Secrets of the Professional Freelancer

By Bev Walton-Porter

How do you build your own freelance writing business? Are you ready for full-time freelance writing? What's a query letter, and why is it so important? What is the best way for a writer to deal with rejection?

In Secrets of the Professional Freelancer, veteran freelance writer, editor and author Bev Walton-Porter provides answers to these questions, and many more. With step-by-step guidance for readers who want to begin their writing careers, Walton-Porter leads readers along the path to transforming the dream of being a freelance writer into reality.

• Language: English
• Publisher: )0( Triple Crow Publishing )0(
• Release date: Mar 23, 2011
• ISBN: 9781452450858

Bev Walton-Porter

Bev Sninchak (also writing as Bev Walton~Porter) is a Colorado-based professional freelance writer, blogger, editor, and writing instructor/coach. She has published hundreds of columns, articles, and reviews since she became a full-time freelancer in May 1997. She began writing for publication in 1982. Bev has held membership in several organizations, including the Authors Guild, Romance Writers of America, Pikes Peak Writers, Oklahoma Writers Federation, Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA), the Social Psychology Network (SPN), the American Indian Science & Engineering Society, and Allies for Equality at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. She is also past president of the Enid Writers Club. Her article on online promotion appears in the Writer’s Digest book Writer’s Online Marketplace. She began writing at age nine and became a published writer with the Colorado Springs Sun newspaper before the age of 18. Bev is the author of Sun Signs for Writers, Secrets of the Professional Freelancer, Aim To Write: Tips & Tricks for Freeing the Scribe Within, Shadows of the Soul, and Nocturnal Musings: Collected Ponderings, Essays, and Stories. She is also co-author of The Complete Writer: A Guide To Tapping Your Full Potential. Bev has also published two fiction books, Mending Fences and Hidden Fire, both under the pen name of Star Ferris. She lives with her husband Paul and their four dogs in the beautiful state of Colorado. When she's not writing, editing, or teaching, she is pursuing advanced education in Forensic Psychology, crocheting, reading, traveling, and gaming. You can connect with her online at http://www.motherofcrows.com, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Bev.Walton.Porter, or on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/mother_of_crows

Book preview

Secrets of the Professional Freelancer

by

Bev Walton-Porter

SMASHWORDS EDITION

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PUBLISHED BY:

Bev Walton-Porter on Smashwords

Cover courtesy of Cyndy Clemens

Secrets of the Professional Freelancer

Copyright © 2004 by Bev Walton-Porter

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

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For my mother, Shirley Walton-Thayer.

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter One – Building Your Freelance Business on a Shoestring

Chapter Two – How to Effectively Generate Ideas

Chapter Three – Eight Great Ways to Jump-start Your Writing

Chapter Four – Head Games: Harnessing the Wild Mind

Chapter Five – Using Emotions to Fuel Your Writing Fire

Chapter Six – Are You Ready for Full-time Freelancing?

Chapter Seven – Networking: Harnessing the Power of Teamwork

Chapter Eight – Distractions - Moving from Unfocused to Focused

Chapter Nine – The Professional Pitch: Mastering Query Letters

Chapter Ten – From Idea to Finished Product

Chapter Eleven – Rejection Redux: Turn a Negative into a Positive!

Chapter Twelve – Ether to Editor: How E-queries Make Life Easier

Chapter Thirteen – Freelancer Pitfalls: Dealing with Interruptions

Chapter Fourteen – How to Reach Your O.W.L.

Chapter Fifteen – Quick Clips: Writing Book Reviews

Chapter Sixteen – Slanting Articles for Print and Web Pubs

Chapter Seventeen – Freelancer Pitfalls: Time Management

Chapter Eighteen – Capturing Local and Regional Markets

Chapter Nineteen – Developing an Effective Press Release

Chapter Twenty – Six Easy Steps to Launching Your Own E-zine

Chapter Twenty-one – Diversifying Efforts for More Sales

Chapter Twenty-two – Live Your Freelance Writing Dream!

