M D M T A w A T E F V V B D

0 4 L U E M M D M 1 M z E z N j U 0 N z k 0 K A = =

35313 654790 4 U P C

WRITING REFERENCE

EXPERT ADVICE TO HELP YOU LAUNCHmdashAND SUSTAINmdash

A SUCCESSFUL FREELANCE WRITING CAREER

If your goal is to see your words in print and get paid for them you need

proven strategies and techniques that will help you work efficiently and

target top-paying markets Writer for Hire delivers with smart practical

advice for building a successful freelance career and getting the maxi-

mum mileage out of every piece you write

Written by expert freelancer Kelly James-Enger whose work has

appeared in dozens of national magazines including Redbook and Self this book brings you

bull 101 tips techniques advice and examples on building and main-

taining a freelance career that you can apply right away

bull Concrete advice on the business of writing including manag-

ing deadlines querying effectively working withmdashand vettingmdash

potential clients and handling taxes and invoices

bull Proven strategies for maintaining your success as a freelance

writer from securing repeat writing gigs and networking (in-

person and online) to establishing yourself as an expert and

working efficiently under tight deadlines

Writer for Hire provides all the tools you need to get published more oftento make more money and to sustain a profitable satisfying career as a

freelance writer

Page 4: Writer for Hire, 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

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56 AVOID EXPLOSIVES AND WAIFS 115

57 MAKE SOURCES LOVE YOU 117

58 GATHERmdashAND SHAREmdashINFORMATION 120

PART 4MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS

LIKE A BUSINESS

59 ASK FOR MORE 123

60 KNOW YOUR BOOK PUBLISHING OPTIONS 126

61 FORGET PER-WORD RATES 128

62 PLAN ON PAYMENT 129

63 MAKE EVERY DEADLINE 132

64 FIRE CLIENTS 133

65 USE THE FOUR-PART WORK TEST 136

66 FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS 137

67 COLLECT EVERY CHECK 140

68 QUESTION RESEARCH CLAIMS 142

69 FORGET ROYALTIES 145

70 COMPREHEND COPYRIGHT 147

71 KNOW YOUR DAILY NUT 150

72 SET BOTH KINDS OF GOALS 151

73 KNOW WHAT YOU CAN DEDUCT 152

74 CONSIDER OPPORTUNITY COST 154

75 DIVERSIFY YOUR WORK 156

76 PLAN TO PROMOTE 157

77 BLOG WITH PURPOSE 159

78 GET IN FRONT OF THE ROOM 162

79 BEAT THE FEAST-OR-FAMINE SYNDROME 165

80 BOOST YOUR VALUE 168

81 MANAGE YOUR MONEY 169

PART 5BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE

OF THE OFFICE82 BEAT BURNOUT 172

83 KEEP YOUR HAND IN 175

84 STOP STRESSING OVER SMALL STUFF 176

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 517

85 KEEP AN INSPIRATION FILE 178

86 JUST WRITE IT 179

87 GET (AND STAY) PHYSICAL 181

88 WEAR A HAT 182

89 HAVE A BACKUP PLAN 184

90 SAY ldquoNOT RIGHT NOWrdquo 185

91 SET FOOD RULES 187

92 MAKE WAITING TIME WORK 189

93 LISTEN FOR YOUR INNER VOICE 190

94 PRACTICE DELIBERATELY 191

95 CREATE FREE TIME 193

96 FARM OUT YOUR KIDS 195

97 CELEBRATE YOURSELF 197

98 GET A PART-TIME JOB 198

99 STAY FLEXIBLE 200

100 FIND YOUR OWN PATH 203

101 SHOW UP ON YOUR MAT 204

INDEX 207

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 617

INTRODUCTION 1

INTRODUCTION

I never intended to be a successful freelancer

I was an unhappy lawyer who wanted to escape a career I hated so I

quit to write full-time with a career plan that was murky at best I thought

Irsquod 1047297nally start (and hopefully 1047297nish) the novel Irsquod dreamed of for years and

write a few magazine articles here and there While I had two published

clips when I started freelancing in January 1997 (articles in Cosmopolitan and Bridersquos) I had zero connections in the publishing world no journalism

experience and no idea of what to expect But eventually Irsquod make some

money right That was what I hoped anyway

It took me almost two years of full-time freelancing before I knew I

could sustain a full-time freelance career Along the way I made pretty

much every mistake you can make I pitched markets Irsquod never read I wrote

horrendous queries I interviewed the wrong kinds of sources for articlesI rewrote stories over and overmdashand over I focused on what I wanted to

write instead of what clients wanted me to write I wrote vain little essays

that never got published

Considering how many things I did wrong itrsquos amazing I survived

those 1047297rst couple years of freelancing

But I did And I learned

I learned how to manage my time I learned how to turn one as-

signment into a long-term relationship with an editor I learned how

to make the most of my time by special izing I got over my fear of ask-

ing for more money and negotiated writer-friendly contracts that let

me resell my articles to other markets Over time I branched out into

lucrative specialties like ghostwriting copywriting and consulting I

published a couple of chick lit novels (although it took me a lot longer

than I expected) wrote nonfiction books and developed a speaking

business along the way

I started teaching writing classes writing about writing and presenting

at writers conferences and I wound up a freelancing ldquoexpertrdquo helping oth-

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 717

WRITER FOR HIRE2

ers break into the business Today I have more than 1047297fteen years of full-time

freelancing under my belt and I make a respectable income even though I

work part-time hours (I have two little kids who are my 1047297rst priority)

I recently realized however that my success wasnrsquot due to my persis-

tence or even to luck Itrsquos because as I gained experience I discovered the

ldquosecretsrdquo of freelancingmdashthe rules of success if you will Uncovering and

embracing those rules took me from insecure struggling freelancer to

con1047297dent productive business owner

When you know the secrets of freelancing success you can do the same

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 817

3

When you think successful freelancer what skill 1047297rst comes to mind If you

said writing yoursquore wrong Itrsquos sellingmdashand thatrsquos why the 1047297rst section of

this book is devoted to marketing

Irsquove seen dozens of former editors dabble in freelancing only to return

to staff jobsmdashand often the cause is their discomfort with marketing If

you canrsquot sell your writing you wonrsquot succeed as a freelancer The secrets

in this section will help you market more effi ciently to both new and regu-lar clients and ensure a steady stream of freelance work

1BECOME A QUERY MASTER

If you want to freelance for publications (whether trade or consumer print

or online) yoursquove got to be able to query and query well A query letter has

multiple functions It serves as a sales pitch a letter of introduction and

a writing samplemdashand itrsquos how you demonstrate that you understand the

editorrsquos market and can give her what she wants

New writers often struggle with query letters but the letters donrsquot have

to be complicated I 1047297nd that when you have a template to follow yoursquore

able to draft compelling queries more quickly

My template for a query includes a basic four-paragraph structure

PART ONEMARKETING SELLING YOURSELF

AND YOUR WORK

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

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WRITER FOR HIRE44

I say both are wrong The 1047297rst thing you should do is to eliminate the ug-

liest In other words do the thing that you most do not want to do There are

several compelling reasons why First when you start your morning with the

worst thing you must do (whether itrsquos writing the draft of a complicated article

revising a book chapter yoursquove been putting off or calling an editor to request

some contract changes) your day can only get better right

Second when you have something you donrsquot want to do and you donrsquot

do it right away you spend a good part of your workday coming up with

compelling (and increasingly more creative) reasons why you cannot do that

thing right now You promise yourself yoursquoll do it after you have some coffee

No yoursquoll do it before lunch Wait your blood sugar is 1047298agging so yoursquoll do

it after lunch Then you put it off until three 983152983149mdashand nothing gets done at

three 983152983149 Eventually you run out of steam and you run out of work time

and you promise yourself yoursquoll do the dreaded task tomorrow

Herersquos the thing First off the dreaded thing did not get done Thatrsquos bad

enough But second consider how much time and mental energy you wasted

throughout your day coming up with excuses (oops I mean reasons) why

you couldnrsquot do it right at that moment Thatrsquos not only a waste of time itrsquos a

drain on your emotional energy and leeches your productivity

Thatrsquos why I end every workday by identifying the thing I most do not

want to do the next morning and start every workday tackling that task

Eliminate the ugliest whatever your ldquouglyrdquo thing may be and watch your

productivity climb

21

TRACK YOUR TIME

I call myself a full-time freelancer but Irsquoll let you in on a secret While I say

I work full-time that doesnrsquot mean I work forty hours a week Early in my

career yes I worked those kinds of hours but since then Irsquove gradually

cut back on my total work time I have more regular clients which means Ispend less time marketing and Irsquove become much more effi cient when Irsquom

working Since I became a parent six years ago Irsquove managed to run a ldquofull-

timerdquo writing business putting in 1047297fteen to twenty hours a week

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1017

WRITER FOR HIRE56

Reprint Rights Currently AvailableWork by Kelly James-Enger

Available as of March 22 2011 (latest additions marked with )

Parenting-Oriented

ldquoCommon Nutrition Mistakes of Smart Momsrdquo (feed kids

better) 850 words

ldquoKeeping an Open Heartrdquo (essay on open adoption benefits) 780

words [I include the rest of my story list here]

STEP 4 MAKE YOUR EDITOR HAPPY

Even though Irsquom offering a reprint I still keep my editorrsquos needs in mindWhat do I want To sell a story as many times as possible and make even

more money What does my editor want A story that will bene1047297t and ap-

peal to her readers Thatrsquos why I often ldquotweakrdquo my reprints to make them

more attractive to editors

For example I had a weight-loss piece that had originally run in a wom-

enrsquos magazine By rewriting the lead (so it was about feeling beautiful as you

slip into your dream gown the morning of your wedding instead of feel-ing con1047297dent in a swimsuit this summer) and making a few small changes

throughout the piece it became aimed at engaged women in their twenties

and thirties not moms who were struggling with leftover baby fat Give

your editor a piece that appears custom-made for her market and yoursquore

more likely to make a reprint sale

STEP 5 KEEP IN TOUCH

Itrsquos much easier to sell to an editor or market that has bought from you be-

fore than to constantly search out new markets Every three months or so

I update my master list making a note of the newest additions and send

it off along with a brief e-mail to editors who have purchased from me in

the past The hour I spend doing so always results in a few more sales and

keeps my name in front of clientsIf you write for specialized markets or on esoteric subjects you may

not have as much success with reprints But donrsquot ignore the opportunity

they present for subjects with wider market appeal Developing reprint

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1117

89

Forget the idea of the writer tucked away in her garret todayrsquos successful

freelancers know how to create and maintain relationships with people

ranging from editors to sources to public relations pros to fellow writers

The good news is that in todayrsquos world of social media itrsquos easier than

ever beforemdashbut relationship building is more than simply ldquofriendingrdquo

everyone you know The secrets in this section wil l help you learn how

to connect and stay connected with the people who will help you suc-ceed as a freelancer

43

FOLLOW THE PLATINUM RULE

Yoursquore no doubt familiar with the Golden Rulemdashtreat others the way yoursquod

like to be treated Well when it comes to clients Irsquod suggest you up the

ante and employ the Platinum Rulemdashtreat them even better than yoursquod

like to be treated

As a freelancer yoursquore facing a lot of competition That means just get-

ting the job done isnrsquot enough Itrsquos the willingness to go beyond what editors

and clients require that sets you apart from the freelance pack

For example several years ago I interviewed a cake decorator for a

trade magazine story During the course of the interview she mentioned

that the magazine had recently run her photo Problem was the person in

the picture wasnrsquot her

PART 3

RELATIONSHIPS BUILDING

AND MAINTAINING CONNECTIONS

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1217

MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 137

magazines pay more but Irsquom always looking at my hourly rate not

just the size of the check And sometimes the magazines that pay

less per word actually pay more per hour

3 WHATrsquoS THE PIA FACTOR PIA is my shorthand for Pain In the um

rear end Some clients and editors are annoying to work with Irsquom

thinking of an editor I work with who takes forever to respond to

queries then assigns stuff with ridiculously tight deadlines I love

her but therersquos de1047297nitely a PIA factor to working with her And if

that PIA factor on a particular project is high Irsquom either going to get

more money hellip or I might even walk away

4 WILL THIS WORK FURTHER MY CAREERmdashAND IF SO HOW So

for example when I wrote my first book Ready Aim Specialize I

received an advance of just $2500 I spent months researching (I

interviewed fif ty-six sources) and writing the book My hourly

rate was abysmal I made more as a teenaged lifeguard

But herersquos the thing I wanted to start writing books and I had to begin

somewhere So I said yes to the book added author to my CV and even

made royalties from it My 1047297rst book led to many others which has made

the 1047297rst low advance worth it

As a freelancer itrsquos within your control to take on work or turn it down

The four-part test has helped me stay on course and prevent me from agree-

ing to work based only on what it pays I suggest you look at other factorsas well to help you determine what projects meet your short-term and

long-term goals

66

FIGHT

FOR

YOUR

RIGHTS

When I speak at writers conferences the same questions always come up

How do I 1047297nd an agent How can I turn my blog into a book And should

I sign an all-rights contract

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1317

WRITER FOR HIRE156

that assignment or client is worth it Just remember that when you say yes

to one project you may be saying no to another

75

DIVERSIFY YOUR WORK

When I started freelancing I planned to write magazine articles and work

on my novel That was my business plan

I learned pretty quickly though that magazine articles werenrsquot

enough I was pitching dozens of different magazines but my query suc-

cess rate wasnrsquot very high Even if I did get an assignment months elapsed

between the time I 1047297rst pitched an idea its eventual assignment and

getting paid for it That meant my cash 1047298ow looked more like a dribble

I broke free from my original plan and diversi1047297ed I started ldquostringingrdquo

or freelancing for my local paper and writing for a variety of local busi-

nesses which paid much more quick ly By the end of the year my cash1047298ow and workload were much more consistent [See 79 Beat the feast-

or-famine syndrome]

Diversifying isnrsquot just practical itrsquos smart Your ability to perform a va-

riety of different kinds of work makes you more marketable to clients and

ensures that you keep up with an ever-changing freelance market [See

80 Boost your value]

My 2011 survey of more than two hundred full-time freelancers re-vealed that theyrsquore performing a wide array of work which includes

bull Blogging (whether they blog for others or produce income from their

own blogs)

bull Editing (all types)

bull Ghostwriting (books articles blogs)

bull Proofreading

bull Public speaking

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1417

MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 167

as soon as you get an assignment take the 1047297rst steps you need to For ar-

ticles that usually means doing background research and identifying po-

tential sources After Irsquove come up with potential sources (whether experts

or ldquoreal peoplerdquo anecdotes) I start contacting them to line up interviews I

have to have my interviews done before I can write the piece

CREATE A BUM PER

Herersquos something I didnrsquot anticipate when I 1047297rst started freelancingmdashhow

long it would take for me to get paid for an assignment You canrsquot control

when work is assigned or how long it takes an editor to approve it so you can

actually get paid for it For example I pitched a piece to a magazine in May

which was assigned in July I turned the story in in August and in September

reworked the piece per my editorrsquos speci1047297cations After she accepted the story

she put payment throughmdashand I received my check in early November

Just as you assume work will take you longer than you expect to 1047297nish

you must assume that it will also take longer than you expect to get paid

That means you need to have a 1047297nancial ldquobumperrdquo to rely on when clientsare slow to cut checks Ideally you should have at least three monthsrsquo worth

of income in the bank that way you can withdraw from your ldquobumperrdquo

account when itrsquos taking time to collect your receivables

STAY ON TO P OF YOUR INVOICES

Just as you follow up on queries and letters of introduction you should stay

on top of your invoices Note the payment cycles of your regular clients so you can check on invoices that remain unpaid once theyrsquore overdue [See

67 Collect every check ]

HAVE A MIX O F EGGS

Yoursquove heard ldquodonrsquot put all your eggs in one basketrdquo The same goes for

your freelance work Itrsquos easier to work for a small number of clients but

be careful about having too few projects going at any time For examplelast year I was counting on a book proposal selling so I didnrsquot do much mar-

keting Then when the book didnrsquot sell I suddenly found myself with little

workmdashand little money

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1517

172

Yes yoursquore a freelancer but you have a life too (I hope) Creating work

life balance maintaining a positive outlook nurturing your creativity and

staying physically and mentally healthy all have a tremendous impact on

your productivity and long-term success as a freelancer The secrets in this

1047297nal section will help you avoid burnout deal with writerrsquos anxiety juggle

your freelancing with the rest of your life and set the stage for a successful

happy life both in and out of your offi ce

82

BEAT BURNOUT

Freelancing full-time has a lot of perks You get to make a living from your

words you can write from a home offi ce in sweats and thick 1047298uffy socks

and you can work as little or as much as you want (At least you can in the-

orymdashsometimes you face freelance droughts or have to work weekends

and nights to meet all your deadlines)

Sure there are the inevitable hassles with slow-to-respond editors de-

layed checks and mangled edits But overall most freelancers love what

they do and the way theyrsquore able to work A survey of full-time freelancers

I conducted in 2011 found that 90 percent ldquode1047297nitelyrdquo planned to continue

their careers another 7 percent said they ldquoprobablyrdquo would So you may be

surprised to 1047297nd yourself suffering from burnout at some point

PART 5

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE

AND OUTSIDE OF THE OFFICE

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BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF T HE OFFICE 189

If yoursquove never had food issues you may not need a set of rules like this

and if so yoursquore lucky If you 1047297nd yourself turning to food out of boredom

or anxiety though I suggest you decide how and when yoursquoll eat Both

your waistline and your productivity will bene1047297t

92

MAKE WAITING TIME WORK

In one of my favorite episodes of The Simpsons ldquoMr Plowrdquo Homer decides

to launch his own snow-shoveling business With the help of singer Linda

Ronstadt he creates a television ad that runs in the wee morning hours

(the only time slot he can afford)

After the ad runs for the 1047297rst time he sits back and announces to his

family ldquoNow we play the waiting gamerdquo But after only the briefest of

pauses Homer loses his patience ldquoThe waiting game sucksrdquo he declares

ldquoLetrsquos play Hungry Hungry Hipposrdquo

Homer is so so right The waiting game truly does suck

I know because Irsquove played it beforemdashand Irsquom playing it now I have

not one but four potential book projects that may or make not go for-

ward My agent is shopping around a book proposal I ghostwrote for

a client Another agent is shopping the updated version of a book I co-

authored to its original publisher A publisher has expressed interest in

one of my own books but the editor has yet to send the contract And

another potential client is about to sign me to ghostwrite her propos-

almdashany day

So that means I have four potential book projects in the works but

nothing has signed yet So I wait And wait And wait Every time the

phone rings or my e-mail chimes I take a breath This could be it This

could be the call But itrsquos not my agent or the AWOL editor or my poten-

tial client Itrsquos another freelancer or a former student or a spammer AndIrsquom getting annoyed

I know that something will shake loose hopefully in the next few days

And I do have a few magazine articles to write but not nearly enough work

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1717

E A N

W7416

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 4

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 e 7 x M E M T A u N A I 4 M A E x B k V B

0 4 T i 0 x M w 0 5 N z g x N T k 5 N j M 1 N D k x A A = =

781599 6354919

51699

ISBN-10 1-59963-549-6ISBN-13 978-1-59963-549-1

US $1699(CAN $2950)

