Freelance Writing

Publishing Newsletter for October 2020

Earn-Money

Content:

– FREELANCE WRITING

– WRITING CONTESTS

– COVER ART CONTEST

Are you falling for fall like me? Pumpkin pie and spiced coffee, glorious tree colors, mild Indian Summer weather, crisp colorful leaves, delicious food and wine, country hikes – and yes, lots of new books. Welcome to the October Newsletter.  Get the (much needed) motivation for the busy fall season and read these valuable publishing tips:
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FREELANCE WRITING

Chicken Soup “Tough Times”

They are looking for stories about tough times unrelated to the current pandemic. Are you going through other challenges that have nothing to do with the pandemic, such as health crises, loss of loved ones, personal challenges, family issues, job loss, and economic upheaval? Pays $200 and ten copies. Limit 1,200 words. Deadline Oct 31

https://www.chickensoup.com/story-submissions/possible-book-topics

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Room Magazine 

It invites unpublished writing on any theme: fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry & art by women & transgender men, Two-Spirit, and non-binary people. Payment $50 CAD for one page, $60 for two pages, $90 for three pages, $120 for four pages, $150 for five or more pages.  Up to 3,500 words.  Deadline Oct 31

https://roommagazine.com/submit

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BestPickist 

Write for a collection of buying guides and user guides about various products. BP publishes informative articles, useful tips, how-to guides, expert interviews, experts round-up, and product reviews. We’re always looking for experienced, qualified home and lifestyle writers who share in our mission of honest, inclusive, expert-backed advice that leaves readers feeling educated, empowered, and understood.

https://bestpickist.com/write-for-us/

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Income Dairy

Are you an expert at anything to do with: Creating awesome websites, driving traffic, social media or making money online? Are you an expert in search engine optimization? Write an in-depth blog post about keyword research using tools such as Ahrefs or SEMrush. Pays $200 – $500. Contact us with a quote. Please include examples of previous writing on SEO.

https://www.incomediary.com/write-for-incomediary

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Great Escape 

They are publishing articles on the craft and business of getting paid to travel, whether by writing, photography, tours or other means. If you have been successful in travel writing, photography, the import/export business, or running your own tours and would like to share insider tips of your craft: Get paid $150 for interviews, personal stories, and any articles. Submissions should be approximately 300-600 words.

https://greatescapepublishing.com/writers-guidelines/

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South Carolina Wildlife

SCW considers all types of articles dealing with conservation of our wildlife and natural resources, outdoor activities (hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, etc.), natural and scenic areas, the state’s heritage as related to the outdoors, the natural history of a particular game and non-game species, and subjects on a national level of interest to outdoor-oriented readers anywhere. SCW’s typical length is 500 to 2,000 words. Pays 20 cents/word.

http://www.scwildlife.com/writersphotographers.html

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Modern Love

Although Modern Love has evolved into a podcast, a book, a TV show, and Tiny Love Stories in its 16 years, the column’s central mission remains the same: to publish honest personal essays about contemporary relationships. Limit your essay to 1,500-1,700 words. Submission periods are September – December, and March – June. Pays $500.

https://www.nytimes.com/article/how-to-submit-a-modern-love-essay.html

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New Territory Magazine

The “HERE” section is devoted to short personal essays (300-500 words) that focus on something that situates the personal in a sense of place. In your pitch or submission, show us your plan for the narrative arc, the story’s relevance to our focal region, your tie to the region, including MO, AK, OK, KS and NE, and why you’re the right person to write the story. Up to 750 words. Pays $75.

https://newterritorymag.com/submit/#Here

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Trailer Life

Trailer Life is America’s oldest and most popular magazine for recreational vehicle (RV) enthusiasts. Much of the magazine’s and website’s content covers the technical aspects of RVing, equipment evaluations, maintenance advice, how-to tips, and product guides. Other articles cover RV travel and lifestyle, primarily focusing on destinations, road trips, and activities. Rates for a manuscript & photos: Technical $400–$800, Travel $400–$700, Product Roundups $400–$800, Do-It-Yourself $200–$700

https://www.trailerlife.com/contact-us/

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Telegraph

We are renowned for the analysis, perspective, opinion, and insight that our journalism provides to a diverse and discerning audience, such as services and experiences for our customers within the areas of travel, financial services, and events.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/contact-us/editorial/

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SLICE Magazine 

It welcomes submissions for short fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. We’re looking for anyone with a fresh voice and a compelling story to share, and we are particularly enthusiastic about championing emerging voices. We pay $400 for stories and essays, $150 for flash fiction pieces, and $100 for poems.

https://slicemagazine.org/submit/

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Fall


WRITING CONTESTS

WOW! Women on Writing Creative Non-Fiction Contest

Any topic (200-1,000 words) and in any style – from personal essay and memoir to lyric essay and hybrid, and more! First Place: $500, publication, interview, etc.  $12 Entry Fee. Deadline Oct 31

https://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/contest.php#EssayContest

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Illinois Literary Awards

The $1,000 Companion awards encourage Illinois not-for-profit literary magazines to publish and disseminate new work by living Illinois writers and poets. Awards are given to both the selected writers and to the magazines (print or web-based) that published their work. Deadline Oct 31

https://arts.illinois.gov/literary-awards-program

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Skyrocket Press Novel Writing Contest

The winner will receive a $250 prize and publication. Full-length manuscripts written for adults or young adults (teens) will be accepted. Nonfiction: How-To, Religion, Historical, Self-help, and Politics. No memoirs or cookbooks, please. Fiction: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Contemporary, Thriller/Suspense, Mystery, Horror, Historical, and Literary.   $25 Entry Fee.  Deadline Oct 31

https://www.skyrocketpress.com/submissions

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Minds on Fire – Open Book Prize

Awarded annually and open to any poet writing in English, regardless of previous publication record, the prize seeks to represent the best contemporary writing in high-quality editions of enduring value. The winning poet will receive $1,000 and 25 author copies. Manuscript length: 48-90 pages.

