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Tips for Making Money Writing as a Freelancer
by Richard Henderson
Working at home as a writer is one of the largest work at home categories.
Being a freelance writer has traditionally been a work at home job, and now that
working at home is becoming more popular, there have been more writers in the
industry. If you like to write and have a good grasp of the English language,
you will never be at a loss for the work at home writing jobs.
Starting your career as a work at home writer is as easy as doing some Internet
research and applying for a job. There are many ways to break into the writing
field, even if you have no previous experience. Online opportunities abound, and
there are still many writers who stay exclusively in the print market.
While many writers dream of one day writing the great American novel, most
writers are realistic in knowing that they are going to have to do some other
types of writing to get paid on a consistent basis. Writing for pay is mostly,
if not exclusively, done in the non-fiction genre. While occasionally you will
find contests for fiction writing or for poetry, these opportunities are few and
far between when compared to the non-fiction opportunities.
Writing from home as a freelancer requires that you have a reliable Internet
connection, good written communication skills and the ability to be a self-
starter. As a writer, you will be in charge of your time and your projects.
There will always be deadlines to meet and new writing opportunities to try.
You will be responsible for balancing your writing with the rest of your life.
You must also have the ability to research a wide variety of topics. As you
accept assignments, you'll be challenged to learn about and write about topics
that you may have little experience in.
Freelance writing from home can break down into three specific areas: writing
for print, writing for the web and blogging. Although blogging is technically
writing for the web, there are many distinctions that make it different from
other web writing opportunities.
Writing for print is what people generally think of when they hear the term
"freelance writer." freelancer writers who write for the print markets need to
first build a reputation as reliable and eloquent writer. If you've never
written for the print markets before, start with smaller, local publications and
then work from there.
You'll need to find a list of publications that are accepting "queries." Queries
are a combination of a letter of introduction and a pitch for a story idea. Most
writers rely on the Writer's Market reference guide for lists of publications.
The Writer's Market has comprehensive information on a variety of newsletters,
magazines and other publications that are taking queries. Start with topics that
you know the most about and try writing a few queries to get yourself going in
the print market.
The only drawback to writing for print is that the period between when you write
and when you get paid can be months long. For many freelancers, this is just not
feasible. Writing for the web, however, can meet their income needs and still
allow them to write from home.
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