Long weekends like the four-day Thanksgiving holiday that starts tomorrow when nobody’s in the office are great times to work on projects you can’t get around to when you have story deadlines and editors breathing down your neck, projects like crafting queries to new or not so new-to-you publications. To help get the query juices […]
Road trip
I’m on the road today, visiting editors in southern California and then taking a few days off. While I’m gone, please enjoy this rerun of some popular WordCount posts about visiting and working with editors. What editors want from freelance writers 4 ways to bring good karma to your freelance writing business Top 10 qualities […]
Guest post on The Golden Pencil
I’m the special guest blogger today over at The Golden Pencil, a b5 Media blog for freelance writers that’s run by host Jenny Cromie, who recently took over the gig. My Q&A covers a variety of topics, including how I got into the freelance business, how the current economy is changing the freelance landscape and […]
You may be desperate for work, just don't act like it
It’s one thing to be desperate for work. It’s another to act like it. You may have just lost a big client, or even more than one, so you’re scrambling to add some new writing assignments to your calendar. You send out letters of introduction and query like crazy. A few nibbles come in as […]
Should writers blog about juicy subjects or save them for story pitches?
Any writer with a blog has faced this dilemma: when a juicy tidbit or great story comes your way, do you blog about it or save it for a query? Freelance writer and blogger Michelle Goodman tackles this question in a recent entry to her blog, The Anti 9-to-5 Guide. Goodman wisely suggests saving your […]
Freelancers should just say no to assignments, gigs that aren't a good fit
Can you tell when a freelance gig isn’t a good fit? Susan Johnston’s got some great tips for determining whether you should take a freelance job on her blog, The Urban Muse, in a post called 5 signs that this isn’t the gig for you. My favorite: when an editor sends your story back with […]