In his article, "So You Want To Be A Freelance Writer" on FreelanceJobsNews.com online, Tad Hulse writes, "Freelance writers are, by definition, those like you and I who do not make their living off of one specific, full-time writing job. In turn, being a freelance writer has a lot to offer in terms of freedom; you can work when you want, as much as you like, from anywhere in the world. It's a compromise many relish. Writers who are just starting out will find freelancing work much easier to ascertain than staff writing positions, but realize, veterans who've been working the field for decades can still only make a decent living. It is better to pair this field up with another and see it as extra income instead of your livelihood."

And, here's a quote I like much better from my friend and mentor John Riddle, who is the author of thousands of articles and dozens of books including his E-book, How I Made $66,270 in 9 Months Writing for Websites: "There are thousands of Web sites that use new content every week. I have written articles for Web sites that range in length from 300 to 2,000 words. And when you are getting paid $1.00 per word, you can see how your income will begin to rise..."

You can make a living as a freelance writer because I've been doing it now for several years. But, you have to treat your freelance job like any other job in order to succeed. You have to work hard! It's the greatest, most rewarding, most frustrating job you'll ever love.

NINE KEYS TO SUCCESS...

• Before you launch out, start working toward your goal: If you're serious about quitting your day job, then you need to prepare to launch out. Here's a few things you should consider:
  • Invest several hours a week to your writing. You should be selling more than you're being rejected before you launch out, and you should have at least one editor who calls YOU with assignments.
  • Ideally, you'll want to have several "regular" clients/writing gigs. In other words, before you launch out, you'll need to be writing consistently for several magazines, newspapers, websites, etc. Or have a speaking ministry/career to go hand-in-hand with your writing career (speaking at schools, conferences, civic groups, churches, etc.) to supplement your cash flow.
  • Keep track of what you bring in each month minus expenses so you'll get a clear picture of what you're bringing in monthly.
  • While you have your regular job, start putting a percentage of your paycheck into your "Freelance Account." Experts say it's wise to have a year's salary built up in that account before you make the leap.
  • Set up an at-home office with equipment, letterhead, business cards, mailing envelopes, writers' market guides, a resource library, etc.


• Write several query letters each week: The more you send out, the more articles and books you'll sell.
  • A query letter is a letter that pitches a story idea; tells why you are the perfect person to write that article; and then lists your writing credentials. Always address your query letter to a person's name (call the publication to find out spelling and title just to be sure because editors move around a lot!) Also, to make your query letter effective, it's good to indicate that you've studied their magazine. You might mention a past article or series of articles you saw in their magazine and how your proposed story idea seems to fit with their readership, etc...
  • QUICK TIP: Take advantage of your expertise. If your day job is being a church secretary, you are the perfect person to write a story about ways to celebrate pastor appreciation month. It happens every year. You can sell that piece to every denominational magazine without any conflict of interest. How? Well, because Methodists reading Light and Life will probably not be reading The Pentecostal Evangel which is the Assemblies of God magazine. So, send that query to several denominational magazines at the same time! If you don't know where to find those magazines, you have to get Sally Stuart's Christian Writer's Market Guide. I also suggest getting the secular Writer's Market. And, if you want to save a few bucks, you can buy a 2006 edition pretty cheap right now because the 2007 will be coming out soon. It won't be totally up to date, but it will be pretty accurate.
  
  *And, if you're not an expert in any particular area, that's OK. Because you have access to experts at Profnet. And, it's free! www.profnet.com online.



• Develop a Pitch letter: This is different from a query letter. In a query letter, you are pitching a story idea. In a pitch letter, you are pitching yourself. It's a general letter that is simple and to-the-point, stating that you're a freelance writer and highlighting your qualifications, any awards you've won for your writing, and all of your contact information.
  • QUICK TIP: The reason you need a pitch letter is so you can visit the online job boards, classified ads and freelance websites and send them your pitch letter and get more writing assignments than you'll know what to do with—really! Also, it's a great letter to have if an editor says, "We're always looking for regular contributors..." Jump all over that opportunity and send that editor your pitch letter, offering to tackle any assignments/ideas which need a capable writer.


• Split Your Time 50/50: That means split your time — 50 percent marketing and 50 percent writing. This may sound extreme, but it keeps assignments coming in and your writing going out in magazines, in newspapers, on websites/e-zines, and in books. Here's an example of how I split my day. I try to contact five to 10 editors/publishers/publications a day. That may seem like a lofty goal, but it is not that difficult if you have already crafted your "I'm a freelancer pitch letter/e-mail." Then, I spend a couple of hours doing "follow-up" work. This might include sending thank-you notes to editors who took time to write me a personal note on a rejection letter; or sending a "Hey, how are you doing, wondered if you were needing a writer to tackle any stories in the near future..." e-mails to editors I've already established a relationship with (I get so much work that way); or pitching another story to a publication that recently purchased one of my articles—why not strike while the iron is hot?