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 0

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 W 6 1 4 C M T M D M T A w A T E F V V B D

0 4 L U E M M D M 1 M z E z N j U 0 N z k 0 K A = =

35313 654790 4 U P C

WRITING REFERENCE

EXPERT ADVICE TO HELP YOU LAUNCHmdashAND SUSTAINmdash

A SUCCESSFUL FREELANCE WRITING CAREER

If your goal is to see your words in print and get paid for them you need

proven strategies and techniques that will help you work efficiently and

target top-paying markets Writer for Hire delivers with smart practical

advice for building a successful freelance career and getting the maxi-

mum mileage out of every piece you write

Written by expert freelancer Kelly James-Enger whose work has

appeared in dozens of national magazines including Redbook and Self this book brings you

bull 101 tips techniques advice and examples on building and main-

taining a freelance career that you can apply right away

bull Concrete advice on the business of writing including manag-

ing deadlines querying effectively working withmdashand vettingmdash

potential clients and handling taxes and invoices

bull Proven strategies for maintaining your success as a freelance

writer from securing repeat writing gigs and networking (in-

person and online) to establishing yourself as an expert and

working efficiently under tight deadlines

Writer for Hire provides all the tools you need to get published more oftento make more money and to sustain a profitable satisfying career as a

freelance writer

Page 5: Writer for Hire, 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 517

85 KEEP AN INSPIRATION FILE 178

86 JUST WRITE IT 179

87 GET (AND STAY) PHYSICAL 181

88 WEAR A HAT 182

89 HAVE A BACKUP PLAN 184

90 SAY ldquoNOT RIGHT NOWrdquo 185

91 SET FOOD RULES 187

92 MAKE WAITING TIME WORK 189

93 LISTEN FOR YOUR INNER VOICE 190

94 PRACTICE DELIBERATELY 191

95 CREATE FREE TIME 193

96 FARM OUT YOUR KIDS 195

97 CELEBRATE YOURSELF 197

98 GET A PART-TIME JOB 198

99 STAY FLEXIBLE 200

100 FIND YOUR OWN PATH 203

101 SHOW UP ON YOUR MAT 204

INDEX 207

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 617

INTRODUCTION 1

INTRODUCTION

I never intended to be a successful freelancer

I was an unhappy lawyer who wanted to escape a career I hated so I

quit to write full-time with a career plan that was murky at best I thought

Irsquod 1047297nally start (and hopefully 1047297nish) the novel Irsquod dreamed of for years and

write a few magazine articles here and there While I had two published

clips when I started freelancing in January 1997 (articles in Cosmopolitan and Bridersquos) I had zero connections in the publishing world no journalism

experience and no idea of what to expect But eventually Irsquod make some

money right That was what I hoped anyway

It took me almost two years of full-time freelancing before I knew I

could sustain a full-time freelance career Along the way I made pretty

much every mistake you can make I pitched markets Irsquod never read I wrote

horrendous queries I interviewed the wrong kinds of sources for articlesI rewrote stories over and overmdashand over I focused on what I wanted to

write instead of what clients wanted me to write I wrote vain little essays

that never got published

Considering how many things I did wrong itrsquos amazing I survived

those 1047297rst couple years of freelancing

But I did And I learned

I learned how to manage my time I learned how to turn one as-

signment into a long-term relationship with an editor I learned how

to make the most of my time by special izing I got over my fear of ask-

ing for more money and negotiated writer-friendly contracts that let

me resell my articles to other markets Over time I branched out into

lucrative specialties like ghostwriting copywriting and consulting I

published a couple of chick lit novels (although it took me a lot longer

than I expected) wrote nonfiction books and developed a speaking

business along the way

I started teaching writing classes writing about writing and presenting

at writers conferences and I wound up a freelancing ldquoexpertrdquo helping oth-

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 717

WRITER FOR HIRE2

ers break into the business Today I have more than 1047297fteen years of full-time

freelancing under my belt and I make a respectable income even though I

work part-time hours (I have two little kids who are my 1047297rst priority)

I recently realized however that my success wasnrsquot due to my persis-

tence or even to luck Itrsquos because as I gained experience I discovered the

ldquosecretsrdquo of freelancingmdashthe rules of success if you will Uncovering and

embracing those rules took me from insecure struggling freelancer to

con1047297dent productive business owner

When you know the secrets of freelancing success you can do the same

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 817

3

When you think successful freelancer what skill 1047297rst comes to mind If you

said writing yoursquore wrong Itrsquos sellingmdashand thatrsquos why the 1047297rst section of

this book is devoted to marketing

Irsquove seen dozens of former editors dabble in freelancing only to return

to staff jobsmdashand often the cause is their discomfort with marketing If

you canrsquot sell your writing you wonrsquot succeed as a freelancer The secrets

in this section will help you market more effi ciently to both new and regu-lar clients and ensure a steady stream of freelance work

1BECOME A QUERY MASTER

If you want to freelance for publications (whether trade or consumer print

or online) yoursquove got to be able to query and query well A query letter has

multiple functions It serves as a sales pitch a letter of introduction and

a writing samplemdashand itrsquos how you demonstrate that you understand the

editorrsquos market and can give her what she wants

New writers often struggle with query letters but the letters donrsquot have

to be complicated I 1047297nd that when you have a template to follow yoursquore

able to draft compelling queries more quickly

My template for a query includes a basic four-paragraph structure

PART ONEMARKETING SELLING YOURSELF

AND YOUR WORK

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WRITER FOR HIRE44

I say both are wrong The 1047297rst thing you should do is to eliminate the ug-

liest In other words do the thing that you most do not want to do There are

several compelling reasons why First when you start your morning with the

worst thing you must do (whether itrsquos writing the draft of a complicated article

revising a book chapter yoursquove been putting off or calling an editor to request

some contract changes) your day can only get better right

Second when you have something you donrsquot want to do and you donrsquot

do it right away you spend a good part of your workday coming up with

compelling (and increasingly more creative) reasons why you cannot do that

thing right now You promise yourself yoursquoll do it after you have some coffee

No yoursquoll do it before lunch Wait your blood sugar is 1047298agging so yoursquoll do

it after lunch Then you put it off until three 983152983149mdashand nothing gets done at

three 983152983149 Eventually you run out of steam and you run out of work time

and you promise yourself yoursquoll do the dreaded task tomorrow

Herersquos the thing First off the dreaded thing did not get done Thatrsquos bad

enough But second consider how much time and mental energy you wasted

throughout your day coming up with excuses (oops I mean reasons) why

you couldnrsquot do it right at that moment Thatrsquos not only a waste of time itrsquos a

drain on your emotional energy and leeches your productivity

Thatrsquos why I end every workday by identifying the thing I most do not

want to do the next morning and start every workday tackling that task

Eliminate the ugliest whatever your ldquouglyrdquo thing may be and watch your

productivity climb

21

TRACK YOUR TIME

I call myself a full-time freelancer but Irsquoll let you in on a secret While I say

I work full-time that doesnrsquot mean I work forty hours a week Early in my

career yes I worked those kinds of hours but since then Irsquove gradually

cut back on my total work time I have more regular clients which means Ispend less time marketing and Irsquove become much more effi cient when Irsquom

working Since I became a parent six years ago Irsquove managed to run a ldquofull-

timerdquo writing business putting in 1047297fteen to twenty hours a week

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WRITER FOR HIRE56

Reprint Rights Currently AvailableWork by Kelly James-Enger

Available as of March 22 2011 (latest additions marked with )

Parenting-Oriented

ldquoCommon Nutrition Mistakes of Smart Momsrdquo (feed kids

better) 850 words

ldquoKeeping an Open Heartrdquo (essay on open adoption benefits) 780

words [I include the rest of my story list here]

STEP 4 MAKE YOUR EDITOR HAPPY

Even though Irsquom offering a reprint I still keep my editorrsquos needs in mindWhat do I want To sell a story as many times as possible and make even

more money What does my editor want A story that will bene1047297t and ap-

peal to her readers Thatrsquos why I often ldquotweakrdquo my reprints to make them

more attractive to editors

For example I had a weight-loss piece that had originally run in a wom-

enrsquos magazine By rewriting the lead (so it was about feeling beautiful as you

slip into your dream gown the morning of your wedding instead of feel-ing con1047297dent in a swimsuit this summer) and making a few small changes

throughout the piece it became aimed at engaged women in their twenties

and thirties not moms who were struggling with leftover baby fat Give

your editor a piece that appears custom-made for her market and yoursquore

more likely to make a reprint sale

STEP 5 KEEP IN TOUCH

Itrsquos much easier to sell to an editor or market that has bought from you be-

fore than to constantly search out new markets Every three months or so

I update my master list making a note of the newest additions and send

it off along with a brief e-mail to editors who have purchased from me in

the past The hour I spend doing so always results in a few more sales and

keeps my name in front of clientsIf you write for specialized markets or on esoteric subjects you may

not have as much success with reprints But donrsquot ignore the opportunity

they present for subjects with wider market appeal Developing reprint

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1117

89

Forget the idea of the writer tucked away in her garret todayrsquos successful

freelancers know how to create and maintain relationships with people

ranging from editors to sources to public relations pros to fellow writers

The good news is that in todayrsquos world of social media itrsquos easier than

ever beforemdashbut relationship building is more than simply ldquofriendingrdquo

everyone you know The secrets in this section wil l help you learn how

to connect and stay connected with the people who will help you suc-ceed as a freelancer

43

FOLLOW THE PLATINUM RULE

Yoursquore no doubt familiar with the Golden Rulemdashtreat others the way yoursquod

like to be treated Well when it comes to clients Irsquod suggest you up the

ante and employ the Platinum Rulemdashtreat them even better than yoursquod

like to be treated

As a freelancer yoursquore facing a lot of competition That means just get-

ting the job done isnrsquot enough Itrsquos the willingness to go beyond what editors

and clients require that sets you apart from the freelance pack

For example several years ago I interviewed a cake decorator for a

trade magazine story During the course of the interview she mentioned

that the magazine had recently run her photo Problem was the person in

the picture wasnrsquot her

PART 3

RELATIONSHIPS BUILDING

AND MAINTAINING CONNECTIONS

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1217

MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 137

magazines pay more but Irsquom always looking at my hourly rate not

just the size of the check And sometimes the magazines that pay

less per word actually pay more per hour

3 WHATrsquoS THE PIA FACTOR PIA is my shorthand for Pain In the um

rear end Some clients and editors are annoying to work with Irsquom

thinking of an editor I work with who takes forever to respond to

queries then assigns stuff with ridiculously tight deadlines I love

her but therersquos de1047297nitely a PIA factor to working with her And if

that PIA factor on a particular project is high Irsquom either going to get

more money hellip or I might even walk away

4 WILL THIS WORK FURTHER MY CAREERmdashAND IF SO HOW So

for example when I wrote my first book Ready Aim Specialize I

received an advance of just $2500 I spent months researching (I

interviewed fif ty-six sources) and writing the book My hourly

rate was abysmal I made more as a teenaged lifeguard

But herersquos the thing I wanted to start writing books and I had to begin

somewhere So I said yes to the book added author to my CV and even

made royalties from it My 1047297rst book led to many others which has made

the 1047297rst low advance worth it

As a freelancer itrsquos within your control to take on work or turn it down

The four-part test has helped me stay on course and prevent me from agree-

ing to work based only on what it pays I suggest you look at other factorsas well to help you determine what projects meet your short-term and

long-term goals

66

FIGHT

FOR

YOUR

RIGHTS

When I speak at writers conferences the same questions always come up

How do I 1047297nd an agent How can I turn my blog into a book And should

I sign an all-rights contract

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1317

WRITER FOR HIRE156

that assignment or client is worth it Just remember that when you say yes

to one project you may be saying no to another

75

DIVERSIFY YOUR WORK

When I started freelancing I planned to write magazine articles and work

on my novel That was my business plan

I learned pretty quickly though that magazine articles werenrsquot

enough I was pitching dozens of different magazines but my query suc-

cess rate wasnrsquot very high Even if I did get an assignment months elapsed

between the time I 1047297rst pitched an idea its eventual assignment and

getting paid for it That meant my cash 1047298ow looked more like a dribble

I broke free from my original plan and diversi1047297ed I started ldquostringingrdquo

or freelancing for my local paper and writing for a variety of local busi-

nesses which paid much more quick ly By the end of the year my cash1047298ow and workload were much more consistent [See 79 Beat the feast-

or-famine syndrome]

Diversifying isnrsquot just practical itrsquos smart Your ability to perform a va-

riety of different kinds of work makes you more marketable to clients and

ensures that you keep up with an ever-changing freelance market [See

80 Boost your value]

My 2011 survey of more than two hundred full-time freelancers re-vealed that theyrsquore performing a wide array of work which includes

bull Blogging (whether they blog for others or produce income from their

own blogs)

bull Editing (all types)

bull Ghostwriting (books articles blogs)

bull Proofreading

bull Public speaking

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1417

MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 167

as soon as you get an assignment take the 1047297rst steps you need to For ar-

ticles that usually means doing background research and identifying po-

tential sources After Irsquove come up with potential sources (whether experts

or ldquoreal peoplerdquo anecdotes) I start contacting them to line up interviews I

have to have my interviews done before I can write the piece

CREATE A BUM PER

Herersquos something I didnrsquot anticipate when I 1047297rst started freelancingmdashhow

long it would take for me to get paid for an assignment You canrsquot control

when work is assigned or how long it takes an editor to approve it so you can

actually get paid for it For example I pitched a piece to a magazine in May

which was assigned in July I turned the story in in August and in September

reworked the piece per my editorrsquos speci1047297cations After she accepted the story

she put payment throughmdashand I received my check in early November

Just as you assume work will take you longer than you expect to 1047297nish

you must assume that it will also take longer than you expect to get paid

That means you need to have a 1047297nancial ldquobumperrdquo to rely on when clientsare slow to cut checks Ideally you should have at least three monthsrsquo worth

of income in the bank that way you can withdraw from your ldquobumperrdquo

account when itrsquos taking time to collect your receivables

STAY ON TO P OF YOUR INVOICES

Just as you follow up on queries and letters of introduction you should stay

on top of your invoices Note the payment cycles of your regular clients so you can check on invoices that remain unpaid once theyrsquore overdue [See

67 Collect every check ]

HAVE A MIX O F EGGS

Yoursquove heard ldquodonrsquot put all your eggs in one basketrdquo The same goes for

your freelance work Itrsquos easier to work for a small number of clients but

be careful about having too few projects going at any time For examplelast year I was counting on a book proposal selling so I didnrsquot do much mar-

keting Then when the book didnrsquot sell I suddenly found myself with little

workmdashand little money

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1517

172

Yes yoursquore a freelancer but you have a life too (I hope) Creating work

life balance maintaining a positive outlook nurturing your creativity and

staying physically and mentally healthy all have a tremendous impact on

your productivity and long-term success as a freelancer The secrets in this

1047297nal section will help you avoid burnout deal with writerrsquos anxiety juggle

your freelancing with the rest of your life and set the stage for a successful

happy life both in and out of your offi ce

82

BEAT BURNOUT

Freelancing full-time has a lot of perks You get to make a living from your

words you can write from a home offi ce in sweats and thick 1047298uffy socks

and you can work as little or as much as you want (At least you can in the-

orymdashsometimes you face freelance droughts or have to work weekends

and nights to meet all your deadlines)

Sure there are the inevitable hassles with slow-to-respond editors de-

layed checks and mangled edits But overall most freelancers love what

they do and the way theyrsquore able to work A survey of full-time freelancers

I conducted in 2011 found that 90 percent ldquode1047297nitelyrdquo planned to continue

their careers another 7 percent said they ldquoprobablyrdquo would So you may be

surprised to 1047297nd yourself suffering from burnout at some point

PART 5

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE

AND OUTSIDE OF THE OFFICE

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1617

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF T HE OFFICE 189

If yoursquove never had food issues you may not need a set of rules like this

and if so yoursquore lucky If you 1047297nd yourself turning to food out of boredom

or anxiety though I suggest you decide how and when yoursquoll eat Both

your waistline and your productivity will bene1047297t

92

MAKE WAITING TIME WORK

In one of my favorite episodes of The Simpsons ldquoMr Plowrdquo Homer decides

to launch his own snow-shoveling business With the help of singer Linda

Ronstadt he creates a television ad that runs in the wee morning hours

(the only time slot he can afford)

After the ad runs for the 1047297rst time he sits back and announces to his

family ldquoNow we play the waiting gamerdquo But after only the briefest of

pauses Homer loses his patience ldquoThe waiting game sucksrdquo he declares

ldquoLetrsquos play Hungry Hungry Hipposrdquo

Homer is so so right The waiting game truly does suck

I know because Irsquove played it beforemdashand Irsquom playing it now I have

not one but four potential book projects that may or make not go for-

ward My agent is shopping around a book proposal I ghostwrote for

a client Another agent is shopping the updated version of a book I co-

authored to its original publisher A publisher has expressed interest in

one of my own books but the editor has yet to send the contract And

another potential client is about to sign me to ghostwrite her propos-

almdashany day

So that means I have four potential book projects in the works but

nothing has signed yet So I wait And wait And wait Every time the

phone rings or my e-mail chimes I take a breath This could be it This

could be the call But itrsquos not my agent or the AWOL editor or my poten-

tial client Itrsquos another freelancer or a former student or a spammer AndIrsquom getting annoyed

I know that something will shake loose hopefully in the next few days

And I do have a few magazine articles to write but not nearly enough work

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1717

E A N

W7416

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 4

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 e 7 x M E M T A u N A I 4 M A E x B k V B

0 4 T i 0 x M w 0 5 N z g x N T k 5 N j M 1 N D k x A A = =

781599 6354919

51699

ISBN-10 1-59963-549-6ISBN-13 978-1-59963-549-1

US $1699(CAN $2950)

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 0

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 W 6 1 4 C M T M D M T A w A T E F V V B D

0 4 L U E M M D M 1 M z E z N j U 0 N z k 0 K A = =

35313 654790 4 U P C

WRITING REFERENCE

EXPERT ADVICE TO HELP YOU LAUNCHmdashAND SUSTAINmdash

A SUCCESSFUL FREELANCE WRITING CAREER

If your goal is to see your words in print and get paid for them you need

proven strategies and techniques that will help you work efficiently and

target top-paying markets Writer for Hire delivers with smart practical

advice for building a successful freelance career and getting the maxi-

mum mileage out of every piece you write

Written by expert freelancer Kelly James-Enger whose work has

appeared in dozens of national magazines including Redbook and Self this book brings you

bull 101 tips techniques advice and examples on building and main-

taining a freelance career that you can apply right away

bull Concrete advice on the business of writing including manag-

ing deadlines querying effectively working withmdashand vettingmdash

potential clients and handling taxes and invoices

bull Proven strategies for maintaining your success as a freelance

writer from securing repeat writing gigs and networking (in-

person and online) to establishing yourself as an expert and

working efficiently under tight deadlines

Writer for Hire provides all the tools you need to get published more oftento make more money and to sustain a profitable satisfying career as a

freelance writer

Page 6: Writer for Hire, 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 617

