Writers on the Rise

By Wendy Burt Thomas

Q: Queries seem to be hit or miss. What’s the best way to keep a steady income as a writer?

A: There’s a difference between gigs and clients. By my definition, gigs are one-time assignments –such as an article that you write for a magazine. Although you can certainly get repeat assignments from editors, they can still be sporadic, and therefore you can’t always count on that income. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t continue sending queries. You should. But consider any assignments you land as supplemental income.

Build your security by obtaining clients. These are people for whom you do regular work–weekly, monthly, quarterly or even annually. Here are a few examples from my own clients:

• Weekly: I do 10 hours of PR a week for a national company. I write and send press releases and articles and do one-on-one media consulting with the franchisees.
• Monthly: I write a regular column for a women’s business magazine.
• Quarterly: I write and edit articles and ad copy for two quarterly magazines.
• Annually: I write and edit articles three to four months out of the year for a national magazine that comes out once a year.

I still send occasional queries and write greeting cards, but I don’t count on that income to pay my bills.

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Wendy Burt-Thomas is a full-time freelance writer, editor, copywriter and PR consultant. Her more than 1,000 published articles, essays and stories have appeared in such varied publications as Family Circle, American Fitness, ePregnancy, NYTimes.com, MSNBC.com, Woman’s World and Home Cooking. Wendy’s columns - on business, marketing, parenting, writing and healthy living – have appeared in countless newspapers and magazines. Wendy’s first two books for McGraw-Hill include Oh, Solo Mia! The Hip Chick’s Guide to Fun for One and Work It, Girl! 101 Tips for the Hip Working Chick. Her third book, The Writer’s Digest Guide to Queries; Landing articles, agents and book deals comes out December 2008. She lives in Colorado Springs with her husband Aaron, toddler Gracie, baby Ben and two black labs.

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By Wendy Burt

Q: As a full-time freelancer, what essentials do I need to make a living?

Freelance writing has the lowest overhead of any business I know. And with the wonders of technology, it’s even cheaper than when I started 15 years ago. I very rarely spend money on postage, envelopes or paper and even my incoming faxes go right to my email. (I pay $12.95/month for unlimited faxes through eFax.com. I’m saving trees, I can store them on my computer, and there’s no loud fax to wake up my two little kids.)

Obviously, a good computer is your biggest investment. I have two Macs - a desktop and a laptop. They read PC and Mac files and include a new drag-and-drop program that lets users with no experience create websites for themselves.

I highly recommend that you create a website describing your experience and expertise. You can send a link to your site when you apply for gigs (rather than or in addition to sending a whole resume) and you can even post samples of your work, your photo, and links to your articles on the Web.

I also recommend a 3-in-1: printer, copier, fax (for sending). Nowadays, you can get one for less than $100 and it’ll save you trips to Kinko’s.

Spend the money on a comfy chair, as you’ll be sitting in it for many hours a day (and night). Ditto with a good wrist pad.

And finally, I highly recommend investing in high-speed Internet access. You can talk on the phone while you check email or download files, and big files download in seconds rather than minutes.

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Wendy Burt is a successful full-time freelance writer and editor who has more than doubled her income since leaving her job as a newspaper editor just four years ago. With two women’s humor books for McGraw-Hill and more than 1,000 published pieces, Wendy’s work has appeared in such varied publications as Family Circle, The Writer, MSNBC.com, NewYorkTimes.com, Home Cooking Magazine and American Fitness. Wendy teaches “Breaking Into Freelance Writing” and still finds ample time to spend with her beautiful children, Gracie and Ben. Visit www.BurtCreations.com to see books by Wendy and her award-winning dad.
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By Wendy Burt-Thomas

Q: How can I cram in a full day of work when I’ve got meetings, appointments, errands, etc?

The phrase, “The work expands to fill the time allotted” is particularly relevant when it comes to freelancing. If you don’t create ways to make the most of the time you DO have to write, an entire day can slip away because you’ve got a meeting, doctor’s appointment, dental check-up, etc. Here are a few ways I “trick” myself into doing in four to six hours what might take others eight to ten.

1. Keep your “to-do” list full. Every night I make a list of all the things I have to get done in the next five to seven days – even if I can’t finish them all the next day. If I only wrote down “write column,” for example, because I knew I had a doctor’s appointment at 1 p.m., it would take me all four hours in the morning to write the column. But because I’m looking at a list of say, 10 assignments, I might get three or four done in the morning instead.