$25 Entry Fee. Deadline Oct 31

https://conduit.submittable.com/submit/171300/minds-on-fire-open-book-prize-2020#linkedin

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City Limits Publishing Novel Contest

First prize $500, publication, and 100 author copies. All genres. Original work of fiction or nonfiction that must be previously unpublished. Word count per chapter should not exceed 3,000 words. Novel minimum – 30,000 words

$20 Entry Fee. Deadline Oct 31

https://citylimitspublishing.com/contests/novel-contest-with-cash-prize-and-publishing-contract/

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One Story

One Story is seeking literary fiction, stories between 3,000 and 8,000 words. It can be any style and on any subject as long as they are good. One Story pays $500 and 25 contributors copies for First Serial North American rights. All rights will revert to the author following publication.  Deadline Nov 14

https://www.one-story.com/index.php?page=submit&pubcode=ots

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Test Site Poetry Series 2020

A prize of $1,000 and publication by the University of Nevada Press will be given for a new, full-length collection of poetry. All entrants to the contest will also receive a free print issue of Interim.  $25 Entry Fee.  Deadline Nov 16

https://interimmagazine.submittable.com/submit

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National Poetry Competition

First Prize: £5,000. Second Prize: £2,000. Third Prize: £1,000. International entries are welcome. All poems must have a title and must not exceed 40 lines in length. Any subject.  No Entry Fee.  Deadline Oct 30

https://poetrysociety.org.uk/competitions/national-poetry-competition/

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Woodcock Fund Canada

Emergency funding to professional Canadian writers in mid-project. Grants are $2,000 to $10,000. Must be a professional writer (minimum of two books published) facing an unforeseen financial need. Must be working on a project.

https://www.writerstrust.com/programs/woodcock-fund-grant/

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2021 Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award.  At £30,000 – the world’s richest – is open for entries.  The award, for a story of 6,000 words or less, is open to any novelist or short story writer from around the world who has been published in the UK or Ireland.  Deadline Dec 4

https://shortstoryaward.co.uk/awards/2021/

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COVER ART CONTEST

Dream Foundry Contest – for Cover Art

First prize $1,000. Second prize $500. Third prize $200. This contest is for artists who are relatively new to paid illustration work for speculative publications in English. Submit one .pdf with at least three finished artworks, but no more than five. We are looking for speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, weird fiction, etc.) themed artwork.  No Entry Fee.  Deadline Nov 1

https://dreamfoundry.org/contest-rules

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A MUST-READ 

for every author are these two articles about the world of publishing:

https://www.vulture.com/2013/11/daniel-menaker-on-publishing-industry-insanity.html

https://publishedtodeath.blogspot.com/2017/09/an-insiders-view-of-publishing-business.html

After reading what Daniel Menaker has to say, you may be tempted to abandon traditional publishing entirely and self-publish…
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Best of luck in this “golden month”. Always remember: if you don’t write or don’t apply you cannot get any of these benefits listed here!  See lots of Grants and Fellowships here:
https://www.savvybookwriters.com/writers-lots-of-grants-fellowships-and-prizes-for-you/

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Welcome to my Author Page and all my books about publishing and marketing – and how to make more money with writing:

https://books2read.com/ap/n4EYY8/Doris-Maria-Heilmann

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Lucrative Content Writing

Find-Readers

 

Sure, writing a novel might bring you joy as an author, but it’s not always very lucrative – if you think about the time it requires until it’s a polished manuscript, ready to be published. And then you have to spend an awful amount of time to promote it…

In one of my books, “How to Make Money With Writing” I dedicated a large chapter to the more lucrative content writing. In this special field, writers are in high demand and often paid handsomely – if you choose the right customers.  Companies these days realize a good online writer is at the center of every successful online marketing effort.
In fact, Forbes once reported, “If you want to be successful online, the only essential skill is being a good copywriter.  You could make a good living, writing sales pages for others. You could be the person who markets the apps other people spend months building. You could specialize in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, or make a killer social media manager.”

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Offer Value
Content that resonates with your audience and gets them to convert needs to be high-caliber. It requires thoughtful planning and strategizing. Content is the written part to market products and services and covers everything from brand videos to in-depth white papers. Many content writers have no special marketing or subject-matter knowledge but have carved a freelance niche.

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The Numbers
With a little practice, you could complete each of these high-demand projects in as little as a day or two.  The average pay will be:

  • Online article ($250-$800) – Blog post ($150-$800)
  • Promotional email ($250-$2,000)
  • E-newsletter ($800-$1,500)
  • Lead-generation landing page ($500-$1,500)
  • Long online sales page ($5,000-$8,000+)

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Content Examples
What pops first to mind is certainly social media content, but this is just a very small part of content writing. Blog content, press releases, pay-per-click ad copy, company newsletters, proposal writing, B2B marketing, or travel and destination guides.
Content writing can be found anywhere: on company websites, marketing emails, political campaign papers, resumes & cover letters, advertising copy, e-newsletters, magazine articles or brochures. Businesses often use freelancers when they have a huge number of products and need a unique copy for each of them.

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Success With the Right Keywords
Did you ever wonder why almost identical blog articles get different amounts of readers/popularity?  If the topics and quality of the content are comparable, then it is almost always the right keywords – or their lack of.  No matter what type of content you are writing, start first with the task of finding the best keywords.

