Getting started in the print market: Tutorial part 2

Collecting writing samples

A big part of looking for a writing job is presenting writing samples. I can just about guarantee that editors will want to see your work first.

I had chosen several nice pieces that I had written for the paper I worked for and took them with me in newspaper clipping form. Not everyone has these but anything in print is the first preference. But of course many people do not have print samples in the first place. That's what they are out there trying to get.

The next choice for writing samples would be anything published, online or otherwise. Many people have had pieces published online at places like Associated Content, Constant Content, or one of the many tips/how to websites. Print those out on paper if you have them.

If you don't have anything published at all, print out something you have written.

If you need to write something to submit as a sample, here's a story idea: Interview one of your friends who is a community volunteer, a sports parent, a youth group leader, or some other such selfless person in the community. Write the piece in third person with a length of about 300-600 words. Use a program that has spell-check (like Word) and have someone edit/proofread it for you.

Some inside information about print media: Newspaper people think print is the Alpha and the Omega of all mediums. (Now you know where I'm coming from!) Many small newspapers are still run by second and third generation newspaper people who have ink for blood and may be up in years. They tend to view other mediums as inferior and may even be suspicious of the Internet. That's why it's really important to have a sample that has been published in print or at least is physically on a piece of paper.

Getting started in the print market: Tutorial part 1

Market yourself

For many getting started as a freelance writer seems very overwhelming. It helps to break it down into small steps.

The very first thing you need to do is get yourself ready to market. You need a good resume, a cover letter, a professional looking cover for your cover letter and resume, and some business cards.

When I got ready to go into freelancing, I didn't even have a resume. I had never even so much as prepared a resume before, having been hired straight out of high school (really before). I was completely out of my league in the resume department. My sister and brother-in-law prompted me for things to put in the resume and actually built it for me. Some of my other sisters and my brother looked at it and made some suggestions. Get some help with your resume if you need it and most certainly have it edited/proofread before you present it.

You'll also need a cover letter that says in a few sentences what your purpose is.

There are some good free resources for writing a resume and cover letter. Check online and at the library for them.

Print off several copies of the cover letter and resume and put them inside a clear plastic cover, such as a report cover, or something professional looking like that.

The last thing in marketing materials that you will need is some business cards. Go to www.vistaprint.com and order some of the free cards there. It costs $5.25 to ship them. There are many very nice designs in the free cards.

Now you are ready to collect writing samples. Check back tomorrow.

Getting started as a freelance writer: Tutorial introduction

A lot of people ask me how I got started freelance writing. I had worked in a newspaper office as a reporter, photographer, and editor for 16 years, so when the time came to freelance and work from home, getting started with newspapers was the next logical step for me. I learned some things along the way about how to break into writing from home for the print market and would like to share it.

The print market pays much better than online work and I highly recommend looking into that avenue. I'm doing newspaper feature writing right now along with producing a few newsletters for nonprofit organizations. My background is in the newspaper business and that is what I know, but of course I'm not limited to that. There are tons of publications out there -- newspapers, news magazines, newsletters, and even advertising publications -- that cover all manner of subjects.

When in the freelance job market, many people don't consider the print market because they think they can't do it, or they don't think of it at all. Any writer looking to make a career in freelancing would do well to seriously consider print.

In the next few days I'll share the steps I took to get started as a freelance writer, and I hope that some of the pointers will help you. Please check back frequently as there are several steps, and I'll be posting them one at a time.

Let me know if you have any questions. I am glad to help if I can. Happy writing!

Getting started in the print market: Short tutorial

Here's my short version tutorial on getting started in the print market. It's a bit rough in places, but more details on each aspect are coming in the next several days.

Getting started in the print market (short tutorial)

That's great you're wanting to get into the print market. It pays so much better than online work. I'm writing some newspaper human interest writing right now along with putting together some newsletters for nonprofits. My background is in the newspaper business and that is what I know, but of course I'm not limited to that. There are tons of other publications out there.

Here's what I did to get started. I did have the advantage of 16 years in a newspaper office and my work and I were both well-known but this should still work for you. Find all the small newspapers within a reasonable radius and get the name of the editors. Do up a resume and get a few writing samples together (published if you have any) and go up to the paper office and ask for the editor by name. Have business cards if possible. You can get them for $5 at Vista Print. Have your resume in a report cover or something that looks professional. Hand the editor your card and your resume and say you'd like to do some freelance work for them.

