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How once woman went from being a SAHM of four to a published freelance science journalist |
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I'm revising this intro after more than 15 years to better reflect my intention When I started this blog in 2004, I was a stay at home mom to two small children, a college graduate with a degree in English and Astrophysics. By 2007, I had four small children, ages newborn, 2, 4, and 6. For several years, Writing.com was how I kept my sanity. This blog began, first as a way of staying connected. Later, when I worked on a novel, I used it to stoke the writing fires as I plotted out short stories and the next step of my novel. Ultimately, I moved my writing preparation to "Invalid Item"  In 2010, I became a single mom who had homeschooled her children for several years. I had a 2, 4, 6 and 8 year old and had never had a "real" full time job, since I was married while in college. Everyone told me that I would have to buckle down and take on a "real" job. Instead, I decided to attempt to live my dream: to make it as a writer. I knew that if I didn't try then, I would never really dive in. I counted my money and set a deadline. If I hadn't began making a decent (defined) amount of money after so many months, I would suck it up and get a J-O-B. After some thought, I decided to play to my strengths. I served an internship at Sky & Telescope magazine while in college and enjoyed writing about space and astronomy. With an astrophysics degree, I thought I would be able to sell myself more easily, and a small niche should be easier to penetrate. It's been about ten years since I was first paid for an article on Space.com. In that time, writing - journalism - has been my primary moneymaker. I've often thought about setting up a blog on my website - www.astrowriter.com - but just haven't gotten around to it. There are a few things I would like to share for those who are interested in scientific journalism in general. Now that I'm back on WDC, there's no reason not to combine the two and use the site blog for that sort of interaction. There are certainly plenty of folks on this site interested in the publication process. So while I'll probably meander around some, that's the intention of of this blog: to share some of my struggles as a published journalist and to help answer oft-asked questions. |
| Yesterday I did a thousand blogs. Today, just the one. DH just came in and suggested a trip to Nag's Head to where the Wright Bros became first in flight. So another great road trip. I don't think he knows how tired I am of driving, but there you go. Too bad he didn't suggest it earlier, I could've looked around. Hmm, aren't we on their hundreth anniversary or something? Hmmmm..... |
| Today is a blog fire. But I am also confessed to be stalling. Right now, it is evening and I am supposed to...let's see, it is Thursday, so researching my article. Well, my query. (Am I spelling that right? It feels 'off'.) But, I have two problems. First, I lined up a whole plan for the week and I have nothing set for today. Second, I am in a tiny room with three kids, one of them asleep, two of them trying to be. I can already tell that this is going to cramp my style. And the third problem, for those of you who caught it, is that I think it is Thursday but really it is Friday. Okay, well, I did part of Saturdays work already. I brainstormed three or four angles - they are written down but are across the room from me, and all of the lights are out except my computer screen. I have three or four general markets. Two of them are market types I am uncertain of. The first is some form of newsletter or magazine for OB/GYNs. The second is the same for pediatricians. I guess I should tell you, in vague terms, what my article plan is about. Very vauge, it is about children (shock) and accidents. A bit more specifically, I am thinking that, though said accidents - and deaths - result across varying age groups, that there is a correlation between this type of accidental death and new babies, at the least less than 12 mos. Thus, the four markets I have targeted are: 1) New baby magazines, such as 'American Baby', that go in 'congratulation' packets to new moms 2) Regular parenting magazine, such as 'Parents' and 'Child', that target all parents. I was thinking of using a different slant on this one, one that is not as fresh. Are American Baby and Parents considered competing magazines? One seems more aimed to parents of babies, and the other more widespread, to parents of kids. I am guessing they are, however, and would do a slant tilted more towards the toddler/preschooler injuries and preventing them. That said, the topic has been done and done again, so it is not as fresh. Perhaps I should toss this market, line up 'Parents' after I get my AB rejection, and save the toddler tips for another time? Any thoughts would be, as always appreciated. 