Us Writers Deserve To Get Paid

My recent experiences with trying to build up The Prancing Laggard Pub have caused me to butt up against a long-standing frustration I've had with the online writing business. You see, my main goal for the publication is to pay my writers a living wage.

"Oh, that's so noble of you," you might say to yourself as you clasp your hands and flutter your eyelashes, with or without a heavy dose of sarcasm.

No, it's not noble of me. If I was in the habit of cursing online, I'd do it here, but as I try not to do that too much I'll just say this - it's freaking my duty as a person in this industry to make sure that people get paid what their work is worth.

Now, my writer friends, repeat after me:

How To Write a Draft... and How Many Drafts it Takes

How does one write a draft? And how many drafts does it take until a story, blog post, or article is complete? There are plenty of people out there searching for the answers to those questions.

As a freelancer, I have a lot of different projects going on at one time. Not all of them are computer-based, so I don't always sit in front of my computer for long spans of time, nor do I always have the luxury of spending my computer time focused on a single piece of work. This can be very frustrating if I'm trying to achieve a certain goal in one sitting - such as, say, "finishing a first draft." I'm sure the same is true for many people who live and work in the writing world. Whether it's kids, pets, other jobs, or something else that takes your mind away from the draft, it can be hard when you don't know when it's time to "move on to the next stage."

Now that I've been thinking more about drafts in general, and how to get my work done more quickly specifically, I think that the problem is with the carved-in-stone definition of "draft." For example, when I write an article for a site online (such as Trail's Edge Blog), I used to try and force myself through to my desired word count on the first pass. That led to me either staring at the screen angrily when I was halfway through and coming up blank, or just procrastinating until I had that perfect slot of time available. Which never happened, by the way.

Freelance Writer Vs. Online Entrepreneur: What's the Difference?

Source: Emma Larkins

I often describe myself as both a freelance writer and an online entrepreneur. In some ways, the difference between these two types of employment are greater than you might think; in other ways, they're actually pretty similar, and involve a lot of related skills, techniques, and abilities. If you're interested in trying either one, it helps to know exactly what they each entail.

Freelance Writing

The main identifying factors when it comes to being a freelance writer are writing for other people and (almost) always getting paid a set amount. In general, you work for one or more clients. The clients specify the type of work they are looking for, and the amount of money they're willing to pay (although sometimes there is negotiating involved). The writer provides this work, and in return receives the agreed-upon payment. In order to increase income, freelance writers search for new clients and new writing markets.

There are a variety of different ways you can get paid as a freelance writer. You can write articles for online or offline newspapers and magazines, either as one-shot deals or as a regular contributor (at some point you might end up becoming a staff writer). You can write copy for marketing purposes, to be included in advertisements, brochures, websites, or other mediums. You can ghostwrite fiction or non-fiction pieces.

One thing remains the same: you are guaranteed to receive payment for your work, and that amount is almost always agreed upon before the work is completed.

Online Entrepreneurship

Writing Humor Update: EarthDate April 27, 2010

Yay! My topic got featured on Cracked.com!

(The usual note: Cracked.com is an irreverent humor site, and not suitable for all audiences.)

Kirpatrick Swayzerussell: The Perfect Man

Basically, it's a breakdown of how Kurt Russell and Patrick Swayze are the same person, with a little extra info thrown in about Kurt Russell. (For those of you who know how Topics work on Cracked, the topic is about Kurt Russeel specifically.)

Interested in learning about writing topics for Cracked.com? Check out the Cracked Topic Editor Hangout Page on the Cracked Forum, or send me a note if you have specific questions about how it works.

And here, for your viewing pleasure, is a rundown of some of my (wonderful, obviously) recent humor articles:

Cracked: 5 Movie Romances That Won't Last (According to Science)

Regretful Morning: 5 Reasons Your Gaming System is Better than your Girlfriend

Gunaxin: Seven Types of Animal Lawn Ornaments Explained

Read about my Writing Humor for Gunaxin and my Writing Humor for Cracked.com (and Regretful Morning) for more information.

Share

The Freelance Writer's Resume

Update: I'm working on publishing my first science fiction novel! Check out the Kickstarter page to learn more :)

A few weeks ago, I applied to write for one of the big online content sites. This site required that I submit a resume and a writing sample. So, I dusted off my old resume, tweaked it a bit to add my (at the time, somewhat sparse) freelance writing experience, and sent it out.

Unfortunately, the site turned me down, and I have to wonder whether it might have something to do with my resume. I did some research, and came across this interesting resource, written by Moira Allen at Writing-World.com.

I hadn't really stopped to think that a writer's resume might be different from any other type of resume, but according to this site, it was. I thought back on what I knew about resumes, and specifically what I knew about formatting your resume when you're changing your career (which is, after all, what I'm doing). The thing is, companies hiring freelance writers want to know specifically that those writers can, well, write more than they want to know what jobs they've held over the past five, ten, or fifteen years.

Making Money Freelance Writing For Associated Content

I'm making money freelance writing for Associated Content, and man, it feels good.

Are you interested? Click on my referral link to get started. Or, read on to learn more.

I've written in the past about some of the markets I've explored. Associated Content is one of my favorites so far.

The Look

I have to say right off the bat that the layout of the site and the ease of publishing content is a big plus for me. I'm a huge fan of well-designed websites, and I've never had any problems with Associated Content. Plus it looks great, too!

The Basics

Here's the basic rundown of how Associated Content works. You sign up (no application required), and then start submitting articles. You can choose from a variety of options when submitting content that determine who keeps the rights to your article and how you get paid (upfront and performance vs. straight performance). Your writing is not edited, although if you choose to receive an upfront payment, it will be reviewed to see if it meets the requirements. There's more to it than that, but you get the idea.

The Bonuses

Here's one of my favorite parts about writing for Associated Content.

The Freelance Writer's Business Plan

Update: I'm working on publishing my first science fiction novel! Check out the Kickstarter page to learn more :)

If you're in the process of starting (or developing) your freelance writing career, have you given any consideration to your freelance writer's business plan?

Starting a freelance writing career is a just like starting any other business. People tend to rush headlong into freelance writing (or at least, I did) because, unlike a lot of other types of businesses, there is a relatively low barrier to entry. Basically, anyone with a computer, an internet connection, and a modicum of writing skill can start a freelance writing career.

The main reason that I started thinking about making a concrete plan for my writing is that I got a little, well, sidetracked. I had figured out the basic amount of money that I needed to make each day in order to break even (after paying business costs, living costs, taxes, etc.) and written that number proudly on my white board. Only... I wasn't making that much each day, and I had no plan to get to that daily amount from where I was. I had a vague idea of "Oh, if I can write twenty articles a week on this site, and ten on this other site, maybe..." But my plan simply wasn't concrete enough, and I got frustrated.

How to Start a Freelance Writing Career

I've been enjoying a bit of success as a freelance writer over the past couple of months, and I thought I'd write about my experiences. Good information about the markets I've tried and some of the things I've found useful is enclosed.

How to Start a Freelance Writing Career

In addition, I've written more specifically about my experiences with freelance writing for Associated Content and freelance writing for Made Man.

Some of the sites that I'm looking at require actual pitches for articles (Cracked.com has a well-outlined format for creating pitches, but the format varies depending on your market). So I'm brushing up on my pitching skills. Here is an article that I found useful: The Ultimate Article Pitch.

And here is some more information about pitching articles (sure, it's for print publications, but the principles are the same): How to Pitch Freelance Artircles to Print Publications.