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Examples of Content Writing
Business-to-Business (B2B) – promotes the products and services of one business directly to another business instead of targeting consumers. You don’t need to make claims, use tons of power words, or push a “hard sell.” B2B copy is typically educational.

Pay-per-click Ads – Many businesses still rely on their ability to rank high on search engines. Here too, you need to research the most successful keywords.

Destination Guides – Travel companies often use these practical guides for the places around the world they serve. This might require quite a bit of research. The guides will be designed to help the business improve its search rankings.

Social content – Many businesses use freelancers to help them keep up a supply of fresh tweets, LinkedIn posts, and Facebook posts.

Blog content – Blog articles are a very popular content tactic for businesses. Typically posts will be an expert take on a topic that the business has expertise on.  For example, a furniture company might need an article about special care for wooden tables, or they want a piece about Art Deco furniture styles.  You might sometimes need to interview an expert, by phone or email. Your own fresh ideas for posts are frequently in demand too.

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Learn How to Query
Most important is to learn how to write a query. Keep the companies’ readers in mind as you pitch an idea. Why does this story concern them? Why will they want to read it? Including facts, statistics, and quotes or naming experts, you plan to interview for the story lets the editor know you’ve already done your homework about the topic.

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Global Audiences
Take your freelance writing outside of North America.  The internet and social media have made this task easy, but it’s still your job to be proactive.  Using hashtags to search social media, you can find publications with similar content to your post.  For example, you will find English literature and lifestyle publications you could write for in countries such as South Africa, India, New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

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Decide Who is Your Ideal Client
Writing is the act of thinking and it can literally create magic results.
To access content writing work, contact companies directly on- and offline. Or approach agencies that work for clients – marketing agencies, content houses, web development agencies or webmasters. A “MUST” would be a presence at LinkedIn and dozens of articles you have placed on their website to show off your writing skills. Search for businesses that are a good fit for the content types and subjects you think you could write about and connect with people with titles such as marketing or communications manager.

There is also a wide range of platforms and job boards that offer content writing for freelancers, such as Upwork, ProBlogger, and Contently. However, you should have a portfolio and reviews first – and you have often to compete over the price with worldwide writers.

However, you are not in the business of charity for people who want someone to write for them for peanuts.  Experienced writers — those with a few successful projects — can charge between $3,000 and $6,000 (and more) per sales promotion writing. You’re in the business of making a decent living with your writing skills!

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Books by Doris-Maria Heilmann:

111 Tips to Create Impressive Videos:
How to Plan, Create, Upload and Market Videos
https://www.books2read.com/u/3GYnpa

111 Tips To Make Money With Writing
The Art of Making a Living Full-time Writing
An Essential Guide for More Income as Freelancer
https://books2read.com/u/bWZMjz

111 Tips on How to Market Your Book for Free:
Detailed Plans and Smart Strategies for Your Book’s Success
https://books2read.com/u/bMre1a

111 Tips to Get Free Book Reviews:
Best Strategies for Getting Lots of Great Reviews
plus 1,200+ reviewer contact links
https://books2read.com/u/mZ5nx5

111 Tips to Create Your Book Trailer
How to Create, Where to Upload and How to Market Your Videos
https://books2read.com/u/mVZkjr

Book Marketing on a Shoestring:
How Authors Can Promote their Books Without Spending a Lot of Money
https://books2read.com/u/mZ5gdp

Hello Friends, visit my Author Page here:

https://books2read.com/ap/n4EYY8/Doris-Maria-Heilmann

5-Star Review: 111 Tips To Make Money With Writing

5-Star-Review

 

Are you a struggling author?  Do you dream of making a full-time income from writing?  Discover how to boost your writing hobby to a career in this author guide: 111 Tips To Make Money With Writing by Doris-Maria Heilmann.

There are many options available for the writer to make an income from the comfort of their laptop, but finding reliable freelancing leads and trustworthy sites are increasingly difficult.  Covering leveraging your books by expanding your retailer’s list, selling from your website, and learning how to obtain foreign rights, this book is the writer’s treasure chest.

Learn how to promote your books by writing sequels, short stories, entering contests, and even crowdfunding.  Discover how to guest post on blogs, find freelance writing jobs, and gain writing grants.  With links to dependable sites and helpful suggestions to keep you on track, this book is the beginning writer’s ultimate resource book.

 


Break free from your day job
and finally commit to your writing! 

“Another wonderful book by this author, 111 Tips To Make Money With Writing is the inspiring fifth book in the 111 Tips Book Series.  Having read most of this author’s books, I was anticipating another thought-provoking, action-inspiring read and I was not disappointed!  With so many awesome suggestions including how to monetize on social media and podcasting, I had to stop reading and start writing my ideas down.”
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“I love that the author supplies you with the basic steps to give you an outline of what actions will be necessary to take, then leads you to the site that will best benefit your needs by explaining the website’s functions and most important information.  This simplifies the writer’s decision-making process.”

“My favorite tip was teaching at libraries.  I have been wanting to offer classes at the library but was not sure how to go about it.  Now I will be able to propose my class and look more professional as I do.”
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Reviewer Alyssa Elmore: “This book is a super-valuable resource for the professional writer.  I highly recommend this book to the writer who wants to create a viable income from their writing; it will not disappoint!”

