Freelancing as a business

new "White Paper" assignment - need feedback / opinions on rate, etc

ladilamborn — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:54:33 GMT

Landed a new "white paper" assignment! Any opinions on "going" rates? Am already a subject matter expert in the field, but the particular angle will require some research. Would like to hear from anyone else who has completed a "white paper".

Tax Information Publications for Freelancers?

DennisD — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:58:03 GMT

Hello. I was wondering if anyone can recommend any books that offer good, up-to-date information on how fledgling freelance writers should handle taxes. (I've been doing writing as hobby income, with hopes of eventually expanding that.)

I'd also be interested in informational websites regarding this subject, if anyone knows of any.

Thanks in advance!

Beginning Freelance

melaniekay — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 20:38:10 GMT

Hi there.

I am a recent college graduate (English major) and I really want to start building a professional writing resume. I have a small portfolio from some of the things I did in college, but since my alma mater is a small school, there weren't really any writing groups or anything. The city I live in has a couple of magazines and newspapers published here, but so far monster.com and the local classified's aren't really producing a lot of results for local jobs. No, relocating isn't out of the question, but I'm married, so it isn't like I could uproot and leave tomorrow.

I would like to do some freelance writing, but I could use some guidance in getting started. Would it be easiest for me just to do the research, write some articles, and send them off to places? What is the best way to go about it all? I've thought of writing some book/magazine/food reviews and trying to send them to the local paper or something. Any thoughts? Your advise is appreciated!

Firing clients

chimerique — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:21:53 GMT

I just 'fired' one of my clients. Well, I removed myself from their project. There were a few problems with the project, but my primary issue was that I was hired under an hourly contract, for a set number of hours per week, but they only ever sent me a couple of hours each week.

I tried to explain that I liked to schedule my clients into my diary and needed to plan both my workload and earnings for each week, so that I can both meet deadlines, and pay bills, but the practice of just tossing me a few hours work here and there (that always had to be done 'as soon as you can, or we need to assign another writer') continued.

I found this highly frustrating, and not very professional. I do have some long term clients who might drop me an email and ask for some copy or a press release, which is fair enough, (and most of them have me on retainer anyway) but to have a client who I am supposed to be actively working for a few days per week and then repeatedly finding myself scrabbling for short term projects to pay for my down time is just not right for me.

I wonder if I should have just toughed it out, but I get so tired of timewasters that I am beginning to take a harder approach.

This is a very strange position to be in, and I wonder if anyone else has been in this situation? Have you ever 'fired' a client?

Angel

Just Out of Curiosity...

The Rebellious Journalist — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 17:36:44 GMT

Just out of curiosity, out of all of us freelancers out there that subscribe to the writer, are there those that actually make a living freelancing (paying the bills, buying groceries, and other expenses?) I would love to here these peoples' stories and how they came to be the way they are.

what to charge for newsletters?

brianjacobs — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 00:46:10 GMT

I have been writing newsletters for the martial arts schools I have trained in for many years. Wrote a departmental newsletter for my former job for several years, with worldwide distribution.

I have been writing magazine articles, for pay, but several people have mentioned that I should start writing newsletters for a living. Nice idea, but how do I charge?

I produce 4 or 8 page b/w newsletters, with minimal graphics that we print at Kinkos.I write most of the copy, with few exceptions.

How much should I charge for something like this? Per copy? Per issue?

Web Hosting/Domain Registeries

Teslawriter — Fri, 11 Feb 2005 09:57:15 GMT

Hi All:

I have an idea for a small free-lancing business, and it requires a web presence. I am bombarded with offers from yahoo., et al, for cheaply priced domain names and web hosting.

I have never created a website, don't do html, and never programmed anything harder than a VCR. I was going to hire a professional to create the website, using my text, as needed.

Recently, someone turned me on to GoDaddy.com. When you go to their site, they list a rather impressive, albeit short, list of awards the site has allegedly won. Other impressive stats include the claim that they have been the domain name supplier to sign up the most new names in 2002, 2003 and 2004, I believe.

