Type Your Words: Smart Freelancing Advice

Blogathon, day 19. 

Ever been unable to get started on an assignment? The answer is simple. "Type your words." This is the advice from my four-year-old, as I was struggling to come up with a blog topic this morning. She pushed my fingers over my keyboard, and said, "Come on, Mommy. Just type your words." (That's her, practicing her annoyed face, above.) 

That's actually great advice. Write something, no matter how horrible it is, and you can always edit it later. I don't care if you call it a working draft or a rough draft or even a big fat mess. Just type your words, and worry about the editing later.

Your assignment: Don't let writer's block stop you. Type your words. You can always edit later. 

**And now for my usual book plug: if you're a new freelancer, get up to speed fast with Dollars and Deadlines: Make Money Writing Articles for Print and Online Markets, which is aimed at brand-new freelancers in search of their first clips. Six-Figure Freelancing: The Writer's Guide to Making More Money, Second Edition is a freelancing classic that helps both new and experienced writers boost their bottom line. And my latest book,Goodbye Byline, Hello Big Bucks: Make Money Ghostwriting Books, Articles, Blogs and More, Second Edition, shows how to break into the ghostwriting/content marketing field. 

Are You a Lazy Writer? (Shhhh....I Won't Tell)

Hi, readers, and welcome to the 2014 Freelance Success/WordCount Blogathon!

Question--are you a lazy writer?

Don't be offended by my asking. Because I sure am.

I tend to pitch my regular clients over and over, instead of looking for new markets. (It's on my list.)

I tend to stay in my freelance niche of health, fitness, nutrition, and wellness (along with writing about successful freelancing) instead of considering new (and marketable) niches.

I tend to go to see other freelancers doing something very well (say, amassing 20,000+ followers on Twitter) and think, "I need to do that!" And then... I don't.

And when I've accomplished what I need to for the day, I'm happy to mentally "punch out." After 17+ years of freelancing, I don't associate a 40-hour workweek with success anymore because I know productivity is more important than putting in a certain number of hours at your desk.

So, yeah, I'm lazy. And sometimes that's a good thing:

• If I think a story needs three sources, I'll interview three--not five, or six, or even eight the way I might of early on in my freelance career, looking for the "perfect" quotes. 

• If I think the second draft of an article is good enough to submit, I'll do a quick proofread and turn it in instead of tinkering with it until it sings. 

• When I'm ghostwriting the first draft of a book chapter for a client, I don't even attempt for perfection--because I know that my client will want to make changes. 

So my "laziness" is sometimes a freelance asset. But it's time to shake things up with the Blogathon. During this month, I'll blog all 30 days of June (yikes) about successful freelancing. We'll be talking about working more efficiently; exploring new markets; getting more work from current clients; making more money; and even managing the emotional ups and downs of freelancing. And each day, I'll give you an assignment to help you enhance your freelance career. Complete the assignments, and I promise you by month's end, you'll be looking at more clients, more money, and more satisfaction with your chosen profession.

So here's the first assignment:

Ask yourself if you're a lazy writer. (You don't have to admit it openly like I did.)

Now list three ways in which you're a lazy writer:

1.
2.
3.

Now, for the hard part. Come up with three solutions for those three ways.

Here's how I'm completing this assignment:

1. I write for the same markets over and over.
2. I'm stuck in my comfort zone, writing about health and fitness constantly.
3. I only blog once/week.

And here are my laziness solutions:

1. I will pitch at least four new markets (one/week) for the following month.
2. I will pitch at least four ideas that are not health- and fitness-related for the following month.
3. I will sign up for the Blogathon and blog 30 times/month!

Feel free to comment below with one of the ways you're a lazy writer if you want to make yourself accountable for solution, and tune in tomorrow for another post!

**Are you a new reader of my blog? Welcome! You may want to check out one of my books on freelancing: Dollars and Deadlines: Make Money Writing Articles for Print and Online Markets is written for brand-new freelancers in search of their first clips. Six-Figure Freelancing: The Writer's Guide to Making More Money, Second Edition is a freelancing classic that helps both new and experienced writers boost their bottom line. And my latest book, Goodbye Byline, Hello Big Bucks: Make Money Ghostwriting Books, Articles, Blogs and More, Second Edition, shows how to break into the ghostwriting/content marketing field. 

Blast from the Past: Dollars/Word Versus Dollars/Hour

Hi, readers--I'm in the midst of the project that will not end. If I was charging by the hour, this would be good news--I'd be making more and more money. However, I'm being paid a set fee (or a project fee), which means my hourly rate is plummeting. It also means that I have close to zero free time, which is why this week's post features a "blast from the past"--one of my most popular posts--about a semantic difference that many freelancers ignore to their peril.  