• Apply the "Ten-In" rule: So, what does this mean? This means have at least 10 query letters in the mail—all the time. Of course, this means you have to keep good records. I simply use an index card box with the name of the article at the top of the card, where I sent the query (name of editor, etc.), date I sent it and then I mark when it is accepted or rejected. I also keep a freelance notebook, which tracks the jobs/assignments I've applied to online/via classifieds, etc.
  • So, if you get a rejection letter back from Today's Christian Woman on Monday, sit down right then, grab your Writer's Market and find another magazine to query. Then write a query to that publication. Then, send it out on Tuesday! I've found that if I don't do it right away, I won't do it. So, like the Nike ad says, "JUST DO IT!"


• Recycle, Rework and Reap!: If you've been writing a while, you probably have lots of published articles under your belt. If that's true, then you have a gold mine of untapped resources. Do you know that I have sold one of my articles nine times in the past four years? ("Every Dog Has its Day") The key is never to sell all rights to your article. Then, you can resell it numerous times. We've already talked about the denominational magazines—how you can sell the same piece to the Methodist, Lutheran and Baptist magazine because there is no crossover readership. This also works well with regional magazines. For instance, you can sell "How to Decorate on a Budget" to Indianapolis Monthly and Fort Worth Magazine—no crossover readership!
  • Also, you can rework a piece enough that it will be sellable in different markets than the one you originally intended it for. For example, I once wrote a hair-care article for a Wedding e-zine, telling brides different ways to get great hair on their wedding day. Well, with a few tweaks and funny poem about bad hair days, I sold that same article to Brio. And that's not all. Part of that Brio version is now a sidebar in my devotional book for tweens.
  • Once you've written an article or a book, there is always extraneous information that you weren't able to use, but that doesn't mean it isn't great info. That extraneous information might even launch you into a whole different article or book, so be thinking about what you can do with it.
    • QUICK TIP: Don't waste any good quote, statistic or factoid. Create a folder of "extra stuff" to use in the future.
    • Your motto should be: Work smarter, not harder.


• Attend Writers' Conferences—both secular and Christian: Before launching out into the world of freelancing full-time and after, try to attend three writers' conferences a year. I should be the GCWC poster girl. I started attending this conference in 1999 and have sold several books as a result of the contacts made here and dozens of magazine articles. I would never miss GCWC. Just mark it on your calendar every year. It's a must on your writing journey. To learn about other writers' conferences, go to shawguides.com online. (I also like The Write-to-Publish conference in Wheaton, Illinois, in June and the Delaware Christian Writers Conference in April and the North Texas Christian Writers Conference in Keller, Texas, every September.)
  • NOTE: When you go to conferences, go prepared. Go armed with story ideas appropriate for each publication that will be represented—or at least the ones you have an interest in writing for. Then, pitch those ideas. If you can't get an appointment with an editor because all of his/her times are taken, make a point to introduce yourself to that person sometime during the conference and see if there is another time you can meet.
  • QUICK TIP: Make sure you follow up with publishers and editors from the conference. Send them thank-you notes for meeting with you. Send the query letter you promised and make mention of meeting with that person at GCWC. If you weren't able to meet with one of the faculty members who was on your "list to meet," write that person a note stating just that: "I wasn't able to meet with you during the 2006 GCWC, but I have an idea for an article that I believe is a perfect fit for your publication..." Always put "GCWC" on the outside of your envelope so the editorial assistant knows to take your mailer out of the dreaded slush pile.


• Don't be afraid to take risks!: Just because you've never ghostwritten for a minister before doesn't mean you can't do it. (Get the tape for my Ghostwriting workshop this week.) It just means you haven't yet explored that area of writing. You might be really good at it! There are lots of churches and ministries that use ghostwriters to craft articles from the pastor's sermons/notes. There's no byline, but it can be quite lucrative and lead to other projects such as books. (Example: my 12 chapter contribution to Creflo Dollar's book The Successful Family.)



• Don't despise small beginnings!: I have written about everything from how to care for an aging cat (and I don't have a cat or even like cats) to how to brush a dog's teeth. OK, so those are not really exciting, life-changing topics, but by writing those pieces and making a steady living doing those articles, I was able to write my book, Living the Love Chapter which is meaningful and could change somebody's life. Somebody has to write those pieces, why not you?