 

Available in Print und als eBook – 208 Pages
https://books2read.com/u/bWZMjz

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Revealed: Lucrative Freelance Writing Offers

Freelance-Writing

 

The most important question for freelancers is: how to find writing clients?  Your key to success is contacts.  Most of the corporate writing jobs are often referrals from previous clients or referrals of people you might have previously interviewed.
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First Step: Job Boards
Clients are often hiding in plain sight on job boards, message boards, and forums.  MediaBistro, All Indie Writers, ProBlogger, Freelance Writing, Writers’ Job Board, Indeed and JournalismJobs are places you can meet future clients on.
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Magazines
Many magazines and organizations are listing writing offers on their websites, such as these:

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Outdoor Canada Magazine
Outdoor Canada readers are active and passionate about this country’s natural heritage.  They want to know how to get the most out of their outdoor experiences and keep abreast of what’s happening in the Canadian outdoors from coast to coast to coast.  Outdoor Canada contains a solid mix of how-to articles, entertaining features, and in-depth reporting.  All features must provide the latest, most reliable information; they must also be well-researched and original.  Articles run from 1,500 to 2,500 words, while shorter pieces can run from 400 to 700 words.  Writing fees from $100 for short articles to $400 and up for features. 
http://www.outdoorcanada.ca/contributor-guidelines

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Writer’s Weekly
WritersWeekly.com focuses on “selling” the written word.  They do not seek articles on how to write.  Rather on how to make more money doing what you love….writing!  They are also interested in other forms of home-based businesses and self-employment that may result from writing, such as self-publishing, corporate writing, ghostwriting, etc.  All ideas that help writers support themselves performing the work they love are warmly welcomed. Other topics of interest: Corporate writing, writing for markets of a specific genre (with links to those markets’ guidelines, and information on how much they pay), unique book marketing ideas, and anything that isn’t already done-to-death in the industry.  Length 600 words.  Pays $60 via PayPal.
http://writersweekly.com/writersweekly-com-writers-guidelines

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The Threepenny Review is paying $400 per story, essay, or article, $200 per poem or Table Talk piece. Articles should be about 1,200 to 2,500 words, Table Talk items 1,000 words or less, stories/memoirs 4,000 words or less, poetry 100 lines
http://www.threepennyreview.com/submissions.html

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AARP magazine
The leading publication for people 50 and older pitches stories on health, personal finance, travel and other areas of interest to the magazine’s 37.3 million readerships.  How to pitch: The guidelines list the various departments 
What they pay: $2 a word for print; $1 for online
https://www.aarp.org/about-aarp/info-05-2010/writers-guidelines-aarp-magazine.html

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ThreePenny Review
The ThreePenny Review is paying $400 per story, essay, or article, $200 per poem or Table Talk piece.   Articles should be about 1,200 to 2,500 words, Table Talk items 1,000 words or less, stories/memoirs 4,000 words or less, poetry 100 lines.
http://www.threepennyreview.com/submissions.html
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IncomeDiary
provides the very best content for web entrepreneurs.  “We do pay up to $200 for worthy articles of the highest standard – but we emphasize that your article needs to be of the highest standard and genuinely of interest to our audience.  Our most well-received articles are about:

  • Creating great content
  • Interviews with experts
  • Buying/Selling websites
  • Driving traffic to websites
  • Search engine optimization
  • Creating awesome websites
  • Blog design features and functionality
  • Creating information & digital products
  • Making money from websites, blogs & forums
  • Affiliate marketing and selling things through websites as an affiliate

Social media, anything to do with Facebook and Pinterest goes down well.”
https://www.incomediary.com/write-for-incomediary

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HerStories Project
The HerStories Project publishes first-person essays about what it’s like to be a Gen-X woman at midlife.  It also considers opinion pieces and info articles or features.  Although we are interested in essays about how any facet of your life at midlife — work, kids, marriage, caretaking, and all the rest — affects your particular experience, we are not a parenting publication, per se.  In other words, we are less interested in essays about how to parent or how to raise good children and more interested in you.  Suggested word count: 750-2,000 words.  Pay: $80 for a personal essay or opinion piece.  Pay is negotiated for feature articles.
http://www.herstoriesproject.com/herstories-voices/

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Yankee Magazine
Yankee Magazine covers the six New England states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.  “Our Feature articles, as well as the departments of Home, Food, and Travel, reflect what is happening currently in the region.  Yankee welcomes freelance submissions in the areas of home, travel, food, and non-fiction editorial.”
https://newengland.com/press-contact/submission-guidelines-writers-photographers/
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Boston Globe Magazine
The best places for new writers to start with the magazine are the Perspective column, an opinionated 800-word essay on a timely local news topic, and Connections, a 650-word first-person essay on relationships of any kind.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/aboutthemagazine
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More addresses, tips, and info can be found in “111 Tips To Make Money With Writing”
 – The Art of Making a Living Full-time Writing – An Essential Guide for More Income as a Freelancer, available at Amazon and all other retailers worldwide through this universal link   https://books2read.com/u/bWZMjz

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More Books From the Author:

111 Tips to Create Impressive Videos:
How to Plan, Create, Upload and Market Videos
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BYDH41S/

111 Tips on How to Market Your Book for Free:
Detailed Plans and Smart Strategies for Your Book’s Success
https://books2read.com/u/bMre1a

111 Tips to Get Free Book Reviews:
Best Strategies for Getting Lots of Great Reviews
1,200+ reviewer contact links
https://books2read.com/u/mZ5nx5

111 Tips to Create Your Book Trailer
How to Create, Where to Upload and How to Market Your Videos
https://books2read.com/u/mVZkjr

Book Marketing on a Shoestring:
How Authors Can Promote their Books Without Spending a Lot of Money    
https://books2read.com/u/mZ5gdp

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3 Possibilities of Freelance Writing for Websites

web

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Making money is not always about writing books.  There are more and more (side) jobs available which will use your skills as a writer and allow you to continue working flexibly from home.  Another way of making money with writing and which you’ve probably overlooked these possibilities:
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Blog Post Jobs
A while ago I was approached by a furniture company and asked if I would write a short blog post for them on a weekly basis.  I have no idea how they got my name or email address, but it sounded interesting and it was up to me to choose any topic around furniture that I wanted to write.  So I created blog articles about famous designers, architecture, furniture styles, and interior colors.

