Tag Archives: freelance writing

reading

Working for Yourself: Law & Taxes for Freelancers

Stephen Fishman has tackled one of the trickiest subjects related to freelance writing; taxes. A book like this should be in every freelancer’s library unless you’re convinced you know the rules inside and out–but even if you DO, it’s good to have a reference for those gray areas.

Why are taxes such a minefield for freelance writers? A major portion of the issue has to do with your deductible expenses, your status with the IRS and the amount of money you make with your freelance income. You are entitled to take deductions for your legitimate business expenses, but if those deductions end being more than you make, you take a loss at tax time. This means you get no refund, but you probably don’t OWE the IRS any money. So far so good, right?

You can only take a loss for three years in a row before the IRS starts raising its collective eyebrows at you. The IRS can reclassify your freelance writing income into the “hobby” category, and while there are exceptions, you need to dive headfirst into the tax code to learn what they are and how you should go about filing. Why should that concern you? Because hobby income is NOT eligible for the same deductions you’d get in the business category. You do NOT want to be relegated to the hobby bracket unless that’s where you want to be as a VERY part-time freelancer.

Working For Yourself offers plenty of valuable information and insight on the labyrinth of tax issues freelancers and independent contractors have to navigate. It’s available from Amazon for $26.39. If you buy by clicking the link, you support Freelance-Zone.com, but regardless where or how you get this info, all freelancers should know what they’re getting into at tax time.

advice, editorial

Stepping Stones: How I Went From No Clips To Published Pro

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When I started in the freelancing game, I had no idea what I was doing, so I started by reading a lot of books on being successful. Jenna Glatzer, Robert Bly, the inevitable copy of Writer’s Market…I invested in several tomes, boned up on query letters, story ideas and how to overcome writer’s block.

At the time I thought I had given myself the benefit of a lot of other people’s experience. Looking back now, I can see that all those books tried to say one important thing, but couldn’t quite put it into words. The one thing all those books couldn’t quantify is how personalized the freelancing experience is–there really is NO one path. I started off thinking that, like the steady gigs I had in radio and television, there was a set of accepted practices and procedures that could land you a freelancing job. All I had to do was to figure out the secret handshakes, submit in the accepted way and I could get my foot in the door in no time, right?

Wrong. Continue reading Stepping Stones: How I Went From No Clips To Published Pro →

resources

Freelancers Using YouTube

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Usually when I find resources like this, I comment on them and discuss their pros and cons. In this case, I am more curious about the larger impression it makes. How does the community react to this kind of cross-pollenization? I know how it strikes ME, but I am dying of curiosity to know what others are thinking when they see this come across their radar. I discovered this clip at YouTube–it was posted in January 2008 and has only been seen 200-ish times. I’d love to know what kind of feedback the author of this clip has gotten or if the clip had driven significant traffic to the site mentioned. Freelancers, if you ran a business like this, do you think this clip best represents what is on offer? Is this the best use of the resources available? Does this clip do the job and make you want to check out the website? What would you do differently? I invite you to discuss:

editorial

Stepping Stones: From No Clips To Published Pro

Our recent controversy over my views on Associated Content led Cath and I to the realization that we hadn’t really hit the topic of going from zero to 60, professionally speaking. How do you get to be a professional freelance writer from having nothing at all in your published clips bin?

This is not a topic we can address all at once, so we thought it would be good to begin a series on posts on the subject. After all, it’s not fair to tell people not to submit clips from content mills as published work without giving some actual, useful advice on how to get the right sort of material a good-paying publication will take seriously.

The lure of content mills is quick cash. They are very good at what they do in this regard, but the pay is–let’s be honest here–peanuts. I got plenty of angry comments from people regarding my Associated Content post, people saying (with a fair amount of indignation) “I do NOT dash off my posts in five minutes, thank you very much!”

Point taken.

Now here’s my question–why would you agonize for hours and days (as one poster said) over something that paid you a tiny little sum? In the early stages, it’s true that ALL writers must do this. But the most important thing a writer can do is to focus their efforts in such a way that you don’t STAY in the low paying bracket. Agonize over those early clips, yes. But don’t be content to live in the peanut gallery. You CAN move out of that twilight zone of writing if you play your cards right.

Over the next several weeks (months?) we are going to tell you exactly how to do it. Cath and I will start writing a series of posts under the Stepping Stones header to give new writers the benefit of our experience. How DID Catherine L. Tully go from having no published clips to getting a major publication credit with Boys’ Life in the first months of her writing career? How does a new writer start creating a portfolio that can land gigs writing material which appears on AOL, Verizon.com and Wal-Mart? We did it, and so can you. How did I go from having no clips to earning eight to nine thousand dollars a month on average as a freelancer?

You read that correctly.

Want to know how we do it? Stay tuned.

lifestyle, travel

Freelance Destinations: Sori Sushi, Toledo OH

I’m on the road this week, and today I had an excellent under $20-per-person meal at Sori Sushi in Toledo, Ohio. This is freelancer-friendly with good sized tables for laptops and food. Perfect for yours truly, the work-obsessed constant scribbler trying to earn a buck–make that MORE than a buck–any way I can. (In spite of having a good-paying gig that eats much of my time already.) The sushi here is excellent, you can get some decent work done and the dessert menu includes my all-time favorite, red bean ice cream.

Hey, freelancers, if you’re wondering what the hell Toledo has to offer a writer looking for story ideas, check out the Toledo Museum of Art (home to more than 30 thousand works of art inlcuding works by Chuck Close, Mark Rothko and Matisse). It has a large collection of Egyptian and Greek artifacts, and the museum’s Glass Pavillion was named “Best Museum” by Travel + Leisure in 2007. You can also check out Toledo’s Sound Asylum at 2582 Monroe St, Toledo. This shop has served Toledo since 1978–a very long track record for a sole-owner record shop. This would be great as a business profile or as music journalism piece on how one local business is surviving the current CD vs. download wars. And you can always write a food/travel piece on Sori Sushi…

No matter what brings you out to Toledo, Ohio, pay a visit to Sori Sushi. You will NOT regret the stop. Sori and Kenny will make you feel right at home.

advice, editorial

What is a “Real” Writer?

Some people believe writing online isn’t “real writing”. I never gave this notion much thought until reading a post at The Writing Journey titled Why Real Writers Don’t Write On the Internet. The opening line in this well-intentioned piece includes the following:

“I’m just going to say it. Real writers wouldn’t get caught dead blogging or writing web content. By real writers, I’m talking about print writers, folks.  I call them real because, well, that’s how many of them distinguish themselves from us Internet writers.”

Now the author goes on to say he’s writing with a bit of snark when addressing the habits of “real” writers, so we have to cut the author some slack–he’s not REALLY claiming that print writers wouldn’t be caught dead writing blogs or online material. Or at least I HOPE he isn’t, because the evidence is overwhelmingly against such an idea. Neil Gaiman, William Gibson, Poppy Z. Brite and hundreds of other print writers all know the power of blogs and online writing to boost their print material. William Gibson isn’t just a scribbler of great computer-geek-centric science fiction, he’s also a contributor to Wired and other respected publications. That include online content, too. But what DOES qualify someone as a “real” writer? Continue reading What is a “Real” Writer? →