Expert: Amanda J Evans - 8/3/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hello Ms Evans,

Writing is my passion.

I already have a couple freelance sales [a contest and a commission] but I really have no idea how to become a freelance writer - setting  up my own freelance writing business and the kind of salary that can realistically be targeted.  I'm ready to put in all the time, effort and hard work needed to make this a career all I need is some direction, insight and guidance  - any and all that you can provide would be deeply appreciated.

Best Regards,

Derek T. Attico

ANSWER: Hi Derek,

Many thanks for your question and congratulations on your success so far.  I am assuming that you want a career in writing articles but if I am wrong you can let me know.  There is a question that you also need to ask yourself and that is whether you wish to write for magazines or for the web.  You can of course do both but I must warn you that writing for the web normally consists of a lot of ghostwriting (you write and someone else takes the credit for it).  If you wish to write for the web there are a lot of different avenues that you can pursue such as copywriting, press release writing, article writing, e-books, and so forth.  It can take quite a lot of time to build up a successful freelance writing career and the very first thing that you need to do is create your own web presence.  This can be either a blog or website although I have to admit a blog is probably better.  

As far a salary, it really is up to you.  I normally suggest that my student write a 500 word article and time themselves including research etc to see exactly how long it takes.  This should help to give you an estimate as to what you need to earn per hour.  If it takes you 1 hour to complete a 500 word article then you will need to figure out how much you want to earn per hour.  For general keyword articles I would suggest nothing less than $25 per 500 word article.  

If you have a specialist subject you can of course earn quite a lot more per article.  For example there are many copywriters that earn up to $1,000 per hour and many business writers that earn $100 per hour or more.  It really is a learning curve and the more recognized your work is the higher rates you can charge.

I would suggest that you start following some blogs of well known freelance writer and a good one to stat with would be freelance writing jobs http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com Here you will find a great deal of information and the owner posts a listing of jobs on a daily basis.

If you would like to provide me with more details on exactly what type of freelance writing you want to do I will be able to provide you with more specific details.

I hope this short answer has helped and please feel free to elaborate on your situation and I will be more than happy to point you in the right direction.

Amanda

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Ms Evans,

Thank you so much for your response! To be more specific I'm currently working on a novel and would like to freelance as a copywriter but have no idea how to break into that field. I'd also like to freelance as a short story author and as you guessed correctly selling articles.

The plan being making enough money by writing, not just to survive but to live and then over time to live well.

My website will be up in a few weeks and taking your suggestion there will be a blog presence on it and I'm also looking hard at the link you suggested.

So any specific info on how to get into copywriting and article writing would be most helpful.

Many thanks,

Derek

Answer
Hi Derek,

Copywriting is a learned skill but there are plenty of courses and blogs on the subject that can give you an idea of exactly what is involved.  A good blog is to follow would be copyblogger and maybe look up some of the top copywriters such as Dan Kennedy.  Dr. Joe Vitale also does an excellent copywriting course called the hypnotic marketing course.  I would suggest reading up on all the different courses though as some can be very expensive.  

As far as short stories and you novel for this you really need to join a writers group.  This can be a really valuable place and you can get some really helpful advice and critiques on your writing.  It can be difficult to take criticism on your work initially but it all helps and of course you can return the favour too.

Article writing for magazines is the higher paid although there are some websites and ezines that are high paying.  http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com had a great article about two weeks ago that listed over 40 websites that paid $100 or more per article so this is really worth looking into.  I would definitely avoid the bidding websites such as Elance and Get A Freelancer as these are the places where you will find people offering to pay you $1 - $5 for a 500 word article.

If you look up www.yudkin.com this is another really great website.  This is a website by a professional freelance writer who provides lots of tips for query letters etc.  The beginners guide to freelance writing is great too and you can read the entire book here:  http://www.right-writing.com/guide.html

I'm sure once you get started and take this seriously learning as you go along there is no reason why you can't make enough to live and live really well too.

let me know if there is anything else that I can help you with.

Kind regards,

Amanda