Writing and Publishing News

Here are some additional tips to help you get down to business and finally start that freelance writing business. For the first 3 tips, read yesterday’s blog post: February 4, 2012.

4: Use your time wisely. Becoming a successful freelance writer takes discipline and realistic scheduling. Failure comes to those who procrastinate, who have trouble prioritizing tasks and who are easily distracted. Those who succeed in this business have found a way to organize and discipline themselves.

While some freelance writers schedule certain hours each day to work no matter what, others work around family and professional obligations. The important thing is that you spend enough time in work mode and that you work smart enough to actually accomplish something each and every day. I work best with a schedule. Each evening, I evaluate that day’s work. I consider upcoming deadlines and the volume of work that needs my attention. Then I create a schedule by prioritizing tasks.

5: Just start. It isn’t easy to transition from full-time office worker to full-time writer. Most of us don’t have the funds to support us while we build a new business. I didn’t always have 12 or even 8 hours each day to spend working my freelance writing business. I built it over time. For any of you who are interested, here is my story:

I started writing articles for magazines from a corner of my bedroom using a manual typewriter in 1973. I was selling quite a few articles and I even had a book published through a traditional royalty publisher during those first several years. I was fortunate to be a homemaker and stay home mom. I waited to start my career until my three daughters were in junior high and high school, so my transition into the world of writing was fairly easy. Frankly, while I was serious about my writing, I was under no pressure to earn a certain amount of money.

In 1986, however, it became necessary for me to take a full-time job. I’d just spent 5 years researching and writing a comprehensive local history book and self-publishing it. So funds were low and my lifestyle was in transition.

How I missed writing. While I had a good job with lovely people around me, I hated working for someone else—on someone else’s agenda. And it looked as if this would be my future. I became despondent. That’s when I realized that I had to find a way to write no matter what else was going on in my life.

I started getting up at 4 every morning and writing before I went to work. Then I would write on weekends. I wrote my book, Quest For Truth, a true metaphysical adventure, in 8 months on that schedule. I can’t even begin to describe how happy and fulfilled I was. But I wanted more. I wanted to come home and establish a writing business that supported me spiritually as well as financially. So I began using that time in the wee hours of the morning to submit articles to magazines—remember, this was before the ease of the Internet. Within a year, I was able to quit my job and come home to write. And I’ve never looked back.

6: Write what they want. You have to go where the paying work is and accept the jobs that are available. While I never compromised my values in order to get paying work, I have certainly had to take some challenging and sometimes not very interesting jobs in order to keep the flow of money coming my way.

I prefer writing books, editing interesting manuscripts for clients and presenting workshops. But, in order to pay the bills, I’ve also written copy for local water companies, I’ve written articles on boring topics and I once wrote a 16-chapter book in 3 weeks for a client.

I’ve seen too many writers so bent on making their own personal statement or doing things their way that they get nowhere in this business. If you want to make a living or even earn some part-time money as a writer, you have to go where the work is and write what is needed/wanted. Write about things that are current, popular or even a bit provocative or controversial.

It takes more to become a full-time writer than just dreaming about it. If writing full-time is your dream, read and reread the above six points I’ve provided in the Saturday (4th) and Sunday (5th) blog posts and use them to finally fulfill your passion.

Patricia Fry is now the author of 35 books, including her two latest:
Publish Your Book and Promote Your Book.
http://www.matilijapress.com
And at Amazon.com

There aren’t many careers that allow you to follow your passion while earning a living. And there aren’t many people who can establish the balance one needs in order to create a business around their passion.

Would you like to establish a career as a freelance writer? Do you dream of writing full-time? Follow the suggestions below and your dream could become a reality.

1: Spend time writing whether it is convenient to do so or not. Perhaps you have a full life—you work eight or ten hours a day outside the home, you do a lot of charity work and/or you enjoy an active social life. We each establish lifestyles that suit our needs and desires. Our routines are important to us. In fact, it represents our comfort zone. To step outside of this zone, even to pursue something we think we want to do, often causes some discomfort. What to do? You have choices. You can give up your dream of writing or try easing into the writing realm. When people say, “I want to write, but I just don’t have time,” what they mean is, “Writing is not one of my priorities right now.”

Make writing a priority and you will find the time.

2: Make time to write. Usually this means making some sacrifices. What are you willing to give up in order to write? Sleep, TV, Internet surfing or perhaps overtime at work? If your life is filled during all of your waking hours with specific activities and rituals, then something will have to change in order to accommodate your desire to write. And the change won’t occur just by wishing or hoping. It will take your concerted effort.