2. Break projects into smaller tasks. Writing a 2,000-word article can look like a daunting task on your list, causing you to put it off until you feel like you can get a huge chunk of time to do it all at once. Instead, break it up into segments: write intro, make outline, call one interview, etc.

3. Keep a running list of “blind” tasks. These are things you do without looking, like while you drive. You can brainstorm greeting card ideas, come up with a title for your article or even practice SAYING different openings for your query to Men’s Health. (I do this last one a lot while I’m in the shower. I can’t sing but I can belt out a catchy opening paragraph!)

4. Do the high-concentration tasks while you’re alone and multi-task the rest. Check email while you’re on hold, return phone calls while you wait for the kids at school, write thank you notes in the dentist’s waiting room, etc. If you use your pure writing time for non-essentials, you’ll fritter it away and the day will escape you. Use your time wisely and you will get a full day’s work done in half a day.

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Wendy Burt is a successful full-time freelance writer and editor who has more than doubled her income since leaving her job as a newspaper editor just four years ago. With two women’s humor books for McGraw-Hill and more than 1,000 published pieces, Wendy’s work has appeared in such varied publications as Family Circle, The Writer, MSNBC.com, NewYorkTimes.com, Home Cooking Magazine and American Fitness. Wendy teaches “Breaking Into Freelance Writing” and still finds ample time to spend with her beautiful children, Gracie and Ben. Visit www.BurtCreations.com to see books by Wendy and her award-winning dad.

By Wendy Burt

Q: Do you gravitate towards work that you like or do you just go where the work is?

A: I’d like to tell you I only do work I love, but I can’t. I enjoy what I do for a living– freelance writing and editing–but there’s always an aspect I enjoy less than others. The trick is to keep it to a minimum.

After all, if you love writing press releases, for example, but hate to invoice, you still have to get paid. For me, there are a couple tricks I use to enjoy my work more.

First, I’m always on the prowl for my favorite work: greeting cards. If I can do more of these, I can turn down work that I like less and not feel the financial pinch.

Second, I streamline the work I don’t enjoy with templates. For invoicing, for example, I have one standard form that I just copy and paste each time. That way it takes five minutes instead of thirty.

Third, I get ALL the details of what I’m expected to do at the start of a project. This is because I’ve learned that I procrastinate most on the assignments that I don’t completely understand. If a client gives me vague direction, the assignment will get bumped to the next day’s to-do list-several times. See for yourself! The next time you procrastinate on an assignment, ask yourself: “Is it because it’s boring or because I didn’t get enough information on what I’m supposed to do to get started?” Then learn from your mistakes. You’ll probably find that the work you get is easier to enjoy.

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Wendy Burt is a successful full-time freelance writer and editor who has more than doubled her income since leaving her job as a newspaper editor just four years ago. With two women’s humor books for McGraw-Hill and more than 1,000 published pieces, Wendy’s work has appeared in such varied publications as Family Circle, The Writer, MSNBC.com, NewYorkTimes.com, Home Cooking Magazine and American Fitness. Wendy teaches “Breaking Into Freelance Writing” and still finds ample time to spend with her beautiful children, Gracie and Ben. Visit www.BurtCreations.com to see books by Wendy and her award-winning dad.

Q: What kind of planning benefits your writing career in the long haul?

A: Earlier in my career, my long-term planning was built around getting clips. Most of my planning now is based on time and finances.

With finances, once you’ve decided you want to write for a living, there’s more to it than just paying the bills. For the very long term, you’ll need to do all those things that sound like drudgery to most of us: set up a 401K, life insurance, disability insurance and a savings fund. There are some simple and inexpensive options out there - even for sole proprietors. I have them set up on automatic withdrawal so I don’t talk myself out of them as I write the check. It might sound odd, but knowing I have these things gives me confirmation that I’m a “real” writer. Heck, I have friends that work regular 9-to-5 jobs and don’t have a 401K! It’s also nice to know that I have a savings account for the day I finally sit down to write that novel. (Unlike nonfiction, with fiction you don’t get an advance to live off for just pitching an idea!)

As for the time aspect of planning, you’ve got to prepare yourself for things like a vacation or planned leave of absence. (This could even include time to recuperate after a surgery or taking care of a sick relative.) In my case, this most recently meant preparing for a maternity leave. I had to not only prepare financially, but also prepare my clients by finding a back-up editor and writers. I also wrote several columns in advance, changed my voice message so anyone calling knew I would be unresponsive for a while and emailed several media contacts to let them know whom to contact in my absence.

