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THE BETTER WAY TO GO FREELANCE

Freelance now is more than magazines. You can pitch online newsletters and blogs, too. You do NOT have to go with SEO sites where they take any topic, don't edit, then pay you pennies based upon clicks on your page. Don't even go there. Frankly, it hurts your resume.

However, magazines are still the strongest way to go when beginning as a freelancer. Most of them even have blogs on their websites, so if you cannot work your way into the print versions, you just might land a spot on a blog with a very current, timely topic. 

To start with, study magazines and figure out a way to pitch them. Don't write the piece first and try to fit your square peg into the magazine's round hole. Same goes for blogs, newsletters, and websites. Make it a challenge. Make it a game. Close your eyes and pick a magazine in Writer's Market, or at sites like www.freelancewriting.com or www.worldwidefreelance.com , then study that dang market until you have an idea to pitch. You are the freelancer. You are the job seeker. Therefore, you have to adapt to what they want. What you know doesn't mean squat. It's what you can learn, create, and morph into something they like.

Many writers think they exist in a tiny, less-than-exciting world, and therefore, they are limited to writing about what they know. That's the sign of a novice. Now's the time to break out of that confining box.

Scared to be daring? Scared to write about something outside your comfort zone? Y'all . . . all they can do is tell you no. However, I want to give you suggestions on some ideas to pitch . . . and how to master the creation of ideas on your own.

Profiles - Most publications love to recognize experts or famous individuals. Know someone who is, say, a great landscape designer, caterer, plumber, farmer? Interview them. Ask for their secrets on being successful. Then find a magazine that caters to that profession/interest. 

Evergreen topics - Check the magazines and notice the subjects addressed every year. Then write up something along that subject only with a spin. What unique habit do you use to get the kids ready for school in the morning (for a parenting magazine)? What's a different way to fertilize or mulch your garden without chemicals? How do you use business cards (outside the norm)? Normal topics are always subject to twists. Go over topics they've done before and pitch them from a new angle. 

Look at the advertisers and get a feel for the readership. Yes, even the ads can give you pointers on what the publication prefers since they vet their advertisers based upon their readers. 

When I teach freelancing, I throw random magazines on the tables and make the attendees query the magazine. They may not scuba dive, but they can still pitch a profile interview. They may not garden, but they may know an organic coop in their region. 

It's not hard. Profiles, evergreen topics, and advertising interests. Pitch several per week and soon you are up to your eyes in projects. 

NOTE:  Renaissance Magazine is out of business.



 

PS -
C. Hope Clark has a newsletter just about her writing journey and her fiction. Join now to learn about giveaways, new releases, and appearances. Here's where you can raise your hand for review copies (and she does this a lot). Here's where you might find insight on the next book, or what direction Hope might be taking a character. Sign up at http://chopeclark.com/  - see SUBSCRIBE at the top.



WE HAVE 2 NEWSLETTERS - THE FREEBIE and THE PAID SUBSCRIPTION . . . 

Remember that FundsforWriters, this newsletter, is free. Send it to whomever you like and share it liberally. But if you are serious about writing income resources, and your time is limited, consider subscribing to TOTAL FundsforWriters. It comes out biweekly, with 70 contests, markets, grants, retreats, publishers, freelance gigs, magazines and more, It's huge, but it saves you a lot of time searching. It's $18.75 for a year, or 26 issues. To subscribe, simply go to www.paypal.me/chopeclark/18.75 . It will be sent to the email you used unless you specify otherwise.

NOTE TO THE WISE: Send a receipt for one of Hope's books and receive TOTAL for free.    
(**and feel free to steal this graphic for your own site!)


 

 WORDS OF SUCCESS

"A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him." 

—David Brinkley

 

Success Story

Hope:

I simply want to say "thank you" for publishing your newsletters.  I subscribe to both and find them most helpful as an Indie writer.  As a result of reading your newsletters this year, I recently found a wonderful writing coach, which led to an editor, and a writing conference that I have registered to attend in 2017. It will be my first.

Thanks again and keep the resources coming. In each publication I find something that gets me closer to living my writing dreams.  
 
Myrtle Russell
myrtlerussell.com

featured article

How to Find Writing Assignments As a New Freelance Writer

By Wendy McCance

Any person who decides on a freelance writing career has to start at the beginning. I mean starting out with no clips of their work, no endorsements, and an uncertainty of where they are going to find an offer to write.