It is Called Content Marketing…  Every professional need to create a blog as a showcase for their work or their products and monetizing it.  I’m talking about getting paid to write posts on someone else’s blog or newsletter to help them build their business.  These jobs are consistent and the ones that pay well pay really well.

You can find blogging jobs on Craigslist, or job boards such as BloggingPro, or Make a Living Writing, even pay for guest posts. Other possibilities are FreelanceWriting, WritingJobSource, or Elance.

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Social Media
Jobs and businesses all over the world are using Twitter, GooglePlus or Facebook to connect with their clients.  Frankly, most would rather have someone else do it.  They will even give you tips what other sites in their niche to share content from, what their strategy has been so far, what hashtags you’ll want to use.  All you have to do is stay up to date with what the company’s doing and keep Twitter and Facebook up to date for them.

How to find a social media job – also called Digital Assistance?  Social media jobs are usually posted in the part-time section of Kijiji.com or Craigslist rather than the writing section.  But it’s really about writing: how can you use your words to connect businesses to their clients?  Why not advertise your services on these sites or mention it on your social media presences?
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Website Bios for Artists
You might think that people – especially artists – create their own bios and the writing for websites. But that’s often not the fact.  Most artists don’t like talking about themselves.  They’d rather have someone like you collect the facts and make them sparkle.

So how do you find a job writing an artist’s bio?  Advertise your services on artist association sites or mention it on your social media presences.  The next time one of your artist friends is putting together a website, make sure to let them know that your services include website bios.

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Writing can be a career or hobby or anything you care to make it.  Writing for a living is a business, pure and simple.  If you wouldn’t dream of quitting your day job to run, say, an auto repair shop without any training as a mechanic, then don’t dream of quitting your day job to become a writer without a comparable level of experience.
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The internet presents limitless opportunities for writers.  For example, you can get paid to write scripts for videos, to write advertising flyers, or to recommend services and products you love anyway as an affiliate marketer.  The internet will always provide you with new ways to make money – you just have to find them.
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Read more and get
111 Tips on How to Make (More) Money With Writing
The Art of Making a Living Full-time Writing
An Essential Guide for More Income as Freelancer
https://books2read.com/u/bWZMjz

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Books By Doris-Maria Heilmann:

111 Tips to Create Impressive Videos:
How to Plan, Create, Upload and Market Videos
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BYDH41S/

111 Tips on How to Market Your Book for Free:
Detailed Plans and Smart Strategies for Your Book’s Success
https://books2read.com/u/bMre1a

111 Tips to Get Free Book Reviews:
Best Strategies for Getting Lots of Great Reviews
plus 1,200+ reviewer contact links

https://books2read.com/u/mZ5nx5

111 Tips to Create Your Book Trailer
How to Create, Where to Upload and How to Market Your Videos
https://books2read.com/u/mVZkjr

Book Marketing on a Shoestring:
How Authors Can Promote their Books Without Spending a Lot of Money 
https://books2read.com/u/mZ5gdp

 

13 Tips to Start Your Freelance Writing Career

 

Freelance-Writing

Where will you be as an author in one, three or five years from now? How do you plan your writing career?  Do you want to write books for your own pleasure – just as a hobby – or do you want writing as a profession.  Which route will you go, and why?  Questions that some writers really take by surprise…  Building a career as a freelance writer is not as easy as it seems to be.  But the rewards and income are often much, much higher than the royalties for a book.  And you are your own boss!
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A freelance writer works mostly in home-based offices and writes articles, in content writing, digital marketing, web development, online teaching, and designing or coding.  One of the most important tasks – not only at the start of your freelance career – is finding new clients to get writing projects.

Here are a couple of tips, an excerpt from 111 Tips to Make Money With Writing: The Art of Making a Living Full-time Writing:
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Look First at Your Overall Vision:
What hopes do you hold for yourself as a writer in the future?  Would you like to:

  • become a successful content writer
  • learn to become a freelance writer
  • write more articles or books full-time
  • sell your work to magazine and newspaper publishers
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For businesses large and small, getting the message out is always a priority.  Online content marketing or corporate storytelling is one of the most important marketing strategies almost all companies use today.  It is why great writers and good writing are really in high demand.
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Start With Creating Your Platform
Having a website or a blog is the first requirement if you choose to be a full-time professional writer. This blog is not to make money a priority but to create a portfolio. You may create a blog on popular domains such as WordPress or Blogger. Write some articles on the main topics you want to specialize in. Blogs will help you to show off your writing skills. Promote your blog articles on a variety of social media sites such as GooglePlus, LinkedIn, and Twitter, etc.
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Create Your Profile
The next step is to create your profile on your online websites – which works as your platform.  Mention your blog in your profile, as well as your experience and everything about you that can help your clients understand how they would benefit in their business.
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Attend Business Fairs/Meetings 
Despite our increasingly digital world – or maybe because of it – the power of in-person interactions is more valuable than ever.  Those face-to-face meetings enhance trust and lead to solid, long-term relationships and partnerships – some of the most important factors to growing your writing business.  In a survey by e-mail marketer, Constant Contact was revealed that 48 percent of its respondents believe that a meeting is the most effective driver of business.
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Offer Workshops or Speeches
Is it worth speaking at conferences from a business, marketing, and financial point of view? The biggest benefit of speaking is that you can get people to order/buy your writing services – or at least make an appointment.  Make sure the event is large enough for you to have at least 500 people attending your session.  When you deal with smaller rooms, your odds of generating business go down.  And you get to meet future clients face to face.
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Write on a Variety of Topics
Make your field of writing diverse and don’t shy away from in-depth research.  Remember, you always can use some of the results of your research to write more on the topic and offer it to magazines or newspapers.  If you have the determination of becoming a professional freelance writer, nothing will stop you.