Acknowledgments

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INTRODUCTION

Ask a thousand freelance writers the best way to break into freelance writing and you’ll likely get a thousand variations of an answer. Some will tell you to specialize; others will tell you to diversify. Write what you know! will be the call of others, while many will eschew that notion completely. For a person who is interested in becoming a freelance writer, the path is one strewn with confusion. Questions lead to answers. Those answers invariably lead to even more questions. Soon enough, the would-be freelancer is frustrated to the point of no return and, sadly, many aspiring freelancers forget about the whole notion of writing or getting published once and for all. In short, because many people make the whole process seem so nebulous and difficult, the majority of people who consider freelance writing toss their dreams aside and never go back to revisit or reconsider them.

In this book, I only offer you the information I have found has worked for me and me alone. The information has helped me publish nearly 200 articles, interviews, reviews and features online and in print. What I have here are methods that, for whatever reason, worked the best for me. Think of this information as a jumping-off point for your freelance aspirations, but don’t take my word as the last word on anything. The publishing business changes daily. You must be flexible and astute enough to mold and shape the basic information you receive in order to meet the current state of the industry.

However, as much as the industry changes, some basic rules remain the same. For instance, you’ll never get away with playing prima donna with any editor and expect to receive plum writing assignments from him or her. Likewise, you’ll never get away with submitting a stained, handwritten story and hope to have it published. There are certain protocols and rules that you will always need to adhere to. What I offer here is a concise and easily understood set of methods to help you. In addition, selected chapters offer an assignment for you to work on by yourself to help put into practice the information in said chapter.

Will this book guarantee you a long and prosperous freelance career the likes of which will transform you into a rich and famous writer? No book can do that, and anyone who claims to know the one true way isn’t being upfront with you. But what this book can offer is a common-sense approach to freelancing that has worked for me. It is my belief that if you employ these methods, you will prepare yourself to enter the freelancing arena. How well you do and where you go once you enter the arena is strictly up to you. No book or amount of advice from other freelancers can ensure your success. The biggest secret in freelancing is that you, yourself, are the most potent of tools in your box of resources. For with all the knowledge and training in the world, if you do not have the desire and persistence, you won’t succeed. Not in freelancing and not in anything else in life.

Herein I offer you information I learned on my own as I made my way along the path of freelance writing. Put your skepticism (and your internal censor) aside and simply consider what I offer you here. Give these methods a try and then, as you find your comfort and rhythm, expand and improve upon what I offer you in this book. No freelancer works like any other, and eventually as you find your own pace, you will work only as you know is best for you. But until you discover that pace, follow the instructions I have set out for you here –-as well as the advice – so that you may at least begin your journey.

From this point on, you are a writer. Not an aspiring writer – a writer. A writer is one who writes, just as a golfer is one who golfs. There are no aspiring golfers, just as there are no aspiring writers. If you write, then you are a writer. The only distinction beyond that is at what level you write: novice, intermediate or professional. And today, we set forth on a path that will guide you from either novice or intermediate and closer to professional level. In this book I offer you the tools and resources you need to make that journey. However, the most important element of this equation is you. How far you travel is entirely up to you. But before you can reach any destination, you must venture that first step. Come and take my hand, for I have many things to show you....

Sincerely,

Bev Walton~Porter

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Chapter One

Getting Started:

Building Your Freelance Business (on a shoestring budget)

In May 1997 I put out the white flag, resigned my comfortable city government job, and in the space of a day, I became the owner of a home-based freelance writing business.

Although home-based businesses are not new, trying to build a business of your own can prove to be tricky -- especially a freelance writing business. Months before, I put on my thinking cap, assessed my skills, and surfed the World Wide Web looking for answers as to how I could build a steady stream of freelance writing assignments using the Internet.

I already knew about the traditional means of selling freelance articles by snail mail, but selling freelance articles that way is only slightly more risky than betting on horses. I needed ways to use my writing skills to generate some funds on a regular basis.