Even though these situations (vacation, leave of absence, etc.) might seem like short-term planning, they’re actually not. You’re solidifying your future by maintaining your clients even when you can’t work for them! Remember, a good portion of your work in the future will come from past clients in one way or another (referrals, references, editors who moved on to another magazine). Keeping them satisfied along the way is an investment in your long-term success!

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Wendy Burt is a successful full-time freelance writer and editor who has more than doubled her income since leaving her job as a newspaper editor just four years ago. With two women’s humor books for McGraw-Hill and more than 1,000 published pieces, Wendy’s work has appeared in such varied publications as Family Circle, The Writer, MSNBC.com, NewYorkTimes.com, Home Cooking Magazine and American Fitness. Wendy teaches “Breaking Into Freelance Writing” and still finds ample time to spend with her beautiful children, Gracie and Ben. Visit www.BurtCreations.com to see books by Wendy and her award-winning dad.

By Wendy Burt

How do you partner with others to sustain your careers?

Believe it or not, some of my best clients have come from referrals from other writers. I have a close group of friends (and email buddies I’ve never met!) with whom I share leads. If I get offered a gig I can’t take, or if an editor writes to me to ask if I have reprints available on a certain topic, I’ll pass the lead along to my fellow writers.

Sometimes I see projects that I know would be perfect for a friend––like tech writing or editing, neither of which I’m qualified to do. I also pass along events––like group book signing events looking for fellow authors or local groups looking for speakers––and my friends do the same.

Graphic designers are also great partners because often writing and design go hand in hand when it comes to magazine layout or advertising. I’ve also had designers offer me writing and editing work on websites they’ve been hired to create.

Small newspaper and magazine publishers make for good partners because they’re often running a publication alone or with a bare-bones staff. This means that: 1) They often need articles to fill their pages, and 2) They can make executive decisions on the spot to trade advertising for, say, a regular column. Use the advertising to promote your services!

Remember, there is PLENTY of work to go around. Don’t worry that you’re sharing too much with your writing community. Think of it as paying it forward––kindness and generosity usually come back to benefit you, too.
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Wendy Burt is a successful full-time freelance writer and editor who has more than doubled her income since leaving her job as a newspaper editor just four years ago. With two women’s humor books for McGraw-Hill and more than 1,000 published pieces, Wendy’s work has appeared in such varied publications as Family Circle, The Writer, MSNBC.com, NewYorkTimes.com, Home Cooking Magazine and American Fitness. Wendy teaches “Breaking Into Freelance Writing” and still finds ample time to spend with her beautiful children, Gracie and Ben. Visit www.BurtCreations.com to see books by Wendy and her award-winning dad.

Q: What’s different about your career today vs. seven years ago?

EVERYTHING!

1.    I have more steady work from regular clients. This means I rarely write query letters or mail manuscripts. Once in awhile I’ll send a magazine pitch for PR that I’m doing for one of my clients, or I’ll run across a very part-time gig that just looks perfect for me. But for the most part, I’ve got enough work to keep me busy. I can’t tell you what a relief it is to get one (or more!) regular clients so you can count on the income. When you know you’ve got at least one steady check coming in, it actually frees up more time and energy for you to do “fun” writing because you’re not as worried about paying the bills. The best clients to shoot for?

• A weekly or monthly column that you enjoy writing (so it’s easy and fun)
• A magazine (most likely local, regional or online) that will send regular, steady assignments
• Copy writing or editing (for a magazine, newspaper, website or ad agency)
• Newsletter writing for a (paying) client

2.    I’m much better about charging what I’m worth. When I first started, I took almost every gig that came along–some that probably had me earning less than minimum wage–because I wanted the published clips and REALLY didn’t want to go back to a 9-to-5 job. I gradually became choosier and would drop my lowest-paying gig when a better one came along.

3.    I expect to spend money to make money. I don’t cut corners when it comes to things like my computer, my high-speed Internet access or my fax line because I know it’s worth it in the long run to have reliable tools and technologies. Plus, you can write them off your taxes.

4.    I only do work I enjoy. Once in a while I have to do some boring editing or work with an advertiser who has me rewrite her 20words of text 17 times, but for the most part, I love what I do, which makes it easy to get up every morning. Seven years ago, I would have called in sick.

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Wendy Burt is a successful full-time freelance writer and editor who has more than doubled her income since leaving her job as a newspaper editor just four years ago. With two women’s humor books for McGraw-Hill and more than 1,000 published pieces, Wendy’s work has appeared in such varied publications as Family Circle, The Writer, MSNBC.com, NewYorkTimes.com, Home Cooking Magazine and American Fitness. Wendy teaches “Breaking Into Freelance Writing” and still finds ample time to spend with her beautiful children, Gracie and Ben. Visit www.BurtCreations.com to see books by Wendy and her award-winning dad.