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Magazine and Newspaper Writing
Besides writing business content, there are other well-paying options: Writing for magazines (especially airline magazines), newspapers, periodicals, and even participating in writing contests. Most of these writing gigs are “advertised” – either on their website or in email newsletters that you can sign-up for. For example at http://www.111Publishing.com
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Bid On Writing Projects
When you’ve created your profile, and used all your contacts, you may also start bidding on multiple projects that you are willing to take up.  While bidding, mention the price and a relevant message for the client that may help him choose you.  Don’t let low-ball offers by other bidders discourage you.  Point out the quality of your writing and show as many customer reviews as possible.
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How to Write the Perfect Pitch
As a freelance writer, it’s important to learn how to write a perfectly customized pitch in order to send out effective introduction letters to new, potential customers.   Take a little time to add some click appeal to your subject line.  Get the prospect’s attention.   Show them you have done your homework.  A good way to do this is mentioning something specific about the prospect.  Point out something specific about a prospect and offer a brief comment or compliment.  Send out lots of queries: send out a query letter a day!
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Aim for one to two paragraphs.  Compare your writer bio with an elevator speech.  You should be able to explain what you do as a freelance writer in just a couple sentences.  Then, customize it for every pitch you write.  Compose your query letters in the style and voice of the intended article.  Show your personality, not only your academic writing skills.  Avoid using bland, boring, and business formal language in your pitches.  Mix together a well-written introduction and bio with personality, and engagement.  Always follow up on your query letters.
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Close Your Pitches With These Questions For Example:

  • What upcoming content projects do you need help with?
  • Need help from a freelancer until you fill the full-time position?
  • What articles do you need to assign to the upcoming issue?
  • Do you need help with your blog or your website?
  • Can we set up a 10-minute phone call to talk about your content needs?
  • Check out some of my samples (include links to relevant clips)

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Project Considerations
Listen to the client instructions carefully.  Ask them if you have doubts.  Give them an outline of the write-up that you plan to write for them.  Make sure you write quality content with 100% uniqueness and utterly relevant to the context – fully edited.  Once you have completed the writing part, print out your article, and start reading it aloud, and you will surely find changes.  Edit the article, with two or three editing programs, then proofread it once more.  Make sure you never miss a deadline and keep your client always updated on the progress.
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Search Engine Optimization 
To become a successful copywriter nowadays, you have to know a little about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).  You don’t need to be an expert, but you need to know some of the basics.
Copywriters work to produce persuasive content – but it needs to meet two objectives: One is to attract a reader’s interest and the second is to get the attention of search engine algorithms.  Which means lots of relevant keywords in the title, subtitle and the main text.
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Never Share The Client’s Articles
Once you have submitted the write-ups to the client and once they are successfully accepted, never use them anywhere else.  Even if the client does not get an NDA signed, make sure you do not disclose the content you have written.  However, it is always suggested to ask your clients beforehand if you could use these articles in your portfolio for making more clients in the market.  If approved, you may share them with the new clients in a PDF format.
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Building a thriving freelance business takes some time and energy, but it’ll pay off when you start getting contracts, garnering great feedback from clients, and increasing your earnings.  When you first start out, working alone can be isolating and overwhelming.  You have to be the CEO, marketer, salesperson, customer service rep, and certainly the best worker in the company.  Building a career as a freelance content writer is a great option. All it requires is your efforts and for your writing business the time to grow. 

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Write for Huffington Post!?

Writing.

Nothing new – just differently called… albeit PAID now.  And for really professional writers… Which means perfectly edited content.
Huffington Post explains: “We’re launching HuffPost Opinion and HuffPost Personal.  If you want to be a part of them, here’s how you can pitch to us.  All published contributions to these new sections are paid.

Opinion
“A HuffPost Opinion piece is smart, authentic and timely, and offers rigorous analysis. That means it has something original to say or an original point of view to offer that sheds a new light on an existing debate or pulls something into the spotlight that isn’t already there. It presents a strong argument backed up with provable evidence and represents the views of the writer clearly and transparently. It is exclusive to HuffPost, which means it hasn’t been published anywhere else. If you’ve already pitched it elsewhere, you should let us know.”

Personal
“A HuffPost Personal piece is original, authentic, compelling and told in the first person.  We feature writers from different backgrounds and identities with distinct voices and points of view writing about a variety of topics, including identity (race, gender, sexuality, disability, etc.); health and mental health; sex/love and relationships in every sense of the word; family and parenting; work, money and career; body and body image and just plain old great stories about unique life experiences. It is exclusive to HuffPost, which means it hasn’t been published anywhere else.  If you’ve already pitched it elsewhere, you should let us know.”

For both sections, a good pitch will:

  • Briefly summarize your story idea.
  • Briefly explain why you’re the right person to write the piece. What’s your relevant expertise or experience?
  • Briefly explain why this argument or story matters. What are the stakes here?
  • Briefly outline how the piece will start and end. Do not send full drafts.
  • “Note clearly in the subject line what you’re pitching, using a clear, informative headline.
  • Specify in the subject line if your pitch is timely.
  • Include a short description of your previous writing experience and links to published clips, if relevant.
  • Be your own work. We do not accept pitches from PR representatives or agents.”

