Avoiding the Paper Bin

by Mike O’Mary

Dream of Things has a Fan Page on Facebook, and a while back, somebody left a message for me on the Dream of Things wall: “Ever time try write storys use go in paper bin because stoys not at good.”

At first, I didn’t know what to say. But I thought about it, and then I wrote back: “I think I understand. I have days like that, too.”

Actually, I have a lot of days like that, and recently I kind of hit a wall. Which is why this post is about taking care of yourself and making sure you get plenty of rest and relaxation.

I hit a wall mentally and physically after four months of working 70-80 hours a week. I launched a new publishing company and online bookstore, published two books, started soliciting submissions for 15 anthologies of creative nonfiction, recruited and retained seven editors to edit those 15 anthologies, started contributing to The Freelance Zone, and began editing two book-length manuscripts. And that was in my spare time because I also have a day job. This past weekend, I couldn’t think any more. So I took the weekend off. I went for a walk on Saturday, then spent the afternoon cleaning out my closets, trying on old pants (I had somehow accummulated about 40 pairs of pants) and setting aside anything that didn’t fit for donation to charity. Then Sunday afternoon, I went to the Green Mill in Chicago for some live jazz and to celebrate my girlfriend’s birthday. It was a much-needed break.

When I was freelancing, one of the things I found most challenging was battling the feeling that I could never completely relax. I always felt I needed to be looking for the next assignment, and I never told a client “no” because I never knew when the client might call again. But relaxation is critical to your well-being. Otherwise, it is very difficult to do the very demanding work of writing and editing. So turn off that laptop, put on some music and try on some pants (or try on whatever you like to try on to relax), and live today so you can write again tomorrow.

Mike O’Mary is founding dreamer of Dream of Things, an independent book publisher currently accepting creative nonfiction stories for anthologies on 15 topics.

The Problem With Job Boards

Freelance gigs are posted and reposted like crazy on your favorite writing sites. Even we have posted jobs here when the mood strikes us. While we enjoy doing it when there’s time, we fully recognize one overriding problem with getting leads from “the usual places”.

If 75 people who are all looking for freelance writing opportunities look at a single job post, the editor is likely to get 75 query letters or resumes. That’s some pretty stiff competition.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t use the freelance writing job boards, just be prepared for a lot of no-reply situations unless you can get on the bandwagon early and beat the rush.

I have a dirty little secret I use for just such purposes, and it involves looking at the freelance writing gig sites, taking a few notes, and then not responding to ANY of the items posted there. My secret? … Continue Reading

Holiday Terrorism, Checkbook Journalism, and Transparency

by Joe Wallace

The holiday terrorism incident involving Northwest Flight 253 has effects that go far beyond some additional hassles in the screening line at the airport. One example–the tempest started over what’s known as “checkbook journalism”, where in at least two cases networks were exposed as having paid to get access to a news story. This little controversy even extends to the exclusive interview with the hero of Northwest Flight 253, Jasper Schuringa aired on CNN,

Want to know why Schuringa hasn’t been on the news in person since that day? He asked for additional payment beyond the licensing fee CNN paid for one of Schuringa’s cell phone images–more money or no further questions, please. That’s according to a report at Mediate.com. … Continue Reading

Tax Advice for 2009 Freelancer Income

by Joe Wallace

Most freelance blogs preface any post about taxes by saying, “This is not tax advice. Consult a tax pro for advice on filing your taxes.” Well, I’m through with all that–at least for this post. I’m going to flat out dispense some tax advice here and boy, is it some sound advice. (Nice ego, eh?)

This advice isn’t really that radical, but it can spare you plenty of grief come April 15th–especially if you’ve made too much money in 2009 and need some last-minute help offsetting a big tax bill.

Here’s my tax advice: Gather up all your receipts this weekend or next, figure out your expenses for the year and measure them against your income. Yes–I’m suggesting you do a dry run on figuring out your 2009 taxes to see how much you owe. … Continue Reading

What You Can Learn About Freelancing From Your Phone Bill

It’s tough to know when to cut your losses. Deadbeat clients, those who ask for never-ending rewrites, clients who pay later and later, the list goes on and on. How long do you give them the benefit of the doubt?