They also boast of live customer support, albeit not toll free, which is not such a concern as I have "free" (unused) cell minutes at the moment.

So I called GoDaddy, and had a very informative conversation with one of their reps, after an approx. 5 min. wait (allegedly due to a special promo their running.) A nice feature is the offer to wait sans muzak, though they periodically break in with a short ad.

I learned a lot in an approx. 30-40 min. conversation with a rep, and his supervisor, whom I asked for, to complement the rep's professional service.

At no time was I pressured to purchase--it was mentioned exactly z-e-r-o times. I felt that they did give me good advice, and I truly think I will use them. The testimonials on their site must exceed a hundred in number, and almost all praise the cust. service, and all are very glowing, and I believe include first and last names, and the city of the user.

One thing that's not overly apparent when reviewing their products is that the seemingly lower-line product ("WebSite Tonight" hosting) is actually the one that comes with live customer service help, in that you're on their servers as part of the purchase price (3.95/mo. - 19.95/mo., depending on number of pages/capacities, before discounts for full-year purchases) for HOSTING. Whereas, if you go with the "Website Complete 5.0" option, (which is actually software, not hosting) it's actually not as good, IMHO, because you create the site on your hard drive, and must email it to them for comment/support, each time you have a question. I.e., they cannot "see" it in real time, because it is not on their servers, until you pay an additional licensing fee of $35.00 (one time) and get on their servers for an additional amount that I cannot remember. However, per the rep., moneywise, "Website Complete 5.0" was comparable to "Website Tonight", at least when comparing some of their respective options.

Not to get mired in the details, but I do wish to share my research, as I have my hand out for help: the above pricing for the "Website Tonight "product is NOT for a domain name. Domain names are an additional charge--like $9.00/yr, (not month!) but there's currently a special bringing down the first year to like $4.00/yr, with the purchase of another GoDaddy product. You can check out the other prices for yourself; I just wanted to include some frame of reference here, as I find it frustrating when people don't fill in some of the blanks in such discussions.

Another interesting product is their optional "Traffic Blazer" ($30.00 and up) software, which I think you have to purchase each year, as opposed to one time only. This product claims to help you test your hit rate with the major search engines, and optimize the keywords you choose to use, to rank higher with the various search engines "spiders" (kind of over my head here on the exact terminology). But this product, which was glowingly referenced in some testimonials, made me think I could actually build a site that would get hits, if my first attempt failed to do so.

My questions:

1. Has anybody had any experience with GoDaddy, for either hosting or domain name purchases?

2. Does anyone have an opinion re: GoDaddy's services for domain names and web hosting, as compared to the competition?

3. GoDaddy's offerings appear to be some form of "drag and drop" type of construction, into one of "190 professionally-designed templates." There's up to 2,500 pics to choose from, and some options allow you to use your own pics (I don't foresee using pics). But I must assume that these "templates" all look somewhat "cookie cutter", in that they're not custom-designed by some wizard. Does anyone think that's a problem? (I'm remembering how tacky the average yahoo "group" page continues to look--I'm sure GoDaddys' offerings look way better than that, however.) I'm just saying--do you think that if someone recognizes that you "built" your site for peanuts from "off the shelf" products, that that will negatively color the opinions of potential clients?

4. Can anyone think of any other reasons not to go with GoDaddy, over the competition?

Thanks in advance.

Peter

Seeking Writer Mentor in San Diego, Ca

twothepoint — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:29:10 GMT

Hello

I'm a new hopeful writer seeking a mentor and writing partner for writing books and scripts.

Let's meet for coffee and see if we can write together for mutual fun and profit.

Freelancehomewriters.com

TPwrites — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 02:06:12 GMT

I am relatively new at freelancing. I've made some money on legit projects and would like to find a resource for much more. Has anyone had an experience with the website freelancehomewriters.com? I am always leary of "an 8th grader can do it". Quite frankly my 6 years of college are worth more than 8th grade. I hope! If not I want my money back right now. I spent 10 years paying off student loans and when I could have been a writer at fourteen. Not!!!!

