Writing Success

Your Rights as a Freelance Writer - Part 1

Today we’re going to start taking a look at your rights, as a writer, to the work you sell. It’s no secret that writers write to be paid and this is a question most new writers often ask after they’ve had their first piece published. This only makes sense, especially after pouring countless hours into the research, construction, and marketing of a piece.

Usually when you sell an article to a magazine or newspaper you are not actually selling the article itself. What you are sellign is the right to publish the piece that you’ve written and that publication will almost always include a byline that indicates you are there author.

There are, however, a few different situations that describe the rights of the writer versus publisher as they pertain to how that particular piece of work can be used. These include, but aren’t necessarily limited to:

• First serial rights,
• One-time rights,
• Second serial (reprint) rights,
• All rights, and
• Work for hire

The world of freelance writing can certainly be a bit mysterious and confusing. In our next post we’ll take each of these categories and break them down, explaining exactly what you’re getting (or not getting) by selling your work under each. Until then, take a look at a few of your contracts and see what you’ve gotten yourself into in the past. Do you really understand what rights you still have as they pertain to each piece you’ve already sold?

Myths about Blogging

Scott Rosenberg, one of the co-founders of Salon.com, is shown in the following video explaining what he views as the top 10 myths about blogging. Does a  blogosphere exist? Are bloggers journalists? Can bloggers really be trusted? I think you’ll find this brief video slightly informative - and definitely humorous.

The truth, as far as I’m concerned, is that blogging is essential to the success of any freelance writing business. If you aren’t blogging already, you should seriously consider building a blog. Your potential clients will want to see real-life examples of your work, published live on the web. Sometimes linking to work on other sites is acceptable, but others will want to read what you’ve written in your own voice.

If you have a blog, let us know about it here. If not, consider starting one soon. The sooner you get started the easier it will be to maintain!

The Advantages of Freelance Writing

You might be a little bit nervous about launching your freelance writing career and that’s completely understandable. Fortunately, there are quite a number of benefits to being a freelancer - especially if your area of expertise is in writing.

Check out this video put together by the folks at FreelanceWriting.com. It covers the three main advantages of freelance writing and gives you some tips and tricks on what you need to get started.

Don’t forget - getting started in the field of freelance writing isn’t easy but it’s definitely worth the time and effort you’re going to put into it. Take your time, start slowly, and before you know it you’ll be on the path to success!

Social Networking with TwitterFollow

Not long ago, problogger John Chow introduced a new service known as TwitterFollow. The premise is that if you join you promise to “follow” anyone who follows you on Twitter.

Sounds like a great idea for those of us who need to build a Twitter following for marketing purposes, right?

Wrong.

I implemented TwitterFollow on my personal Twitter account just to see how it would work out. In the end I managed to accumulate 700+ Twitter followers - none of whom bother to read what I “tweet.” …Continue Reading Social Networking with TwitterFollow

Marketing through Cold Calling

Don’t panic. Yes, I did refer to cold calling in the title of this post. No, I don’t think every freelance writer needs to resort to cold calling to find work. Yes, I do think you should familiarize yourself with the concept.

Building a successful freelance writing career means being willing to take risks. When times are tough it will be up to you to begin thinking outside of the box in order to find work. This may mean, in some cases, getting OFF of the computer and offering your services to local businesses.

…Continue Reading Marketing through Cold Calling

Maintaining Your Identity as a Writer

So many of us embark on writing careers only to find that they work we are doing begins to define us. In a perfect world, however, you as a writer will instead inject life into your work. You maintain control at all times. In the beginning you may find yourself feeling a bit insecure about your work. That’s OK - it’s completely normal - but it’s something you need to get over as well.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• The more you write, the better you’ll get at it. The same thing happened when you were born and began learning how to talk. You didn’t have a full vocabulary from the start - it had to develop and grow. The same thing will happen with your writing skills. …Continue Reading Maintaining Your Identity as a Writer

Overworked and Underpaid? Not Likely…

It’s not uncommon for everyone, at some point in his career, to get to the point where he feels as though he’s overworked and underpaid. The real truth, however, is that most of the people who complain about being overworked really aren’t. They feel as though there aren’t enough hours in the day to get work done, but in truth they’re really not focused on the tasks at hand. …Continue Reading Overworked and Underpaid? Not Likely…

Penelope vs. David: Taking Responsibility for Yourself

“For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. ” I’m pretty sure we’re all familiar with, or have at least heard of, Newton’s laws of motion. But we’re not here to talk about motion. We’re talking about writing. So what’s my point?

For every action you take as a writer you create the potential for a reaction. Every word you write will spark some sort of emotion in your reader and, in some, those emotions may spiral into some sort of action. As a freelance writer you need to remain professional at all times - even if your writing focuses on controversial topics.

So why do I bring this up? Because social networking, blogging, and related venues, while they open you up to a world of opportunity, may also open you up to a world of confusion and turmoil. Case in point: the controversy between careerist Penelope Trunk and her now arch rival David Dellifield (if he even knows he’s the subject of such attention).

…Continue Reading Penelope vs. David: Taking Responsibility for Yourself

Planning Your Freelance Work

While working as a full-time freelancer has it’s benefits and perks, one thing that gets most new writers in trouble is the idea that they have the freedom to work whatever hours they want.

I hate to burst your bubble, but this idea is part truth, part myth.

The real deal goes something like this. You can do your work whenever you like, but your clients will likely expect you to be available during “regular business hours” to answer emails or phone calls regarding their projects. If you’re on the beach every day and writing every evening you may miss out on some important opportunities for communication.

That’s not to say you can’t work whatever schedule you wish. You do, however, need to be prepared for some challenges. When I first started out I had a very difficult time establishing a “routine” - another thing most new freelancers think they’ll get to eliminate from their lives. …Continue Reading Planning Your Freelance Work

10 Cool Niches You Should Consider

As a freelance writer you should always be on the lookout for things you can use to supplement your income. This means blogging, selling advertisements, affiliate marketing, or something completely unreleated to writing.

The problem that most of us have, however, is not in writing itself but in deciding what niche we want to write about. I know that for me, finding the niche is much more work than writing once I have made up my mind.

Today I thought I’d share a list of 10 niches that tend to be pretty popular online. You can use  these as a springboard to find specific niches (they are all pretty general), to find products and services to market online, or to blog. It’s up to you if you decide to try any of them or not. …Continue Reading 10 Cool Niches You Should Consider