Tag Archives: Freelancing

When freelancing sucks

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“I hate my job, and I don’t think I’m gonna go anymore.“
“Are you going to quit?“
“Nah, I’m just not gonna go anymore“
—Office Space

I don’t know what to write anymore. For the most part, I’m frustrated with my current employers, who either give me terrible assignments, pay me less than I’m worth, or just straight up don’t respect the work that I do for them. (Except you, Quill & Quire; you are the only employer I actually like. Wanna go steady?)

On the one hand, I feel like I shouldn’t complain, because being freelance means that even when my assignments suck and I make shit money, at least I’m my own boss and get to set my own rules about when and where—and what—I will write. I like that part of my job a whole lot, and I’m not sure I could ever deal with doing a “real” job again.

But on the other hand, yes, goddamn it, I am dissatisfied! I hate making shit money, I hate getting all the worst assignments, and I hate feeling like I am just wasting my time doing busy work rather than making some kind of difference in the world. I like to learn new things, to talk to interesting people, to write things that matter—even if those things ultimately only matter to me. Currently, most of my employers don’t do diddly-squat in the way of helping me to learn or to grow as a person. They certainly don’t care about nurturing my soul, and they aren’t doing nearly enough in terms of nurturing my physical self, with respect to fair wages that pay my (very freakin’ minimal) bills.

So I’m fed up, and I’m not sure what to say about it, because I feel like freelancers aren’t supposed to bite the hands that feed them, no matter how many times those hands also slap them in the face. I keep writing and erasing notes to my bosses–the ones that keep on asking for more and more, while giving me less and less. I keep wanting to call bullshit, to stand up for myself. Because, honestly, who else will? And yet every time I tell my husband when I’m doing, he tells me not to burn my bridges.

But I ask you: If I’m on a bridge to nowhere, what does it matter?

Moving beyond the bedroom

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Cartoon by Debbie Ridpath Ohi (via Inkygirl.com)

Cartoon by Debbie Ridpath Ohi (via Inkygirl.com)

I’ve been thinking about applying for an MFA program, lately, as it would afford me time to write a real novel. Not just a 30-day NaNoWriMo marathon novel, which is all about quantity over quality, but a real, honest-to-goodness time-consuming, thoughtfully-penned novel.

That, quite frankly, is both exhilarating and totally terrifying.

Part of the terrifying aspect is that, like any application for school, you’re supposed to write up a succinct cover letter detailing any awesome aspects you bring to the table, which would convince them that you’d be an asset and a credit to the program. You’re supposed to sell yourself. They want to know about honors you’ve achieved, fellowships/grants/scholarships you’ve been granted, people you’ve impressed.

Sometimes, I wonder whom I’ve really impressed, or what I have to show for the past two years of freelancing work. I’m not saying it hasn’t been fun, but it hasn’t exactly added up to the kind of career I used to dream about when I was a starry-eyed creative writing major. Mostly because I haven’t been doing much creative writing.

Hence my desire to keep up with my haiku-a-day project, to do NaNoWriMo, to take on the 3-day Novel Writing Contest, etc.

So I have been asked to think about my goals, my dreams, my future—as these little questions are meant to prod you to write something about those types of things—and I am wondering where I really aim to go these days. Although I certainly enjoy writing about sex, and probably will always have an interest (some might say obsession) with this area, it’s not necessarily the area I want to specialize in forever. It’s just one of many interests, and it’s very easy to get pigeonholed when you write a sex column and run an erotica website.

I guess what I’m saying is that I’d like to be someone with a life outside the bedroom, to not be boxed into my boudoir, no matter how comfy it may be. Now the only question is where to go from here?

Moving beyond the
bedroom can be challenging;
I like a challenge

How to get published

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How do you get published? Or, perhaps more to the point: How do you get people to pay you money for your writing? These are questions I hear a lot from writers who are new to the freelancing game and looking to write for magazines and websites. While I would love to help everyone find the answers to these questions, one of the first things you should know about freelancing and writing in general is that you have to be able to find your own work. But how?

First of all, what do you write about? What’s your niche or focus? Do you write about home-woven handicrafts, or are you a hard news hound? Figure out what you like to write about, and what you’re good at writing about, and make a short list of topics you’d be able to cover on a moment’s notice.

Research, Research and More Research

Once you’ve got some topics in mind, get online and start Googling. Find publications that fit with your specialties and note their contact information, as well as any specific submission guidelines. Grab a copy of the Writer’s Market for your genre and start flipping through it until you find something that piques your interest or pertains to your area of expertise. Then, start pitching.

What’s a pitch? It’s a short email that communicates the basic kernel of your story idea to the editor who will potentially buy it. Always follow the rule of Keep It Simple, and make sure your pitch is short and to the point.

Send out a set number of pitches every day. Start with one or two and work your way up. Keep track of where you’ve sent your pitches so that you can follow up with editors after a reasonable amount of time. (Note that a “reasonable” amount of time may vary, but if your pitch is very timely, you’ll want to hear back sooner rather than later. If you haven’t heard anything in 30 days, politely inquire to see if the editor received your email.)

Even if your pitch is rejected, be sure to send it out to other publications; sometimes it may just be bad timing, so don’t give up on your ideas. Be sure to keep things in motion at all times.

When you receive the go-ahead on a pitch, get to work! You may need to interview subjects or do more research on the topic, so get started early and deliver the piece ahead of schedule to really wow your editors and build a solid partnership for future assignments.

Getting published isn’t rocket science; it just requires ordinary actions, performed consistently, to achieve the desired results.

A Writing Success Cheat-Sheet

While these certainly aren’t the only places I regularly check for writing tips and potential jobs, these are some of the best places to start. Here are the top three places I find helpful on a regular basis, as a kind of cheat-sheet for writing success:

  • The Writer Magazine — A great magazine (in actual paper format, delivered by the post office!) for writers of all genres. Published monthly, you’ll find lots of great tips for everything from how to write in a certain style to how to get your work published to markets you might want to explore. If you subscribe to the magazine, you’ll also get access to web-exclusive articles, which are often geared towards writing for Internet publications, rather than print pubs.
  • MediaBistro — While I’m opposed to the fact that they advertise Suite101 on their job boards (along with a bunch of non-writing jobs for various media companies), they do have a lot of listings here that are reputable, and a lot of high-profile media outlets post jobs here. You can sign up for free and get tons of newsletters from them, if you so desire, or join their AvantGuild membership and get extras like health care coverage (a big plus for Americans), discounts on writing-related services, the ability to post your CV and a media profile on their site, and access to their excellent “How to Pitch” articles that will help you figure out how to pitch to specific media outlets that are particularly challenging. This site is extremely helpful and totally worth the $55 US it costs for a one-year subscription.
  • Writers Weekly — Sign up for this free e-newsletter and get job postings, writing tips, publishing advice and even free e-book recommendations in your inbox on a weekly basis. The woman who runs this newsletter, Angela Hoy, also runs an e-book publishing company called Book Locker, which publishes books on the subject of writing from every angle imaginable, so you’ll also receive ads for her e-books and quarterly writing contests, which you may find helpful as well.

Finally, although my post about how to become a successful writer in 3 easy steps is a bit tongue-in-cheek, writing is really all about sitting your butt in a chair and writing. If you’re writing on a daily basis, you’re bound to improve, so sit down and get to it!