By Wendy Burt

Because I’ll be on maternity leave from “Ask Wendy” for the rest of the year, I’m using the opportunity to share publishing advice from other authors. This column includes answers from Laura Benjamin, author of The C.A.R.L.A. Concept: How to Raise an Issue, Prove Your Point and Communicate with Confidence & Clarity (carlaconcept.com); and Steve Burt, author of 13 books, including Activating Leadership in the Small Church, A Christmas Dozen: Christmas Stories to Warm the Heart, and the Stories to Chill the Heart series (burtcreations.com).

1. What books do you recommend that writers read?

Laura: Definitely Stephen King’s On Writing, Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, and John Kremer’s 1001 Ways to Market Your Book.

Steve: For inspiration read and follow Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, then Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones and its sequel Wild Mind. For technique, all fiction writers need to absorb Dwight Swain’s Techniques of the Selling Writer. Also, Gary Provost’s Make Your Words Work is a must-have for all writers, fiction and non-fiction.

2. What’s the difference between a “wannabe” and a “successful” writer?

Laura: A “successful” writer writes. Whether you journal, blog, do a column for community newspapers, write resumes for job seekers, or create workbooks you sell off your Web site or out of the back of your VW, you don’t get anywhere if you’re just sitting there waiting to be inspired or discovered. If you write regularly, you will find outlets for your work and people will seek you out. But you have to be disciplined about sitting down and dedicating x number of hours each day to the process. A successful writer also recognizes that writing is just part of the process. Marketing yourself and your book is also important. You want to create a personality, a brand, a career around being an author or writer. Then what you write supports and enhances that brand/image/career.

Steve: Wannabes are those who want to be writers, but writers want to write. It takes commitment to write, courage to submit and face the possibility of rejection, maturity to accept and act on criticism, and determination to rewrite and keep submitting. Wannabes submit a piece and wait to see what happens (get rich, get famous) but writers know they’re only as good as their next book or story, so they push onward regardless of the results.

Articles, books, greeting cards, oh my! Wendy Burt is a successful full-time freelance writer and editor who has more than doubled her income since leaving her job as a newspaper editor just three years ago. With two women’s humor books for McGraw-Hill and more than 1,000 published pieces, Wendy’s typical day might including writing ad copy, greeting cards, health articles, personal profiles or her marketing column for Her Business magazine. Her work has appeared in such varied publications as Family Circle, The Writer, MSNBC.com, NewYorkTimes.com, Home Cooking Magazine and American Fitness. Wendy teaches “Breaking Into Freelance Writing” and still finds ample time to spend with her beautiful baby, Gracie. Visit www.BurtCreations.com to see books by Wendy and her award-winning dad. More info at www.WendyBurt-Thomas.com.

Because I’ll be on maternity leave from “Ask Wendy” for the rest of the year, I’m using the opportunity to share publishing advice from other authors. This column includes answers from Steve Burt, author of 13 books, including Activating Leadership in the Small Church, A Christmas Dozen: Christmas Stories to Warm the Heart, and the Stories to Chill the Heart series. (burtcreations.com)

Wendy: What was your first big break?

Steve: My first “break” was a triple-header week in the early 1980s. I was a seminarian and a student pastor and so submitted articles related to my field. That week’s mail brought three acceptances and much encouragement. Upper Room devotional guide took a daily meditation ($10 and a free subscription); Pulpit Digest ran a sermon of mine free (but it made my publish-or-perish professors jealous); Your Church magazine took a how-we-did-it article on small church planning retreats ($35). After that came Reader’s Digest, Family Circle, Chicken Soup for the Soul series pieces, and hundreds of articles, poems, stories, and books (non-fiction church leadership books as well as popular fiction), which earned me many awards including three Ray Bradbury prizes, a Benjamin Franklin Award (mystery/suspense), and the world’s top horror prize, the Bram Stoker (for young readers).

Wendy: What’s your best advice for beginning writers?

Steve: My advice to beginners goes against conventional wisdom. Try writing in a few different areas, and publish wherever you can, including no-pay and low-pay markets. My weird tales first appeared in small low-pay/no-pay ghost and horror magazines that were labors of love by their writer/editors who usually lost money publishing out of their garages. But those freebies of mine appeared in England, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, and the USA, usually earning me just a contributor’s copy.