So, let's talk about what you're making per-word for the articles you write. Is it $1/word? $2/word? $0.40/word? $0.25/word? Even less? 

You may be surprised that I've taken on assignments that pay $0.40/word, even $0.25/word, and yes, even less than that. I don't care about the per-word rate as much as I care about what I make per-hour.

Per-word rates are the norm in the freelance world. This figure, multiplied by word count, tells you how much you’ll make for writing a particular story. But it may not tell you whether it’s worth it to take it on. The real question is how much time the story will take. The assignment amount, divided by the number of hours you put into it, gives you your hourly rate for the piece.

Knowing how much time an article (or any other project, for that matter) will take gives you a concrete idea of the return on your time. And those $1/word and up assignments can be mighty misleading. Sure, it’s a bigger check than writing for a market that pays a lower per-word rate. But are you really making more money?

For example, let’s say I do a 1,000-word story for a national magazine that pays $1.50/word. Fair enough—I’m getting paid $1,500 for my work. But what happens if between researching and writing the query, writing an outline (per my editor), researching the article, finding sources, doing interviews, transcribing interviews, writing the piece, turning in the piece, revising the piece (per my editor’s request), finding new sources (per my editor), interviewing those sources, turning in the final revision, submitting my backup material, answering additional questions from the editor (say, nine months later…it happens), I’ve put 25 hours into my story? That means I’ve made $60/hour on that story.

Not bad, but here’s the thing—compare that to a 1,000-word piece on the same topic for a smaller magazine that pays only $0.35/word. Yet I know the editor and my query is just a short paragraph. The story requires some background research and several interviews, and takes me a total of five hours to write. (No revisions requested! Yay!) That a total of $350, for five hours’ worth of work—or $70/hour.

At first glance, the $1,500 piece looks like a better assignment—and it is a bigger check. But my experience has been that national markets (and I’ve written for more than 60 of them) expect a lot more work from you to earn that higher rate. In many cases, I’ve found that regional magazines, trade publications, websites, and specialty magazines actually pay better per-hour than big national pubs. And that makes them worthwhile markets for me.

What about you? Are you tracking your time…or just your dollars?

**Readers, I'm working on a list of topics to cover for the rest of the winter. What questions do you have about freelancing? Comment here and I'll be happy to consider them. In the meantime, if  you're serious about turning your passion for writing into profits, check out Dollars and Deadlines: Make Money Writing Articles for Print and Online Markets. Already making money as a freelancer, but want to take your career to the next level? Then you need Six-Figure Freelancing, Second Edition: The Writer's Guide to Making More Money. 

Only $400 for 600 words? Why I Said, "Yes."

I've posted before about the difference between dollars/word and dollars/hour, and why the latter is a better indicator of whether an assignment is worth it. Don't get me wrong--I want to get the highest rate possible, believe me! But I take assignments that other writers might say "no" to--if I think I can make my hourly rate. 

For example, a couple of weeks ago, an editor I'd worked with before emailed me. The magazine she worked for had been sold, and she was now editing another publication, one that's new to me. She asked me if I'd be interested in taking on a brief assignment (600-700 words) that involved creating a workout plan and shooting photos of it as well. The rate? Only $400. That's a pretty low per-word rate, especially considering that I'd be providing photos as well. 

A few years ago, when the freelance environment wasn't as competitive, I may have turned this assignment down. After all, I used to do a lot of features for national magazines that paid $1-1.50/word--and I much prefer a $2,250 assignment to one that pays less than 20 percent of that. Plus, most of my work these days is ghostwriting/coauthoring books for clients, which typically pay at least $15,000.   

Well, I said "yes." Surprised? Well, let me explain my reasoning: 

1. I've worked with this editor before, and have always enjoyed it. She's smart and easy to work with, and I knew I wanted to to continue our professional relationship. 

2. I knew the piece wouldn't take me long to complete. I've written dozens of workout stories and they're relatively easy for me to draft. 

3. As an ACE-certified personal trainer, I didn't need to source this piece. In some cases, editors want me to rely on other experts, but here, I had the OK to create the workout myself. That meant I had to do no extra research--after all, I write workouts for clients. Now I was writing one for readers. 

4. The publication's subject matter focuses weight loss, fitness, and health, subjects I specialize in. It's likely that if I do a good job, I'll be offered other assignments--and hopefully become a regular contributor with the magazine. 

5. I hadn't shot photos for a story before. I'm a writer, not a photog! But I figured this was an opportunity to practice a skill that would be valuable to clients in the future. Plus, I already had a "fitness model" in mind and I thought it would be fun! 