3) OB/GYN magazines. I don't even know if these exist, I am sure they do in some form. A great idea for market research would be to <gasp> visit my OB and ask for back copies. She loves me - I was her first patient on her first day for her first appointment - and I think she is awesome. Plus, her nurse loves me, too. The problem, of course, is that I am out of town, which makes the market research difficult. What do you think would happen if I called the OB/GYN here in town and asked if I could borrow/have/buy old issues? There is a hospital just down the street, so.... 4) Pediatrician magazines. This, too, would be slotted towards helping docs give advice to new moms. Perhaps I could offer to make a brochure or something for our local hospital. There are, hmm, four to six within a ten mile radius of my house. I guess it could actually be 15 miles, but there you go. One of them, incidentally, is a children's hospital. Just had a source idea. My ward - that is, my church - is right by Emory university, so there are about a zillion med school students AND doctors in ouor ward. Our bishop is a pediatric specialist of some sort. I bet he could point me towards an appropriate contact. If I could only manage to get ahold of him, he is always on call, LOL, and I don't really want to ask him at church. I'll set up an appointment to call him, LOL. Anyway, with all of those medical folks around, I'll have a nice batch of docs to interview and quote. Anyway, so as I was saying about the markets. Those are my four basic sources. I will have to check to see online availability. Those are secondary to my overall reading, but I think they will be helpful. I don't know about their freelance opportunities. <evil laugh> I found Contemporary Pediatrics. Let's see what they say. I haven't looked yet, I am going to peek right now, so you can follow my joy or disappointment LIVE! What a weirdo (me, not you): A few snippets: Some articles report on new diagnostic or therapeutic procedures; others explore the implications of an important advance or finding, review the tried and true, or discuss counseling of parents and patients. That sounds promising. It’s best to first submit a query letter outlining your proposed topic. Sounds like they take freelancers, then. Okay, well, that sounds promising. Not sure I fit the credentials, but an overview of the magazine will help with that. I will nose about somewhat and see what other opportunities are available. This is my 'easy' market research time, LOL, but if there are pediatric magazines available, I am sure there are OB/GYN magazines available, as well. It's just a matter of finding them and reading the subject matter. In the meantime, I found nothing on... er, the subject... in CP. Actually, strike that, I found one paragraph touching on the subject. I'm not altogether certain the article will work but at least I can tell that it hasn't been done before. That is promising. Okay, no joke. There is a Contemporary OB/GYN magazine, as well. Very professional, I suppose, to be contemporary. I am going to spend the last little bit of time playing around somewhat. Don't think too bad of me - I am scouring the Freelance Writing forums trying to perfect my craft. I am such a geek, I just read the forums from front to back. Well, I skim over thread topics. The forum I am presently on (I am on page 19 out of at least 69 in the forums) is the Absolute Write.com forums. Very informative, and strictly for freelancers. They are providing me with some good information. I started out with the plan to write for Constant Content and now I am motivated to start submitting for paying markets again. That's something. I will continue to blog for families.com should I ever hear from them, and if writeforcash opens their applications back up while I am desperate, I'll head there, as well. However, I am going to work superhard on everything else and strive to make it as a real freelancer, not just as a wannabe. You guys have to keep me motivated. The 6-8 weeks waiting to hear back, followed by the rejections, is killer. That said, I need to continue to send, send, send and know that eventually, I will crack the nut. Oooh, smart idea. I am going to try to find a filler for each article I write, something to send in for short for cash. These won't be huge but I can earn a touch extra income for them, plus build my resume (Published in 'Parents' magazine; I don't have to say where, right?  ). Any income is good income. And I learned my lesson last summer - don't query for fillers. Duh. But there you go.I also need to check out Cobblestones, etc. editorial calender to find out what they will be looking for in the not-to-distant future. Then I can see how to market it in a variety of ways. Please please stick with me and send me the cheers when I get the rejections! I need to hang out over at the Going Pro! boards more, too. Maybe I'll swing by there real quick before logging off for the night. |
| I have no motivation for next week's article, but I must remind myself that 'real' writers write no matter what. Saturday is the day I've allotted for picking next week's query letter topic; once I have chosen it, the next step is preliminal research and writing. That said, I have to actually pick something. The problem is, I am excited about a subject best queried in November (thus published around April or May). I've compiled research; the next step is to locate markets. Then I need to write query letters for said markets. Now, there is some more preliminary research I would like to do, namely calling and asking the study coordinators some details (actually, I'd love to do the interview in person), and whether or not they are repeating the study or one like it in the near future. It would be a coup, of course, to put my info out at the same time the study was published, but not likely. Then again... If I post it soon after, then I have a chance of scooping everyone else, plus the slant of originality. These might be just the tools I need for marketing my article. I think that I will contact them by email and explain that I noticed they are continuing with the research, a fact gleaned from Googling their name online. I will ask if they are publishing the results for 2006 and, if so, when. Then, when I pitch the article, I can note that I have spoken with the survey folks and they plan to publish on such-and-such date. I could also ask the survey folks when they would be available for questions about said study, or, basically, when they would be able to speak definitively about the results, info I could pass on to the editor. And I can feel them out on the findings - a correlation between the victims and their ages. Just to get a feel for 'is there something there'. I'm pretty certain there is. I will also go ahead and make two other contacts via email, both with sites that correlate data. I will feel them out for data presently being gathered and its availability. Then I will query my article. I love finding motivation.  |