I’m sure you have read many stories about new writers dealing with questionable companies and websites that offer ridiculously low sums of money. How then should you go about getting those great first assignments? I started out like everyone else with no previous articles and was basically unknown when I was offered my first writing job. And I didn’t look for the job . . . the company came to me.  

I started out writing a blog and making sure that several social media sites saw my work. I linked my articles to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and many other social websites. The goal was to place each article where it made the most sense.

If I wrote a parenting topic, Mommy Bloggers got a link. If I wrote about blogging itself, there were a few blogging groups on LinkedIn that would see my article.  In fact, it was because of those articles on Linkedin that I landed my first job.

A company saw what I was writing on a LinkedIn group, saw how people in the group were interacting with what I wrote, and decided I would be a good fit for them. They asked me to write a 300-500-word article on a financial topic. My very first assignment, and it landed $65 in my pocket. I had no clips. I hadn’t even been a guest writer on another website.

Of course that might just be considered a lucky break.  What should you do if you aren’t being approached by others? Write as much as you can. Choose different topics to show your range of abilities. Advertise your work on relevant social sites. Basics you should be doing each day.

Once you have been writing and sending out articles for a while, your next step is to ask for the job. All of that social networking hopefully has created a strong following of readers. Take the time to write to these readers and ask if you can be of assistance to them.

Look through your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn contacts and take a look at the company they work for and what their job title is.  If they seem to be a decision maker, who might hire the freelance writer and more importantly, need a freelance writer, I email them. I let them know what I feel I could do for their company. Suggest writing blog articles or a press release for the company. Make sure your offer makes sense to the person you write to. If you have knowledge about finance and you are writing to a financial company, tell them what your background is and why you would be a great choice for writing their articles.

Personally network with people in your community. Join your local Chamber of Commerce, the PTA or even a writing group through Meetup. You never know who has a need for your skills or who might have great advice where to seek a job.

Finally, if you feel more comfortable starting your career by going to the websites that offer writing opportunities, just make sure when you sift through these job opportunities that you go to reliable companies offering fair wages. If it sounds too good to be true, or easy to get, it just might be.

Writing Sites:

Mediabistro.com
Indeed.com
Journalism Jobs.com
Freelance Writing Gigs.com
Skyword.com
Elance.com
Writer Access.com
Problogger.com
BloggingPro.com
FlexJobs.com
iWriter.com
Jobrapido.com
oDesk.com

I hope the information provided helps you out in your own career. 

BIO: Wendy McCance is a Michigan based freelance writer and social media manager who works with several companies, big and small. Taking a different path with her blog, Searching for the Happiness, Wendy writes openly about her personal and business life and how they intertwine. Searching for the Happiness can be viewed in 9 local papers online, including the Oakland Press. Check out her website at: http://searchingforthehappiness.com Connect with Wendy at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wmccance

 

COmpetitions

ST MARTIN'S MINOTAUR/MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA FIRST CRIME NOVEL COMPETITION
http://mysterywriters.org/about-mwa/st-martins/
NO ENTRY FEE.
Deadline December 12, 2016. The Competition is open to any writer, regardless of nationality, aged 18 or older, who has never been the author of any published novel (in any genre). All manuscripts submitted: a) must be original works of book length (no less than 220 typewritten pages or approximately 60,000 words) written in the English language. 



ROMANCE ME NOVEL WRITING CONTEST
https://www.authors.me/romance-contest/
NO ENTRY FEE.
Be it historical or contemporary, a grand love story or the gripping tale of a torrid affair, through December 15 submit your Romance novel for the chance to win prizes and be read by judges from Macmillan, Penguin Random House, and Hachette Book Group. This is an open call for writers of romance novels targeted towards an adult audience or a young adult/adult crossover audience. First prize $200, consultation, and submission to partner publishers and agents. Second prize $100 and same. Third prize $50 and submission to partner publishers and agents. Deadline December 15, 2016. Novels must be a minimum of 40,000 words (although submissions can be a 30-page sample of the full manuscript).