6. Even considering a photo shoot (which took just 35 minutes), I thought I could write the piece and deliver the photos in five hours, which meant an hourly rate of $80, not bad at all. 

Get the idea? Well, the assignment ended up taking just over five hours, total. I turned in the story long before deadline, and my editor accepted it a few hours later. Better yet, she's so happy with the piece she's promised me more work soon--and now I've gained some experience "shooting" as well as writing. 

Remember, you can't control what a market pays, or what a potential client offers you. But you can make an educated decision about whether that assignment is worth it to you--and whether it may offer some long-term benefits as well. 

Readers, what about you? Do you say "yes" to assignments you think other writers would turn down? Tell me about a time you've done so, and I'll enter your name in a new giveaway for some free freelance consulting time! 

**Are you a new freelancer, or want to launch a career where you can get paid for your writing? My book, Dollars and Deadlines: Make Money Writing Articles for Print and Online Markets, will take you from unpublished to published and paid. If you have some clips to your name and are ready to ramp up your writing career, check out Six-Figure Freelancing: The Writer's Guide to Making More Money, Second Edition. 

And remember to use the discount code, IMPROVISEPRESS (all caps/no breaks) for 20% off of your order, which makes it cheaper than buying from Amazon. The discount is only available for a limited time when you buy directly from ImprovisePress, my new publishing company. 

Guest Post: 5 Reasons You May Be Getting Rejections--Thoughts from the Editor's Side of the Desk

Getting rejected and don't know why? Today's post is for you, a guest post from longtime freelance writer, author, editor, and all-around publishing pro, Jennifer Lawler: 

In the course of my career, I’ve been a freelance writer and book author, a magazine editor, a book development editor for nonfiction, and, most recently, an acquisitions editor for fiction. Now that I’m a freelance writer again, I wanted to share some thoughts about why you may be getting rejections instead of the acceptances you’d much rather receive.

1. Quality of the submission. Since editors don’t want to get into a heated debate over your pitch or your manuscript, they’ll just reject a poorly written query with a “not right for us, thanks!”—that is, if they respond at all. The black hole of silence is often what greets submissions that just aren’t up to par. The problem is, perfectly good submissions can also get eaten by the black hole of nonresponse, so how can you tell which is which?

If you’re getting mostly rejections or radio silence, it’s time to ask someone in the business for their opinion. Do this at arm's length—someone who isn’t published in your field can’t really help, and friends and family have too much invest in their relationship with you to be able to give it to you straight. Writers’ groups and online communities can help you understand where you’re not hitting the target.

2. Not a fit. When I acquired for a romance imprint, we got submissions for nonfiction books, children’s books, and the like. It didn’t matter how good they were, I wasn’t going to publish them. What a waste of everyone’s time. This is easy to fix—spend a small amount of time researching the outlet before you pitch!

3. Too similar to something we already have in the lineup. This is especially difficult at magazines that run a lot of information on the same topic. Women’s magazines always want articles on losing weight and saving money. So how is your article going to be different from all the others?

Sometimes there just isn’t much you can do about this problem. I once acquired a novel about a woman who was turned into a black Lab by a witch and not a month later got a submission from another writer about a woman who ... you got it. Now, what are the odds? And even though the second book was different from the first, it was too similar for me to acquire.

There’s not much you can do about this problem except pitchanother outlet. Fortunately, if your work is otherwise solid, the editor will often explain this reason for a turn-down, and then you can know what to do.

4. Coming across as a prima donna or a pain to work with. If your pitch letter comes along with demands (“I expect an answer by Friday”) or you sound otherwise unprofessional (“I’ve never done this before so don’t really know what I’m doing ....”), that’s going to be a ticket to nowhere. Make sure your interactions with editors are friendly but professional.

5. Not being flexible. When I worked at a custom publication, I’d get queries from people who had good writing skills but didn’t quite understand that at a custom publication, the client calls the shots. So I would sometimes respond to a query with, “I like this idea, but we’d need to take this approach,” only to have the writer withdraw the pitch in a huff.

An editor who suggests a different approach is trying to help you succeed. Don’t respond with a knee-jerk reaction. Think about what is being said and recognize that such flexibility is crucial to a successful freelance career.

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Thanks, Jennifer, for this insightful post! Lawler runs www.BeYourOwnBookDoctor.com and offers classes for fiction and nonfiction writers, including two classes coming in June. If you have questions for her, comment here and I'll ask her to answer them. 
***
Find this blog helpful? How about a whole book's worth of advice? Check out Six-Figure Freelancing: The Writer's Guide to Making More Money, second edition, and Dollars and Deadlines: Make Money Writing Articles for Print and Online Markets. Use the discount code, IMPROVISEPRESS (all caps, no breaks) for 20 percent off of your order.