That’s a question for another article. This post is about something completely different–those situations where the client is nice, friendly, reasonable…but you still find yourself getting the short end of the stick.

Example–the writer I know who has to make international phone calls to get his articles written. Calls that aren’t always reimbursed by his editors. This writer decided to start cutting out the companies that wouldn’t pay his phone expenses (which are regular and fairly predictable). He was shocked to learn he saved himself $200 in one month doing so. One of his publication credits wound up costing him half his fee in phone calls–clearly a losing option. … Continue Reading

Freelance Career Stuff that Works For Me

There are plenty of writing blogs that advocate “best practices” or things that seem to be best practices…and enough of those things are similar enough that a newcomer might get the mistaken impression that the writing game has a set of rules or ways to “do it right” that, when used like a magic formula, equal success.

But the fantastic truth of the matter is, there’s no one right way to do this–freelancing is about what works for YOU. No formulas aside from a few professional courtesies and common-sense activities like spell-check and final draft revisions.

That said, here’s a list of things in no particular order, that I do on a regular basis that seem to work for me:

–I like to stay up late. Past midnight. I try not to work myself into the ground, but around 11PM, after Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, I do some shameless self promotion. … Continue Reading

Top Five Steps to Beat Isolation and Winter Blahs

There’s an excellent post at The Writing Journey that talks about freelance isoloation, and with winter coming round the corner at full steam, now’s a great time to anticipate the winter blues, and locked-away-writing-all-day blahs and get on top of those issues before they get on top of you.

Number one cause of the winter blues? Lack of sun exposure. Don’t make the mistake of missing out on some sunlight time, even if it’s just to walk around the block in a hurry as the winter wind tries to push you back inside.

Don’t freelance in isolation, either. This winter, make a point to get into some coffee shops and do your work–be out and among the people, sit in a window with some sun streaming in when you can, and give yourself plenty to look forward to when the day is done.

This winter could be–depending on where you live–a true ordeal. We’re bracing for the worst here in Chicago and it won’t be easy to take our own medicine, but it’s absolutely critical to make the effort. Otherwise productivity suffers, money flies away, and your career starts to feel like a chore. The word “free” is the first part of the term “freelancing” for a reason.

… Continue Reading

What I Learned About Freelance Marketing from Flashback Weekend

October means the harvest, Halloween season, and best of all there are a massive load of horror movie conventions all over the country celebrating the scariest time of the year. I’m attending Chicago’s legendary Flashback Weekend this weekend (Oct 23-25 ‘09) to promote my vinyl collector/DJ blog Turntabling.net, and wouldn’t you know it, I found a way to tie it in to Freelance-Zone.

I like to take lessons on the freelance game wherever I find ‘em, and this morning while Googling directions to the event (at the Wyndham Hotel in Rosemont) I noticed that the official site for Flashback didn’t have the hours listed in a prominent place. In fact, I wasted several minutes searching for the hours (I finally located them buried deep on the schedule page–it’s too early in the morning for such a bug-hunt).

Here’s a lesson in marketing freelancers can learn:

… Continue Reading

Can You Freelance in a Pub?

The ultimate combination of business and pleasure for those of us who love the taste of a good, cold beer? Throwing open a laptop in a pub and downing a pint or two while firing off queries and polishing first drafts.

I won’t make the draft beer joke here, but I will say that freelancing in the Irish pub down the street from me is one of life’s little pleasures. I was reminded of how much I enjoy this when I stumbled across a 2008 blog post at FreelancerMagazine.com called 6 Alternative Work Spaces to the Home Office by John Cottone.

Some find the pub too noisy to work, but for some reason I enjoy the atomosphere–it actually makes me concentrate a bit harder somehow. … Continue Reading

Stuck For Freelance Writing Ideas?

