Tag Archives: writer jobs

advice, lifestyle

What California’s Proposed Marijuana Tax Means To Freelancers

marijuana

by Joe Wallace

You think I’ve lost my mind now, right? What in the WORLD does POT have to do with freelance writing? Besides the obvious, I mean.

Whether you agree with marijuana use or not, take a long look at California’s new marijuana tax legislation–proposed by San Francisco Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, but not yet passed. Can you find a freelance writing or freelance jobs tie-in here? Think hard.

California is sinking under its own weight. It can’t pay its bills, is issuing IOUs to state contractors and is desperately looking for any way to cut spending. The state is in grave danger from a financial perspective. But here is a cash crop grown in the state–legally or not. If California were to legalize the cultivation, sale, and posession of pot, it could raise more than a billion in tax money from it. It’s a solution that’s right under the noses of everyone in the state, pun intended.

Taxing the sale of a plant that’s in and of itself no more harmful than tobacco makes perfect sense, whatever your feelings about getting high. But what has all this got to do with freelance jobs and growing (hah) your career as a freelance writer?
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editorial, resources

Chris Bibey Says You Too Can Earn 9K per Month as a Freelancer

You have to admire the cajones of a freelancer who lists his monthly earnings on his blog, especially when those earnings are near 10K in a single month. Chris Bibey’s ChrisBlogging.com is an inspiration even to this jaded old hack. I am sorely tempted to pay homage to Bibey by listing my own freelance income for this month, but it would be a shameless grab for credibility on my part (I’m not accusing Bibey of the same thing, mind you) even though I WAS surprised to see someone actively blogging about my tax bracket as a writer.

Now that last bit was totally disingenuous, wasn’t it? On one side of my mouth I say I won’t brag, on the other I let slip that I have a peer in the high income bracket. Pathetic. Ahh, well. If you can’t beat ’em, join em. For the record though, nobody EVER knows how long that gravy train will last, and you constantly judge your game by higher and higher standards. If I miss an apostrophe in this blog, or repeat the word “probably”, I’m giving myself a mental curb-stomping.

Back to Bibey. His blog has some serious advice for beginners in this game of ours, and I am happy to say that a sharp writer will notice a few advanced tricks on display that, while Bibey doesn’t WRITE about them, you can deduce WTF is going on just by paying attention. Don’t worry, Chris, I won’t give the game away–but I will say that using Associated Content as you have is a brilliant move. For those who can look at Bibey’s site and sort it out, marvel at his marketing genius. For those who can’t, well…that’s your tough luck. One day you’ll figure it out for yourself, and give it a shot.

See, kids–in spite of our altrusitc blogging on sites like these, there are some secrets that freelancers hang on to for themselves. Those in the know are already chuckling, those who don’t get it are wondering why we’re such utter bastards for holding out. Trust me, when you get your own little bag of tricks going you won’t be so quick to share all your hard work, either. But Bibey makes with the sage advice in many ways a new freelancer really should take to heart. This is a great site and my new favorite recommendation to newcomers.

editorial

How to Respond to Writing Job Ads on Craigslist

I will be the first to point out that there’s a high signal-to-noise ratio on Craigslist, especially for writers. That said, you can sometimes find real opportunities there, and I’d caution new writers against dismissing it out of hand. When I worked as Managing Editor at Gearwire.com, I once put out a call for writers that had almost no effect other than making me laugh. I did manage to hire one good writer, but a good 90% of the responses I got went instantly into the trash. Here’s why:

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