Pitch to us at pitch@huffpost.com

Chloe Angyal – Deputy Opinion Editor, HuffPost

Emily McCombs – Deputy Editor, HuffPost Personal

 

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The Art of Making a Living With Full-time Writing

Do you want to use your excellent writing skills and experiences to build the life of your dreams – where you don’t have to report to a boss or commute to an office?  Where you work when you want, from wherever you want, on projects you enjoy?

-111TIPS_makeMoneyWrit_VerB-opt
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Does Writing for a Living Sound too Good to be True?
Why not do your writing work from the comfort of your home or at a favorite cafe, or while vacationing on a sun-filled, breezy island … Discover how to create your own satisfying, well-paid writing career in our new author-guidebook: 111 Tips to Make Money With Writing  –  The Art of Making a Living Full-time Writing.

Writing for a living doesn’t mean you have to wait forever until royalties rolling in. Use your book’s manuscript to extend your revenues, find tons of new freelance writing opportunities in the book, and learn everything about grants, crowd-funding, fellowships, writing contests or writer vacations in free residencies.
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The Possibilities Are Endless…
Learn how to be in charge of your income.  The only “ceilings” are the ones you place on yourself!  You can make an excellent living as a writer.  All you need is someone to show you how to start.

Writing for a living offers lots of advantages – you get to choose when and where you work, and with whom. But it’s not enough to say you want to make a living as a writer; you need to know HOW. You need a concrete plan to bridge the gap between where you are now to where you want to be.
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Double, Triple or Extend Your Writers Income Tenfold
This new book shows you exactly the many possibilities to become a full-time writer – with a lot more than 111 tips – how to make a living from writing.  Available as eBook – (ISBN 978-1-988664-08-8), enabling you to use the many links to freelance writing opportunities – and in print (ISBN 978-1-988664-18-7) mid-January at bookstores and online retailers worldwide.
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Amazon Worldwide  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078K6W3HL/
as well as on iBooks, Barnes&Noble, Kobo, Chapters, Thalia, Weltbild etc.
via a universal link: books2read.com/u/me21xl

 

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Tagged: authors, Blogging, Books, Freelance Writing, Magazine Writing, short stories

How to Get Help from Freelance Journalists

Freelance-Journalist

When looking for journalists and reviewers to write about your book – or mention it in an article related to a topic in your books, don’t forget one of the most helpful types of writers: freelancers.  They are easy to overlook, but if you provide useful content for their freelance articles they might cooperate with you, and promote your work.
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Why Freelancers Are So Valuable
Joan Stewart writes in her article “here are the top three reasons why they’re such powerful media contacts:
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1. They’re familiar with online and print media that buy articles and reviews.  Full-time or part-time freelance journalists – especially those who rely on writing to make a living, know far more than you ever will about the wide variety of online and offline news outlets, websites, newspapers, magazines, and newsletters that will buy their work.
Many buy or have access to expensive media directories.  They stay on top of media trends like which magazines are new and which are ceasing publication.  They know the most influential bloggers in niches they cover.  Most freelancers already have great media contacts.

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2. You don’t have to worry about pitching a story to a busy journalist.  The freelancer pitches it.
Emailing or talking to journalists can be intimidating.  Not so much with freelancers who are always open to ideas that will make compelling stories they can sell.  Pitch freelancers with the same care and precision you would a full-time reporter.  But you probably aren’t competing with a lot of other authors for their time and attention simply because it’s so easy to overlook them.

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3. A freelance journalist can use you as a source for multiple stories sold to different media outlets.
Let’s say you’re a cookbook author, and a freelancer uses you as a source for a story she’s writing for Eating Well magazine.  If she likes working with you, and she knows you are a helpful source, she might return to you again and again for stories she’s selling to Cooking Light, Clean Eating or Plate magazine.”
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How to Find Freelance Writers
is explained in this great article by Joan Stewart:
https://www.thebookdesigner.com/2017/12/how-to-use-freelance-journalists-in-a-book-publicity-campaign/

 

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How to Make (More) Money With Writing?

Make-Money-With-Writing


No matter if you sold the publishing rights for your book or if you are self-publishing: The dominant question is how to earn money with your art.  Only those who have written a book know how much time and effort such an endeavor requires.  It starts with the research, the outline for the work, the writing and then the revising and many rounds of editing.

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Efforts and Demands of Publishing Books
The so-called “published” authors – who receive only 8 -12% royalties, and maybe not even an advance for their title – hold their breath until they receive their royalty statements. And the self-publishers?  They have to invest first into a professional editor, a cover designer, a book lay-outer or ebook formatter, maybe a distribution company.  And then the most important tasks: the creation of a professional author platform, the book marketing, and promotion – all this while writing the next book.
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There are two questions coming up: How can you wring the most royalties out from your book.  And how to make money from writing – other than books to quit a full-time job.

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Several Ways to Monetize Your Books
Ask yourself if you choose all avenues to make more money from your books:

Distribution to More Retailers
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Diversify! No business has only one retailer (customer) to sell to. Upload your book (or use a distributor) to all sales channels and all countries.

Sell From Your Own Website
Nowhere else would you receive such high revenues as for book sales on your own website. Inexpensive and easy to install e-commerce programs all you to sell print and digital versions of your books.

Audio Books
Re-purpose your manuscript and make more out of it than just a book and an e-book. Why not additionally create an audio-book from your novel or even from non-fiction? Audio-Books became immensely popular! 

