Expert: Susan Rand - 2/20/2006

Question
I am strongly considering a part-time job in freelance writing to put myself through graduate school.  How and where should I start out since the only writing experience I've had was back in high school on the newspaper staff and in college essays?

Thanks for your help.

Answer
Hello Shannon:

Many, many writers with years and years of experience and acres of talent are trying to make a living freelance writing full-time, but all but one or two are failing because people do not believe writers should not be paid much - after all, everybody can write, right? In fact, the last article I sold - over 1000 words - brought $8. If you want more evidence, go to http://absolutewrite.com (you'll have to cut and paste as this site does not support hyperlinks), join the forum, and read their experiences. My advice to you would be to find a job that pays reasonably well, and finance your studies that way. In the meantime, start writing regularly. As you improve, you may sell a few pieces, but don't expect much pay for them.

There are huge markets for both articles and essays; you can find them by googling "paying markets for articles and essays." You might also visit http://www.purplepages.ie/site/content/subcat.asp?catid=39 http://www.kporterfield.com/journal/Journal_Markets.html and http://freelancewriting.com/ I visit these sites and many more, on a regular basis and write details on 3x5 cards with particular attention paid to their "wants" so I will know which are most apt to buy a particular article.

I don't want to discourage you, but the scene is pretty bleak for writers these days. Good money ($100-350) per piece can be made writing for the "slicks" (regular, not online, magazines) but it takes a while to break in, and they like to buy from people who are experts in a particular field.

I hope this helps. If it does, a nice rating would be greatly appreciated. I am proud of my high score over 670 questions.

And good luck with your writing!