Legit or not?

Query Advice and Term for Subheads, in Articles?

Teslawriter — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:35:26 GMT

Hi all, I want to submit an essay to a prestigious literary journal (I know, good luck, right?) and I want NOT to appear as ignorant as I really am.

I want to suggest a couple of possible subheads, in my query letter, and I cannot remember the term for them.

I'm not even sure "subheadings" is correct--what is the term for the bold, larger-than-normal text that you find, say midway in an extended article, where language the writer used is being highlighted, as a seminal quotation from the piece? I know there's a term of art for this.

ALSO, can anyone suggest a few links to good sources of instruction on how to write a good query? I want to submit the entire article "on spec," and I know people often use a "query letter" for an article that isn't yet written, but I'm sure I can adapt an article on "effective query letter writing" to fit my current endeavor.

Thanks, on and all, and best of luck!

Warmly,

Peter

Writers in Central Florida?

RangerChic — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 19:06:45 GMT

I'm looking to get together with any local writers on a regular/semi-regular basis to write. If you are in the area and are interested, post here. Thanks! :)

Seeking Writing & Coffee Partner in Crime - Manhattan

Morningside Writers Group — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 17:30:49 GMT

Published essayist and creative nonfiction writer in Manhattan seeking one disciplined, productive, and focused home-based published and/or serious freelance writer to meet with during the afternoon, weekday evenings, or weekends on the Upper West Side (from Barnes & Noble on West 81st up to Columbia University area).

Just want to connect with other writers (playwrights, fiction, magazine writers) who need a kick in the pants, a sounding board, and cup of coffee or tea (maybe a kettle or pot of coffee if we're comfortable enough to meet at each other's homes).

Not looking for socializing for the sake of socializing/drinking. Writing relationships/community building is what I seek.

Writing is a solitary life. Reach out and touch!

How much to charge...

melaniekay — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 19:05:57 GMT

I am working as an "independent contractor" for a publishing company, but I'm not sure what to charge for my services. I can either be paid hourly or paid by the job, but I'm fairly new to the freelance world and I'm not sure what would be reasonable. Can anyone help me out?

Thanks!

Writer's Market: Hard Copy or Online?

Teslawriter — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 08:10:50 GMT

Hi all,

It's been a while.

I have a few pieces I'd like to try to sell, but they often seem to run about 6-8 pages. For example, I have an 8-pager that's over 4,000 words.

I've purchased the hard copy of Writer's Market for years, loyally, but done very little with it. Has anyone paid for the online copy? If so, I have some questions:

1. Is the web version text-searchable?

2. If so, is it really workable? I mean, the piece I'm trying to market is an anti-B*sh rant (as in, the "preznit") and I wondered if I could search all the online magazine listings for words like "political" and "accepts longer manuscripts" etc....

3. I can purchase the hard copy for, I believe, only 10 bucks, vs. the online copy which is, I think, approx. $30., i.e., the same price as buying Writer's Market new, directly from Writer's Digest book club. Does Kalmbach Pub. publish similar market guides, in both hard and online versions?

4. If the answer to #3, above, is "yes," what do people think is the better product(s), the Writer's Digest offerings, or Kalmbach's?

5. Can anyone recommend the best-paying publication that might take a 4,000 word article like this? Let me explain: it's not a standard political rant; rather, it looks at the corruption and violence of the B*sh administration through the lens of a Nick Adams-esque boy. IOW, it's got this (if I do say so) literary-thing going on, with agrarian references, nature, etc....

Thanks,

Peter

Book reviews

eyre — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 21:33:42 GMT

My Writer's Market shows many publications are looking for book reviews. How does this work? With a six-month lead time, how can you ever write a timely review? Do most editors assign these based on previous work?