However, because they only needed one-time rights, it meant I could publish a story in several non-competing magazines. Some won prizes or earned honorable mentions in the Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror anthologies. When it came time to produce my first collection, Odd Lot: Stories to Chill the Heart, I simply drew together reprints of those small-press stories—and the self-published book won the Publisher’s Marketing Association’s Benjamin Franklin Award (silver, mystery/suspense) as well as a Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Award (honorable mention, horror).

The sequel, Even Odder, was a mix of small-press reprints plus some new originals—and it was a runner-up to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for the Bram Stoker Award, arguably the world’s top horror prize. The next, Oddest Yet, beat Dean Koontz and tied Clive Barker to actually win the Stoker. And the fourth, Wicked Odd, was an honorable mention for the Ippy (Independent Publisher) Award. The books have sold very well, but I wouldn’t have made much money or gotten the big awards if I had held out for only paying markets early on.

Articles, books, greeting cards, oh my! Wendy Burt is a successful full-time freelance writer and editor who has more than doubled her income since leaving her job as a newspaper editor just three years ago. With two women’s humor books for McGraw-Hill and more than 1,000 published pieces, Wendy’s typical day might including writing ad copy, greeting cards, health articles, personal profiles or her marketing column for Her Business magazine. Her work has appeared in such varied publications as Family Circle, The Writer, MSNBC.com, NewYorkTimes.com, Home Cooking Magazine and American Fitness. Wendy teaches “Breaking Into Freelance Writing” and still finds ample time to spend with her beautiful baby, Gracie. Visit www.BurtCreations.com to see books by Wendy and her award-winning dad. More info at www.WendyBurt-Thomas.com.

Q: I know you’ve talked about writing contest scams, but how do you spot writing job scams?

A: There aren’t any set rules for spotting scams, but there are some red flags you can watch for. A company that says it’s looking for, say, 100 mini-articles on skiing and then tells you to send a 200-word sample on skiing so the editor can “see your writing style” is probably gathering free material. A legit company would just ask for writing samples on any topic.

Another one to watch for is the company that says “payment to be discussed” just so it can get its listing into a major job site for writers. The catch is that when you contact the company, it actually “pays” in one of these ways: by the click (perhaps $.02 every time someone clicks on your story), with a link to your Web site, with exposure, or with a whopping $.005/word. (Yes, that’s HALF A CENT per word!)

Here’s one I received recently by e-mail: “We found your resume online and think you’d be great for a marketing position we have open…” This might catch the eye of a freelancer who writes a marketing column or does copy writing, but it’s essentially nothing more than a sales, recruiting or telemarketing gig that EVERYONE qualifies for. Companies like this send mass e-mails to jobseekers who have posted their resumes on Web sites like careerbuilder.com and monster.com.

When in doubt, do a quick Google search for the company name, the e-mail address or the name of the person who sent you the e-mail. Oftentimes you’ll find others who have done the research–and spotted the scam–so you don’t have to. We writers need to stick together!

Q: I’m sending out query letters to magazines. I think I know what to include, but are there things I definitely should NOT include?

A: No doubt! Here are a few no-nos that I’ve seen:
1. Discussion of money. A query letter for an article, essay or story should not include any mention of fees. (If you were pitching a column and had a set amount to offer for reprint rights that might be different.)
2. Photos. Indicate if relevant photos are available upon request, but don’t include them in your envelope (or as an attachment if you’re e-mailing your query). And no matter how cute your mother thinks you are, don’t include a photo of yourself. If they want one, they’ll ask for it.
3. A request for a meeting. Editors rarely have time to meet with freelance writers. If they want to meet you, they’ll let you know.
4. A request for advice. Don’t ask them to provide extensive feedback on your article idea and DEFINITELY don’t ask them if they know another magazine where you could submit the query. If an editor thinks your story idea is good, but not quite what they want, they may still ask you to write it just with a slightly different approach.

Articles, books, greeting cards, oh my! Wendy Burt is a successful full-time freelance writer and editor who has more than doubled her income since leaving her job as a newspaper editor just three years ago. With two women’s humor books for McGraw-Hill and more than 1,000 published pieces, Wendy’s typical day might including writing ad copy, greeting cards, health articles, personal profiles or her marketing column for Her Business magazine. Her work has appeared in such varied publications as Family Circle, The Writer, MSNBC.com, NewYorkTimes.com, Home Cooking Magazine and American Fitness. Wendy teaches “Breaking Into Freelance Writing” and still finds ample time to spend with her beautiful baby, Gracie. Visit www.BurtCreations.com to see books by Wendy and her award-winning dad. More info at www.WendyBurt-Thomas.com.