INTRODUCTION 1

INTRODUCTION

I never intended to be a successful freelancer

I was an unhappy lawyer who wanted to escape a career I hated so I

quit to write full-time with a career plan that was murky at best I thought

Irsquod 1047297nally start (and hopefully 1047297nish) the novel Irsquod dreamed of for years and

write a few magazine articles here and there While I had two published

clips when I started freelancing in January 1997 (articles in Cosmopolitan and Bridersquos) I had zero connections in the publishing world no journalism

experience and no idea of what to expect But eventually Irsquod make some

money right That was what I hoped anyway

It took me almost two years of full-time freelancing before I knew I

could sustain a full-time freelance career Along the way I made pretty

much every mistake you can make I pitched markets Irsquod never read I wrote

horrendous queries I interviewed the wrong kinds of sources for articlesI rewrote stories over and overmdashand over I focused on what I wanted to

write instead of what clients wanted me to write I wrote vain little essays

that never got published

Considering how many things I did wrong itrsquos amazing I survived

those 1047297rst couple years of freelancing

But I did And I learned

I learned how to manage my time I learned how to turn one as-

signment into a long-term relationship with an editor I learned how

to make the most of my time by special izing I got over my fear of ask-

ing for more money and negotiated writer-friendly contracts that let

me resell my articles to other markets Over time I branched out into

lucrative specialties like ghostwriting copywriting and consulting I

published a couple of chick lit novels (although it took me a lot longer

than I expected) wrote nonfiction books and developed a speaking

business along the way

I started teaching writing classes writing about writing and presenting

at writers conferences and I wound up a freelancing ldquoexpertrdquo helping oth-

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 717

WRITER FOR HIRE2

ers break into the business Today I have more than 1047297fteen years of full-time

freelancing under my belt and I make a respectable income even though I

work part-time hours (I have two little kids who are my 1047297rst priority)

I recently realized however that my success wasnrsquot due to my persis-

tence or even to luck Itrsquos because as I gained experience I discovered the

ldquosecretsrdquo of freelancingmdashthe rules of success if you will Uncovering and

embracing those rules took me from insecure struggling freelancer to

con1047297dent productive business owner

When you know the secrets of freelancing success you can do the same

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 817

3

When you think successful freelancer what skill 1047297rst comes to mind If you

said writing yoursquore wrong Itrsquos sellingmdashand thatrsquos why the 1047297rst section of

this book is devoted to marketing

Irsquove seen dozens of former editors dabble in freelancing only to return

to staff jobsmdashand often the cause is their discomfort with marketing If

you canrsquot sell your writing you wonrsquot succeed as a freelancer The secrets

in this section will help you market more effi ciently to both new and regu-lar clients and ensure a steady stream of freelance work

1BECOME A QUERY MASTER

If you want to freelance for publications (whether trade or consumer print

or online) yoursquove got to be able to query and query well A query letter has

multiple functions It serves as a sales pitch a letter of introduction and

a writing samplemdashand itrsquos how you demonstrate that you understand the

editorrsquos market and can give her what she wants

New writers often struggle with query letters but the letters donrsquot have

to be complicated I 1047297nd that when you have a template to follow yoursquore

able to draft compelling queries more quickly

My template for a query includes a basic four-paragraph structure

PART ONEMARKETING SELLING YOURSELF

AND YOUR WORK

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WRITER FOR HIRE44

I say both are wrong The 1047297rst thing you should do is to eliminate the ug-

liest In other words do the thing that you most do not want to do There are

several compelling reasons why First when you start your morning with the

worst thing you must do (whether itrsquos writing the draft of a complicated article

revising a book chapter yoursquove been putting off or calling an editor to request

some contract changes) your day can only get better right

Second when you have something you donrsquot want to do and you donrsquot

do it right away you spend a good part of your workday coming up with

compelling (and increasingly more creative) reasons why you cannot do that

thing right now You promise yourself yoursquoll do it after you have some coffee

No yoursquoll do it before lunch Wait your blood sugar is 1047298agging so yoursquoll do

it after lunch Then you put it off until three 983152983149mdashand nothing gets done at

three 983152983149 Eventually you run out of steam and you run out of work time

and you promise yourself yoursquoll do the dreaded task tomorrow

Herersquos the thing First off the dreaded thing did not get done Thatrsquos bad

enough But second consider how much time and mental energy you wasted

throughout your day coming up with excuses (oops I mean reasons) why

you couldnrsquot do it right at that moment Thatrsquos not only a waste of time itrsquos a

drain on your emotional energy and leeches your productivity

Thatrsquos why I end every workday by identifying the thing I most do not

want to do the next morning and start every workday tackling that task

Eliminate the ugliest whatever your ldquouglyrdquo thing may be and watch your

productivity climb

21

TRACK YOUR TIME

I call myself a full-time freelancer but Irsquoll let you in on a secret While I say

I work full-time that doesnrsquot mean I work forty hours a week Early in my

career yes I worked those kinds of hours but since then Irsquove gradually

cut back on my total work time I have more regular clients which means Ispend less time marketing and Irsquove become much more effi cient when Irsquom

working Since I became a parent six years ago Irsquove managed to run a ldquofull-

timerdquo writing business putting in 1047297fteen to twenty hours a week

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WRITER FOR HIRE56

Reprint Rights Currently AvailableWork by Kelly James-Enger

Available as of March 22 2011 (latest additions marked with )

Parenting-Oriented

ldquoCommon Nutrition Mistakes of Smart Momsrdquo (feed kids

better) 850 words

ldquoKeeping an Open Heartrdquo (essay on open adoption benefits) 780

words [I include the rest of my story list here]

STEP 4 MAKE YOUR EDITOR HAPPY

Even though Irsquom offering a reprint I still keep my editorrsquos needs in mindWhat do I want To sell a story as many times as possible and make even

more money What does my editor want A story that will bene1047297t and ap-

peal to her readers Thatrsquos why I often ldquotweakrdquo my reprints to make them

more attractive to editors

For example I had a weight-loss piece that had originally run in a wom-

enrsquos magazine By rewriting the lead (so it was about feeling beautiful as you

slip into your dream gown the morning of your wedding instead of feel-ing con1047297dent in a swimsuit this summer) and making a few small changes

throughout the piece it became aimed at engaged women in their twenties

and thirties not moms who were struggling with leftover baby fat Give

your editor a piece that appears custom-made for her market and yoursquore

more likely to make a reprint sale

STEP 5 KEEP IN TOUCH

Itrsquos much easier to sell to an editor or market that has bought from you be-

fore than to constantly search out new markets Every three months or so

I update my master list making a note of the newest additions and send

it off along with a brief e-mail to editors who have purchased from me in

the past The hour I spend doing so always results in a few more sales and

keeps my name in front of clientsIf you write for specialized markets or on esoteric subjects you may

not have as much success with reprints But donrsquot ignore the opportunity

they present for subjects with wider market appeal Developing reprint

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

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89

Forget the idea of the writer tucked away in her garret todayrsquos successful

freelancers know how to create and maintain relationships with people

ranging from editors to sources to public relations pros to fellow writers

The good news is that in todayrsquos world of social media itrsquos easier than

ever beforemdashbut relationship building is more than simply ldquofriendingrdquo

everyone you know The secrets in this section wil l help you learn how

to connect and stay connected with the people who will help you suc-ceed as a freelancer

43

FOLLOW THE PLATINUM RULE

Yoursquore no doubt familiar with the Golden Rulemdashtreat others the way yoursquod

like to be treated Well when it comes to clients Irsquod suggest you up the

ante and employ the Platinum Rulemdashtreat them even better than yoursquod

like to be treated

As a freelancer yoursquore facing a lot of competition That means just get-

ting the job done isnrsquot enough Itrsquos the willingness to go beyond what editors

and clients require that sets you apart from the freelance pack

For example several years ago I interviewed a cake decorator for a

trade magazine story During the course of the interview she mentioned

that the magazine had recently run her photo Problem was the person in

the picture wasnrsquot her

PART 3

RELATIONSHIPS BUILDING

AND MAINTAINING CONNECTIONS

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MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 137

magazines pay more but Irsquom always looking at my hourly rate not

just the size of the check And sometimes the magazines that pay

less per word actually pay more per hour

3 WHATrsquoS THE PIA FACTOR PIA is my shorthand for Pain In the um

rear end Some clients and editors are annoying to work with Irsquom

thinking of an editor I work with who takes forever to respond to

queries then assigns stuff with ridiculously tight deadlines I love

her but therersquos de1047297nitely a PIA factor to working with her And if

that PIA factor on a particular project is high Irsquom either going to get

more money hellip or I might even walk away

4 WILL THIS WORK FURTHER MY CAREERmdashAND IF SO HOW So

for example when I wrote my first book Ready Aim Specialize I

received an advance of just $2500 I spent months researching (I

interviewed fif ty-six sources) and writing the book My hourly

rate was abysmal I made more as a teenaged lifeguard

But herersquos the thing I wanted to start writing books and I had to begin

somewhere So I said yes to the book added author to my CV and even

made royalties from it My 1047297rst book led to many others which has made

the 1047297rst low advance worth it

As a freelancer itrsquos within your control to take on work or turn it down

The four-part test has helped me stay on course and prevent me from agree-

ing to work based only on what it pays I suggest you look at other factorsas well to help you determine what projects meet your short-term and

long-term goals

66

FIGHT

FOR

YOUR

RIGHTS

When I speak at writers conferences the same questions always come up

How do I 1047297nd an agent How can I turn my blog into a book And should

I sign an all-rights contract

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

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WRITER FOR HIRE156

that assignment or client is worth it Just remember that when you say yes

to one project you may be saying no to another

75

DIVERSIFY YOUR WORK

When I started freelancing I planned to write magazine articles and work

on my novel That was my business plan

I learned pretty quickly though that magazine articles werenrsquot

enough I was pitching dozens of different magazines but my query suc-

cess rate wasnrsquot very high Even if I did get an assignment months elapsed

between the time I 1047297rst pitched an idea its eventual assignment and

getting paid for it That meant my cash 1047298ow looked more like a dribble

I broke free from my original plan and diversi1047297ed I started ldquostringingrdquo

or freelancing for my local paper and writing for a variety of local busi-

nesses which paid much more quick ly By the end of the year my cash1047298ow and workload were much more consistent [See 79 Beat the feast-

or-famine syndrome]

Diversifying isnrsquot just practical itrsquos smart Your ability to perform a va-

riety of different kinds of work makes you more marketable to clients and

ensures that you keep up with an ever-changing freelance market [See

80 Boost your value]

My 2011 survey of more than two hundred full-time freelancers re-vealed that theyrsquore performing a wide array of work which includes

bull Blogging (whether they blog for others or produce income from their

own blogs)

bull Editing (all types)

bull Ghostwriting (books articles blogs)

bull Proofreading

bull Public speaking

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

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MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 167

as soon as you get an assignment take the 1047297rst steps you need to For ar-

ticles that usually means doing background research and identifying po-

tential sources After Irsquove come up with potential sources (whether experts

or ldquoreal peoplerdquo anecdotes) I start contacting them to line up interviews I

have to have my interviews done before I can write the piece

CREATE A BUM PER

Herersquos something I didnrsquot anticipate when I 1047297rst started freelancingmdashhow

long it would take for me to get paid for an assignment You canrsquot control

when work is assigned or how long it takes an editor to approve it so you can

actually get paid for it For example I pitched a piece to a magazine in May

which was assigned in July I turned the story in in August and in September

reworked the piece per my editorrsquos speci1047297cations After she accepted the story

she put payment throughmdashand I received my check in early November

Just as you assume work will take you longer than you expect to 1047297nish

you must assume that it will also take longer than you expect to get paid

That means you need to have a 1047297nancial ldquobumperrdquo to rely on when clientsare slow to cut checks Ideally you should have at least three monthsrsquo worth

of income in the bank that way you can withdraw from your ldquobumperrdquo

account when itrsquos taking time to collect your receivables

STAY ON TO P OF YOUR INVOICES

Just as you follow up on queries and letters of introduction you should stay

on top of your invoices Note the payment cycles of your regular clients so you can check on invoices that remain unpaid once theyrsquore overdue [See

67 Collect every check ]

HAVE A MIX O F EGGS

Yoursquove heard ldquodonrsquot put all your eggs in one basketrdquo The same goes for

your freelance work Itrsquos easier to work for a small number of clients but

be careful about having too few projects going at any time For examplelast year I was counting on a book proposal selling so I didnrsquot do much mar-

keting Then when the book didnrsquot sell I suddenly found myself with little

workmdashand little money

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1517

172

Yes yoursquore a freelancer but you have a life too (I hope) Creating work

life balance maintaining a positive outlook nurturing your creativity and

staying physically and mentally healthy all have a tremendous impact on

your productivity and long-term success as a freelancer The secrets in this

1047297nal section will help you avoid burnout deal with writerrsquos anxiety juggle

your freelancing with the rest of your life and set the stage for a successful

happy life both in and out of your offi ce

82

BEAT BURNOUT

Freelancing full-time has a lot of perks You get to make a living from your

words you can write from a home offi ce in sweats and thick 1047298uffy socks

and you can work as little or as much as you want (At least you can in the-

orymdashsometimes you face freelance droughts or have to work weekends

and nights to meet all your deadlines)

Sure there are the inevitable hassles with slow-to-respond editors de-

layed checks and mangled edits But overall most freelancers love what

they do and the way theyrsquore able to work A survey of full-time freelancers

I conducted in 2011 found that 90 percent ldquode1047297nitelyrdquo planned to continue

their careers another 7 percent said they ldquoprobablyrdquo would So you may be

surprised to 1047297nd yourself suffering from burnout at some point

PART 5

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE

AND OUTSIDE OF THE OFFICE

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1617

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF T HE OFFICE 189

If yoursquove never had food issues you may not need a set of rules like this

and if so yoursquore lucky If you 1047297nd yourself turning to food out of boredom

or anxiety though I suggest you decide how and when yoursquoll eat Both

your waistline and your productivity will bene1047297t

92

MAKE WAITING TIME WORK

In one of my favorite episodes of The Simpsons ldquoMr Plowrdquo Homer decides

to launch his own snow-shoveling business With the help of singer Linda

Ronstadt he creates a television ad that runs in the wee morning hours

(the only time slot he can afford)

After the ad runs for the 1047297rst time he sits back and announces to his

family ldquoNow we play the waiting gamerdquo But after only the briefest of

pauses Homer loses his patience ldquoThe waiting game sucksrdquo he declares

ldquoLetrsquos play Hungry Hungry Hipposrdquo

Homer is so so right The waiting game truly does suck

I know because Irsquove played it beforemdashand Irsquom playing it now I have

not one but four potential book projects that may or make not go for-

ward My agent is shopping around a book proposal I ghostwrote for

a client Another agent is shopping the updated version of a book I co-

authored to its original publisher A publisher has expressed interest in

one of my own books but the editor has yet to send the contract And

another potential client is about to sign me to ghostwrite her propos-

almdashany day

So that means I have four potential book projects in the works but

nothing has signed yet So I wait And wait And wait Every time the

phone rings or my e-mail chimes I take a breath This could be it This

could be the call But itrsquos not my agent or the AWOL editor or my poten-

tial client Itrsquos another freelancer or a former student or a spammer AndIrsquom getting annoyed

I know that something will shake loose hopefully in the next few days

And I do have a few magazine articles to write but not nearly enough work

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1717

E A N

W7416

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 4

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 e 7 x M E M T A u N A I 4 M A E x B k V B

0 4 T i 0 x M w 0 5 N z g x N T k 5 N j M 1 N D k x A A = =

781599 6354919

51699

ISBN-10 1-59963-549-6ISBN-13 978-1-59963-549-1

US $1699(CAN $2950)

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 0

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 W 6 1 4 C M T M D M T A w A T E F V V B D

0 4 L U E M M D M 1 M z E z N j U 0 N z k 0 K A = =

35313 654790 4 U P C

WRITING REFERENCE

EXPERT ADVICE TO HELP YOU LAUNCHmdashAND SUSTAINmdash

A SUCCESSFUL FREELANCE WRITING CAREER

If your goal is to see your words in print and get paid for them you need

proven strategies and techniques that will help you work efficiently and

target top-paying markets Writer for Hire delivers with smart practical

advice for building a successful freelance career and getting the maxi-

mum mileage out of every piece you write

Written by expert freelancer Kelly James-Enger whose work has

appeared in dozens of national magazines including Redbook and Self this book brings you

bull 101 tips techniques advice and examples on building and main-

taining a freelance career that you can apply right away

bull Concrete advice on the business of writing including manag-

ing deadlines querying effectively working withmdashand vettingmdash

potential clients and handling taxes and invoices

bull Proven strategies for maintaining your success as a freelance

writer from securing repeat writing gigs and networking (in-

person and online) to establishing yourself as an expert and

working efficiently under tight deadlines

Writer for Hire provides all the tools you need to get published more oftento make more money and to sustain a profitable satisfying career as a

freelance writer

Page 7: Writer for Hire, 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 717

WRITER FOR HIRE2

ers break into the business Today I have more than 1047297fteen years of full-time

freelancing under my belt and I make a respectable income even though I

work part-time hours (I have two little kids who are my 1047297rst priority)

I recently realized however that my success wasnrsquot due to my persis-

tence or even to luck Itrsquos because as I gained experience I discovered the

ldquosecretsrdquo of freelancingmdashthe rules of success if you will Uncovering and

embracing those rules took me from insecure struggling freelancer to

con1047297dent productive business owner

When you know the secrets of freelancing success you can do the same

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 817

3

When you think successful freelancer what skill 1047297rst comes to mind If you

said writing yoursquore wrong Itrsquos sellingmdashand thatrsquos why the 1047297rst section of

this book is devoted to marketing

Irsquove seen dozens of former editors dabble in freelancing only to return

to staff jobsmdashand often the cause is their discomfort with marketing If

you canrsquot sell your writing you wonrsquot succeed as a freelancer The secrets

in this section will help you market more effi ciently to both new and regu-lar clients and ensure a steady stream of freelance work

1BECOME A QUERY MASTER

If you want to freelance for publications (whether trade or consumer print

or online) yoursquove got to be able to query and query well A query letter has

multiple functions It serves as a sales pitch a letter of introduction and

a writing samplemdashand itrsquos how you demonstrate that you understand the

editorrsquos market and can give her what she wants

New writers often struggle with query letters but the letters donrsquot have

to be complicated I 1047297nd that when you have a template to follow yoursquore

able to draft compelling queries more quickly

My template for a query includes a basic four-paragraph structure

PART ONEMARKETING SELLING YOURSELF

AND YOUR WORK

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 917

WRITER FOR HIRE44

I say both are wrong The 1047297rst thing you should do is to eliminate the ug-

liest In other words do the thing that you most do not want to do There are

several compelling reasons why First when you start your morning with the

worst thing you must do (whether itrsquos writing the draft of a complicated article

revising a book chapter yoursquove been putting off or calling an editor to request

some contract changes) your day can only get better right

Second when you have something you donrsquot want to do and you donrsquot

do it right away you spend a good part of your workday coming up with

compelling (and increasingly more creative) reasons why you cannot do that

thing right now You promise yourself yoursquoll do it after you have some coffee

No yoursquoll do it before lunch Wait your blood sugar is 1047298agging so yoursquoll do

it after lunch Then you put it off until three 983152983149mdashand nothing gets done at

three 983152983149 Eventually you run out of steam and you run out of work time

and you promise yourself yoursquoll do the dreaded task tomorrow

Herersquos the thing First off the dreaded thing did not get done Thatrsquos bad

enough But second consider how much time and mental energy you wasted

throughout your day coming up with excuses (oops I mean reasons) why

you couldnrsquot do it right at that moment Thatrsquos not only a waste of time itrsquos a

drain on your emotional energy and leeches your productivity

Thatrsquos why I end every workday by identifying the thing I most do not

want to do the next morning and start every workday tackling that task

Eliminate the ugliest whatever your ldquouglyrdquo thing may be and watch your

productivity climb

21

TRACK YOUR TIME

I call myself a full-time freelancer but Irsquoll let you in on a secret While I say

