01.18.06
Need a Freelancer, Anyone?
For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a writer. Novels, short stories, articles, whatever, I wanted to write them. It’s only been recently when I’ve started reading these things called blogs ~ a lot of which are written by Stay At Home Moms, or SAHMs, who write freelance on the side ~ that I’ve started to realize I can do it, but I just don’t know where to start. I often find myself grinding my teeth in envy when I find yet another funny blog by a SAHM/freelance writer, and I would love to try my hand at it. It’s no secret to my friends and family my current job is only to pay the bills, and poorly so at that. Like I said about myself in The Cast post, I am an accountant by trade, and writer by dream. The rub of my job is that it takes so much of my time away from my son. I am lucky that I have babysitters for him that I ADORE, but if I could find a way to make some extra money, maybe I wouldn’t have to miss so much of his young life before he goes to grade school, not to mention the benefit of being with my future child(ren) that is/are merely a gleam in our eyes.I have a friend and a relative in the journalism trade, both of whom have offered sage advice on my writing. The only problem is that I don’t know how to get started. I’ve researched the topic on the Internet ~ that fab invention that allows so much time to be saved or wasted, depending on the perspective ~ and I have several good websites to which I refer when I get up the nerve to try querying a magazine or paper about a freelancing gig. But then the uncertainty sets in. I’ve only been able to find one example of a query letter for a magazine, none for a paper, and I only have one good article written for submission. I’m kind of flying blind. While I don’t have the money to spend a small fortune on magazines to research where to send out my article, I have a few ideas of which publications might be interested. Not to mention that I still struggle with the insecurity that maybe I’m not really that good a writer and I’m deluded.
Part of me has this completely unrealistic hope that interest in my blog will spread by word of mouth and maybe something will materialize out of that. But that’s funny, because as much as I give out the site, the number of clicks to my page is probably only averaging 20 a day because I click on it so much myself to re-read for typos or comments. I wish I truly knew how many people out there are really reading this, other than my family. WHO ALSO DON’T COMMENT, despite much encouragement from me! HINT HINT! It’s easy guys, just click on the comments at the bottom of each post, comment as anonymous so you don’t have to sign up, but then sign your name in the body of your comment so I still know who you are; then enter the word that looks like you’re reading it through a glass of water, click publish and you’re done. Viola.
Anyhoo, Jaelithe, you mentioned in a comment on the Paradise that is the Family Lounge at the SoCo mall post that you’re a freelance writer. How’d you get started? Where do you go looking for gigs? If you don’t want to post the comment on here, my email address is literarywizard at yahoo dot com (trying to avoid the spam-bots). But any wisdom you could impart would make me grateful. The research on the Internet only has gotten me so far.
I know this post isn’t about my adorable, brilliant boy, my charismatic and irresistible hubby, or something funny about having a toddler running around, but I’m at a loss to know where to go. So I thought I’d pick your brains, dear readers, and see if I get a comment.
Jaelithe said,
January 19, 2006 at 11:03 am
Hi Andrea,
As a freelancer, I got started doing drudgery. First copyediting. Then short marketing pieces for retail websites and catalogs. That’s pretty much mostly what I still do now, but my clients have gotten nicer and saner, and my work has gotten more involved and much more interesting. And I get paid more.
To tell the truth, I have the same anxiety that you do about randomly submitting full-length articles (despite the fact that I get paid to write, and despite the fact I’ve been assured many times by other writers, former professors, and clients I’ve worked with that I’m “good enough” to hack it as a full-time essayist or novelist some day). I’ve only submitted stories and articles cold a few times, and it’s been hard.
Beyond the anxiety, putting my dream of working from home into practice, I have learned that writing what I want to write, and then aggressively submitting and marketing it, and waiting for a response, is a lot more difficult, more time-consuming, and less immediately rewarding in the monetary sense than taking on contract marketing work. And the reality is, when you work from home as a SAHM without supplementary child care (or a maid, heh), your family still (usually) expects and needs you to be a housewife full-time; you have to deal with constant interruptions from your child while you’re working, and piles of laundry and dishes are always tempting you away from the computer. You’re basically working two jobs simultaneously.
So to keep my balance without going insane, I only write part-time. I still mostly write catalog descriptions and advertising copy for which I never get a by-line, because I find the work easier than writing feature articles, fiction, or essays, and the shorter length of marketing pieces lets me deal with interruptions without feeling like I’m developing ADD. I’m saving my ambition to be a household name for a point in my life when I have more time. I may be shorting myself some literary fame, but I get paid well and promptly, and I get to stay home without constantly feeling like I have to hire a nanny.
(I once worked as a part-time nanny for a stay-at-home mom who was a freelance journalist. I always used to wonder why she needed me three days a week when she herself was home all the time. Now I know EXACTLY why. Hehe).
Of course, if Dana Loesch decided to move to Panama and the Post offered to let me take over the Mamalogues column, I’d do it in a heartbeat
But that would only require me to write about my family, which I do anyway without pay.
Anyway, if you’re interested in getting writing contracts of the sort I usualy take on, you might want to think about starting small– see if your local paper needs someone to write or edit real estate copy, or if a friend’s business wants to update the copy on their website. Do some little things for cheap or even for free, at first (but don’t let people take too much advantage of your generosity).
Before you know it you’ll have a small portfolio and a list of references to put on your resume, and you’ll be much better armed to get your creative work published, or to get some long-term contact work you can sink your teeth into.
Whether it will let you quit your day-job, I cannot say. Income from writing tends to be very sporadic, and of course, you have to pay higher taxes as an independent contractor than you do as an employee, and you don’t get any benefits.
Except for the benefit of getting to stay home with the most beautiful and wonderful person in the world, that is.
Andrea said,
January 19, 2006 at 1:03 pm
Jaelithe,
Thanks for the tidbits and the advice. I’ve definitely got some ideas now. We’re starting to get our house ready to put up for sale, and when we contact the realtor to whom we’ve been referred, I’ll make sure I ask him if he has any copy to be written for his marketing campaigns. I know from a family member who was a realtor that each individual is responsible for their own marketing, and I could offer samples of copy for houses in the realtor’s spread and go from there. You’ve given me a sense of direction I didn’t have before, so I appreciate your candidness.