Hardcover
It is much easier to get a book into libraries if it’s published in hardcover format instead of a paperback print. POD and distributor company IngramSpark offers hardcover book production to self-publishers at affordable prices and in small quantities, compared to commercial printers.

Foreign Rights
Licensing your works in different formats and countries is another income stream. You can set up all the information about your book, including prices for different formats and contract clauses on digital platforms – easy to find for agents and publishers around the world.

Copy Royalties
You could be paid twice for your book… There are services in many countries that will help maximize your royalty income for the secondary use (such as copying) of your works. Becoming a member is in most countries FREE! In Canada, join “Access Copyright”. In the United States, the CCC, the Copyright Clearance Center compensates publishers and creators/writers for the use of their work, in Great Britain the ALCS,  and in Germany it is “VG Wort”.
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Writers Are Often Too Focused on Books
You are NOT naive to think you could earn a living with writing – something you love. The promise of creativity and personal freedom attracts many writers.  This has lots of advantages, such as choosing when and where you work, and with whom. However, to make money with books only takes a while, often a long while… Better not only rely on writing books – rather on WRITING.
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Do What You Love Most: Writing
Book Marketing, promoting and spending lots of times on Social Media is not something that authors cherish.  But what about promoting books with writing?  You can do what you love most and at the same time, you get paid.  You know how to write a novel, but you also need to learn how to write shorter pieces and how to write for the web where readers have shorter attention spans.  All these skills can be acquired at on- and off-line classes, at workshops through writers associations and beta reading groups, book fair programs, writers conferences etc.  And certainly at college classes.

  • Writing more books
  • Writing short stories
  • Writing prequels
  • Writing sequels
  • Writing blog articles
  • Writing guest blogs
  • Writing for literary contests
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“Commercial” Writing Possibilities:

  • Writing magazine features
  • Writing newspaper articles
  • Writing copy for websites
  • Writing resumes and cover letters
  • Writing sales copy

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Leverage Your Former Writing
Many of these opportunities do not require to create completely new stories or articles. In many cases, you can leverage your books and blogs, divide chapters, rewrite them a bit, shorten, or add new content to “repurpose” your inventory.  Another way is to use the content of your research and create new stories or articles.  Just to give you an example how you can re-purpose research and content of your novel, that may take place in medieval Great Britain or a travelogue you wrote about a trip to Europe: 

You could for example write an article about horse staples in the UK for equestrian magazines, about one of the fantastic gardens in Great Britain to garden magazines, how to travel on a budget to European cities for a frugal living magazine, bike riding paths in Denmark to a bike magazine, a feature about pumpkin seed pressing in Austria for gourmet magazines, an article about a historic flax or wool mill in France for a sewing or craft magazine, a photo feature that you took in a boutique hotel for a fine interior magazine, how to dress for city trips without looking like a tourist for fashion or lifestyle magazines.  The possibilities are endless…

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Here are some of the editorial and writing services you can provide from the quiet of your own home:

• Copyediting. This is where fact-checking takes place, and where grammatical, stylistic and typographical errors are caught.

• Proofreading. This is the last stop for a “finished” piece. The proof-reader makes sure the copyediting changes have been properly made and no new errors are created in the process.

• Indexing. There are indexing courses available and you can get indexing software.

• Developmental editing. A developmental editor works with a manuscript on big-picture things like organization and content issues.

• Book doctoring. This is an editorial service provided for manuscripts written by experts. They create a manuscript as best they can and then a book doctor puts it into publishable shape.

• Ghost Writing. As a ghost writer, you actually do the research and write the book and someone else’s name is attached as the author.

• Copywriting. Also known as business writing, this is writing that promotes a product or a service.

• Book writing. Do you have an expertise in something professional, such as accounting or interior decorating? Or personally, like knitting? Why not write a book about it?

• Magazine article writing. Magazines and newspapers are a great way to get your writing published before tackling the daunting task of writing a whole book.

• Web page content provider. Providing content for a web site is a good way to make some money writing.

Marketing Copy Writer If you can write copy that gets people excited about purchasing what your client has to sell, you can make good money in this business.

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How to Find Freelance Gigs?
The secret to getting your foot in the door is being tenacious about chasing down all writing opportunities. And also to have professional profiles on social media, especially on LinkedIn. These websites offer information, suggestions, and encouragement:

http://www.placesforwriters.com

http://www.theopedproject.org/

http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com

https://www.freelancer.com

https://www.upwork.com/o/jobs/browse/c/writing/

http://writersweekly.com/freelance-writing-jobs

http://contently.net/what-is-contently/

https://thewritelife.com/find-freelance-writing-jobs/#.mujrjzo:VsY

http://beafreelanceblogger.com/forum/jobs/

http://www.fundsforwriters.com

http://www.fwointl.com

http://www.mediabistro.com

http://www.writingjobsource.com

11 Websites to Find Freelance Writing Jobs

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The Good News:

Instead of desperately trying to sell your book via social media or advertisements, you can do the same through writing: short stories, prequels, magazine articles, guest blogs, writing contests etc.  It is more fun, you get automatically more readers, and you create a huge portfolio of your work.  Plus you get paid – and you promote your books in the byline.  With the same investment of time, you earn faster and way more money than with writing only books.  Plus: the more you write, the better you get.

There are certainly more ways of full-time earnings for writers, which are the subject of the next blog article.  Stay tuned!
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More links and tips can be found in our new book:

111 Tips on How to Make Money with Writing

The Art of Making a Living With Full-time Writing

Barnes&Noble, Kobo, Chapters, Thalia, Weltbild etc.
via a universal link: books2read.com/u/me21xl

 

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