I work full-time that doesnrsquot mean I work forty hours a week Early in my

career yes I worked those kinds of hours but since then Irsquove gradually

cut back on my total work time I have more regular clients which means Ispend less time marketing and Irsquove become much more effi cient when Irsquom

working Since I became a parent six years ago Irsquove managed to run a ldquofull-

timerdquo writing business putting in 1047297fteen to twenty hours a week

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1017

WRITER FOR HIRE56

Reprint Rights Currently AvailableWork by Kelly James-Enger

Available as of March 22 2011 (latest additions marked with )

Parenting-Oriented

ldquoCommon Nutrition Mistakes of Smart Momsrdquo (feed kids

better) 850 words

ldquoKeeping an Open Heartrdquo (essay on open adoption benefits) 780

words [I include the rest of my story list here]

STEP 4 MAKE YOUR EDITOR HAPPY

Even though Irsquom offering a reprint I still keep my editorrsquos needs in mindWhat do I want To sell a story as many times as possible and make even

more money What does my editor want A story that will bene1047297t and ap-

peal to her readers Thatrsquos why I often ldquotweakrdquo my reprints to make them

more attractive to editors

For example I had a weight-loss piece that had originally run in a wom-

enrsquos magazine By rewriting the lead (so it was about feeling beautiful as you

slip into your dream gown the morning of your wedding instead of feel-ing con1047297dent in a swimsuit this summer) and making a few small changes

throughout the piece it became aimed at engaged women in their twenties

and thirties not moms who were struggling with leftover baby fat Give

your editor a piece that appears custom-made for her market and yoursquore

more likely to make a reprint sale

STEP 5 KEEP IN TOUCH

Itrsquos much easier to sell to an editor or market that has bought from you be-

fore than to constantly search out new markets Every three months or so

I update my master list making a note of the newest additions and send

it off along with a brief e-mail to editors who have purchased from me in

the past The hour I spend doing so always results in a few more sales and

keeps my name in front of clientsIf you write for specialized markets or on esoteric subjects you may

not have as much success with reprints But donrsquot ignore the opportunity

they present for subjects with wider market appeal Developing reprint

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1117

89

Forget the idea of the writer tucked away in her garret todayrsquos successful

freelancers know how to create and maintain relationships with people

ranging from editors to sources to public relations pros to fellow writers

The good news is that in todayrsquos world of social media itrsquos easier than

ever beforemdashbut relationship building is more than simply ldquofriendingrdquo

everyone you know The secrets in this section wil l help you learn how

to connect and stay connected with the people who will help you suc-ceed as a freelancer

43

FOLLOW THE PLATINUM RULE

Yoursquore no doubt familiar with the Golden Rulemdashtreat others the way yoursquod

like to be treated Well when it comes to clients Irsquod suggest you up the

ante and employ the Platinum Rulemdashtreat them even better than yoursquod

like to be treated

As a freelancer yoursquore facing a lot of competition That means just get-

ting the job done isnrsquot enough Itrsquos the willingness to go beyond what editors

and clients require that sets you apart from the freelance pack

For example several years ago I interviewed a cake decorator for a

trade magazine story During the course of the interview she mentioned

that the magazine had recently run her photo Problem was the person in

the picture wasnrsquot her

PART 3

RELATIONSHIPS BUILDING

AND MAINTAINING CONNECTIONS

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1217

MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 137

magazines pay more but Irsquom always looking at my hourly rate not

just the size of the check And sometimes the magazines that pay

less per word actually pay more per hour

3 WHATrsquoS THE PIA FACTOR PIA is my shorthand for Pain In the um

rear end Some clients and editors are annoying to work with Irsquom

thinking of an editor I work with who takes forever to respond to

queries then assigns stuff with ridiculously tight deadlines I love

her but therersquos de1047297nitely a PIA factor to working with her And if

that PIA factor on a particular project is high Irsquom either going to get

more money hellip or I might even walk away

4 WILL THIS WORK FURTHER MY CAREERmdashAND IF SO HOW So

for example when I wrote my first book Ready Aim Specialize I

received an advance of just $2500 I spent months researching (I

interviewed fif ty-six sources) and writing the book My hourly

rate was abysmal I made more as a teenaged lifeguard

But herersquos the thing I wanted to start writing books and I had to begin

somewhere So I said yes to the book added author to my CV and even

made royalties from it My 1047297rst book led to many others which has made

the 1047297rst low advance worth it

As a freelancer itrsquos within your control to take on work or turn it down

The four-part test has helped me stay on course and prevent me from agree-

ing to work based only on what it pays I suggest you look at other factorsas well to help you determine what projects meet your short-term and

long-term goals

66

FIGHT

FOR

YOUR

RIGHTS

When I speak at writers conferences the same questions always come up

How do I 1047297nd an agent How can I turn my blog into a book And should

I sign an all-rights contract

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1317

WRITER FOR HIRE156

that assignment or client is worth it Just remember that when you say yes

to one project you may be saying no to another

75

DIVERSIFY YOUR WORK

When I started freelancing I planned to write magazine articles and work

on my novel That was my business plan

I learned pretty quickly though that magazine articles werenrsquot

enough I was pitching dozens of different magazines but my query suc-

cess rate wasnrsquot very high Even if I did get an assignment months elapsed

between the time I 1047297rst pitched an idea its eventual assignment and

getting paid for it That meant my cash 1047298ow looked more like a dribble

I broke free from my original plan and diversi1047297ed I started ldquostringingrdquo

or freelancing for my local paper and writing for a variety of local busi-

nesses which paid much more quick ly By the end of the year my cash1047298ow and workload were much more consistent [See 79 Beat the feast-

or-famine syndrome]

Diversifying isnrsquot just practical itrsquos smart Your ability to perform a va-

riety of different kinds of work makes you more marketable to clients and

ensures that you keep up with an ever-changing freelance market [See

80 Boost your value]

My 2011 survey of more than two hundred full-time freelancers re-vealed that theyrsquore performing a wide array of work which includes

bull Blogging (whether they blog for others or produce income from their

own blogs)

bull Editing (all types)

bull Ghostwriting (books articles blogs)

bull Proofreading

bull Public speaking

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1417

MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 167

as soon as you get an assignment take the 1047297rst steps you need to For ar-

ticles that usually means doing background research and identifying po-

tential sources After Irsquove come up with potential sources (whether experts

or ldquoreal peoplerdquo anecdotes) I start contacting them to line up interviews I

have to have my interviews done before I can write the piece

CREATE A BUM PER

Herersquos something I didnrsquot anticipate when I 1047297rst started freelancingmdashhow

long it would take for me to get paid for an assignment You canrsquot control

when work is assigned or how long it takes an editor to approve it so you can

actually get paid for it For example I pitched a piece to a magazine in May

which was assigned in July I turned the story in in August and in September

reworked the piece per my editorrsquos speci1047297cations After she accepted the story

she put payment throughmdashand I received my check in early November

Just as you assume work will take you longer than you expect to 1047297nish

you must assume that it will also take longer than you expect to get paid

That means you need to have a 1047297nancial ldquobumperrdquo to rely on when clientsare slow to cut checks Ideally you should have at least three monthsrsquo worth

of income in the bank that way you can withdraw from your ldquobumperrdquo

account when itrsquos taking time to collect your receivables

STAY ON TO P OF YOUR INVOICES

Just as you follow up on queries and letters of introduction you should stay

on top of your invoices Note the payment cycles of your regular clients so you can check on invoices that remain unpaid once theyrsquore overdue [See

67 Collect every check ]

HAVE A MIX O F EGGS

Yoursquove heard ldquodonrsquot put all your eggs in one basketrdquo The same goes for

your freelance work Itrsquos easier to work for a small number of clients but

be careful about having too few projects going at any time For examplelast year I was counting on a book proposal selling so I didnrsquot do much mar-

keting Then when the book didnrsquot sell I suddenly found myself with little

workmdashand little money

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1517

172

Yes yoursquore a freelancer but you have a life too (I hope) Creating work

life balance maintaining a positive outlook nurturing your creativity and

staying physically and mentally healthy all have a tremendous impact on

your productivity and long-term success as a freelancer The secrets in this

1047297nal section will help you avoid burnout deal with writerrsquos anxiety juggle

your freelancing with the rest of your life and set the stage for a successful

happy life both in and out of your offi ce

82

BEAT BURNOUT

Freelancing full-time has a lot of perks You get to make a living from your

words you can write from a home offi ce in sweats and thick 1047298uffy socks

and you can work as little or as much as you want (At least you can in the-

orymdashsometimes you face freelance droughts or have to work weekends

and nights to meet all your deadlines)

Sure there are the inevitable hassles with slow-to-respond editors de-

layed checks and mangled edits But overall most freelancers love what

they do and the way theyrsquore able to work A survey of full-time freelancers

I conducted in 2011 found that 90 percent ldquode1047297nitelyrdquo planned to continue

their careers another 7 percent said they ldquoprobablyrdquo would So you may be

surprised to 1047297nd yourself suffering from burnout at some point

PART 5

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE

AND OUTSIDE OF THE OFFICE

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

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BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF T HE OFFICE 189

If yoursquove never had food issues you may not need a set of rules like this

and if so yoursquore lucky If you 1047297nd yourself turning to food out of boredom

or anxiety though I suggest you decide how and when yoursquoll eat Both

your waistline and your productivity will bene1047297t

92

MAKE WAITING TIME WORK

In one of my favorite episodes of The Simpsons ldquoMr Plowrdquo Homer decides

to launch his own snow-shoveling business With the help of singer Linda

Ronstadt he creates a television ad that runs in the wee morning hours

(the only time slot he can afford)

After the ad runs for the 1047297rst time he sits back and announces to his

family ldquoNow we play the waiting gamerdquo But after only the briefest of

pauses Homer loses his patience ldquoThe waiting game sucksrdquo he declares

ldquoLetrsquos play Hungry Hungry Hipposrdquo

Homer is so so right The waiting game truly does suck

I know because Irsquove played it beforemdashand Irsquom playing it now I have

not one but four potential book projects that may or make not go for-

ward My agent is shopping around a book proposal I ghostwrote for

a client Another agent is shopping the updated version of a book I co-

authored to its original publisher A publisher has expressed interest in

one of my own books but the editor has yet to send the contract And

another potential client is about to sign me to ghostwrite her propos-

almdashany day

So that means I have four potential book projects in the works but

nothing has signed yet So I wait And wait And wait Every time the

phone rings or my e-mail chimes I take a breath This could be it This

could be the call But itrsquos not my agent or the AWOL editor or my poten-

tial client Itrsquos another freelancer or a former student or a spammer AndIrsquom getting annoyed

I know that something will shake loose hopefully in the next few days

And I do have a few magazine articles to write but not nearly enough work

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1717

E A N

W7416

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 4

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 e 7 x M E M T A u N A I 4 M A E x B k V B

0 4 T i 0 x M w 0 5 N z g x N T k 5 N j M 1 N D k x A A = =

781599 6354919

51699

ISBN-10 1-59963-549-6ISBN-13 978-1-59963-549-1

US $1699(CAN $2950)

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 0

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 W 6 1 4 C M T M D M T A w A T E F V V B D

0 4 L U E M M D M 1 M z E z N j U 0 N z k 0 K A = =

35313 654790 4 U P C

WRITING REFERENCE

EXPERT ADVICE TO HELP YOU LAUNCHmdashAND SUSTAINmdash

A SUCCESSFUL FREELANCE WRITING CAREER

If your goal is to see your words in print and get paid for them you need

proven strategies and techniques that will help you work efficiently and

target top-paying markets Writer for Hire delivers with smart practical

advice for building a successful freelance career and getting the maxi-

mum mileage out of every piece you write

Written by expert freelancer Kelly James-Enger whose work has

appeared in dozens of national magazines including Redbook and Self this book brings you

bull 101 tips techniques advice and examples on building and main-

taining a freelance career that you can apply right away

bull Concrete advice on the business of writing including manag-

ing deadlines querying effectively working withmdashand vettingmdash

potential clients and handling taxes and invoices

bull Proven strategies for maintaining your success as a freelance

writer from securing repeat writing gigs and networking (in-

person and online) to establishing yourself as an expert and

working efficiently under tight deadlines

Writer for Hire provides all the tools you need to get published more oftento make more money and to sustain a profitable satisfying career as a

freelance writer

Page 8: Writer for Hire, 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 817

3

When you think successful freelancer what skill 1047297rst comes to mind If you

said writing yoursquore wrong Itrsquos sellingmdashand thatrsquos why the 1047297rst section of

this book is devoted to marketing

Irsquove seen dozens of former editors dabble in freelancing only to return

to staff jobsmdashand often the cause is their discomfort with marketing If

you canrsquot sell your writing you wonrsquot succeed as a freelancer The secrets

in this section will help you market more effi ciently to both new and regu-lar clients and ensure a steady stream of freelance work

1BECOME A QUERY MASTER

If you want to freelance for publications (whether trade or consumer print

or online) yoursquove got to be able to query and query well A query letter has

multiple functions It serves as a sales pitch a letter of introduction and

a writing samplemdashand itrsquos how you demonstrate that you understand the

editorrsquos market and can give her what she wants

New writers often struggle with query letters but the letters donrsquot have

to be complicated I 1047297nd that when you have a template to follow yoursquore

able to draft compelling queries more quickly

My template for a query includes a basic four-paragraph structure

PART ONEMARKETING SELLING YOURSELF

AND YOUR WORK

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 917

WRITER FOR HIRE44

I say both are wrong The 1047297rst thing you should do is to eliminate the ug-

liest In other words do the thing that you most do not want to do There are

several compelling reasons why First when you start your morning with the

worst thing you must do (whether itrsquos writing the draft of a complicated article

revising a book chapter yoursquove been putting off or calling an editor to request

some contract changes) your day can only get better right

Second when you have something you donrsquot want to do and you donrsquot

do it right away you spend a good part of your workday coming up with

compelling (and increasingly more creative) reasons why you cannot do that

thing right now You promise yourself yoursquoll do it after you have some coffee

No yoursquoll do it before lunch Wait your blood sugar is 1047298agging so yoursquoll do

it after lunch Then you put it off until three 983152983149mdashand nothing gets done at

three 983152983149 Eventually you run out of steam and you run out of work time

and you promise yourself yoursquoll do the dreaded task tomorrow

Herersquos the thing First off the dreaded thing did not get done Thatrsquos bad

enough But second consider how much time and mental energy you wasted

throughout your day coming up with excuses (oops I mean reasons) why

you couldnrsquot do it right at that moment Thatrsquos not only a waste of time itrsquos a

drain on your emotional energy and leeches your productivity

Thatrsquos why I end every workday by identifying the thing I most do not

want to do the next morning and start every workday tackling that task

Eliminate the ugliest whatever your ldquouglyrdquo thing may be and watch your

productivity climb

21

TRACK YOUR TIME

I call myself a full-time freelancer but Irsquoll let you in on a secret While I say

I work full-time that doesnrsquot mean I work forty hours a week Early in my

career yes I worked those kinds of hours but since then Irsquove gradually

cut back on my total work time I have more regular clients which means Ispend less time marketing and Irsquove become much more effi cient when Irsquom

working Since I became a parent six years ago Irsquove managed to run a ldquofull-

timerdquo writing business putting in 1047297fteen to twenty hours a week

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1017

WRITER FOR HIRE56

Reprint Rights Currently AvailableWork by Kelly James-Enger

Available as of March 22 2011 (latest additions marked with )

Parenting-Oriented

ldquoCommon Nutrition Mistakes of Smart Momsrdquo (feed kids

better) 850 words

ldquoKeeping an Open Heartrdquo (essay on open adoption benefits) 780

words [I include the rest of my story list here]

STEP 4 MAKE YOUR EDITOR HAPPY

Even though Irsquom offering a reprint I still keep my editorrsquos needs in mindWhat do I want To sell a story as many times as possible and make even

more money What does my editor want A story that will bene1047297t and ap-

peal to her readers Thatrsquos why I often ldquotweakrdquo my reprints to make them

more attractive to editors

For example I had a weight-loss piece that had originally run in a wom-

enrsquos magazine By rewriting the lead (so it was about feeling beautiful as you

slip into your dream gown the morning of your wedding instead of feel-ing con1047297dent in a swimsuit this summer) and making a few small changes

throughout the piece it became aimed at engaged women in their twenties

and thirties not moms who were struggling with leftover baby fat Give

your editor a piece that appears custom-made for her market and yoursquore

more likely to make a reprint sale

STEP 5 KEEP IN TOUCH

Itrsquos much easier to sell to an editor or market that has bought from you be-

fore than to constantly search out new markets Every three months or so

I update my master list making a note of the newest additions and send

it off along with a brief e-mail to editors who have purchased from me in

the past The hour I spend doing so always results in a few more sales and

keeps my name in front of clientsIf you write for specialized markets or on esoteric subjects you may

not have as much success with reprints But donrsquot ignore the opportunity

they present for subjects with wider market appeal Developing reprint

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1117

89

Forget the idea of the writer tucked away in her garret todayrsquos successful

freelancers know how to create and maintain relationships with people

ranging from editors to sources to public relations pros to fellow writers

The good news is that in todayrsquos world of social media itrsquos easier than

ever beforemdashbut relationship building is more than simply ldquofriendingrdquo

everyone you know The secrets in this section wil l help you learn how

to connect and stay connected with the people who will help you suc-ceed as a freelancer