Small newspapers would be the best place to start with this. They are usually understaffed and in sore need of feature pieces, sports writing, and maybe even some meeting coverage although the human interest pieces seem to be the best things to freelance out. Be willing to do whatever is needed. Leave them with the impression that you are competent, professional, and timely. They should have a rate that they pay freelancers but if not they should be willing to negotiate with you. I have all kinds of rates that I get. One is $1.25 an inch, another is $75 for a 1,000 word cover feature, and another is $50 for about 800 words. It just depends. (I like to get an average of $15-20 an hour but sometimes it doesn't always work out. At first all that matters is that you are getting paid and then you can figure out an average later and even turn your nose up at some assignments!)

Keep going to the papers in your area until you have as much work as you want or as much as you can handle. Once you get it going, give preference to the ones who pay quickly. All of mine pay within a week of publication and the publication dates are very quick after I submit pieces. It took me about seven months to get enough work. It took me several more months to let all the other work I was doing go and just concentrate on my writing. Now I'm 4.5 years into freelancing and I can pick and choose what I want to do but I am very careful to remain very valuable to my editors. I’ve also gotten a lot of my current work through those first jobs I got.

I have found some websites that have a lot of good information on them. Here's the link to a list I created. My favorite is the message board at Mommy Jobs, and then most of the links to those writing sites have message boards.

Be sure to take a look at my writing website since it might have some ideas for you.

I really feel like more people would be happy if they would just try the print market. I know I had a big advantage but I think this is very feasible for just about anyone.

The print market -- how do you get started?

Sometimes I feel like I'm quite in the minority on the Internet, amongst so many online writers, when I chat up the print market and encourage other writers to pursue that avenue. It makes sense that the Internet is full of online writers, though, and that is one of the reasons I push the print market. It pays better, too.

I get asked quite often how to go about getting started in the print market. A while back I composed a very brief tutorial and have provided it to anyone requesting it. Recently I took that brief tutorial and expounded upon it greatly, adding many more details and insider tips.

Over the next couple of weeks I will be posting this expanded tutorial in sections here. Watch for it and check back for new ideas and suggestions.

Going back to the office -- would you?

Would you go back to work outside the home after working from home?

I raved yesterday about all the advantages of working from home but my answer to the above question is yes!

But on my terms. (Sounds like a work-at-home mom to the core, huh?)

Working outside the home during the day during normal business hours isn't even an option for me right now. I have a baby to care for all day long. I have four kids to get to school and take care of after school. Plus I have a wonderful freelance writing business that has grown tremendously in four and a half years, and the potential for more growth is as big as I want it to be.

But, working during normal business hours isn't the only option out there. That's why I would consider going back to work.

My dream job outside the house would be in a coffee cafe located inside of a bookstore. (It could happen.)

I've worked odd hours before, in particular at a chain sandwich shop, and I'd go back in a minute, mainly for the chance to get out of the house. I'd like to do this when my son gets old enough to be okay with his dad or auntie for several hours in the evening on a regular basis. We'll see about it then; for now I just get to dream about it.

What would you do?

Advantages of working from home

At this very moment, I'm sitting on the couch with my laptop and a cup of coffee, watching my favorite show, "What Not to Wear." I'm waiting on some photographs to be emailed to me so I can wrap up a project and send an invoice. Oh by the way, it's noon. And my son just went down for a nap (finally).

That would be one of the biggest advantages of working from home.

Here are a few more!

* I take my kids to school, pick them up, and go to the school in the middle of the day for lunch. I'm available on a moment's notice if someone forgets an important paper or gets sick.

* I don't have to fight traffic to get to work. After going to the store this morning after dropping the kids off at school and sitting through I don't know how many lights backed up with dozens of vehicles, I had a brand new appreciation for the term "fighting traffic." I don't ever want to have to do that on a daily basis.

* I can watch TV and drink coffee in the middle of the day if I want. I don't do it a lot, but the opportunity is there.

* I get the shopping and errands done during the day. That is opposed to spending lunch hour paying bills or running off to the store as soon as my husband gets home like I used to when I worked in an office.

* Expenses like the laptop are tax-deductible. Mileage, phone bill, Internet bill, a ream of copy paper ... it's all tax-deductible. What's not to love about that?

What are the advantages of working from home for you?

In retrospect

How did you pick your work-at-home mom job? Did you choose something you've always loved doing?

Ever since I was old enough to hold a pencil, I have been writing. I penned several books as a child, including one that was circulated in all the third-grade classrooms, much to the chagrin of a painfully shy eight-year-old! I scribbled poems throughout my adolescence and was editor of the school newspaper during my final two years of high school.

I got my official start in the newspaper business as a brand new high school graduate in May of 1988. I worked as a writer and photographer and later an editor in the office until December 2003. During these years I wrote news, took photographs, and worked in page design while learning the ins and outs of newspapering strictly by experience.

I started freelancing in January 2004. I began writing human interest pieces for a nearby daily newspaper each week and advertorial material for another area newspaper on a regular basis. Later I began to write feature pieces for that newspaper, too.