If you’re stuck for ideas for a query or a set of articles, sometimes all you need is a jumpstart. Attach some jumper cables to your brain with a few of these ideas to get the creativity flowing freely.

–Play a round of golf. The old joke says golf is an enjoyable walk spoiled by a little white ball.  Something about walking around all that greenery is inspirational, and if the game itself doesn’t grab you, try some people watching (and eavesdropping) and you’ll come up with something in no time.

–Drink too much caffeine. That sudden rush is always good for a laugh at the very least, but more often than not your ideas will be exploding in your head.

–Watch a talk show you violently disagree with. There is a certain something about watching people you perceive to be ill-informed buffoons going through their paces that gets the idea mill fired up all over again.

… Continue Reading

I Know You’re Losing $50-$200 a Day

By Yolander Prinzel

How do I know you are? Well, because I am and although this might cause you to break out into the cold sweat of denial, I’m pretty sure you and I aren’t that different.

I waste at least 2 hours every day sitting in front of my computer doing…well…absolutely nothing.

Yeah, no, I know, it’s terrible, right? But–surely–you aren’t that bad. You don’t spend time looking through pictures on Facebook of people you don’t even know. You don’t start conversations with strangers on Twitter. You don’t do housework off and on throughout the day. You don’t do anything but write and market yourself all day…right?

Yeah, that’s what I thought. So here is my challenge to you web writers next month. Let’s all try to take on 2 additional hours worth of work each workday and earn 2 more hours worth of pay. Whether 2 hours means 1 article for you or two, do it. Then take that money, which you normally wouldn’t have had because you would have been busy picking your split ends during those two hours, and put it in your savings account.

Let’s say you average (based on your writing speed and prices) $35 an hour. You will have banked an extra $350 in your savings account the first week. Do that for a month and you’ll have about $1,400. A year? $18,200–and that isn’t counting interest.

So put your hair down, log out of Facebook, sign off from Twitter and leave your laundry unfolded–it’s not like you have to leave the house anyway.

Print writers–you aren’t out of the challenge. I’m betting you could send out a couple extra queries during the week. The pay from any of those queries that get accepted should go straight to savings too.

Yolander Prinzel, ACS is a financial writer as well as a series 7, 66 and 2-15 licensed financial representative with a decade of industry experience. She was the National Director of Marketing and the Director of Operations for The Compass Agency USA and has also been a trader for Raymond James Financial Services. None of her posts are meant to be advisory. Only an advisor with close, personal knowledge of your financial situation can offer advice. You can get her new e-book You’ve Found Your Specialty–Now What? Tips and Tricks to Finding and Scoring Clients and Making a Living Writing What You Know here for just $7.95.

Is Your Favorite Freelance Job Source in Violation of Federal Law?

by Joe Wallace

Whenever the federal government gets involved in regulating the Internet, I get nervous. The recent FTC interest in mommy blogs raised many an eyebrow, and it’s clear that if the “industry” doesn’t regulate itself where honesty in product reviews is concerned, the government might just decide to take it to a whole new level. It’s probably a false alarm where most bloggers are concerned–the FTC will likely simply create an enforcement issue with the companies providing things for bloggers to review rather than try to deal with blogs themselves.

But there’s a bigger, scarier issue that could bring federal involvement if some freelance websites don’t get their collective !#@* together.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 states in no uncertain terms that no employer may “refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin“.

This doesn’t seem to be a problem for most American freelancers–after all, we’re dealing with English language websites, magazines and copy writing projects for the most part. But there’s a subculture in freelancing where companies from India seek and hire freelancers–both Americans and those native to India–for a variety of projects.

You can find many ads by and for India-based freelance projects on sites like GetAFreelancer.com and FreelanceJobSearch.com. The problem? The language in the ads. Consider these found on FreelanceJobSearch.com, which originated at GetAFreelancer:

“Hi bidders I have a big project for indian…”

or

“Individual Indian web developers ONLY!”

and

“Need some fresh PVAs, all should be made using unique US IP, unique gmail accounts and US name(Not Indian).”

