freelance

Ask Polly: Should I Just Give Up on My Writing?

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This post by Heather Havrilesky originally appeared on New York Magazine’s The Cut on 9/16/15.

Dear Polly,

I feel like you get lots of letters from folks either starting out pursuing their passion, or looking for a passion to begin with, but here I am, midlife, mid-career, full of passion but in a slump.

I’m a writer — a peer of yours, I guess, though age-wise, I’m staring straight at the big 5-0. And I’m stuck. I can’t seem to get to the next level and I’m frustrated. I do well enough that it’s a bona fide career — not “here’s my Brooklyn duplex” successful, but a humble income as a freelancer, which, combined with what my partner makes in a stable job, sets us up okay. There are books with my name on the spine on my shelf. Some good reviews (some truly awful). All assembled, I’m a “success.” But not really. I can’t talk about this with many people because as someone who is mid-career and mid-level, I’m not crying from the outfield here, and I can’t be picked up with a “Dust yourself off, kid, you’re young!” speech, either. It’s hard enough to make a profession of writing so I don’t want to sound ungrateful. Many, many people are trudging uphill, trying to get a toehold, so I know how good I’ve had it, relatively speaking. With so many earnest climbers on this Everest just trying to get to base camp, they can’t see you’re clinging to the side of the mountain, running out of oxygen and losing sight of the summit.

 

Read the full letter, and Polly’s lengthy reply, on The Cut.

 

12 Writing Tips I’ve Learned After 20 Books and 3,000 Articles Over 20 Years

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This post by Andrew Griffiths originally appeared on Inc.

As much as we might think the written word is slowly being phased out in favor of video, right now we are writing more than ever before, both in general communication and in sharing information through content. But very few people are actually taught to write the type of copy that we have to produce these days.

I write a lot. I write books, blog posts, magazine articles, newspaper columns, and much more. I’ve learned a lot, to the point where now I teach people to write and publish everything from books to blogs.

The following 12 tips have really helped me over the last 20 years, and they might prove helpful to you.

 

1. Always visualize a person who is your ideal niche whenever you write

For example, when I am writing an article for a small-business audience, I put a picture of three small-business owners whom I know on my computer and I write as if I were sitting and talking to them (in fact, as if I were sitting and having a cup of coffee with them).

 

2. To keep continuity with your writing voice, at the beginning of each session, go back and read what you wrote last time

This is a great tip to ensure that your writing style and voice stay constant. Great writers and popular columnists have a consistent voice and your writing will develop the same style if you follow this tip.

 

3. Don’t waste a whole session on a piece that isn’t working

 

Read the full post on Inc.

 

Making the Leap Into Freelance Copy Editing

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This article by Jessica Eggert originally appeared on American Journalism Review on 4/9/15.

When Jim Thomsen found out he was going to lose his position as a copy editor at the Kitsap Sun, a daily newspaper in Bremerton, Washington, he said that it was the blackest period of his life. “I couldn’t figure out what else I could do,” he said. He spent about a year looking for another job in the newspaper industry. Nothing.

That’s when he decided to start freelance editing manuscripts. Thomsen had been editing manuscripts on the side but never considered it as self-sustaining. Now, he said he’s making more money than he ever did at a newspaper and doesn’t regret the transition at all.

“I had to get past my psychological dependence on my identity as a newspaper person,” he said. “I had to shed myself of my tribal identity and find out what is forward thinking and lucrative, and I found that.”

Thomsen is hardly alone. He’s one of many editors who have opted to become freelancers after leaving a full-time job in the newspaper industry.

 

Read the full post on American Journalism Review.

 

5 Ways to Get Your Flaky Freelance Client to Pay Up

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This post by Carol Tice originally appeared on Make A Living Writing.

Has this happened to you? You slave away meeting a freelance client’s deadline, send in your invoice, and then…nothing.

Your client is smelling like a deadbeat.

What can you do about it? Plenty.

As it happens, I’ve had my share of clients who drag their heels on payment. Over the years, I’ve developed a system for making sure those checks arrive…more on that below.

First, here are my five best tips for rounding up those stray checks:

1. Friendly email reminder

I like to begin on the assumption that my lack of a payment is a simple oversight or mistake. The day after the payment was due, I send a friendly email:

“Hi, I’m just checking in because my final payment on this project was due yesterday. I know you got my final draft a couple weeks ago — are we all set? Please let me know if you need anything from me, and do let me know when I can expect payment. Let me know if you need another copy of the invoice.”

Sometimes, that’s all it takes. The invoice was mislaid, or the accountant was out sick a couple days, and your nudge will send the check your way.

 

Read the full post on Make A Living Writing.

 

On Being “Discontinued”

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This post by Deb Baker originally appeared on bookconscious on 12/17/14.

I’ve been writing The Mindful Reader column for The Concord Monitor since April 2012. Thirty-three columns, one a month on the Sunday book page, reviewing dozens of books, all by New Hampshire or northern New England authors, many published by small presses. It’s been a wonderful experience.

People often stop me when I’m out and about to tell me how much they liked a column, or to ask my opinion about some aspect of one of the books I read. They come into the library, where I am the librarian in charge of adult services, and our local indie bookstore, where I was once event coordinator and bookseller, to ask for the books. That’s been a thrill — there is nothing better for a writer than knowing your work not only reached someone, but moved them enough that they wanted to participate in the thing you’ve written about. And the authors I’ve heard from who are so grateful to get a published review, when so much book publicity is focused on a handful of “it” titles — that’s been great too.

This week I received a brief reply to my monthly invoice from the Monitor’s editor, who has been with the paper a few months and had never communicated with me previously. He let me know my column is discontinued and invited me to chat with him about the direction the paper would be taking. I cried — I admit it. But the next day I called him and he called me back and we had that chat.

 

Read the full post on bookconscious.

 

Year-End Tax Help for Authors

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This post by attorney and tax expert Julian Block originally appeared on Indies Unlimited on 12/7/14.

The only time most of us think of doing something about our federal income taxes is once a year — the hours we spend actually grappling with Form 1040 or when gathering records to deliver them to a paid preparer. What we should do is make tax planning a year-round concern and position ourselves to take full advantage of the many opportunities that are available to lessen the amount that is siphoned off each year by the IRS. The savings can amount to many thousands of dollars. What follows are some tactics that not only can save taxes for 2014, but even provide a head start on 2015 as well.

Timing receipt of income pays off for freelance writers. The IRS requires most freelance writers and other self-employed individuals to use the cash method of accounting, under which income isn’t counted until cash, a check, or an e-payment is received and expenses aren’t counted until they’re paid.

How does the IRS apply that requirement to a hypothetical freelancer we’ll call Phyllis Neff? Like most other writers, Phyllis has a good deal of flexibility on whether to report income or deduct expenses in 2014 or 2015. As part of her end-of-year financial planning, therefore, she should review perfectly legal tax-trimming tactics that must be taken by Dec. 31 if they aren’t to be lost forever.

 

Read the full post on Indies Unlimited.