In the summer of 2004, I began writing for the state newspaper's three zoned editions that it publishes twice a week.

My newspaper freelancing went smoothly for a couple of years, and then I tossed something new in there -- newsletter production. When I contacted a nonprofit organization with which I was very well familiar from my days in the newspaper office to do a freelance piece, they asked me to consider taking over their quarterly newsletter. Finally, I agreed. A few months after that another nonprofit organization that I got to know as a freelancer asked me about taking over their newsletter, and we got that started. Earlier this year a consultant for two nonprofits contacted me requesting work.

Along the way I acquired another newspaper job (I was referred to them by a current client) and ended two because of the distance; and one of the newsletter jobs was ended for budgeting reasons.

I have to say I never expected to be doing newsletters but it is quite enjoyable because I get to use all my newspaper skills -- writing, photography, editing, and design -- all in one concise publication.

The newspaper pieces are all very enjoyable as well, since I'm writing about wonderful people and places right where I live.

Looking back on my many years of writing, I seem to have let my words take me where they wanted me to go. This has opened up new avenues of writing for me, and I delight in the experience.

Tell me about your work-at-home mom job!

Online writing vs. print market writing

The printed page.

Aaaah, how I love it.

I wrote books as a child, penned poems as a teenager, and went to work at the local newspaper office as a young adult.

I left the newspaper office four and a half years ago, came home, fired up the Internet, and realized people were writing for websites and getting paid for it.

That wasn't something I was familiar with, but I investigated, emailed a few resumes, and waited. Nothing happened. I didn't pursue it because I was focusing on what I was familiar with, print writing. That was taking off for me.

From time to time I revisit the notion of getting paid to write online, and sometimes I even check the job openings. I have done that a lot the past few months, more so than I ever have before. I finally figured out where to look, I think.

Over the past few months I've probably applied to an average of a job a week online. I've gotten some bites, too, but nothing has worked out. I was accepted to write reviews of books (mainly instructional in nature), but it required a membership and purchase at a popular online bookseller. I didn't pursue the job. I was accepted to write a feature at a site that publishes pieces on interesting and unusual places, with the promise that I could write more if they liked it. I submitted something and my poor piece has been in review for two months now. I was accepted to write for a new national print and online publication, one that I really believed in. Two story ideas and two column ideas were quickly shot down. I decided not to pursue that either.

Not discouraged (much) I continue to peruse the online writing jobs available, but it is obvious what my focus should be: print writing.

Currently I have five clients; all but one contacted me with work proposals. Print work comes easier (for me anyway) and it pays so much better than what I've seen for some online work. Plus, newspapers smell so much better than the Internet.

Places to find writing jobs based on locale and niche

Freelance Writing at About.com has done it again. Guide Allena Tapia has three new lists of places to find freelance writing jobs. This time the lists are based on locale and niche.

List #1 is 26 places to find telecommuting jobs. These can generally be completed from anywhere.

List #2 lists places that have jobs that are more area-specific at times, like Craigslist, Morning Coffee, and Freelance Writing Gigs, three of my favorite places to look.

List #3 is niche-based jobs, like journalism.

Thanks Freelance Writing and Allena!

Note to self: interview

The Coffee-Stained Writer has posted a list of self-interview questions and her own answers, and has encouraged other writers to post their answers as well.

It's a thought-provoking way to get the creative juices flowing and a great idea! I'll post my answers here tomorrow.

In the meantime, be sure to check out the blog of a fellow coffee-drinking writer!

Success with summer break scheduling (finally)

Just as I suspected, I've got my summer break work schedule figured out now that it is time for the girls to go back to school.

Earlier in the summer I was having a terrible time getting everything done and mainly, getting a handle on the stress level. Mondays were extremely overwhelming: it was my first day taking care of five kids by myself plus it was my big work day. On Thursdays and Fridays I just have my three kids, and on Saturdays and Sundays my husband is around to help with all five. Taking care of everyone plus getting the work week off to a good start was just too much for me. I just couldn't handle all of it.

Although I have always scheduled a large portion of my work on Mondays (to get the week going with a bang), I took my little sister's suggestion to not plan to do so much on Mondays but rather, spread it out over the entire week. It took a week or two to figure out how to do that, but I finally got it together.

I actually start working on Sundays. I plan my week, look up phone numbers, email addresses, etc., all the information I need to contact people and set up interviews. I contact as many people as possible by email, which is getting easier because most people have email addresses now and most of the people that I need to contact can be found on the Internet. Before I would do all of this on Mondays. Now when I get up on Monday morning inundated with five children and all that entails, all of my Monday work is done for me. I am still doing a bit of work on Mondays but if I don't get it done, its okay. It almost feels like I am getting an extra day in the week!

