I quit the substitute teaching work I had been doing for two years and began freelancing fulltime… writing web content and articles, editing/proofreading, publishing books and ebooks. I’m happy to say that not only is it working out okay, I actually have enough work lined up to take me through the end of the year, and I’m even turning jobs away (the low-paying ones, of course).
This was something I dreamed of in my 20s. It’s hard work and difficult to take a day off at times. Deadlines are just as stressful as they were when I worked fulltime as an employee. But being gainfully self-employed is liberating. And once in a while, really exciting. For example, I recently completed a memoir project that took over a year from first interview to final delivery. The “author” is having a signing for her newly published book at a local Barnes & Noble on Sunday, Sept. 19 (two days after her 69th birthday). I’m going to get it listed on Amazon.com, too. Exciting stuff, indeed. 2 years ago
Wow, I started this goal fifteen days ago and have made absolutely no progress? Shit, that’s not good. :/
I need to hurry up and seriously get into this.
In the past fifteen days I’m sure there’s a lot I could have done to make progress in this area (You know, like write each day or something?) but instead I did.. Jack shit? Yeah, that’s a good way of describing the last fifteen days [Though I did walk my dog a few times but that’s only like 45 minutes per walk, so no excuse there].
Shit.
I’m broke and need money damn it! 2 years ago
I’ve been looking more and more into this. It actually sounds like a really good career and more importantly, something I would enjoy and possibly even become really good at (With sufficient practice of course).
I need a hell of a lot of practice before I can even make a cent doing something like this. But it's worth attempting. 2 years ago
Just trying to make my list more manageable for my sanity!! 3 years ago
While I probably will never be a “full time” freelance writer (I don’t think that’s possible when you live in New York City, unless you’re a successful novelist or contractual worker), I make nearly $200 extra dollars each month freelancing, which is great. I think if you can just land one good gig it helps a lot. I have also done a fair amount of work for free to build up clips. 4 years ago
I earned my bachelor’s degree in magazine journalism and now have a full-time job as a copywriter for a non-profit organization. Ever since I graduated in ‘05 I’ve promised myself I’d freelance on the side. I want to keep my interviewing and feature-writing skills sharp and build a good portfolio…I just want to write articles! Besides, there are no bylines in copywriting and I’d love to see my name in print again.
During my last semester in college I had an awesome internship at a trade magazine. I got to interview indie filmmakers and actors. It was fantastic. I keep telling myself and everyone around that I’m going to contact the editor and ask for some freelance work, but for some reason I never do. Why is that? 4 years ago
Like the title says, it’s difficult to pull of if you’re working 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. But at the end of it all it’s possible, and can be done if you really put your mind to it.
My experience with being a freelance writer involves freelance copywriting, as well as freelance blogging. The “setup time” for being a freelance copywriter is very tough as you have to solicit your own clients and market yourself. But it pays off in the end as one job will pay at least $500 if you know your worth.
Freelance blogging is easy.. I submitted an article to a very well known freelancing blog, FreelanceSwitch.com And, luckily, it got published. This drove a whoooole bunch of traffic to my site, which was great. And it also lead to someone else offering a paid blogging position for his blog too.
A great resource that I have to mention is FreelanceSwitch’s book, How to be a Rockstar Freelancer. It’s available at Freelanceswitch.com/book
Worth doing if you got the time, energy and resources! 4 years ago
That’s what I’m aiming for. 5 years ago
just putting this on hold. Apparently, I’ve been doing a lot of communicating in the verbal and visual form, versus written. So I will focus on that for right now. :) 5 years ago
Today, I made two steps toward this goal. First, I emailed my mentor about what I want to do and why, and she has responded saying she’s going to give it some thought and give me her feedback on Monday. Second, I submitted a short essay to Brevity, the online journal of very short creative nonfiction. 5 years ago
