latenightwriter

I started my morning the way I usually do by checking out the job listings on www.freelancewritinggigs.com. Sometimes there are a few good ones to apply for but today there wasn’t anything of interest. This site basically rounds up jobs posted at www.craigslist.org and sometimes they actually get companies posting real jobs on their site. I can’t really recall if I have actually scored any work from this site but I do know I have applied for numerous jobs postings. (Hmmm, now that I see that last sentence in writing, if that is indeed true, maybe I should start spending my time more constructively).  

Truthfully I even tried out for a blogging position with the site but dropped out after a couple of weeks.  The blogging position application process was set up in American Idol style and I found that I was spending too much time creating my blog entries for the contest when I should have been actively pursing paying freelance jobs. I guess the difference between that blog and this one is that blogging at today.com is something I am doing to polish my blog writing skills and I don’t have an entire audience trying to vote me off each week. I can say that trying out for the blogging position at freelance writing gigs was definitely an experience but I would have rather just applied for it like any other job and let my writing speak for itself. I guess in an essence that’s how it was but instead I was being judged by a very large selection audience – visitors to the site.

There are a few other job boards that I visit pretty regularly and have set Yahoo! alerts for a few of them. Don’t ask me how I managed to set up the Yahoo! alerts, I still have no idea how I did it nor can I repeat it but the alerts pump new leads into my mailbox daily so that’s all that matters. On average, I probably apply for two positions daily but unfortunately the only ones that seem to respond are those offer very little pay or no pay at all.  One ad that I responded to stated that it was paid position although the poster was seeking an ‘intern’. After being rewarded the position, the poster explained that it was an unpaid position but may turn into a paying gig in the future. After I quoted his ad that it did in fact read ‘compensation’, he ignored that fact and argued that everyone knows internships are unpaid positions. Duh…I guess I missed that part of the lesson in freelancing school!

Until next time…write it real!

Hello. Welcome to my blog. It is a brand new year and this is a brand new venture for me. If you are interested in freelance writing, then you have come to the right place. I am an active freelance writer and have been at it for over seven years now. I started out many years ago trying my luck at fiction writing but that didn’t pan out. I was writing short stories and essays and submitting them to prospective markets but wasn’t selling anything. I put my dreams of becoming a writer on the back burner and got a job like the rest of the population. But the writing bug kept creeping back into my subconscious and I would try to resurrect my writing dreams again. One day, the hubby and I purchased a new computer and went online…that was it…I was determined to give my writing dreams one more chance.

I would say my first big break as a freelancer came when I wrote a short humorous piece for www.absolutewrite.com. In exchange for payment, I received a copy of one of Jenna Glatzer’s books on freelance writing. After reading her book, I learned how to write a great query, and started writing and selling non-fiction articles for print and online publications. I wasn’t making much money but I was selling my work and that was enough inspiration to keep my momentum up. To date, I have sold hundreds of non-fiction articles on an array of subjects including parenting, careers, eco-friendly, health, internet safety, freelance writing, home and garden, frugal living, interviews, website reviews, book reviews, essays, and just about anything else you can think.  Over the last few years, I have actively tried to expand my portfolio and offerings and have written website content, resumes, covering letters, job descriptions, product descriptions, proofreading.

Over the years, I have earned enough money to classify my freelance writing as a part-time venture however I don’t think I will ever get rich from it. Ideally, I would like to earn enough from my writing that it earns me the equivalent of a fulltime wage however; I am doing better than a lot of other freelancers out there so I am grateful. My oldest son is headed to university this coming September so I feel this extra push to earn as much money as possible from my freelance writing efforts.

I guess my staying power has to do with perseverance; despite numerous rejections in the early ‘learning’ years of my freelancing journey, I have stayed with it and kept plugging away. Another part of me cannot turn my back on my urge to write, it is in my blood.

I hope that my blog, appropriately called Late Night Writer, will inspire you to stay on your writing path and lead you to success in the freelance writing world.