I am leaving days later in the week, like Thursdays and Fridays, open for more work. Those days are quieter and much less hectic with only three kids around. After you take care of five kids for five days in a row, three seems like not very many kids! I am also being more open to working in the afternoons.

This schedule is working out wonderfully. I feel much more in control of what is going on, and I feel like I am accomplishing more.

I may keep this schedule with a few minor modifications when the kids go back to school. While I can't work after they get home (it's homework time then!) I can still get my week started on Sundays and spread the work out more evenly over the entire week.

It's exciting to finally get a handle on things although they are going back to school in a week and a half. I hate that it's taken me all summer to figure things out but better late than never. I seriously doubt I could have handled another Monday without totally losing it! Now I like to think I skip them altogether. That's a great feeling.

Story ideas

The Working Writers Newsletter at FreelanceWriting.com has an interesting piece on generating ideas for writing.

There are some really interesting ideas in there, and many of them are geared toward using technology and the Internet.

Whenever I need some story ideas I just ask my husband! ;) I skim through a lot of print publications and a few online ones as well.

I'd love to hear how some of you get your ideas for writing.

Resources and reference sites for writers

Here is a great list of assorted resources and references for writers that I recently came across.

150 Writing Resources

Some of the categories for the sites are:

Almanacs (like Answers and Black Facts Online, a good starting point for research though not listed as credible enough to cite as resources)

Business matters

Citation styles (like APA or Chicago)

Dictionaries (I love my Webster's dictionary and thesaurus that is installed on my hard drive but online dictionaries are very useful as well)

English language skills (like "The Elements of Style")

News digests

News media resources

Writing skills

Writing software (like Blogger and Open Office, both of which I love)

Bookmark this list for future reference!

Connect with other writers

Freelance Write at About.com has a nice list of writing blogs, forums, and other networking groups.

Let's get together!

Transitioning work posts

My transition of work posts from my archaic, slow desktop to my new, lightning-fast laptop is nearly complete. I've placed most of the files I need on my laptop and started my trial of Microsoft Office Small Business 2007.

I actually only need one component of the small business version of Office: Publisher. Everything else on there that I use, which is mainly just Word, is compatible with the free Open Office software I have now. Open Office Writer and Word understand one another perfectly and I am able to use Writer on the laptop and Word on the desktop interchangeably, with no problems whatsoever.

The Publisher component of Office I need for work so I can produce newsletters for a few nonprofit organizations.

A few evenings ago I downloaded the small business trial so I can work on my newsletters on the laptop. The trial lasts for 60 days. If I have really used it on the laptop I will purchase Publisher only. If it has not been of that much benefit I will just let the trial lapse without purchasing the program.

I do love the speed of the laptop and the more programs there are on it, the slower it runs. For that reason I'm putting as few files and programs on it as possible. I'd like to keep it mainly for Internet use. For the times that I need to email files that are on the desktop, I just save them to a CD and pop that in the laptop.

The transition is going well so far, and I hope it continues!

Free website hosting site in beta

I just ran across a free website hosting site in beta and wanted to share ...

WEB ON

You can do a blog, etc. with this and it says there aren't any ads. Your address would be "yoursitename.webonsites.com."

Between that and the no ads feature that is a really great deal, especially compared to other free website hosts like Yahoo Geocities, where your address is something like http://www.geocities.com/smbwallace2003/arkansasprofiles.html and it is supported by advertisements.

I think I'll play around with the site in the next couple of days to see how easy it is. My Arkansas Profiles website, the one with the horribly long Geocities address, could use some updating and maybe the new Web On site would be a good place to put it. Something to think about ...

Trade magazines

Write From Home has a list of trade magazines for which you can receive a free subscription.

Many writers are experts in certain areas and write for such trade magazines. They could also be used to expand these areas of knowledge.

For instance, I write about agriculture, housing, and similar topics for nonprofit organizations. I plan to subscribe to several of these magazines that appear to carry information that could benefit me in my newsletter work. I'll report back on the usefulness of the magazines later.

Writing for Profit: free mini ecourse

Write from Home has a great (and free!) mini ecourse entitled "Writing for Profit: Break Into Magazines," by Cheryl Wright.

It has a good bit of useful information that can also be applied to other print medium, like newspapers.

Seeing this mini ecourse gives me an idea of what to do with a piece I've written on how to get a job in the print market. And one of the free ebooks I've posted about recently describes how to set up an ebook!

A few more free online courses

There are a few more free online writing classes in this list from Freelance Writing at About.com.

Follow that link to About University and you'll find free online classes on every imaginable subject. I had no idea so many online classes were available for free!

Each online course is sent by email daily or weekly and is designed to help you learn a specific skill or solve a particular problem, so says the welcome to About U. Jump in!