All of these posts could be considered a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Yes, the third example is stretching things a bit–but ANY discriminatory language could raise the ire of the government or a lawsuit-happy lawyer.

But how, you ask? These websites–GetAFreelancer.com and FreelanceJobSearch.com aren’t responsible for the hiring practices of these job posters. But there’s one little problem:

Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 SEC. 2000e-3. [Section 704] :

“Other Unlawful Employment Practices

(b) Printing or publication of notices or advertisements (emphasis mine) indicating prohibited preference, limitation, specification, or discrimination; occupational qualification exception

It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer, labor organization, employment agency, or joint labor-­management committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or retraining, including on­-the-­job training programs, to print or publish or cause to be printed or published any notice or advertisement relating to employment… indicating any preference, limitation, specification, or discrimination, based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”

There are exceptions–sometimes national origin is considered a bona fide qualification. But in the case of many freelance writing projects, this is a huge gray area–can an American writer do the same work as the India-based freelancer? Can an American project manager exclude an freelancer from India but writing in the USA on the basis of national origin?

These issues are not directly addressed by the law–and the law does not state conclusively–as far as I can tell–whether or not a publication or website is exempt from liability for publishing a job ad which violates the Civil Rights Act.

“There’s no clear indication of a problem here, so what’s YOUR problem?” Good question.

The very existence of this gray area spells trouble for freelance websites who run ads with language that could put them in violation of federal law. Any uncharted waters in these issues of legality mean your site is subject to federal probes, lawsuits and other nightmares. Webmasters and bloggers–are you willing to take the risk?

Resume and Cover Letter Advice for Freelancers

by Joe Wallace

Lately I see a lot of less experienced freelancers making serious mistakes in their marketing materials. It’s tough for people without the benefit of experience (and hindsight) to judge what’s going to hurt them in a resume or cover letter, but thinking like an editor can help a lot.

Marketing yourself can be scary–how do you convey that you’re savvy, competent and reliable? How do you get confidence across without accidentally conveying arrogance?

For some newer freelancers, those questions can’t even be answered properly until one vastly important thing is addressed: … Continue Reading

Freelance Portfolio Mistakes and Cibo Matto

by Joe Wallace

One of my favorite bands of the 90s was a Japanese girl-group called Cibo Matto. The name of the band is Italian for “food madness”, and the group’s earliest songs were definitely food-centric, especially on the track Beef Jerky.

What does this have to do with freelance portfolios?

Every editor has their own strange little hiccups. Personality quirks. Some call them “defects”.

Mine is that whenever I get replies to my latest call for writers or when I browse online portfolios looking for someone to offer some writing work to, I hear a lot of Cibo Matto.

That is to say, I hear a lot of this one line from Beef Jerky. If I’m reading a resume or an online freelance portfolio and I run across material that seems needlessly self-aggrandizing, or  completely (and cluelessly) irrelevant, I hear the line from Beef Jerky where the lead singer is screaming, “Who cares? I don’t care! A horse’s ass is better than yours!”

This happens–I kid you not–EVERY SINGLE TIME. … Continue Reading

Top 5 Editor Pet Peeves

by Joe Wallace

Editors are a busy lot. We’ve got typos to correct, abused commas that need first aid, and metaphors to un-mix. It’s a fulltime job. When you’ve got Glenn Beck misspelling “oligarchy” on national television, you know your inbox is going to be flooded with people writing “there” when they meant “they’re” and “affect” when they meant “effect”.

So how can you earn the undying gratitude of your poor, harried editor? By not committing one of these offenses that will, someday, be punishable by large fines and jail time:

5. Failure to follow instructions. This is often the case when simple, but important items like how to attribute a source are concerned. If the publication wants present tense, be OCD about it. “Johnny says the biggest thrill of his life was becoming a were-spider.” as opposed to “Johnny said being a were-spider is better than being a were-lobster”. If you just double check that little thing your editor wants, it saves a lot of trouble on the back end. And they love you for it. … Continue Reading