43

FOLLOW THE PLATINUM RULE

Yoursquore no doubt familiar with the Golden Rulemdashtreat others the way yoursquod

like to be treated Well when it comes to clients Irsquod suggest you up the

ante and employ the Platinum Rulemdashtreat them even better than yoursquod

like to be treated

As a freelancer yoursquore facing a lot of competition That means just get-

ting the job done isnrsquot enough Itrsquos the willingness to go beyond what editors

and clients require that sets you apart from the freelance pack

For example several years ago I interviewed a cake decorator for a

trade magazine story During the course of the interview she mentioned

that the magazine had recently run her photo Problem was the person in

the picture wasnrsquot her

PART 3

RELATIONSHIPS BUILDING

AND MAINTAINING CONNECTIONS

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1217

MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 137

magazines pay more but Irsquom always looking at my hourly rate not

just the size of the check And sometimes the magazines that pay

less per word actually pay more per hour

3 WHATrsquoS THE PIA FACTOR PIA is my shorthand for Pain In the um

rear end Some clients and editors are annoying to work with Irsquom

thinking of an editor I work with who takes forever to respond to

queries then assigns stuff with ridiculously tight deadlines I love

her but therersquos de1047297nitely a PIA factor to working with her And if

that PIA factor on a particular project is high Irsquom either going to get

more money hellip or I might even walk away

4 WILL THIS WORK FURTHER MY CAREERmdashAND IF SO HOW So

for example when I wrote my first book Ready Aim Specialize I

received an advance of just $2500 I spent months researching (I

interviewed fif ty-six sources) and writing the book My hourly

rate was abysmal I made more as a teenaged lifeguard

But herersquos the thing I wanted to start writing books and I had to begin

somewhere So I said yes to the book added author to my CV and even

made royalties from it My 1047297rst book led to many others which has made

the 1047297rst low advance worth it

As a freelancer itrsquos within your control to take on work or turn it down

The four-part test has helped me stay on course and prevent me from agree-

ing to work based only on what it pays I suggest you look at other factorsas well to help you determine what projects meet your short-term and

long-term goals

66

FIGHT

FOR

YOUR

RIGHTS

When I speak at writers conferences the same questions always come up

How do I 1047297nd an agent How can I turn my blog into a book And should

I sign an all-rights contract

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1317

WRITER FOR HIRE156

that assignment or client is worth it Just remember that when you say yes

to one project you may be saying no to another

75

DIVERSIFY YOUR WORK

When I started freelancing I planned to write magazine articles and work

on my novel That was my business plan

I learned pretty quickly though that magazine articles werenrsquot

enough I was pitching dozens of different magazines but my query suc-

cess rate wasnrsquot very high Even if I did get an assignment months elapsed

between the time I 1047297rst pitched an idea its eventual assignment and

getting paid for it That meant my cash 1047298ow looked more like a dribble

I broke free from my original plan and diversi1047297ed I started ldquostringingrdquo

or freelancing for my local paper and writing for a variety of local busi-

nesses which paid much more quick ly By the end of the year my cash1047298ow and workload were much more consistent [See 79 Beat the feast-

or-famine syndrome]

Diversifying isnrsquot just practical itrsquos smart Your ability to perform a va-

riety of different kinds of work makes you more marketable to clients and

ensures that you keep up with an ever-changing freelance market [See

80 Boost your value]

My 2011 survey of more than two hundred full-time freelancers re-vealed that theyrsquore performing a wide array of work which includes

bull Blogging (whether they blog for others or produce income from their

own blogs)

bull Editing (all types)

bull Ghostwriting (books articles blogs)

bull Proofreading

bull Public speaking

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1417

MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 167

as soon as you get an assignment take the 1047297rst steps you need to For ar-

ticles that usually means doing background research and identifying po-

tential sources After Irsquove come up with potential sources (whether experts

or ldquoreal peoplerdquo anecdotes) I start contacting them to line up interviews I

have to have my interviews done before I can write the piece

CREATE A BUM PER

Herersquos something I didnrsquot anticipate when I 1047297rst started freelancingmdashhow

long it would take for me to get paid for an assignment You canrsquot control

when work is assigned or how long it takes an editor to approve it so you can

actually get paid for it For example I pitched a piece to a magazine in May

which was assigned in July I turned the story in in August and in September

reworked the piece per my editorrsquos speci1047297cations After she accepted the story

she put payment throughmdashand I received my check in early November

Just as you assume work will take you longer than you expect to 1047297nish

you must assume that it will also take longer than you expect to get paid

That means you need to have a 1047297nancial ldquobumperrdquo to rely on when clientsare slow to cut checks Ideally you should have at least three monthsrsquo worth

of income in the bank that way you can withdraw from your ldquobumperrdquo

account when itrsquos taking time to collect your receivables

STAY ON TO P OF YOUR INVOICES

Just as you follow up on queries and letters of introduction you should stay

on top of your invoices Note the payment cycles of your regular clients so you can check on invoices that remain unpaid once theyrsquore overdue [See

67 Collect every check ]

HAVE A MIX O F EGGS

Yoursquove heard ldquodonrsquot put all your eggs in one basketrdquo The same goes for

your freelance work Itrsquos easier to work for a small number of clients but

be careful about having too few projects going at any time For examplelast year I was counting on a book proposal selling so I didnrsquot do much mar-

keting Then when the book didnrsquot sell I suddenly found myself with little

workmdashand little money

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1517

172

Yes yoursquore a freelancer but you have a life too (I hope) Creating work

life balance maintaining a positive outlook nurturing your creativity and

staying physically and mentally healthy all have a tremendous impact on

your productivity and long-term success as a freelancer The secrets in this

1047297nal section will help you avoid burnout deal with writerrsquos anxiety juggle

your freelancing with the rest of your life and set the stage for a successful

happy life both in and out of your offi ce

82

BEAT BURNOUT

Freelancing full-time has a lot of perks You get to make a living from your

words you can write from a home offi ce in sweats and thick 1047298uffy socks

and you can work as little or as much as you want (At least you can in the-

orymdashsometimes you face freelance droughts or have to work weekends

and nights to meet all your deadlines)

Sure there are the inevitable hassles with slow-to-respond editors de-

layed checks and mangled edits But overall most freelancers love what

they do and the way theyrsquore able to work A survey of full-time freelancers

I conducted in 2011 found that 90 percent ldquode1047297nitelyrdquo planned to continue

their careers another 7 percent said they ldquoprobablyrdquo would So you may be

surprised to 1047297nd yourself suffering from burnout at some point

PART 5

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE

AND OUTSIDE OF THE OFFICE

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1617

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF T HE OFFICE 189

If yoursquove never had food issues you may not need a set of rules like this

and if so yoursquore lucky If you 1047297nd yourself turning to food out of boredom

or anxiety though I suggest you decide how and when yoursquoll eat Both

your waistline and your productivity will bene1047297t

92

MAKE WAITING TIME WORK

In one of my favorite episodes of The Simpsons ldquoMr Plowrdquo Homer decides

to launch his own snow-shoveling business With the help of singer Linda

Ronstadt he creates a television ad that runs in the wee morning hours

(the only time slot he can afford)

After the ad runs for the 1047297rst time he sits back and announces to his

family ldquoNow we play the waiting gamerdquo But after only the briefest of

pauses Homer loses his patience ldquoThe waiting game sucksrdquo he declares

ldquoLetrsquos play Hungry Hungry Hipposrdquo

Homer is so so right The waiting game truly does suck

I know because Irsquove played it beforemdashand Irsquom playing it now I have

not one but four potential book projects that may or make not go for-

ward My agent is shopping around a book proposal I ghostwrote for

a client Another agent is shopping the updated version of a book I co-

authored to its original publisher A publisher has expressed interest in

one of my own books but the editor has yet to send the contract And

another potential client is about to sign me to ghostwrite her propos-

almdashany day

So that means I have four potential book projects in the works but

nothing has signed yet So I wait And wait And wait Every time the

phone rings or my e-mail chimes I take a breath This could be it This

could be the call But itrsquos not my agent or the AWOL editor or my poten-

tial client Itrsquos another freelancer or a former student or a spammer AndIrsquom getting annoyed

I know that something will shake loose hopefully in the next few days

And I do have a few magazine articles to write but not nearly enough work

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1717

E A N

W7416

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 4

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 e 7 x M E M T A u N A I 4 M A E x B k V B

0 4 T i 0 x M w 0 5 N z g x N T k 5 N j M 1 N D k x A A = =

781599 6354919

51699

ISBN-10 1-59963-549-6ISBN-13 978-1-59963-549-1

US $1699(CAN $2950)

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 0

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 W 6 1 4 C M T M D M T A w A T E F V V B D

0 4 L U E M M D M 1 M z E z N j U 0 N z k 0 K A = =

35313 654790 4 U P C

WRITING REFERENCE

EXPERT ADVICE TO HELP YOU LAUNCHmdashAND SUSTAINmdash

A SUCCESSFUL FREELANCE WRITING CAREER

If your goal is to see your words in print and get paid for them you need

proven strategies and techniques that will help you work efficiently and

target top-paying markets Writer for Hire delivers with smart practical

advice for building a successful freelance career and getting the maxi-

mum mileage out of every piece you write

Written by expert freelancer Kelly James-Enger whose work has

appeared in dozens of national magazines including Redbook and Self this book brings you

bull 101 tips techniques advice and examples on building and main-

taining a freelance career that you can apply right away

bull Concrete advice on the business of writing including manag-

ing deadlines querying effectively working withmdashand vettingmdash

potential clients and handling taxes and invoices

bull Proven strategies for maintaining your success as a freelance

writer from securing repeat writing gigs and networking (in-

person and online) to establishing yourself as an expert and

working efficiently under tight deadlines

Writer for Hire provides all the tools you need to get published more oftento make more money and to sustain a profitable satisfying career as a

freelance writer

Page 9: Writer for Hire, 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 917

WRITER FOR HIRE44

I say both are wrong The 1047297rst thing you should do is to eliminate the ug-

liest In other words do the thing that you most do not want to do There are

several compelling reasons why First when you start your morning with the

worst thing you must do (whether itrsquos writing the draft of a complicated article

revising a book chapter yoursquove been putting off or calling an editor to request

some contract changes) your day can only get better right

Second when you have something you donrsquot want to do and you donrsquot

do it right away you spend a good part of your workday coming up with

compelling (and increasingly more creative) reasons why you cannot do that

thing right now You promise yourself yoursquoll do it after you have some coffee

No yoursquoll do it before lunch Wait your blood sugar is 1047298agging so yoursquoll do

it after lunch Then you put it off until three 983152983149mdashand nothing gets done at

three 983152983149 Eventually you run out of steam and you run out of work time

and you promise yourself yoursquoll do the dreaded task tomorrow

Herersquos the thing First off the dreaded thing did not get done Thatrsquos bad

enough But second consider how much time and mental energy you wasted

throughout your day coming up with excuses (oops I mean reasons) why

you couldnrsquot do it right at that moment Thatrsquos not only a waste of time itrsquos a

drain on your emotional energy and leeches your productivity

Thatrsquos why I end every workday by identifying the thing I most do not

want to do the next morning and start every workday tackling that task

Eliminate the ugliest whatever your ldquouglyrdquo thing may be and watch your

productivity climb

21

TRACK YOUR TIME

I call myself a full-time freelancer but Irsquoll let you in on a secret While I say

I work full-time that doesnrsquot mean I work forty hours a week Early in my

career yes I worked those kinds of hours but since then Irsquove gradually

cut back on my total work time I have more regular clients which means Ispend less time marketing and Irsquove become much more effi cient when Irsquom

working Since I became a parent six years ago Irsquove managed to run a ldquofull-

timerdquo writing business putting in 1047297fteen to twenty hours a week

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1017

WRITER FOR HIRE56

Reprint Rights Currently AvailableWork by Kelly James-Enger

Available as of March 22 2011 (latest additions marked with )

Parenting-Oriented

ldquoCommon Nutrition Mistakes of Smart Momsrdquo (feed kids

better) 850 words

ldquoKeeping an Open Heartrdquo (essay on open adoption benefits) 780

words [I include the rest of my story list here]

STEP 4 MAKE YOUR EDITOR HAPPY

Even though Irsquom offering a reprint I still keep my editorrsquos needs in mindWhat do I want To sell a story as many times as possible and make even

more money What does my editor want A story that will bene1047297t and ap-

peal to her readers Thatrsquos why I often ldquotweakrdquo my reprints to make them

more attractive to editors

For example I had a weight-loss piece that had originally run in a wom-

enrsquos magazine By rewriting the lead (so it was about feeling beautiful as you

slip into your dream gown the morning of your wedding instead of feel-ing con1047297dent in a swimsuit this summer) and making a few small changes

throughout the piece it became aimed at engaged women in their twenties

and thirties not moms who were struggling with leftover baby fat Give

your editor a piece that appears custom-made for her market and yoursquore

more likely to make a reprint sale

STEP 5 KEEP IN TOUCH

Itrsquos much easier to sell to an editor or market that has bought from you be-

fore than to constantly search out new markets Every three months or so

I update my master list making a note of the newest additions and send

it off along with a brief e-mail to editors who have purchased from me in

the past The hour I spend doing so always results in a few more sales and

keeps my name in front of clientsIf you write for specialized markets or on esoteric subjects you may

not have as much success with reprints But donrsquot ignore the opportunity

they present for subjects with wider market appeal Developing reprint

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1117

89

Forget the idea of the writer tucked away in her garret todayrsquos successful

freelancers know how to create and maintain relationships with people

ranging from editors to sources to public relations pros to fellow writers

The good news is that in todayrsquos world of social media itrsquos easier than

ever beforemdashbut relationship building is more than simply ldquofriendingrdquo

everyone you know The secrets in this section wil l help you learn how

to connect and stay connected with the people who will help you suc-ceed as a freelancer

43

FOLLOW THE PLATINUM RULE

Yoursquore no doubt familiar with the Golden Rulemdashtreat others the way yoursquod

like to be treated Well when it comes to clients Irsquod suggest you up the

ante and employ the Platinum Rulemdashtreat them even better than yoursquod

like to be treated

As a freelancer yoursquore facing a lot of competition That means just get-

ting the job done isnrsquot enough Itrsquos the willingness to go beyond what editors

and clients require that sets you apart from the freelance pack

For example several years ago I interviewed a cake decorator for a

trade magazine story During the course of the interview she mentioned

that the magazine had recently run her photo Problem was the person in

the picture wasnrsquot her

PART 3

RELATIONSHIPS BUILDING

AND MAINTAINING CONNECTIONS

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1217

MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 137

magazines pay more but Irsquom always looking at my hourly rate not

just the size of the check And sometimes the magazines that pay

less per word actually pay more per hour

3 WHATrsquoS THE PIA FACTOR PIA is my shorthand for Pain In the um

rear end Some clients and editors are annoying to work with Irsquom

thinking of an editor I work with who takes forever to respond to

queries then assigns stuff with ridiculously tight deadlines I love

her but therersquos de1047297nitely a PIA factor to working with her And if

that PIA factor on a particular project is high Irsquom either going to get

more money hellip or I might even walk away

4 WILL THIS WORK FURTHER MY CAREERmdashAND IF SO HOW So

for example when I wrote my first book Ready Aim Specialize I

received an advance of just $2500 I spent months researching (I

interviewed fif ty-six sources) and writing the book My hourly

rate was abysmal I made more as a teenaged lifeguard

But herersquos the thing I wanted to start writing books and I had to begin

somewhere So I said yes to the book added author to my CV and even

made royalties from it My 1047297rst book led to many others which has made

the 1047297rst low advance worth it

As a freelancer itrsquos within your control to take on work or turn it down

The four-part test has helped me stay on course and prevent me from agree-

ing to work based only on what it pays I suggest you look at other factorsas well to help you determine what projects meet your short-term and

long-term goals

66

FIGHT

FOR

YOUR

RIGHTS

When I speak at writers conferences the same questions always come up

How do I 1047297nd an agent How can I turn my blog into a book And should

I sign an all-rights contract

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1317

WRITER FOR HIRE156

that assignment or client is worth it Just remember that when you say yes

to one project you may be saying no to another

75

DIVERSIFY YOUR WORK

When I started freelancing I planned to write magazine articles and work

on my novel That was my business plan

I learned pretty quickly though that magazine articles werenrsquot

enough I was pitching dozens of different magazines but my query suc-

cess rate wasnrsquot very high Even if I did get an assignment months elapsed

between the time I 1047297rst pitched an idea its eventual assignment and

getting paid for it That meant my cash 1047298ow looked more like a dribble

I broke free from my original plan and diversi1047297ed I started ldquostringingrdquo

or freelancing for my local paper and writing for a variety of local busi-

nesses which paid much more quick ly By the end of the year my cash1047298ow and workload were much more consistent [See 79 Beat the feast-

or-famine syndrome]

Diversifying isnrsquot just practical itrsquos smart Your ability to perform a va-

riety of different kinds of work makes you more marketable to clients and

ensures that you keep up with an ever-changing freelance market [See

80 Boost your value]

My 2011 survey of more than two hundred full-time freelancers re-vealed that theyrsquore performing a wide array of work which includes

bull Blogging (whether they blog for others or produce income from their

own blogs)

bull Editing (all types)

bull Ghostwriting (books articles blogs)

bull Proofreading

bull Public speaking

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1417

MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 167

as soon as you get an assignment take the 1047297rst steps you need to For ar-

ticles that usually means doing background research and identifying po-

tential sources After Irsquove come up with potential sources (whether experts

or ldquoreal peoplerdquo anecdotes) I start contacting them to line up interviews I

have to have my interviews done before I can write the piece

CREATE A BUM PER

Herersquos something I didnrsquot anticipate when I 1047297rst started freelancingmdashhow

long it would take for me to get paid for an assignment You canrsquot control

when work is assigned or how long it takes an editor to approve it so you can

actually get paid for it For example I pitched a piece to a magazine in May

which was assigned in July I turned the story in in August and in September

reworked the piece per my editorrsquos speci1047297cations After she accepted the story

she put payment throughmdashand I received my check in early November

Just as you assume work will take you longer than you expect to 1047297nish

you must assume that it will also take longer than you expect to get paid

That means you need to have a 1047297nancial ldquobumperrdquo to rely on when clientsare slow to cut checks Ideally you should have at least three monthsrsquo worth

of income in the bank that way you can withdraw from your ldquobumperrdquo

account when itrsquos taking time to collect your receivables

STAY ON TO P OF YOUR INVOICES

Just as you follow up on queries and letters of introduction you should stay

on top of your invoices Note the payment cycles of your regular clients so you can check on invoices that remain unpaid once theyrsquore overdue [See

67 Collect every check ]

HAVE A MIX O F EGGS

Yoursquove heard ldquodonrsquot put all your eggs in one basketrdquo The same goes for

your freelance work Itrsquos easier to work for a small number of clients but

be careful about having too few projects going at any time For examplelast year I was counting on a book proposal selling so I didnrsquot do much mar-

keting Then when the book didnrsquot sell I suddenly found myself with little

workmdashand little money

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1517

172

Yes yoursquore a freelancer but you have a life too (I hope) Creating work

life balance maintaining a positive outlook nurturing your creativity and

staying physically and mentally healthy all have a tremendous impact on

your productivity and long-term success as a freelancer The secrets in this

1047297nal section will help you avoid burnout deal with writerrsquos anxiety juggle

your freelancing with the rest of your life and set the stage for a successful

happy life both in and out of your offi ce

82

BEAT BURNOUT

Freelancing full-time has a lot of perks You get to make a living from your

words you can write from a home offi ce in sweats and thick 1047298uffy socks

and you can work as little or as much as you want (At least you can in the-

orymdashsometimes you face freelance droughts or have to work weekends

and nights to meet all your deadlines)

Sure there are the inevitable hassles with slow-to-respond editors de-

layed checks and mangled edits But overall most freelancers love what

they do and the way theyrsquore able to work A survey of full-time freelancers

I conducted in 2011 found that 90 percent ldquode1047297nitelyrdquo planned to continue

their careers another 7 percent said they ldquoprobablyrdquo would So you may be

surprised to 1047297nd yourself suffering from burnout at some point

PART 5

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE

AND OUTSIDE OF THE OFFICE

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1617

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF T HE OFFICE 189

If yoursquove never had food issues you may not need a set of rules like this

and if so yoursquore lucky If you 1047297nd yourself turning to food out of boredom

or anxiety though I suggest you decide how and when yoursquoll eat Both

your waistline and your productivity will bene1047297t

92

MAKE WAITING TIME WORK

In one of my favorite episodes of The Simpsons ldquoMr Plowrdquo Homer decides

to launch his own snow-shoveling business With the help of singer Linda

Ronstadt he creates a television ad that runs in the wee morning hours

(the only time slot he can afford)

