Not much to write about today. Or at least it's 6:00 a.m. and maybe I'm still asleep. I've a long day in front of me and I doubt that I'll have time to work on my blog. Not much to report today. I finished up one freelance article yesterday and another the day before. I'm in the middle of working on another piece, but I need some feedback from one of the magazine's editors before I can move forward and actually start writing the piece. However, I've been busy in doing research for the article in preparation for the go ahead.
It's been enjoyable to have some freelance work to try my hand at something different. What I've found to be extremely helpful is good organizational skills. Even something as simple as creating different folders in my Yahoo! e-mail account has helped me keep track of the various deadlines, editors, and feedback from people. It's a lot easier to dump e-mails for each project into a folder and then forget about it. When I need to find that information, I know that it's something in that folder. Having this type of setup makes finding that e-mail that you really want (three months from now), a lot easier.
I'm hoping that the current project that I've been asked to write on comes through as I actively pursued the magazine and would like to see my piece published there.
And again, to you unpublished writers out there: Let me make myself clear in reminding you to not quit your day job. The money that I've earned so far is nice, but it's not enough money to life off of. The work is unsteady and does not pay enough to live off of. Am I saying that freelance writing for magazines is not a viable option? No, I'm not. If you're dedicated and can build up some important clients (big magazines), then you can wind up making $2 a word. But when you first start out, don't be amazed to find that you're making $.05 a word. That's the reality of the publishing world. Writing the freelance articles has been great fun as I've been using a lot of my creative side, but it's not my full-time job. But don't let that stop you from want to write. If you enjoy it, go ahead. However, I would advise to try and branch out to as many different magazines as you can and remember, if you're in the United States, to take about 1/3 of all that you earn and put it aside for taxes. You'll need to pay taxes of your writing income. Uncle Sam gets his cut so don't forget that! Now that I've probably frightened you with poor pay and lots of taxes, don't give up hope and remember to have fun!
It's been enjoyable to have some freelance work to try my hand at something different. What I've found to be extremely helpful is good organizational skills. Even something as simple as creating different folders in my Yahoo! e-mail account has helped me keep track of the various deadlines, editors, and feedback from people. It's a lot easier to dump e-mails for each project into a folder and then forget about it. When I need to find that information, I know that it's something in that folder. Having this type of setup makes finding that e-mail that you really want (three months from now), a lot easier.
I'm hoping that the current project that I've been asked to write on comes through as I actively pursued the magazine and would like to see my piece published there.
And again, to you unpublished writers out there: Let me make myself clear in reminding you to not quit your day job. The money that I've earned so far is nice, but it's not enough money to life off of. The work is unsteady and does not pay enough to live off of. Am I saying that freelance writing for magazines is not a viable option? No, I'm not. If you're dedicated and can build up some important clients (big magazines), then you can wind up making $2 a word. But when you first start out, don't be amazed to find that you're making $.05 a word. That's the reality of the publishing world. Writing the freelance articles has been great fun as I've been using a lot of my creative side, but it's not my full-time job. But don't let that stop you from want to write. If you enjoy it, go ahead. However, I would advise to try and branch out to as many different magazines as you can and remember, if you're in the United States, to take about 1/3 of all that you earn and put it aside for taxes. You'll need to pay taxes of your writing income. Uncle Sam gets his cut so don't forget that! Now that I've probably frightened you with poor pay and lots of taxes, don't give up hope and remember to have fun!
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