Right now the freelance market is crammed with laid off writers, editors and other creative types trying their hand at self employment. With so much supply, it’s important to stand out. One way to do that is by offering some added value to work you perform for existing and new clients. What’s added value? It’s […]
To stay fresh, take a mental break between writing deadlines
It’s hard to jump straight from writing “The End” on one assignment to “Once upon a time” on the next. Sometimes you need a mental break in between, even if it’s a short one. Think of it as a palate cleanser between courses. I recharge the old writing batteries by doing a quick activity between […]
Help fight for release of freelance journalist Roxana Saberi
UPDATED APRIL 18: U.S. freelance broadcast journalist Roxana Saberi was sentenced to eight years in prison in Iran, where she had been accused of spying. Saberi, a former Miss North Dakota who’d reported from Iran for National Public Radio and other news organizations for the past six years, stood trial in Tehran earlier this week. […]
WordCount Q&A – One freelancer's DIY book publishing success
Corinne McKay is something of a miser, so when she decided to write a book, she studied all the options before picking the one she thought would make the most money. McKay, a freelance translator who lives in Boulder, Colorado, with her husband and 6-year-old daughter, ultimately opted to self publish. Not only that, she […]
When freelancing isn't enough – it's OK to have another job too
Freelance writers are nervous by nature. There’s so much that has to go right for us to make money. Editors have to like our pitches and manuscripts. Articles have to run. Accounting departments have to issue us checks and checks have to clear. When the economy goes south, we worry even more than usual, especially […]
High school confidential: journalism's changing, but jobs are still out there
High school girls still dream of being Rory Gilmore, the fictional daughter in The Gilmore Girls TV show who headed straight from a Yale journalism degree to a job covering Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. That’s what I discovered at career day at my old high school last week. More than 80 girls from St. Mary’s […]