After the ad runs for the 1047297rst time he sits back and announces to his

family ldquoNow we play the waiting gamerdquo But after only the briefest of

pauses Homer loses his patience ldquoThe waiting game sucksrdquo he declares

ldquoLetrsquos play Hungry Hungry Hipposrdquo

Homer is so so right The waiting game truly does suck

I know because Irsquove played it beforemdashand Irsquom playing it now I have

not one but four potential book projects that may or make not go for-

ward My agent is shopping around a book proposal I ghostwrote for

a client Another agent is shopping the updated version of a book I co-

authored to its original publisher A publisher has expressed interest in

one of my own books but the editor has yet to send the contract And

another potential client is about to sign me to ghostwrite her propos-

almdashany day

So that means I have four potential book projects in the works but

nothing has signed yet So I wait And wait And wait Every time the

phone rings or my e-mail chimes I take a breath This could be it This

could be the call But itrsquos not my agent or the AWOL editor or my poten-

tial client Itrsquos another freelancer or a former student or a spammer AndIrsquom getting annoyed

I know that something will shake loose hopefully in the next few days

And I do have a few magazine articles to write but not nearly enough work

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1717

E A N

W7416

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 4

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 e 7 x M E M T A u N A I 4 M A E x B k V B

0 4 T i 0 x M w 0 5 N z g x N T k 5 N j M 1 N D k x A A = =

781599 6354919

51699

ISBN-10 1-59963-549-6ISBN-13 978-1-59963-549-1

US $1699(CAN $2950)

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 0

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 W 6 1 4 C M T M D M T A w A T E F V V B D

0 4 L U E M M D M 1 M z E z N j U 0 N z k 0 K A = =

35313 654790 4 U P C

WRITING REFERENCE

EXPERT ADVICE TO HELP YOU LAUNCHmdashAND SUSTAINmdash

A SUCCESSFUL FREELANCE WRITING CAREER

If your goal is to see your words in print and get paid for them you need

proven strategies and techniques that will help you work efficiently and

target top-paying markets Writer for Hire delivers with smart practical

advice for building a successful freelance career and getting the maxi-

mum mileage out of every piece you write

Written by expert freelancer Kelly James-Enger whose work has

appeared in dozens of national magazines including Redbook and Self this book brings you

bull 101 tips techniques advice and examples on building and main-

taining a freelance career that you can apply right away

bull Concrete advice on the business of writing including manag-

ing deadlines querying effectively working withmdashand vettingmdash

potential clients and handling taxes and invoices

bull Proven strategies for maintaining your success as a freelance

writer from securing repeat writing gigs and networking (in-

person and online) to establishing yourself as an expert and

working efficiently under tight deadlines

Writer for Hire provides all the tools you need to get published more oftento make more money and to sustain a profitable satisfying career as a

freelance writer

Page 10: Writer for Hire, 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1017

WRITER FOR HIRE56

Reprint Rights Currently AvailableWork by Kelly James-Enger

Available as of March 22 2011 (latest additions marked with )

Parenting-Oriented

ldquoCommon Nutrition Mistakes of Smart Momsrdquo (feed kids

better) 850 words

ldquoKeeping an Open Heartrdquo (essay on open adoption benefits) 780

words [I include the rest of my story list here]

STEP 4 MAKE YOUR EDITOR HAPPY

Even though Irsquom offering a reprint I still keep my editorrsquos needs in mindWhat do I want To sell a story as many times as possible and make even

more money What does my editor want A story that will bene1047297t and ap-

peal to her readers Thatrsquos why I often ldquotweakrdquo my reprints to make them

more attractive to editors

For example I had a weight-loss piece that had originally run in a wom-

enrsquos magazine By rewriting the lead (so it was about feeling beautiful as you

slip into your dream gown the morning of your wedding instead of feel-ing con1047297dent in a swimsuit this summer) and making a few small changes

throughout the piece it became aimed at engaged women in their twenties

and thirties not moms who were struggling with leftover baby fat Give

your editor a piece that appears custom-made for her market and yoursquore

more likely to make a reprint sale

STEP 5 KEEP IN TOUCH

Itrsquos much easier to sell to an editor or market that has bought from you be-

fore than to constantly search out new markets Every three months or so

I update my master list making a note of the newest additions and send

it off along with a brief e-mail to editors who have purchased from me in

the past The hour I spend doing so always results in a few more sales and

keeps my name in front of clientsIf you write for specialized markets or on esoteric subjects you may

not have as much success with reprints But donrsquot ignore the opportunity

they present for subjects with wider market appeal Developing reprint

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1117

89

Forget the idea of the writer tucked away in her garret todayrsquos successful

freelancers know how to create and maintain relationships with people

ranging from editors to sources to public relations pros to fellow writers

The good news is that in todayrsquos world of social media itrsquos easier than

ever beforemdashbut relationship building is more than simply ldquofriendingrdquo

everyone you know The secrets in this section wil l help you learn how

to connect and stay connected with the people who will help you suc-ceed as a freelancer

43

FOLLOW THE PLATINUM RULE

Yoursquore no doubt familiar with the Golden Rulemdashtreat others the way yoursquod

like to be treated Well when it comes to clients Irsquod suggest you up the

ante and employ the Platinum Rulemdashtreat them even better than yoursquod

like to be treated

As a freelancer yoursquore facing a lot of competition That means just get-

ting the job done isnrsquot enough Itrsquos the willingness to go beyond what editors

and clients require that sets you apart from the freelance pack

For example several years ago I interviewed a cake decorator for a

trade magazine story During the course of the interview she mentioned

that the magazine had recently run her photo Problem was the person in

the picture wasnrsquot her

PART 3

RELATIONSHIPS BUILDING

AND MAINTAINING CONNECTIONS

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1217

MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 137

magazines pay more but Irsquom always looking at my hourly rate not

just the size of the check And sometimes the magazines that pay

less per word actually pay more per hour

3 WHATrsquoS THE PIA FACTOR PIA is my shorthand for Pain In the um

rear end Some clients and editors are annoying to work with Irsquom

thinking of an editor I work with who takes forever to respond to

queries then assigns stuff with ridiculously tight deadlines I love

her but therersquos de1047297nitely a PIA factor to working with her And if

that PIA factor on a particular project is high Irsquom either going to get

more money hellip or I might even walk away

4 WILL THIS WORK FURTHER MY CAREERmdashAND IF SO HOW So

for example when I wrote my first book Ready Aim Specialize I

received an advance of just $2500 I spent months researching (I

interviewed fif ty-six sources) and writing the book My hourly

rate was abysmal I made more as a teenaged lifeguard

But herersquos the thing I wanted to start writing books and I had to begin

somewhere So I said yes to the book added author to my CV and even

made royalties from it My 1047297rst book led to many others which has made

the 1047297rst low advance worth it

As a freelancer itrsquos within your control to take on work or turn it down

The four-part test has helped me stay on course and prevent me from agree-

ing to work based only on what it pays I suggest you look at other factorsas well to help you determine what projects meet your short-term and

long-term goals

66

FIGHT

FOR

YOUR

RIGHTS

When I speak at writers conferences the same questions always come up

How do I 1047297nd an agent How can I turn my blog into a book And should

I sign an all-rights contract

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1317

WRITER FOR HIRE156

that assignment or client is worth it Just remember that when you say yes

to one project you may be saying no to another

75

DIVERSIFY YOUR WORK

When I started freelancing I planned to write magazine articles and work

on my novel That was my business plan

I learned pretty quickly though that magazine articles werenrsquot

enough I was pitching dozens of different magazines but my query suc-

cess rate wasnrsquot very high Even if I did get an assignment months elapsed

between the time I 1047297rst pitched an idea its eventual assignment and

getting paid for it That meant my cash 1047298ow looked more like a dribble

I broke free from my original plan and diversi1047297ed I started ldquostringingrdquo

or freelancing for my local paper and writing for a variety of local busi-

nesses which paid much more quick ly By the end of the year my cash1047298ow and workload were much more consistent [See 79 Beat the feast-

or-famine syndrome]

Diversifying isnrsquot just practical itrsquos smart Your ability to perform a va-

riety of different kinds of work makes you more marketable to clients and

ensures that you keep up with an ever-changing freelance market [See

80 Boost your value]

My 2011 survey of more than two hundred full-time freelancers re-vealed that theyrsquore performing a wide array of work which includes

bull Blogging (whether they blog for others or produce income from their

own blogs)

bull Editing (all types)

bull Ghostwriting (books articles blogs)

bull Proofreading

bull Public speaking

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1417

MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 167

as soon as you get an assignment take the 1047297rst steps you need to For ar-

ticles that usually means doing background research and identifying po-

tential sources After Irsquove come up with potential sources (whether experts

or ldquoreal peoplerdquo anecdotes) I start contacting them to line up interviews I

have to have my interviews done before I can write the piece

CREATE A BUM PER

Herersquos something I didnrsquot anticipate when I 1047297rst started freelancingmdashhow

long it would take for me to get paid for an assignment You canrsquot control

when work is assigned or how long it takes an editor to approve it so you can

actually get paid for it For example I pitched a piece to a magazine in May

which was assigned in July I turned the story in in August and in September

reworked the piece per my editorrsquos speci1047297cations After she accepted the story

she put payment throughmdashand I received my check in early November

Just as you assume work will take you longer than you expect to 1047297nish

you must assume that it will also take longer than you expect to get paid

That means you need to have a 1047297nancial ldquobumperrdquo to rely on when clientsare slow to cut checks Ideally you should have at least three monthsrsquo worth

of income in the bank that way you can withdraw from your ldquobumperrdquo

account when itrsquos taking time to collect your receivables

STAY ON TO P OF YOUR INVOICES

Just as you follow up on queries and letters of introduction you should stay

on top of your invoices Note the payment cycles of your regular clients so you can check on invoices that remain unpaid once theyrsquore overdue [See

67 Collect every check ]

HAVE A MIX O F EGGS

Yoursquove heard ldquodonrsquot put all your eggs in one basketrdquo The same goes for

your freelance work Itrsquos easier to work for a small number of clients but

be careful about having too few projects going at any time For examplelast year I was counting on a book proposal selling so I didnrsquot do much mar-

keting Then when the book didnrsquot sell I suddenly found myself with little

workmdashand little money

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1517

172

Yes yoursquore a freelancer but you have a life too (I hope) Creating work

life balance maintaining a positive outlook nurturing your creativity and

staying physically and mentally healthy all have a tremendous impact on

your productivity and long-term success as a freelancer The secrets in this

1047297nal section will help you avoid burnout deal with writerrsquos anxiety juggle

your freelancing with the rest of your life and set the stage for a successful

happy life both in and out of your offi ce

82

BEAT BURNOUT

Freelancing full-time has a lot of perks You get to make a living from your

words you can write from a home offi ce in sweats and thick 1047298uffy socks

and you can work as little or as much as you want (At least you can in the-

orymdashsometimes you face freelance droughts or have to work weekends

and nights to meet all your deadlines)

Sure there are the inevitable hassles with slow-to-respond editors de-

layed checks and mangled edits But overall most freelancers love what

they do and the way theyrsquore able to work A survey of full-time freelancers

I conducted in 2011 found that 90 percent ldquode1047297nitelyrdquo planned to continue

their careers another 7 percent said they ldquoprobablyrdquo would So you may be

surprised to 1047297nd yourself suffering from burnout at some point

PART 5

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE

AND OUTSIDE OF THE OFFICE

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1617

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF T HE OFFICE 189

If yoursquove never had food issues you may not need a set of rules like this

and if so yoursquore lucky If you 1047297nd yourself turning to food out of boredom

or anxiety though I suggest you decide how and when yoursquoll eat Both

your waistline and your productivity will bene1047297t

92

MAKE WAITING TIME WORK

In one of my favorite episodes of The Simpsons ldquoMr Plowrdquo Homer decides

to launch his own snow-shoveling business With the help of singer Linda

Ronstadt he creates a television ad that runs in the wee morning hours

(the only time slot he can afford)

After the ad runs for the 1047297rst time he sits back and announces to his

family ldquoNow we play the waiting gamerdquo But after only the briefest of

pauses Homer loses his patience ldquoThe waiting game sucksrdquo he declares

ldquoLetrsquos play Hungry Hungry Hipposrdquo

Homer is so so right The waiting game truly does suck

I know because Irsquove played it beforemdashand Irsquom playing it now I have

not one but four potential book projects that may or make not go for-

ward My agent is shopping around a book proposal I ghostwrote for

a client Another agent is shopping the updated version of a book I co-

authored to its original publisher A publisher has expressed interest in

one of my own books but the editor has yet to send the contract And

another potential client is about to sign me to ghostwrite her propos-

almdashany day

So that means I have four potential book projects in the works but

nothing has signed yet So I wait And wait And wait Every time the

phone rings or my e-mail chimes I take a breath This could be it This

could be the call But itrsquos not my agent or the AWOL editor or my poten-

tial client Itrsquos another freelancer or a former student or a spammer AndIrsquom getting annoyed

I know that something will shake loose hopefully in the next few days

And I do have a few magazine articles to write but not nearly enough work

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1717

E A N

W7416

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 4

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 e 7 x M E M T A u N A I 4 M A E x B k V B

0 4 T i 0 x M w 0 5 N z g x N T k 5 N j M 1 N D k x A A = =

781599 6354919

51699

ISBN-10 1-59963-549-6ISBN-13 978-1-59963-549-1

US $1699(CAN $2950)

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 0

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 W 6 1 4 C M T M D M T A w A T E F V V B D

0 4 L U E M M D M 1 M z E z N j U 0 N z k 0 K A = =

35313 654790 4 U P C

WRITING REFERENCE

EXPERT ADVICE TO HELP YOU LAUNCHmdashAND SUSTAINmdash

A SUCCESSFUL FREELANCE WRITING CAREER

If your goal is to see your words in print and get paid for them you need

proven strategies and techniques that will help you work efficiently and

target top-paying markets Writer for Hire delivers with smart practical

advice for building a successful freelance career and getting the maxi-

mum mileage out of every piece you write

Written by expert freelancer Kelly James-Enger whose work has

appeared in dozens of national magazines including Redbook and Self this book brings you

bull 101 tips techniques advice and examples on building and main-

taining a freelance career that you can apply right away

bull Concrete advice on the business of writing including manag-

ing deadlines querying effectively working withmdashand vettingmdash

potential clients and handling taxes and invoices

bull Proven strategies for maintaining your success as a freelance

writer from securing repeat writing gigs and networking (in-

person and online) to establishing yourself as an expert and

working efficiently under tight deadlines

Writer for Hire provides all the tools you need to get published more oftento make more money and to sustain a profitable satisfying career as a

freelance writer

Page 11: Writer for Hire, 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1117

89

Forget the idea of the writer tucked away in her garret todayrsquos successful

freelancers know how to create and maintain relationships with people

ranging from editors to sources to public relations pros to fellow writers

The good news is that in todayrsquos world of social media itrsquos easier than

ever beforemdashbut relationship building is more than simply ldquofriendingrdquo

everyone you know The secrets in this section wil l help you learn how

to connect and stay connected with the people who will help you suc-ceed as a freelancer

43

FOLLOW THE PLATINUM RULE

Yoursquore no doubt familiar with the Golden Rulemdashtreat others the way yoursquod

like to be treated Well when it comes to clients Irsquod suggest you up the

ante and employ the Platinum Rulemdashtreat them even better than yoursquod

like to be treated

As a freelancer yoursquore facing a lot of competition That means just get-

ting the job done isnrsquot enough Itrsquos the willingness to go beyond what editors

and clients require that sets you apart from the freelance pack

For example several years ago I interviewed a cake decorator for a

trade magazine story During the course of the interview she mentioned

that the magazine had recently run her photo Problem was the person in

the picture wasnrsquot her

PART 3

RELATIONSHIPS BUILDING

AND MAINTAINING CONNECTIONS

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1217

MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 137

magazines pay more but Irsquom always looking at my hourly rate not

just the size of the check And sometimes the magazines that pay

less per word actually pay more per hour

3 WHATrsquoS THE PIA FACTOR PIA is my shorthand for Pain In the um

rear end Some clients and editors are annoying to work with Irsquom

thinking of an editor I work with who takes forever to respond to

queries then assigns stuff with ridiculously tight deadlines I love

her but therersquos de1047297nitely a PIA factor to working with her And if

that PIA factor on a particular project is high Irsquom either going to get

more money hellip or I might even walk away

4 WILL THIS WORK FURTHER MY CAREERmdashAND IF SO HOW So

for example when I wrote my first book Ready Aim Specialize I

received an advance of just $2500 I spent months researching (I

interviewed fif ty-six sources) and writing the book My hourly

rate was abysmal I made more as a teenaged lifeguard

But herersquos the thing I wanted to start writing books and I had to begin

somewhere So I said yes to the book added author to my CV and even

made royalties from it My 1047297rst book led to many others which has made

the 1047297rst low advance worth it

As a freelancer itrsquos within your control to take on work or turn it down

The four-part test has helped me stay on course and prevent me from agree-

ing to work based only on what it pays I suggest you look at other factorsas well to help you determine what projects meet your short-term and

long-term goals

66

FIGHT

FOR

YOUR

RIGHTS

When I speak at writers conferences the same questions always come up

How do I 1047297nd an agent How can I turn my blog into a book And should

I sign an all-rights contract

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1317

WRITER FOR HIRE156

that assignment or client is worth it Just remember that when you say yes

to one project you may be saying no to another

75

DIVERSIFY YOUR WORK

When I started freelancing I planned to write magazine articles and work

on my novel That was my business plan

I learned pretty quickly though that magazine articles werenrsquot

enough I was pitching dozens of different magazines but my query suc-

cess rate wasnrsquot very high Even if I did get an assignment months elapsed

between the time I 1047297rst pitched an idea its eventual assignment and

getting paid for it That meant my cash 1047298ow looked more like a dribble

I broke free from my original plan and diversi1047297ed I started ldquostringingrdquo

or freelancing for my local paper and writing for a variety of local busi-

nesses which paid much more quick ly By the end of the year my cash1047298ow and workload were much more consistent [See 79 Beat the feast-

or-famine syndrome]

Diversifying isnrsquot just practical itrsquos smart Your ability to perform a va-

riety of different kinds of work makes you more marketable to clients and

ensures that you keep up with an ever-changing freelance market [See

80 Boost your value]

My 2011 survey of more than two hundred full-time freelancers re-vealed that theyrsquore performing a wide array of work which includes

bull Blogging (whether they blog for others or produce income from their

own blogs)

bull Editing (all types)

bull Ghostwriting (books articles blogs)

bull Proofreading

bull Public speaking

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1417

MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 167

as soon as you get an assignment take the 1047297rst steps you need to For ar-

ticles that usually means doing background research and identifying po-

tential sources After Irsquove come up with potential sources (whether experts

or ldquoreal peoplerdquo anecdotes) I start contacting them to line up interviews I

have to have my interviews done before I can write the piece

CREATE A BUM PER

Herersquos something I didnrsquot anticipate when I 1047297rst started freelancingmdashhow

long it would take for me to get paid for an assignment You canrsquot control

when work is assigned or how long it takes an editor to approve it so you can

actually get paid for it For example I pitched a piece to a magazine in May

which was assigned in July I turned the story in in August and in September

reworked the piece per my editorrsquos speci1047297cations After she accepted the story

she put payment throughmdashand I received my check in early November

Just as you assume work will take you longer than you expect to 1047297nish

you must assume that it will also take longer than you expect to get paid

That means you need to have a 1047297nancial ldquobumperrdquo to rely on when clientsare slow to cut checks Ideally you should have at least three monthsrsquo worth

of income in the bank that way you can withdraw from your ldquobumperrdquo

account when itrsquos taking time to collect your receivables

STAY ON TO P OF YOUR INVOICES

Just as you follow up on queries and letters of introduction you should stay

on top of your invoices Note the payment cycles of your regular clients so you can check on invoices that remain unpaid once theyrsquore overdue [See