TOM GALLOON TRUST AWARD
http://www.societyofauthors.org/tom-gallon
NO ENTRY FEE.
The winner must have had at least one short story accepted for publication. The winner must have serious writing ambitions. The submission should be traditional, not experimental, in character. The financial circumstances of the writer should be taken into account. The winner receives £1,000. The runner-up receives £500. Must be a resident of the UK or Ireland. Limit 5,000 words. Deadline October 31, 2016. 



LEE & LOW NEW VISIONS AWARD FOR AN UNPUBLISHED CHILDREN'S BOOK
https://www.leeandlow.com/writers-illustrators/new-visions-award
The contest is open to writers of color who are residents of the United States, 18 years of age or older at the time of entry, and who have not previously had a middle grade or young adult novel published. Writers who have published work in other venues such as children’s magazines or picture books, or adult fiction or nonfiction, are eligible. Only unagented manuscripts will be accepted. Work that has been published in its entirety in any format (including online and self publishing as well as other countries) is not eligible. Submissions may be any fictional genre novels for children ages 8 to 12 or young adults ages 12 to 18. The Award winner receives a cash prize of $1,000 and our standard publication contract, including our basic advance and royalties for a first time author. An Honor Award winner will receive a cash prize of $500. Deadline December 15, 2016. 

 

GRANTS

MENSA FOUNDATION COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP
http://www.mensafoundation.org/what-we-do/scholarships/
Purely determined on the basis of an essay. Consideration is not given to grades, academic program or financial need. Deadline January 15, 2017. The U.S. scholarship program covers all of the country and awards more than $87,000 a year. U.S. applicants need not be Mensa members. However, Mensa members may apply for both these scholarship programs and the additional Mensa Member Award Program.



PUBLIC SPACE'S EMERGING WRITER FELLOWSHIPS
http://apublicspace.org/blog/detail/the_2017_aps_emerging_writer_fellowships
Under this project, three emerging writers will be selected for six-month fellowships, which will include mentorship from an established author who has previously contributed to A Public Space; publication in the magazine; contributor's payment of $1,000; and workspace in our Brooklyn offices (optional). Only writers who have not yet published or been contracted to write a book-length work are eligible. There is a preference for writers who have not yet signed with an agent. International applicants are encouraged to apply, but we are only able to consider submissions in English. Deadline November 1, 2016. 



PALM BEACH POETRY FESTIVAL FELLOWSHIPS
http://www.palmbeachpoetryfestival.org/news/festival-fellowships/
The Palm Beach Poetry Festival is pleased to announce it will offer three fellowships that provide full workshop tuition and lodging in Delray Beach for the upcoming 13th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival, January 16-21, 2017. The fellowships are offered to open the festival workshop doors widely to qualified poets and to insure the festival’s workshops provide an enriching variety of experiences through working with poets from a wide variety of cultures. The deadline to apply for these fellowships is November 14, 2016.
 

FREELANCE MARKETS

DAME
http://www.damemagazine.com/about
DAME is proud to feature a variety of voices writing reported pieces, op-eds, and personal essays covering culture, politics, parenting, family, gender, sex, entertainment, tech culture, business and personal finance, and whatever else strikes our fancy and captures our readers’ attention. DAME’s tone is irreverent, witty, and provocative. We accept narrative-driven reported features, first-person essays, Q&As, op-eds, and humor essays (especially satire). Stories are generally between 800 and 2,000 words, depending on the subject matter and the story format. 



ADVENTURE CYCLIST
https://adventurecyclist.submittable.com/submit/59795/adventure-cyclist-magazine-submissions-2016
Thank you for your interest in Adventure Cyclist magazine. We are once again accepting submissions and will do so through October 31, 2016. Adventure Cyclist is a bicycle-travel magazine published nine times yearly by Adventure Cycling Association, a nonprofit service organization for bicyclists. Adventure Cyclist is dedicated to publishing stories about bicycle travel and other recreational cycling subjects. Adventure Cyclist generally uses two types of stories from free-lancers: Feature-length stories. These should be about specific areas and must be accompanied by high-quality photos, both in terms of content, composition, and size. The Final Mile. These are essays less about locale than about a singular experience while on a bicycle trip. These run at 1,200-1,500 words and don't require accompanying photos. What we pay is negotiable, but generally ranges from $.30 to $.50 per word, depending on various factors. 



