Make no mistake about it, there is a world of opportunity and, believe it or not, FUN, waiting for you in the arena of freelance writing. Your odds of making BIG money are slim, but you CAN make money. That’s why I call my popular seminar Freelancing in the Magazine Market: How to Support Your Writing Habit. For me, freelancing is a way to make extra money to support this crazy writing addiction I have. For others, however, the couple of hundred dollars you can make every month might just be extra purse money, or vacation funds, or a resource for bill paying.
So, why spend time freelancing when you could be writing the great American novel instead? Here’s one real good reason. Think of writing a novel as a marriage. Think of freelancing as a date. When you write a book, you are connected to that project for all time! Besides the writing and rewriting, there’s editing, searching for an agent and/or publisher, then the eternal job of MARKETING, MARKETING, MARKETING. There are book signings, mailings, orders to fill, etc. etc. etc. A book is a commitment. A marriage. To make the marriage work (the book sell), you must work at it…forever!
When you freelance, you do your research, write your piece, find your market and then go on your merry way. You are finished, once and for all. You are free to take on another project, take a vacation, or do whatever you choose while you wait for your check to arrive in the mail. Dating implies diversity, and that’s what freelancing offers. You can date more than one person (meaning you can work on several articles at the same time.) I cannot, however, seem to focus on more than one project at a time when I’m working on a book!
All of us have heard about the freelancers who make a hundred thousand a year or more. I am not one of those freelancers. Most of these talented, energetic writers usually are “on contract” or closely associated with a big name “glossy” magazine. Many are employed as independent contractors with companies who need someone to write their monthly newsletter, etc. I am not saying that there are not people out there solely freelancing for magazines who make lots and lots of money…I just don’t know any personally. Everyone I have ever met who has made it big in the freelancing world has done so by being an independent contractor with a company and handling their public relations media, etc. and writing articles on the side.
So, how much can you make writing for magazines? A nice chunk of change! Most magazines will pay from .06 a word to .50 a word. The REALLY big ones pay up to $2.00 a word and usually offer a ‘kill fee.’ You will only receive a ‘kill fee,’ however, if you are assigned a project, and then the project gets cancelled after you’ve researched and written. It’s sort of a compensation.
I have written, and had published, over forty magazine articles in the past three years. Partly, I’ve been lucky. I got in with one magazine in its start-up. I found a thirsty niche in another area. Because of my magazine work I have been contacted by people in need of a freelance writer for specific assignments. During this same time I wrote five books. Like I said, I have an addiction. My magazine work has literally supported my larger projects. The money I’ve made freelancing has paid for a lot of paper, a lot of ink cartridges, seminars, postage, cover designers, editors, and the like.
Writing for periodicals has its own set of spoken and unspoken rules and ethics. Because of the fierce competition for the few slots that most magazines grant to freelancers, it is important that a person wanting to enter into this "genre" have a basic understanding of these conventions to be successful.
Each person will ultimately have to discover for themselves the best route on this trip to publication. For me, freelancing has been fun, educational, interesting, and rewarding. It can be the same for you.
You can download Becky Coffield's new e-book, Freelancing in the Magazine Market, for only $7.50 from www.lulu.com/content/876725
Coffield is also the author of the award-winning suspense novel, Northern Escape, and the award-winning humorous, travel/adventure, Life Was A Cabaret: A Tale of Two Fools, A Boat, and a Big-A** Ocean.
Coffield's newest publication, You Can Conquer TMJ: Ideas and Recipes is available at www.youcanconquertmj.com
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