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Writing Etc. – April 15, 2006

ISSN: 1545-5580

Tips, Techniques, and Resources to Transform You From An Average Freelancer to A Highly Paid Professional.

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Notes from Minnesota

Freelancing Myths Exposed by Beth Ann Erickson

2006 Action Plan to Jumpstart Your Writing Career

Paying Markets

You Speak Out: Q&A

We Recommend…

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This issue is sponsored by:

While many freelance writers struggle to earn a decent wage, Bob Bly has proven again and again, year after year, that it’s not only possible to earn far more, it’s possible to transform words into a $100,000 per year freelancing business.

And he shares all his secrets within these pages. Secrets like:

• The hidden market most freelancers overlook that can boost your income to unbelievable levels
• The “quiet” magazine market that’s easy to break into and often pays very well
• How to ask for (and get) the fees you deserve
• How to use Bob’s “positioning” techniques to set you apart from your competition
• How to write a “bullet proof” book proposal
• 22 rules for successful self promotion
• Insider secrets to effectively use the Internet to reach your income goals
• How to do more... in less time

Bly goes on to list resources... books, websites, organizations and magazines... that are designed to help you succeed as a freelance writer.

Bob Bly’s Guide to Freelance Writing Success is an indispensable resource for the serious freelancer. Bly’s track record is impeccable. And now he’s spilling his secrets.

Buy your copy today: http://filbertpublishing.com/bob.htm

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Greetings from Minnesota!

I’d like to take a moment to introduce you to the newest staff member here at Filbert Publishing.

Name’s Rudie. She’s a four month old “Doxie Cross” although my dear sister likes to call her a “Canardly” as in you “canardly” tell what breed of dog she is.

Personally, I think she may have a bit of kangaroo blood in her. Jumps all the time, even on our daily walks. Never stops except to recharge her battery with a quick snooze. Then she’s off and hopping again.

Isn’t she a sweetie?

It’s hard to believe that a mere few weeks ago, investigators from the Humane Society found Rudie and her siblings crying inside a box alongside a local ditch.

All the brothers and sisters found good homes, including Rudie. Then, for a reason I’ll never understand, Rudie lost her home and wound up back at the Humane Society again.

That’s when we found her.

And today, Rudie works hard at the Filbert Publishing offices keeping the pink elephants at bay. She’s pretty handy at it, I must say.

As for Lucy the Rat Terrier Wonder Dog, they’re slowly but surely getting a long better. I won’t lie and say it’s been smooth sailing from day one. In fact, Lucy has on more than one occasion acted quite rudely to our little Rudie.

But as these past two weeks have passed, Rudie and Lucy are slowly but surely becoming quite friendly. And I’m more than happy to play temporary and occasional referee for these two outstanding creatures.

After all, a very wise person once wrote:

"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion." - Unknown

To your success,

Beth

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~~~~~~~~~~~~ Feature Article ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Freelancing Myths Exposed

By Beth Ann Erickson

I began my illustrious freelance career with stars in my eyes and a dream in my heart.

I had this vision of myself, hunched over the keyboard furiously typing, brilliant phrases exiting my fingertips onto the computer screen. I even practiced the photo for my first dust jacket… the dignified author, thumb on chin, looking thoughtful. These images filled my mind, but don’t remotely resemble realities of this profession.

If you work as a full time freelancer (one who actually earns a living wage writing from a home office), you’ll probably identify with what you’re about to read. If you’re just starting your writing career, please allow me to lift the blinds that separate four freelance myths and compare them to the reality of freelancing….

Let’s begin with the notion that writing is a quiet and solitary profession.

If only.

When your freelance career is humming nicely, you’ll find yourself inundated with e-mails, phone calls, and faxes. You’ll squeeze writing assignments in between school events (if you have children) and veterinary emergencies (assuming you have pets).

Days becoming a long game of “catch up” usually outnumber the lazy afternoons spent lounging in your office chair crafting the next Great American Novel.

Forget writing in an ideal environment. If you freelance from your home, you’ll find your office invaded by kids, dogs, and spouses. You’ll create your best work with various video games screaming in the background. You’ll referee a few arguments in between client calls. Every so often, you’ll have to dash from your office to find out why the house suddenly fell silent.

Yes. The Freelance Lifestyle is far from solitary and quiet. But life is messy. If our writing is to accurately reflect life, shouldn’t we live a full life?

On to freelance myth number two:

“I must write when my muse is agreeable.”

Yeah right.

If you wait for your muse to give you the green light to start writing… you’re not going to make a living as a freelancer.

The mythical muse is fickle. From what I’ve read on the subject, it flits in and out of your creative conscious and may (or may not) “bless” your imagination with everything it needs to write.

Funny thing. My muse is ignited by the need to feed my family. The more I write, the more ideas stream into my consciousness. The more I research, the more my creativity is ignited.

In other words… the more I work… the more I research… the more sweat I pour into my profession… the more my “muse” blesses me with ideas.

My husband, a sheet metal worker, says the same thing about his job.

To wait for a mythical creature to grace me with its presence would be the same as asking the sheet metal muse to flitter to my husband’s shoulder before he began designing a heating system for a client.

Myth number three:

True writers don’t care about payment and live a frugal life, successful writers earn big bucks and live an extravagant lifestyle.

Ah, the double edged sword.

I’ve read articles about successful authors. I’ve also experienced what freelance magazine writers earn. It’s true, writing superstars earn a lot of dough while many novelists survive on a few thousand a year.