67 Collect every check ]

HAVE A MIX O F EGGS

Yoursquove heard ldquodonrsquot put all your eggs in one basketrdquo The same goes for

your freelance work Itrsquos easier to work for a small number of clients but

be careful about having too few projects going at any time For examplelast year I was counting on a book proposal selling so I didnrsquot do much mar-

keting Then when the book didnrsquot sell I suddenly found myself with little

workmdashand little money

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1517

172

Yes yoursquore a freelancer but you have a life too (I hope) Creating work

life balance maintaining a positive outlook nurturing your creativity and

staying physically and mentally healthy all have a tremendous impact on

your productivity and long-term success as a freelancer The secrets in this

1047297nal section will help you avoid burnout deal with writerrsquos anxiety juggle

your freelancing with the rest of your life and set the stage for a successful

happy life both in and out of your offi ce

82

BEAT BURNOUT

Freelancing full-time has a lot of perks You get to make a living from your

words you can write from a home offi ce in sweats and thick 1047298uffy socks

and you can work as little or as much as you want (At least you can in the-

orymdashsometimes you face freelance droughts or have to work weekends

and nights to meet all your deadlines)

Sure there are the inevitable hassles with slow-to-respond editors de-

layed checks and mangled edits But overall most freelancers love what

they do and the way theyrsquore able to work A survey of full-time freelancers

I conducted in 2011 found that 90 percent ldquode1047297nitelyrdquo planned to continue

their careers another 7 percent said they ldquoprobablyrdquo would So you may be

surprised to 1047297nd yourself suffering from burnout at some point

PART 5

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE

AND OUTSIDE OF THE OFFICE

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1617

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF T HE OFFICE 189

If yoursquove never had food issues you may not need a set of rules like this

and if so yoursquore lucky If you 1047297nd yourself turning to food out of boredom

or anxiety though I suggest you decide how and when yoursquoll eat Both

your waistline and your productivity will bene1047297t

92

MAKE WAITING TIME WORK

In one of my favorite episodes of The Simpsons ldquoMr Plowrdquo Homer decides

to launch his own snow-shoveling business With the help of singer Linda

Ronstadt he creates a television ad that runs in the wee morning hours

(the only time slot he can afford)

After the ad runs for the 1047297rst time he sits back and announces to his

family ldquoNow we play the waiting gamerdquo But after only the briefest of

pauses Homer loses his patience ldquoThe waiting game sucksrdquo he declares

ldquoLetrsquos play Hungry Hungry Hipposrdquo

Homer is so so right The waiting game truly does suck

I know because Irsquove played it beforemdashand Irsquom playing it now I have

not one but four potential book projects that may or make not go for-

ward My agent is shopping around a book proposal I ghostwrote for

a client Another agent is shopping the updated version of a book I co-

authored to its original publisher A publisher has expressed interest in

one of my own books but the editor has yet to send the contract And

another potential client is about to sign me to ghostwrite her propos-

almdashany day

So that means I have four potential book projects in the works but

nothing has signed yet So I wait And wait And wait Every time the

phone rings or my e-mail chimes I take a breath This could be it This

could be the call But itrsquos not my agent or the AWOL editor or my poten-

tial client Itrsquos another freelancer or a former student or a spammer AndIrsquom getting annoyed

I know that something will shake loose hopefully in the next few days

And I do have a few magazine articles to write but not nearly enough work

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1717

E A N

W7416

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 4

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 e 7 x M E M T A u N A I 4 M A E x B k V B

0 4 T i 0 x M w 0 5 N z g x N T k 5 N j M 1 N D k x A A = =

781599 6354919

51699

ISBN-10 1-59963-549-6ISBN-13 978-1-59963-549-1

US $1699(CAN $2950)

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 0

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 W 6 1 4 C M T M D M T A w A T E F V V B D

0 4 L U E M M D M 1 M z E z N j U 0 N z k 0 K A = =

35313 654790 4 U P C

WRITING REFERENCE

EXPERT ADVICE TO HELP YOU LAUNCHmdashAND SUSTAINmdash

A SUCCESSFUL FREELANCE WRITING CAREER

If your goal is to see your words in print and get paid for them you need

proven strategies and techniques that will help you work efficiently and

target top-paying markets Writer for Hire delivers with smart practical

advice for building a successful freelance career and getting the maxi-

mum mileage out of every piece you write

Written by expert freelancer Kelly James-Enger whose work has

appeared in dozens of national magazines including Redbook and Self this book brings you

bull 101 tips techniques advice and examples on building and main-

taining a freelance career that you can apply right away

bull Concrete advice on the business of writing including manag-

ing deadlines querying effectively working withmdashand vettingmdash

potential clients and handling taxes and invoices

bull Proven strategies for maintaining your success as a freelance

writer from securing repeat writing gigs and networking (in-

person and online) to establishing yourself as an expert and

working efficiently under tight deadlines

Writer for Hire provides all the tools you need to get published more oftento make more money and to sustain a profitable satisfying career as a

freelance writer

Page 12: Writer for Hire, 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1217

MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 137

magazines pay more but Irsquom always looking at my hourly rate not

just the size of the check And sometimes the magazines that pay

less per word actually pay more per hour

3 WHATrsquoS THE PIA FACTOR PIA is my shorthand for Pain In the um

rear end Some clients and editors are annoying to work with Irsquom

thinking of an editor I work with who takes forever to respond to

queries then assigns stuff with ridiculously tight deadlines I love

her but therersquos de1047297nitely a PIA factor to working with her And if

that PIA factor on a particular project is high Irsquom either going to get

more money hellip or I might even walk away

4 WILL THIS WORK FURTHER MY CAREERmdashAND IF SO HOW So

for example when I wrote my first book Ready Aim Specialize I

received an advance of just $2500 I spent months researching (I

interviewed fif ty-six sources) and writing the book My hourly

rate was abysmal I made more as a teenaged lifeguard

But herersquos the thing I wanted to start writing books and I had to begin

somewhere So I said yes to the book added author to my CV and even

made royalties from it My 1047297rst book led to many others which has made

the 1047297rst low advance worth it

As a freelancer itrsquos within your control to take on work or turn it down

The four-part test has helped me stay on course and prevent me from agree-

ing to work based only on what it pays I suggest you look at other factorsas well to help you determine what projects meet your short-term and

long-term goals

66

FIGHT

FOR

YOUR

RIGHTS

When I speak at writers conferences the same questions always come up

How do I 1047297nd an agent How can I turn my blog into a book And should

I sign an all-rights contract

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1317

WRITER FOR HIRE156

that assignment or client is worth it Just remember that when you say yes

to one project you may be saying no to another

75

DIVERSIFY YOUR WORK

When I started freelancing I planned to write magazine articles and work

on my novel That was my business plan

I learned pretty quickly though that magazine articles werenrsquot

enough I was pitching dozens of different magazines but my query suc-

cess rate wasnrsquot very high Even if I did get an assignment months elapsed

between the time I 1047297rst pitched an idea its eventual assignment and

getting paid for it That meant my cash 1047298ow looked more like a dribble

I broke free from my original plan and diversi1047297ed I started ldquostringingrdquo

or freelancing for my local paper and writing for a variety of local busi-

nesses which paid much more quick ly By the end of the year my cash1047298ow and workload were much more consistent [See 79 Beat the feast-

or-famine syndrome]

Diversifying isnrsquot just practical itrsquos smart Your ability to perform a va-

riety of different kinds of work makes you more marketable to clients and

ensures that you keep up with an ever-changing freelance market [See

80 Boost your value]

My 2011 survey of more than two hundred full-time freelancers re-vealed that theyrsquore performing a wide array of work which includes

bull Blogging (whether they blog for others or produce income from their

own blogs)

bull Editing (all types)

bull Ghostwriting (books articles blogs)

bull Proofreading

bull Public speaking

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1417

MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 167

as soon as you get an assignment take the 1047297rst steps you need to For ar-

ticles that usually means doing background research and identifying po-

tential sources After Irsquove come up with potential sources (whether experts

or ldquoreal peoplerdquo anecdotes) I start contacting them to line up interviews I

have to have my interviews done before I can write the piece

CREATE A BUM PER

Herersquos something I didnrsquot anticipate when I 1047297rst started freelancingmdashhow

long it would take for me to get paid for an assignment You canrsquot control

when work is assigned or how long it takes an editor to approve it so you can

actually get paid for it For example I pitched a piece to a magazine in May

which was assigned in July I turned the story in in August and in September

reworked the piece per my editorrsquos speci1047297cations After she accepted the story

she put payment throughmdashand I received my check in early November

Just as you assume work will take you longer than you expect to 1047297nish

you must assume that it will also take longer than you expect to get paid

That means you need to have a 1047297nancial ldquobumperrdquo to rely on when clientsare slow to cut checks Ideally you should have at least three monthsrsquo worth

of income in the bank that way you can withdraw from your ldquobumperrdquo

account when itrsquos taking time to collect your receivables

STAY ON TO P OF YOUR INVOICES

Just as you follow up on queries and letters of introduction you should stay

on top of your invoices Note the payment cycles of your regular clients so you can check on invoices that remain unpaid once theyrsquore overdue [See

67 Collect every check ]

HAVE A MIX O F EGGS

Yoursquove heard ldquodonrsquot put all your eggs in one basketrdquo The same goes for

your freelance work Itrsquos easier to work for a small number of clients but

be careful about having too few projects going at any time For examplelast year I was counting on a book proposal selling so I didnrsquot do much mar-

keting Then when the book didnrsquot sell I suddenly found myself with little

workmdashand little money

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1517

172

Yes yoursquore a freelancer but you have a life too (I hope) Creating work

life balance maintaining a positive outlook nurturing your creativity and

staying physically and mentally healthy all have a tremendous impact on

your productivity and long-term success as a freelancer The secrets in this

1047297nal section will help you avoid burnout deal with writerrsquos anxiety juggle

your freelancing with the rest of your life and set the stage for a successful

happy life both in and out of your offi ce

82

BEAT BURNOUT

Freelancing full-time has a lot of perks You get to make a living from your

words you can write from a home offi ce in sweats and thick 1047298uffy socks

and you can work as little or as much as you want (At least you can in the-

orymdashsometimes you face freelance droughts or have to work weekends

and nights to meet all your deadlines)

Sure there are the inevitable hassles with slow-to-respond editors de-

layed checks and mangled edits But overall most freelancers love what

they do and the way theyrsquore able to work A survey of full-time freelancers

I conducted in 2011 found that 90 percent ldquode1047297nitelyrdquo planned to continue

their careers another 7 percent said they ldquoprobablyrdquo would So you may be

surprised to 1047297nd yourself suffering from burnout at some point

PART 5

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE

AND OUTSIDE OF THE OFFICE

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1617

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF T HE OFFICE 189

If yoursquove never had food issues you may not need a set of rules like this

and if so yoursquore lucky If you 1047297nd yourself turning to food out of boredom

or anxiety though I suggest you decide how and when yoursquoll eat Both

your waistline and your productivity will bene1047297t

92

MAKE WAITING TIME WORK

In one of my favorite episodes of The Simpsons ldquoMr Plowrdquo Homer decides

to launch his own snow-shoveling business With the help of singer Linda

Ronstadt he creates a television ad that runs in the wee morning hours

(the only time slot he can afford)

After the ad runs for the 1047297rst time he sits back and announces to his

family ldquoNow we play the waiting gamerdquo But after only the briefest of

pauses Homer loses his patience ldquoThe waiting game sucksrdquo he declares

ldquoLetrsquos play Hungry Hungry Hipposrdquo

Homer is so so right The waiting game truly does suck

I know because Irsquove played it beforemdashand Irsquom playing it now I have

not one but four potential book projects that may or make not go for-

ward My agent is shopping around a book proposal I ghostwrote for

a client Another agent is shopping the updated version of a book I co-

authored to its original publisher A publisher has expressed interest in

one of my own books but the editor has yet to send the contract And

another potential client is about to sign me to ghostwrite her propos-

almdashany day

So that means I have four potential book projects in the works but

nothing has signed yet So I wait And wait And wait Every time the

phone rings or my e-mail chimes I take a breath This could be it This

could be the call But itrsquos not my agent or the AWOL editor or my poten-

tial client Itrsquos another freelancer or a former student or a spammer AndIrsquom getting annoyed

I know that something will shake loose hopefully in the next few days

And I do have a few magazine articles to write but not nearly enough work

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1717

E A N

W7416

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 4

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 e 7 x M E M T A u N A I 4 M A E x B k V B

0 4 T i 0 x M w 0 5 N z g x N T k 5 N j M 1 N D k x A A = =

781599 6354919

51699

ISBN-10 1-59963-549-6ISBN-13 978-1-59963-549-1

US $1699(CAN $2950)

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 0

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 W 6 1 4 C M T M D M T A w A T E F V V B D

0 4 L U E M M D M 1 M z E z N j U 0 N z k 0 K A = =

35313 654790 4 U P C

WRITING REFERENCE

EXPERT ADVICE TO HELP YOU LAUNCHmdashAND SUSTAINmdash

A SUCCESSFUL FREELANCE WRITING CAREER

If your goal is to see your words in print and get paid for them you need

proven strategies and techniques that will help you work efficiently and

target top-paying markets Writer for Hire delivers with smart practical

advice for building a successful freelance career and getting the maxi-

mum mileage out of every piece you write

Written by expert freelancer Kelly James-Enger whose work has

appeared in dozens of national magazines including Redbook and Self this book brings you

bull 101 tips techniques advice and examples on building and main-

taining a freelance career that you can apply right away

bull Concrete advice on the business of writing including manag-

ing deadlines querying effectively working withmdashand vettingmdash

potential clients and handling taxes and invoices

bull Proven strategies for maintaining your success as a freelance

writer from securing repeat writing gigs and networking (in-

person and online) to establishing yourself as an expert and

working efficiently under tight deadlines

Writer for Hire provides all the tools you need to get published more oftento make more money and to sustain a profitable satisfying career as a

freelance writer

Page 13: Writer for Hire, 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1317

WRITER FOR HIRE156

that assignment or client is worth it Just remember that when you say yes

to one project you may be saying no to another

75

DIVERSIFY YOUR WORK

When I started freelancing I planned to write magazine articles and work

on my novel That was my business plan

I learned pretty quickly though that magazine articles werenrsquot

enough I was pitching dozens of different magazines but my query suc-

cess rate wasnrsquot very high Even if I did get an assignment months elapsed

between the time I 1047297rst pitched an idea its eventual assignment and

getting paid for it That meant my cash 1047298ow looked more like a dribble

I broke free from my original plan and diversi1047297ed I started ldquostringingrdquo

or freelancing for my local paper and writing for a variety of local busi-

nesses which paid much more quick ly By the end of the year my cash1047298ow and workload were much more consistent [See 79 Beat the feast-

or-famine syndrome]

Diversifying isnrsquot just practical itrsquos smart Your ability to perform a va-

riety of different kinds of work makes you more marketable to clients and

ensures that you keep up with an ever-changing freelance market [See

80 Boost your value]

My 2011 survey of more than two hundred full-time freelancers re-vealed that theyrsquore performing a wide array of work which includes

bull Blogging (whether they blog for others or produce income from their

own blogs)

bull Editing (all types)

bull Ghostwriting (books articles blogs)

bull Proofreading

bull Public speaking

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1417

MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 167

as soon as you get an assignment take the 1047297rst steps you need to For ar-

ticles that usually means doing background research and identifying po-

tential sources After Irsquove come up with potential sources (whether experts

or ldquoreal peoplerdquo anecdotes) I start contacting them to line up interviews I

have to have my interviews done before I can write the piece

CREATE A BUM PER

Herersquos something I didnrsquot anticipate when I 1047297rst started freelancingmdashhow

long it would take for me to get paid for an assignment You canrsquot control

when work is assigned or how long it takes an editor to approve it so you can

actually get paid for it For example I pitched a piece to a magazine in May

which was assigned in July I turned the story in in August and in September

reworked the piece per my editorrsquos speci1047297cations After she accepted the story

she put payment throughmdashand I received my check in early November

Just as you assume work will take you longer than you expect to 1047297nish

you must assume that it will also take longer than you expect to get paid

That means you need to have a 1047297nancial ldquobumperrdquo to rely on when clientsare slow to cut checks Ideally you should have at least three monthsrsquo worth

of income in the bank that way you can withdraw from your ldquobumperrdquo

account when itrsquos taking time to collect your receivables

STAY ON TO P OF YOUR INVOICES

Just as you follow up on queries and letters of introduction you should stay

on top of your invoices Note the payment cycles of your regular clients so you can check on invoices that remain unpaid once theyrsquore overdue [See

67 Collect every check ]

HAVE A MIX O F EGGS

Yoursquove heard ldquodonrsquot put all your eggs in one basketrdquo The same goes for

your freelance work Itrsquos easier to work for a small number of clients but

be careful about having too few projects going at any time For examplelast year I was counting on a book proposal selling so I didnrsquot do much mar-

keting Then when the book didnrsquot sell I suddenly found myself with little

workmdashand little money

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1517

172

Yes yoursquore a freelancer but you have a life too (I hope) Creating work

life balance maintaining a positive outlook nurturing your creativity and

staying physically and mentally healthy all have a tremendous impact on

your productivity and long-term success as a freelancer The secrets in this

1047297nal section will help you avoid burnout deal with writerrsquos anxiety juggle

your freelancing with the rest of your life and set the stage for a successful

happy life both in and out of your offi ce

82

BEAT BURNOUT

Freelancing full-time has a lot of perks You get to make a living from your

words you can write from a home offi ce in sweats and thick 1047298uffy socks

and you can work as little or as much as you want (At least you can in the-

orymdashsometimes you face freelance droughts or have to work weekends

and nights to meet all your deadlines)

Sure there are the inevitable hassles with slow-to-respond editors de-

layed checks and mangled edits But overall most freelancers love what

they do and the way theyrsquore able to work A survey of full-time freelancers

I conducted in 2011 found that 90 percent ldquode1047297nitelyrdquo planned to continue

their careers another 7 percent said they ldquoprobablyrdquo would So you may be

surprised to 1047297nd yourself suffering from burnout at some point

PART 5

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE

AND OUTSIDE OF THE OFFICE

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1617

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF T HE OFFICE 189

If yoursquove never had food issues you may not need a set of rules like this

and if so yoursquore lucky If you 1047297nd yourself turning to food out of boredom

or anxiety though I suggest you decide how and when yoursquoll eat Both

your waistline and your productivity will bene1047297t

92

MAKE WAITING TIME WORK

In one of my favorite episodes of The Simpsons ldquoMr Plowrdquo Homer decides

to launch his own snow-shoveling business With the help of singer Linda

Ronstadt he creates a television ad that runs in the wee morning hours

(the only time slot he can afford)

