HOW TO MARKET YOUR FREELANCE WRITING
This resource is a short guide to market your freelance writing with your own
freelance style.
So your 10th grade English teacher told you that you should be a writer. You
think you’re ready to be published now. You’ve written many things
but have no idea what to do with them. Well read on, this article will give
you some hints and tips on what to do with the things you write. Keep in mind,
the old saying not to quit your day-job. A career as a writer is rewarding but
doesn’t always pay the bills.
A good place to start is to go to your local bookstore and pick up a copy of
the Writer’s Digest. In it you will find writing how-to’s, tips
and classes on writing to tone your craft. You will also find contests and some
guidelines for various publications. Read the magazine from the front cover
to the back. You will gain so much knowledge about the business of writing.
Although the author of this piece has no affiliation with this magazine, for
beginning writers and writers at various stages in their careers, a good idea
would be to buy a subscription to keep up on all the latest information for
writers.
Entering contests is a good way to hone your craft. Enter short story contests,
poetry, whatever you write, enter a contest. Many of them will have editors,
agents or other writers as the judges of these contests. A problem for some
writers is that if they don’t win the contest, they feel that they are
not good enough to be a writer. This is not necessarily true. In the beginning,
don’t enter the contest to win, enter to improve. When you are starting
out, only enter contests that are free and have no fees. Otherwise, your writing
career may get expensive.
If you have the Internet, in your search engine type in Writers, Beginning
Writers or anything related to the type of writing you wish to do that you can
think of. You will get a lot of websites to check out. Start with the first
and keep going. Now days, there are as many websites as there are writers. Find
the one that speaks to you and gives you the most information for your type
of writing.
There are several websites that will publish your works. There are many sites
just starting that can’t afford to pay their authors for their works but
writing for them will give you writing clips which you can use in your resume.
If you are a novel writer, there are several books at your local bookstore
or library that list the publisher’s guidelines for the types of books
they accept. A great reference book for writers that lists publishers' guidelines
is the Writer’s Market. This is an invaluable book for novel writers.
Always adhere to the publishers' guidelines or your manuscript may never even
be read.
If you are a little nervous about contacting a publisher directly, an agent
may be for you. You’re not sure where to send your work or what to send
them, an agent can be very useful. To find a reputable agent, ask other authors.
A good way to do this is to get on an email list with the authors who write
the same type of book that you do. They can be invaluable with information.
Learn how to write a good query letter and synopsis. This is your foot in the
door and you want to make a good impression. But beware, many of today’s
most popular authors have gotten a rejection letter at the beginning of their
careers. The difference between them and some other would-be writers is that
they did not give up. That is what you must not do. Hone your craft. Keep querying,
keep learning but most importantly, don’t stop writing.
You can be the writer you always wanted to be. (by Vanessa Mullins)
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