While I needed to build my business prospects, I didn’t have a lot of cash to spend. Like a lot of beginning entrepreneurs, I had to watch my start-up costs and carefully monitor all of my expenditures. I had a mere $150 with which to launch my venture, which I called W/P Wordworks Freelance Services.

Thankfully I stumbled across numerous ways to advertise my services for little or nothing -- mostly through the World Wide Web. And though I used traditional means to market my services on a local basis in the beginning, now I rarely pay for regular print advertising from my hometown paper. Why should I? I’m getting plenty of clients from the methods I’m using in cyberspace!

If you’re looking to break out of the regular workaday mode and find yourself with an entrepreneurial itch you are dying to scratch, I can offer a glimpse of my experience with building a freelance business from the ground up with little or no cash.

Why start a freelance business? For many reasons. Not the least of which is the freedom to be your own boss, set your own schedule, call your own shots. You might also answer, money. If you’re going into the business thinking you’ll be pulling in mega-dough almost immediately, you might consider some of bitter realities you’ll have to face in the freelance business.

Before I give you tips on building your fledgling freelance business, I want to point out some of the pitfalls so you won’t be wearing rose-colored glasses in a dark room -- you can’t see the beauty of something if you’re not wise enough to have the right equipment and attitude when you first go into it.

First and foremost, freelancing seems romantic, but it’s hard work. You have to go out and get your assignments. Most clients won’t come begging at your door (unless you’re a very well known, established freelancer with an impressive resume and clips.)

Second, give yourself the time and space to succeed. Don’t expect to write the Great American Novel your first week into self-employment and expect millions of dollars in advance money to land magically on your doorstep. You may have to start small and work up, taking odd writing jobs in various categories to bring in the bacon while you’re waiting for your novel to go whole hog.

Finally, don’t limit your options for opportunity just because you believe your talents are that much more outstanding than other freelancer’s. You will simply become a legend in your own mind. Capitalize on your current abilities, then expand your range day by day by pushing yourself to accept new and different assignments -- even if those assignments seem foreign or daunting to you at first.

The more you maintain flexibility as a freelancer, the more open you’ll become to receive jobs from sources you never considered before.

When you first start your quest to become a home-based freelancer, you should put on your thinking cap, assess your skills, and truthfully discover what your greatest assets are. As a writer, I asked myself in what ways I could benefit others with my abilities.

Beyond regular freelance article submissions, what other things could I do with my writing? What kinds of jobs would utilize my writing, bring steady income, and still allow me to indulge in my passion for chasing magazine or newspaper assignments?

Part of the answer came to me almost immediately. Resumes. In the small city where I used to live (population: less than 50,000) people desperately sought work, yet no resume service was listed in the phone book! In fact, not even the temporary agencies offered resume services. So what did I do? I worked out a deal with them where there give out MY card when people walk in and inquire about getting a resume.

I had a good track record with resumes and I felt comfortable writing them, so that was one big way I could use my writing skills and garner income. But then I expanded my thinking a bit more. By conducting job searches through the Internet, helping design persuasive resumes and offering to post them on the Internet, I increased my chances of attracting clients. Not just locally, but globally, as well.

In addition, I expanded my potential client list to businesses, both local and global, which needed assistance with writing or editing business-related copy. Don't be shy: send out a packet with your information and a brief bio, and a sample of your work (make this sample business-related, of course.) Also be sure to include a sample newsletter -- many businesses and community organizations produce newsletters for their clients/members and may be looking for someone to handle the job. Perhaps you're just the right person to fill that niche.

Then I realized my strongest client base -- other writers. I quickly discovered there was a need for inexpensive manuscript critiquing as well as helping others to write attention-getting query letters and synopses. The first book I ever edited is now in published form and the author was so happy with my work that he mentioned my company's name during a television interview and in local newspapers throughout his area. Again, free advertising from a satisfied client!

Now that I had some ideas for starting my freelancing business, it was time to get the word out. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a lot of cash to spend doing that. But as luck would have it, my brand new