After the ad runs for the 1047297rst time he sits back and announces to his

family ldquoNow we play the waiting gamerdquo But after only the briefest of

pauses Homer loses his patience ldquoThe waiting game sucksrdquo he declares

ldquoLetrsquos play Hungry Hungry Hipposrdquo

Homer is so so right The waiting game truly does suck

I know because Irsquove played it beforemdashand Irsquom playing it now I have

not one but four potential book projects that may or make not go for-

ward My agent is shopping around a book proposal I ghostwrote for

a client Another agent is shopping the updated version of a book I co-

authored to its original publisher A publisher has expressed interest in

one of my own books but the editor has yet to send the contract And

another potential client is about to sign me to ghostwrite her propos-

almdashany day

So that means I have four potential book projects in the works but

nothing has signed yet So I wait And wait And wait Every time the

phone rings or my e-mail chimes I take a breath This could be it This

could be the call But itrsquos not my agent or the AWOL editor or my poten-

tial client Itrsquos another freelancer or a former student or a spammer AndIrsquom getting annoyed

I know that something will shake loose hopefully in the next few days

And I do have a few magazine articles to write but not nearly enough work

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1717

E A N

W7416

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 4

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 e 7 x M E M T A u N A I 4 M A E x B k V B

0 4 T i 0 x M w 0 5 N z g x N T k 5 N j M 1 N D k x A A = =

781599 6354919

51699

ISBN-10 1-59963-549-6ISBN-13 978-1-59963-549-1

US $1699(CAN $2950)

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 0

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 W 6 1 4 C M T M D M T A w A T E F V V B D

0 4 L U E M M D M 1 M z E z N j U 0 N z k 0 K A = =

35313 654790 4 U P C

WRITING REFERENCE

EXPERT ADVICE TO HELP YOU LAUNCHmdashAND SUSTAINmdash

A SUCCESSFUL FREELANCE WRITING CAREER

If your goal is to see your words in print and get paid for them you need

proven strategies and techniques that will help you work efficiently and

target top-paying markets Writer for Hire delivers with smart practical

advice for building a successful freelance career and getting the maxi-

mum mileage out of every piece you write

Written by expert freelancer Kelly James-Enger whose work has

appeared in dozens of national magazines including Redbook and Self this book brings you

bull 101 tips techniques advice and examples on building and main-

taining a freelance career that you can apply right away

bull Concrete advice on the business of writing including manag-

ing deadlines querying effectively working withmdashand vettingmdash

potential clients and handling taxes and invoices

bull Proven strategies for maintaining your success as a freelance

writer from securing repeat writing gigs and networking (in-

person and online) to establishing yourself as an expert and

working efficiently under tight deadlines

Writer for Hire provides all the tools you need to get published more oftento make more money and to sustain a profitable satisfying career as a

freelance writer

Page 14: Writer for Hire, 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1417

MANAGEMENT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS LIK E A BUSINESS 167

as soon as you get an assignment take the 1047297rst steps you need to For ar-

ticles that usually means doing background research and identifying po-

tential sources After Irsquove come up with potential sources (whether experts

or ldquoreal peoplerdquo anecdotes) I start contacting them to line up interviews I

have to have my interviews done before I can write the piece

CREATE A BUM PER

Herersquos something I didnrsquot anticipate when I 1047297rst started freelancingmdashhow

long it would take for me to get paid for an assignment You canrsquot control

when work is assigned or how long it takes an editor to approve it so you can

actually get paid for it For example I pitched a piece to a magazine in May

which was assigned in July I turned the story in in August and in September

reworked the piece per my editorrsquos speci1047297cations After she accepted the story

she put payment throughmdashand I received my check in early November

Just as you assume work will take you longer than you expect to 1047297nish

you must assume that it will also take longer than you expect to get paid

That means you need to have a 1047297nancial ldquobumperrdquo to rely on when clientsare slow to cut checks Ideally you should have at least three monthsrsquo worth

of income in the bank that way you can withdraw from your ldquobumperrdquo

account when itrsquos taking time to collect your receivables

STAY ON TO P OF YOUR INVOICES

Just as you follow up on queries and letters of introduction you should stay

on top of your invoices Note the payment cycles of your regular clients so you can check on invoices that remain unpaid once theyrsquore overdue [See

67 Collect every check ]

HAVE A MIX O F EGGS

Yoursquove heard ldquodonrsquot put all your eggs in one basketrdquo The same goes for

your freelance work Itrsquos easier to work for a small number of clients but

be careful about having too few projects going at any time For examplelast year I was counting on a book proposal selling so I didnrsquot do much mar-

keting Then when the book didnrsquot sell I suddenly found myself with little

workmdashand little money

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1517

172

Yes yoursquore a freelancer but you have a life too (I hope) Creating work

life balance maintaining a positive outlook nurturing your creativity and

staying physically and mentally healthy all have a tremendous impact on

your productivity and long-term success as a freelancer The secrets in this

1047297nal section will help you avoid burnout deal with writerrsquos anxiety juggle

your freelancing with the rest of your life and set the stage for a successful

happy life both in and out of your offi ce

82

BEAT BURNOUT

Freelancing full-time has a lot of perks You get to make a living from your

words you can write from a home offi ce in sweats and thick 1047298uffy socks

and you can work as little or as much as you want (At least you can in the-

orymdashsometimes you face freelance droughts or have to work weekends

and nights to meet all your deadlines)

Sure there are the inevitable hassles with slow-to-respond editors de-

layed checks and mangled edits But overall most freelancers love what

they do and the way theyrsquore able to work A survey of full-time freelancers

I conducted in 2011 found that 90 percent ldquode1047297nitelyrdquo planned to continue

their careers another 7 percent said they ldquoprobablyrdquo would So you may be

surprised to 1047297nd yourself suffering from burnout at some point

PART 5

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE

AND OUTSIDE OF THE OFFICE

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1617

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF T HE OFFICE 189

If yoursquove never had food issues you may not need a set of rules like this

and if so yoursquore lucky If you 1047297nd yourself turning to food out of boredom

or anxiety though I suggest you decide how and when yoursquoll eat Both

your waistline and your productivity will bene1047297t

92

MAKE WAITING TIME WORK

In one of my favorite episodes of The Simpsons ldquoMr Plowrdquo Homer decides

to launch his own snow-shoveling business With the help of singer Linda

Ronstadt he creates a television ad that runs in the wee morning hours

(the only time slot he can afford)

After the ad runs for the 1047297rst time he sits back and announces to his

family ldquoNow we play the waiting gamerdquo But after only the briefest of

pauses Homer loses his patience ldquoThe waiting game sucksrdquo he declares

ldquoLetrsquos play Hungry Hungry Hipposrdquo

Homer is so so right The waiting game truly does suck

I know because Irsquove played it beforemdashand Irsquom playing it now I have

not one but four potential book projects that may or make not go for-

ward My agent is shopping around a book proposal I ghostwrote for

a client Another agent is shopping the updated version of a book I co-

authored to its original publisher A publisher has expressed interest in

one of my own books but the editor has yet to send the contract And

another potential client is about to sign me to ghostwrite her propos-

almdashany day

So that means I have four potential book projects in the works but

nothing has signed yet So I wait And wait And wait Every time the

phone rings or my e-mail chimes I take a breath This could be it This

could be the call But itrsquos not my agent or the AWOL editor or my poten-

tial client Itrsquos another freelancer or a former student or a spammer AndIrsquom getting annoyed

I know that something will shake loose hopefully in the next few days

And I do have a few magazine articles to write but not nearly enough work

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1717

E A N

W7416

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 4

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 e 7 x M E M T A u N A I 4 M A E x B k V B

0 4 T i 0 x M w 0 5 N z g x N T k 5 N j M 1 N D k x A A = =

781599 6354919

51699

ISBN-10 1-59963-549-6ISBN-13 978-1-59963-549-1

US $1699(CAN $2950)

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 0

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 W 6 1 4 C M T M D M T A w A T E F V V B D

0 4 L U E M M D M 1 M z E z N j U 0 N z k 0 K A = =

35313 654790 4 U P C

WRITING REFERENCE

EXPERT ADVICE TO HELP YOU LAUNCHmdashAND SUSTAINmdash

A SUCCESSFUL FREELANCE WRITING CAREER

If your goal is to see your words in print and get paid for them you need

proven strategies and techniques that will help you work efficiently and

target top-paying markets Writer for Hire delivers with smart practical

advice for building a successful freelance career and getting the maxi-

mum mileage out of every piece you write

Written by expert freelancer Kelly James-Enger whose work has

appeared in dozens of national magazines including Redbook and Self this book brings you

bull 101 tips techniques advice and examples on building and main-

taining a freelance career that you can apply right away

bull Concrete advice on the business of writing including manag-

ing deadlines querying effectively working withmdashand vettingmdash

potential clients and handling taxes and invoices

bull Proven strategies for maintaining your success as a freelance

writer from securing repeat writing gigs and networking (in-

person and online) to establishing yourself as an expert and

working efficiently under tight deadlines

Writer for Hire provides all the tools you need to get published more oftento make more money and to sustain a profitable satisfying career as a

freelance writer

Page 15: Writer for Hire, 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1517

172

Yes yoursquore a freelancer but you have a life too (I hope) Creating work

life balance maintaining a positive outlook nurturing your creativity and

staying physically and mentally healthy all have a tremendous impact on

your productivity and long-term success as a freelancer The secrets in this

1047297nal section will help you avoid burnout deal with writerrsquos anxiety juggle

your freelancing with the rest of your life and set the stage for a successful

happy life both in and out of your offi ce

82

BEAT BURNOUT

Freelancing full-time has a lot of perks You get to make a living from your

words you can write from a home offi ce in sweats and thick 1047298uffy socks

and you can work as little or as much as you want (At least you can in the-

orymdashsometimes you face freelance droughts or have to work weekends

and nights to meet all your deadlines)

Sure there are the inevitable hassles with slow-to-respond editors de-

layed checks and mangled edits But overall most freelancers love what

they do and the way theyrsquore able to work A survey of full-time freelancers

I conducted in 2011 found that 90 percent ldquode1047297nitelyrdquo planned to continue

their careers another 7 percent said they ldquoprobablyrdquo would So you may be

surprised to 1047297nd yourself suffering from burnout at some point

PART 5

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE

AND OUTSIDE OF THE OFFICE

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1617

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF T HE OFFICE 189

If yoursquove never had food issues you may not need a set of rules like this

and if so yoursquore lucky If you 1047297nd yourself turning to food out of boredom

or anxiety though I suggest you decide how and when yoursquoll eat Both

your waistline and your productivity will bene1047297t

92

MAKE WAITING TIME WORK

In one of my favorite episodes of The Simpsons ldquoMr Plowrdquo Homer decides

to launch his own snow-shoveling business With the help of singer Linda

Ronstadt he creates a television ad that runs in the wee morning hours

(the only time slot he can afford)

After the ad runs for the 1047297rst time he sits back and announces to his

family ldquoNow we play the waiting gamerdquo But after only the briefest of

pauses Homer loses his patience ldquoThe waiting game sucksrdquo he declares

ldquoLetrsquos play Hungry Hungry Hipposrdquo

Homer is so so right The waiting game truly does suck

I know because Irsquove played it beforemdashand Irsquom playing it now I have

not one but four potential book projects that may or make not go for-

ward My agent is shopping around a book proposal I ghostwrote for

a client Another agent is shopping the updated version of a book I co-

authored to its original publisher A publisher has expressed interest in

one of my own books but the editor has yet to send the contract And

another potential client is about to sign me to ghostwrite her propos-

almdashany day

So that means I have four potential book projects in the works but

nothing has signed yet So I wait And wait And wait Every time the

phone rings or my e-mail chimes I take a breath This could be it This

could be the call But itrsquos not my agent or the AWOL editor or my poten-

tial client Itrsquos another freelancer or a former student or a spammer AndIrsquom getting annoyed

I know that something will shake loose hopefully in the next few days

And I do have a few magazine articles to write but not nearly enough work

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1717

E A N

W7416

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 4

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 e 7 x M E M T A u N A I 4 M A E x B k V B

0 4 T i 0 x M w 0 5 N z g x N T k 5 N j M 1 N D k x A A = =

781599 6354919

51699

ISBN-10 1-59963-549-6ISBN-13 978-1-59963-549-1

US $1699(CAN $2950)

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 0

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 W 6 1 4 C M T M D M T A w A T E F V V B D

0 4 L U E M M D M 1 M z E z N j U 0 N z k 0 K A = =

35313 654790 4 U P C

WRITING REFERENCE

EXPERT ADVICE TO HELP YOU LAUNCHmdashAND SUSTAINmdash

A SUCCESSFUL FREELANCE WRITING CAREER

If your goal is to see your words in print and get paid for them you need

proven strategies and techniques that will help you work efficiently and

target top-paying markets Writer for Hire delivers with smart practical

advice for building a successful freelance career and getting the maxi-

mum mileage out of every piece you write

Written by expert freelancer Kelly James-Enger whose work has

appeared in dozens of national magazines including Redbook and Self this book brings you

bull 101 tips techniques advice and examples on building and main-

taining a freelance career that you can apply right away

bull Concrete advice on the business of writing including manag-

ing deadlines querying effectively working withmdashand vettingmdash

potential clients and handling taxes and invoices

bull Proven strategies for maintaining your success as a freelance

writer from securing repeat writing gigs and networking (in-

person and online) to establishing yourself as an expert and

working efficiently under tight deadlines

Writer for Hire provides all the tools you need to get published more oftento make more money and to sustain a profitable satisfying career as a

freelance writer

Page 16: Writer for Hire, 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1617

BALANCE YOUR LIFE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF T HE OFFICE 189

If yoursquove never had food issues you may not need a set of rules like this

and if so yoursquore lucky If you 1047297nd yourself turning to food out of boredom

or anxiety though I suggest you decide how and when yoursquoll eat Both

your waistline and your productivity will bene1047297t

92

MAKE WAITING TIME WORK

In one of my favorite episodes of The Simpsons ldquoMr Plowrdquo Homer decides

to launch his own snow-shoveling business With the help of singer Linda

Ronstadt he creates a television ad that runs in the wee morning hours

(the only time slot he can afford)

After the ad runs for the 1047297rst time he sits back and announces to his

family ldquoNow we play the waiting gamerdquo But after only the briefest of

pauses Homer loses his patience ldquoThe waiting game sucksrdquo he declares

ldquoLetrsquos play Hungry Hungry Hipposrdquo

Homer is so so right The waiting game truly does suck

I know because Irsquove played it beforemdashand Irsquom playing it now I have

not one but four potential book projects that may or make not go for-

ward My agent is shopping around a book proposal I ghostwrote for

a client Another agent is shopping the updated version of a book I co-

authored to its original publisher A publisher has expressed interest in

one of my own books but the editor has yet to send the contract And

another potential client is about to sign me to ghostwrite her propos-

almdashany day

So that means I have four potential book projects in the works but

nothing has signed yet So I wait And wait And wait Every time the

phone rings or my e-mail chimes I take a breath This could be it This

could be the call But itrsquos not my agent or the AWOL editor or my poten-

tial client Itrsquos another freelancer or a former student or a spammer AndIrsquom getting annoyed

I know that something will shake loose hopefully in the next few days

And I do have a few magazine articles to write but not nearly enough work

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1717

E A N

W7416

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 4

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 e 7 x M E M T A u N A I 4 M A E x B k V B

0 4 T i 0 x M w 0 5 N z g x N T k 5 N j M 1 N D k x A A = =

781599 6354919

51699

ISBN-10 1-59963-549-6ISBN-13 978-1-59963-549-1

US $1699(CAN $2950)

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 0

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 W 6 1 4 C M T M D M T A w A T E F V V B D

0 4 L U E M M D M 1 M z E z N j U 0 N z k 0 K A = =

35313 654790 4 U P C

WRITING REFERENCE

EXPERT ADVICE TO HELP YOU LAUNCHmdashAND SUSTAINmdash

A SUCCESSFUL FREELANCE WRITING CAREER

If your goal is to see your words in print and get paid for them you need

proven strategies and techniques that will help you work efficiently and

target top-paying markets Writer for Hire delivers with smart practical

advice for building a successful freelance career and getting the maxi-

mum mileage out of every piece you write

Written by expert freelancer Kelly James-Enger whose work has

appeared in dozens of national magazines including Redbook and Self this book brings you

bull 101 tips techniques advice and examples on building and main-

taining a freelance career that you can apply right away

bull Concrete advice on the business of writing including manag-

ing deadlines querying effectively working withmdashand vettingmdash

potential clients and handling taxes and invoices

bull Proven strategies for maintaining your success as a freelance

writer from securing repeat writing gigs and networking (in-

person and online) to establishing yourself as an expert and

working efficiently under tight deadlines

Writer for Hire provides all the tools you need to get published more oftento make more money and to sustain a profitable satisfying career as a

freelance writer

Page 17: Writer for Hire, 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

822019 Writer for Hire 101 Secrets to Freelance Success

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullwriter-for-hire-101-secrets-to-freelance-success 1717

E A N

W7416

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 4

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 e 7 x M E M T A u N A I 4 M A E x B k V B

0 4 T i 0 x M w 0 5 N z g x N T k 5 N j M 1 N D k x A A = =

781599 6354919

51699

ISBN-10 1-59963-549-6ISBN-13 978-1-59963-549-1

US $1699(CAN $2950)

F n L 1 0 4 0 1 2 0

0 1 J U Y r V y B Q d W J s a W N h d G l v b n M s I E l u Y y A o

0 2 S W 9 s Y S B k a X Z p c 2 l v b i k P R 3 J l Z 2 9 y e S B L

0 3 c n V l Z 2 V y A E 6 W 6 1 4 C M T M D M T A w A T E F V V B D

0 4 L U E M M D M 1 M z E z N j U 0 N z k 0 K A = =

35313 654790 4 U P C

WRITING REFERENCE

EXPERT ADVICE TO HELP YOU LAUNCHmdashAND SUSTAINmdash

A SUCCESSFUL FREELANCE WRITING CAREER

If your goal is to see your words in print and get paid for them you need

proven strategies and techniques that will help you work efficiently and

target top-paying markets Writer for Hire delivers with smart practical

advice for building a successful freelance career and getting the maxi-

mum mileage out of every piece you write

Written by expert freelancer Kelly James-Enger whose work has

appeared in dozens of national magazines including Redbook and Self this book brings you

bull 101 tips techniques advice and examples on building and main-

taining a freelance career that you can apply right away

bull Concrete advice on the business of writing including manag-

ing deadlines querying effectively working withmdashand vettingmdash

potential clients and handling taxes and invoices

bull Proven strategies for maintaining your success as a freelance

writer from securing repeat writing gigs and networking (in-

person and online) to establishing yourself as an expert and

working efficiently under tight deadlines

Writer for Hire provides all the tools you need to get published more oftento make more money and to sustain a profitable satisfying career as a

freelance writer