It’s been my experience that I can live somewhere between those two extremes and earn a nice wage as a writer living in the middle of Minnesota.

So (in my opinion), if you think your freelance career will allow you to travel to exotic locations, live in a castle, and hob-knob with the rich and famous… and if you think you’ll be so poor that you’ll have to eat grass to survive… neither of these scenarios need to illustrate your fate.

What you can expect is, if you work smart, expand your writing repertoire to include a little copywriting, and keep on top of your profession, you can easily earn a wage you can be proud of.

Myth number 4:

Writing is a dignified /prestigious job. (Picture my dignified photo here… you remember the one… tweed, elbow patches, thumb on my chin?)

Yeah.

When you’re plodding through ankle deep cow manure chasing after a rancher you’re hoping to profile for a local newspaper, when you’re in your grubbiest clothes hammering the keyboard creating the perfect scene for your newest novel, and when you’re chasing down dentists to write an article about their newest procedure, just keep reminding yourself, “This is a dignified job… this is a dignified job.”

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you want to look at it), many of your most lucrative assignments aren’t very classy. But they pay well. Plus you get new clips for your portfolio.

Despite what you’ve just read, I absolutely love the freelancing lifestyle. It just pains me whenever I meet a freelancer who view freelancing as a quick way to earn fast cash without embracing the craft… or worse yet a writer who believes you must live in poverty, suffer for the craft without ever receiving proper compensation for their hard work.

Freelancing is a business… just like a friendly neighborhood grocery store. You need solid skills, a sense of humor, business acumen, and perseverance to succeed. Oh, and a little luck doesn’t hurt either.

After all, for someone who loves to write, a freelancing career truly is a dream come true.

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Beth Ann Erickson is the “Queen Bee” of Filbert Publishing. She’s also the author of Jumpstart Your Writing Career (http://filbertpublishing.com/jumpstart.htm ) and the upcoming 101 No Cost and Low Cost Techniques To Promote Your Writing Biz. Keep your eye out for it in early 2006. She’s also a busy copywriter, speaker, and publisher of Writing Etc., the free e-mag for writers. 

P.S. You can use this article free of charge on your own website or zine. Just don’t make any changes to is and be sure to include the entire byline. Enjoy!

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2006 Action Plan to Jumpstart Your Writing Career

It’s not too late!

Our Copywriter Mastermind Group just started our High Profit Writing Book Club. Get in on the action and learn some stellar techniques to help your writing generate the income you need.

Our first title is Bob Bly’s “Secrets of a Freelance Writer.”

Kammy Thurman and I have some incredible plans for this group. Already we’ve got a super-duper writer lined up to share their writing/marketing/promoting techniques. And of course, this teleconference is totally free to any Mastermind member who wants to join in.

Pick up your copy of Bly’s book. Join the group. Get in on the fun.

Here are the links:

To join our High Profit Writers Group:

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/CopywriterMastermind

Pick up your copy of Secrets of a Freelance Writer 

Paying Markets – check ‘em out!

Traveler’s Tales

http://www.travelerstales.com/guidelines/

Transitions Abroad

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/information/writers/writers.shtml

Fantasy and Science Fiction

http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/glines.htm

Washington Monthly

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/inside/writersguidelines.html

Notre Dame Magazine

http://www.nd.edu/~ndmag/guidline.html

New England

http://cat.middlebury.edu/~nereview/guidelines.html

Back to College

http://www.back2college.com/guide.htm

Campus Life

http://www.christianitytoday.com/teens/features/info.html#writers

Iowa Review

http://www.uiowa.edu/~iareview/mainpages/guidelines.html

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You Speak Out: Q&A

“My name is {Name Withheld}, and for the past 2 months, I have been contemplating taking the Copywriting Course presented by the American Writers and Artists Institute.  I have done a lot of research, and think it looks like a great course, but was hoping to get some feedback from someone who has taken the course.”

Beth Writes:

I get this question a lot.

As a “graduate” of the American Writers and Artists Institute (AWAI), I’m hardly an objective person to ask about this writing course.

Truth is, if I hadn’t taken their basic copywriting course, I wouldn’t be a writer today. I wouldn’t be able to afford to do so.

That’s because until I learned copywriting’s persuasion secrets, my queries didn’t hit pay dirt. Without their insider tips, I’d never have captured the conversational writing techniques used by popular (and successful, I might add) novelists. Plus I’d never have learned to sell my writing effectively.

Up until I finished their course, I was earning (on average) around 25 bucks per article. Within weeks of finishing it, I was instantly earning over 400 dollars for a two page letter. Small change, I know, but I’ve since raised my rates by a lot.

Yeah. I give AWAI my highest recommendation. They launched my writing career and for that I hold them in the highest regard.

Here’s a link where you can learn more:

http://www.thewriterslife.com/opportunity1

Got questions? Send ‘em here:  http://www.filbertpublishing.com/tinc?key=TTjJjZfx&formname=question

We answer each and every question in the order they come in. Submit your freelance question today. You get your answer in an upcoming issue of Writing Etc.

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We Recommend:

Writing For Dollars! The FREE ezine for writers featuring tips, tricks and ideas for selling what you write. Receive the FREE ebook, 83 WAYS TO MAKE MONEY WRITING when you subscribe. Email to subscribe@writingfordollars.com -*- http://www.WritingForDollars.com

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Are your book sales in a slump? http://BethAnnErickson.com

E-Mag And Web Site Owners! Did you know that Filbert Publishing has an entire cache of articles you can use FREE. Just click the “Freebie” link to your left.

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Writing Etc.

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