Get up an hour earlier or stay up an hour later and spend this time writing. Turn off the TV more often—much more often. Say “no” to every other social invitation. What may feel like a sacrifice at first, will become part of your new writing routine. If writing is your passion, you will soon feel blessed to have the time to write rather than feeling deprived of time in front of the TV.

3: Be realistic about your writing choices. Perhaps your true dream is to support yourself by writing stories for your favorite romance magazines. Or maybe you’d like to become a novelist. It is extremely difficult to break in as a career writer of fiction. If fiction is your writing bag, I strongly urge you to set that dream aside for now and pursue a mode of writing that is more likely to produce the monetary results you are seeking. If you’re planning to earn a living through writing, nonfiction is easier to sell and a more reasonable medium to engage in. Establish yourself as a nonfiction writer, first—start the flow of work and the flow of money. Then, add to your writing repertoire in order to facilitate your love of fiction.

Here’s what I recommend: start writing articles for magazines, seek freelance writing work in corporate offices or on the Internet or produce some how-to booklets on topics related to your expertise, for example.

Now there’s a creative and viable idea. Whether you give horseback riding lessons, make beaded jewelry, are a whiz at finances, raise poodles, do nails or grow herbs, create booklets on various aspects of your knowledge and distribute them for sale to clients, appropriate specialty stores, from your Web site and so forth.

Let’s take the subject of manicures as an example. You could write booklets on the care of your nails, cuticle health, how to give yourself and others a professional quality pedicure, manicure styles over the years, what your nail color choice reveals about your personality, how to decorate your nails for the holidays, recommended products, old-wives tales about nails and so forth. And you can submit articles on these topics to magazines at the same time.

Tomorrow I’ll have three more tips to help you establish a freelance writing business. In the meantime, check out my websites and order my latest book, Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author. It’s starting to rise up in rankings at Amazon. I guess word is starting to get out.
http://www.matilijapress.com
http://www.patriciafry.com

I’ve discovered over the years that writing is more than just a hobby or a craft. In fact, it has become my mode of earning a living, my passion, a way to gain credibility in my field and my favorite promotional outlet. But it is so much more. Writing has brought me some fabulous opportunities.

Unusual, and often marvelous, things happen when I put myself out there through my writing.

1: I meet interesting people. Both in person and over the Internet, I’ve met many high profile movers and shakers in the world of independent and traditional publishing as well as some extremely talented and successful authors. One can never have too many friends and business associates. Personal and professional connections are vital to establishing a successful writing/publishing career.

2: I get some lucrative writing assignments with some great fringe benefits. And because I’m the author of several solid books related to publishing and book promotion, I am invited to speak in interesting places—like the time I traveled all expenses paid to Dubai.

3: I attract some fascinating clients. Some years ago, I conducted a publishing workshop for a group of home-schooled students as a SPAWN project. (Small Publishers, Artists and Writing Network). We actually produced a perfect-bound book of the students’ work—a book that they also designed. The local publicity for this volunteer project, landed me two wonderful new clients.

A search for people to interview for an article on learning public speaking when English is your second language, resulted in my meeting a lovely woman living in Florida. She just happened to be finishing up a book and needed some help. I was commissioned to edit her book.

4: I always have something to talk about. People are interested in the life of a writer/author and want to spend time with you.

5: As a writer, you learn that the world is full of ideas, interesting characters, fascinating perspectives and other prompts you can use in your stories or nonfiction writing. Writers are more observant—or should be.

Writing is not just about sitting in your cubical drawing material from your own head. A good writer pays attention to what’s going on outside of his everyday world. It’s when you venture out to be with people and nature that you discover a greater writer within.

The awkward month of the year is over. Don’t you think of January as awkward? For some of us, it sets the tone for the year. If you get through January unscathed, you know the rest of the year will be okay. While many people hold off making difficult decisions during the first month of any year, most are ready to commit come February. I suggest that, if you are serious about your article/story writing and/or if you have a book in the works, ready to publish or even published, that you consider NOW joining SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network). Why? You can network with other authors and freelance writers—some of them professionals, glean an enormous amount of information related to publishing from our site and two amazing enewsletters and there are enormous opportunities for exposure and learning.
http://www.spawn.org

I’m processing applications today. Fill yours out and you’ll receive a free book (choose from several) in time to read it next weekend.