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Theresa H. Johnson


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Breaking Into Freelance Writing

“Breaking Into Freelance Writing”
By Theresa Harvard Johnson

A freelance writer is a person who writes on a contractual basis for a newspaper, magazine, newsletter or other print or electronic publication. Generally, freelance writers are paid per article or per job (for a series or a multiple projects) and the revenue could range from just a few dollars or even into the thousands – depending on the type of writing and the type of company you are working with. I’ve experienced both, and can tell you up front that when you are freelancing you do it because you love writing – not necessarily because of the income. If you are serious about breaking into the business of freelancing – particularly print or electronic publications - I’m going to share some practical steps, from my personal experiences, that will help get you started.

Here are the top eight “Getting Started” tips:

1. What is your area of expertise or your knowledge base? Knowing what interests you, what you are knowledgeable about, and what you like writing about will give you a pretty good idea of where you might want to start when it comes to submitting articles to print and/or online publications. For example, if you are a health and fitness guru then you already have knowledge of buzz words, proper diets, exercise secrets, trends and other information that will jump start story ideas or line you up with great people to interview. Your first article could quite possibly be one that would fit into a publication dedicated to health and wellness. If you are an at home mom, then your topics of interest could range from managing time wisely, family budgeting to making time for yourself. The most important thing to remember is not to spend a lot of time “creating a knowledge base” by jumping into something foreign to you, but to pull on what is already on the inside of you and go from there. Trust me, whatever your interests may be there are quite possibly markets out there looking for what you have.

 

2. Read other articles. For those launching out into freelancing, this is perhaps one of the most important steps you can take. If you want to write about parenting, then you need to read articles from nationally recognized publications that focus on parenting. Whatever your interest, this is absolutely your next step. These articles will give you a clear perspective of the magazine’s flow; its preferred content and style; its readership; and even a look at how each article is organized. You will also get an example of the topics that are popular and of interest to the publications audience. Reading one magazine isn’t enough from a particular publisher isn’t enough for a beginner. It’s good to visit your local library and begin to read a wide range of magazines on the subject to see how they differ.

 

3. Find a topic or a person to interview and begin to draft your own article. Once you have an idea for an article, begin to develop that idea by doing your homework. You will need some pretty good interviewing skills and some knowledge of knowing the right questions to ask. If you are working on an article about “Healthy Eating” for a family living magazine in your own community, then you would want to interview a local, established doctor about some practical ways a family can eat healthy on a limited budget. Find out from your state’s health department how many people in your state are obese. Get a list of healthy foods; interview a family that is making the switch, and then give your readers some steps to getting on the right track. Sometimes, this can be as simply as reaching out to your own physician for advice or making a phone call to your city’s health department. The idea here is to gather credible information that can be used to develop a credible, fact driven article. Putting the first article together is always the toughest. It is at this point, however, that you draw on the people around you who are familiar with your subject matter to ask them for input concerning your draft. If you have access to a writing coach or a good editor, this is even better. When you are ready to submit your article, it should be free of any spelling or grammatical errors – even if the format isn’t quite right. I’ve met publishers who can work with the content, but they do not like sloppy, careless writing.

 

4. Look for opportunities to get your article published. Do some research on the Internet and “search out” freelance writing opportunities. There are tons of opportunities and information available. A word of warning: “Don’t pay anyone to help you find a freelance opportunity.” Many of these programs give you information that you can quite easily find yourself. There’s nothing wrong with going to the library or searching the Internet for the information you need. You are your very best teacher. Begin to build a list of potential publications that you can submit your article to. Read their “submission guidelines” in detail and honor every step. Once you find a publication that interests you, remember to find out as much as you possibly can about them BEFORE working your way through the submission process. Some publications may ask you to write a query letter which explains the purpose of your article and its relevance to their particular publication. When I started freelancing, I simply sought out the publishers who did not require query letters and whose guidelines were a little relaxed. The more I began writing, the more comfortable I became with the more stringent publications.

 

5. Building a Portfolio. If you do not have a “writing portfolio” – an archive of articles that you have successfully published – then now is your time to build one. It is for this reason that I encourage writers to take advantage of many of the writing opportunities that will come their way that do not pay. It is okay to write for free. Let me say that again, “It is okay to write for free.” Often times in this business, writers with little or no experience in print or online article writing should expect to write for “credit” so-to-speak. This means that you will submit the article for publication in exchange for your very own byline or even a photo next to your article. When the article is published, you will get credit for it and can add the finished product to your growing portfolio. At some point, your writing achievements will give you the practical experience you need to write for more marketable publications. Some publications, for example, will only take articles from experienced writers who know the business.

 

6. Don’t Be Afraid to Become Your Own Publisher. There are many writers, especially Christian, who have an entrepreneurial, creative or instructional voice on the inside of them. Don’t be afraid to develop a blog, a website or even an email list to begin publishing your own articles or columns as well. The key here is to find an audience for what you write. A good place to start for feedback and exposure in this arena is “FaithWriters.com.” In addition, find other ministries or publications that publish similar material and begin to offer your articles for free with a small stipulation: “This article if free for use as is as long as you include the article name, the author’s name, web address, email and the copyright information.”

 

7. Don’t Be Discouraged by Rejection. Never be discouraged by rejection. Every publication is looking for something different. You simply have to find your “voice” and the publications that work for you. Ask anyone who freelances, rejection is a part of the business but it isn’t a show stopper. Even with the experience I’ve have over the last two decades, I am always willing to write for a starter publication for free as well as established publication for pay. I’ve experienced rejection many times, but my successes have been even greater. The important thing to remember here is that you must not give up! You should also welcome and embrace any criticism or insight – even if it is not to kind – that you may receive from a publisher. It will strengthen you. In addition, it is also normal not to receive a response at all. If they are interested, they will call you.
    

8. Keep a Running List of Submissions. A freelance writer must be very organized. Every time you submit an article, you should add that article to a homemade database – even if it is in Microsoft Word – that lists the name of the article, whom it was submitted to, the date of submission, the response time, and even whether or not the article was published. You would not want to submit the same article to the potential publisher more than once, or even send to many articles for consideration at once. Also, hold on to your articles as there are many publishers that will reprint articles already published.

These steps are presented to “jump start” your potential writing career in print and electronic publications. Other freelance writing opportunities include writing press releases, website content, business documents, business letters, and other administrative type functions. Breaking into this arena is quite different and requires a very specific skill set. In addition, the revenue is significantly higher. Stay tuned, articles will be posted on this area of “freelance” in the near future.