OOKLA
http://www.speedtest.net/reports/
Have experience in telecom? Speedtest by Ookla is working on a series of country- and region-specific market reports about broadband and mobile providers across the globe, and we need freelance writers. Ookla is the company behind Speedtest.net, an app that people use to test their internet speeds. People have run 9 billion Speedtests so far. Pay range or word count varies so much based on region,but they're currently building a database of writers for the whole globe. Please have published clips about telecommunications; region-specific expertise is a welcome bonus. Contact isla@ookla.com for more information. Very competitive pay.



SUBMERGED, ALL HAIL OUR ROBOT CONQUERORS!, and THE DEATH OF ALL THINGS
http://jpsorrow.livejournal.com/488157.html
Zombies Need Brains LLC is accepting submissions to its three science fiction and fantasy anthologies SUBMERGED, ALL HAIL OUR ROBOT CONQUERORS!, and THE DEATH OF ALL THINGS. Stories for this anthology must be original (no reprints or previously published material), no more than 7,500 words in length, and must satisfy the theme of the anthology. Pay rate will be an advance of a minimum of six cents per word for the short stories. For each additional $10,000 raised above the Kickstarter minimum of $20,000, we will increase this advance pay rate by one cent per word. Deadline December 31, 2016. 

 

JOBS

FOREIGN NEWS CORRESPONDENT
https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/453417300/
This position is located at the Voice of America's Correspondent Bureau in Beijing, China. The incumbent serves as the regional correspondent and bureau chief in Beijing and is responsible for coverage of China, Taiwan and regional nations. The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), an independent federal agency, is an exciting, multi-cultural organization that encompasses all U.S. civilian international broadcasting. Deadline November 4, 2016. 



LITERARY RESEARCHER AND WRITER
https://www.pittsource.com/postings/126500
The Literary Researcher and Writer will support the Senior Policy Strategist and other Institute staff with the development of specialized reports and other publications. Individual will synthesize complex information into concise and organized reports for dissemination to a wide audience. Individual will also assist with background research, fact checking, editing, and other publication support activities. Incumbent will author original articles related to ongoing Institute activities. Individual will attend Institute board meetings, forums, conferences and other high level programs. Individual will serve as the official recorder of events and synthesize this information into meeting notes and articles for dissemination. Must have exemplary written skills and ability to synthesize complex information. Ability to multi-task, communicate with high level constituents. Work must be accurate, timely, and high quality. NOTE: This position is grant funded and will be active for one year. Also, the hiring range is for full-time positions and will be prorated based on 30% effort. Two to three years experience. Location Pittsburgh, PA.

 

Publishers/agents

HARPERLEGEND
http://harperone.hc.com/harperlegend/
HarperLegend seeks to discover and publish new authors of visionary and transformational fiction in the digital first format. Call them visionary fiction, spiritual novels or just stories of change, these are books that not only move us, but transform and illuminate. We know that there are many many writers out there who work in this genre. 



THE GERNERT COMPANY
http://www.thegernertco.com/submissions/
The Gernert Company is a literary agency located in Manhattan. Our client list is as broad as the market; we represent equal parts fiction (commercial and literary writers, both well-known and soon-to-be, whether writing for adults or younger readers) and nonfiction (biographers, memoirists, journalists, essayists, bloggers, and writers of trade and scholarly nonfiction in subjects ranging from sports and history to current events and science). We sell domestic, foreign, and subsidiary rights for our clients and partner with subagents in select foreign markets and in the film/TV industry.



AGAPE EDITIONS
http://www.sundresspublications.com/agape/
Agape Editions publishes literary work by authors of vision. We seek books that enact, embrace, or otherwise engage with some aspect(s) of the mystical or the Numinous. Our catalogue will be representative of mystical experience across various races, ethnicities, social classes, educational backgrounds, genders, sexualities, physical bodies, abilities, and intellectual worldviews. We are not merely "open to" different types of experience and writing; we need them in order to thrive. 



CURTIS BROWN LTD
http://www.curtisbrown.com/submissions/
Curtis Brown represents adult and children’s authors of all genres, including illustrators. Please refer to our Agents page for information about each agent’s interests, specific submission requirements and individual email addresses.

 

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Fine print

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C. Hope Clark
E-mail: hope@fundsforwriters.com
140-A Amicks Ferry Road #4
Chapin, SC 29036
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Copyright 2000-2016, C. Hope Clark
ISSN: 1533-1326

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