| Okay, I am going to skip right to it. I have an idea that I have been halfway working on, but the more I think about it, the more excited I am. I think it would make for a great feature article in American Baby (talk about optimistic). I think I have a great slant. I am not going to say a lot about it, but I'd like to tell you what thoughts have gone through my head because of it. If my husband can get this traveling job full time, think about the doors that will open as a result. First, this opens more opportunities for interviews (not sure about the babysitting angle, but there you go). If I am going to Philadelphia next week and a specialist for an article I am working on lives there, I can arrange to meet him during the day and interview him (or her). The same way, think about the broad field I would cover. I could travel to a town or city and find out something major is happening (or, better yet, know via research that there was an event at that time). I could do the research, take pictures, and everything. I could also keep a log of what people live where, what experts I need to meet. For instance, the folks I want to talk to about the exciting article, the people who did the survey I am most interested in, live in Boston. Now, this article would best be written in May or June, BUT with a six month lead time, that means submitting by November or December (right at Christmas time, too). I would prefer to have the preliminary research done. <goes on to dream of a huge feature article, possible sidebars, photos, personal interviews, wow> Okay, what I need to figure out is whether to take the momentum and run with it, or to wait until closer to submission time to work on the article. I actually have done a great deal of preliminary research. I would like to talk to the authors, and also see if there are any other similar studies done, or studies currently being done. If I talked to the authors, they might know more about other studies. I also know another organization that I think sponsors similar studies. I can call them and ask about updates and studies in process. I suppose that it doesn't make sense to continue research for an article that I won't be querying for until at least November - that's four or five months from now. On the other hand, I can make some detailed notes and slip it into a file. I think that is what I will do. I saw a great spot about organizing your writing, and it suggested the filing method I am going to use in real time. However, as I travel, I definitely need to be electronically organized (hopefully I can get back to the paper when I get home and rescue my carrying filing cabinet - or when I bring in some income to make dh happy). I think I'm going to go ahead and make some notes on questions to be asked so that, hopefully, I can gain some momentum later when I start the query in December. November. I will start this one at the beginning of November when it goes out. I am not altogether certain about noncompetitive market queries, but I will definitely be sending it to the nationals, even if I am a 'newbie'. I am hoping to send the first few paragraphs and an outline to entice them to hire me for the piece (as opposed to farming it to a staff writer). Fingers crossed; I'm off to make notes. I am going to do this. I am going to freelance. I don't know yet how I will check the mail if I am never home, but I'll make it work. Perhaps I'll get a PO Box and have my MIL fax me whatever. I may need to get a traveling printer if we are going to continue staying in dumps...er, not as cool places as we were before...without office supplies. And with front desk clerks who apparently lie and say we have to check out Saturday morning and back in Monday night when they really AREN'T booked up. Apparently she told quite a few people this. What an idiot. That's another story, though. |
| Okay, today has been an effective planning day. I am back and forth on ultimate plans, but to heck with it all, I am going to get published or bust. The plan I have created will remind anyone who has read my blog long term - and who was reading it last summer - of, well, that plan. The biggest problem is the concept of waking up 30 minutes earlier. I am not a morning person. Ideally, I would like to wake up about an hour before my kids so that I can take a shower without being bothered, but I will accept 30 minutes and harrassment during the shower if it puts me on the road to publication. What, you ask, is my evil plan? Well, it will work even if I wind up moving around a lot, even if I stay home and go to the gym. It allows for some free and cheap writing articles (such as for constant content), and takes allowances for noon time blogging, should I get the position with families.com (please please please). The only thing it does not allow for, ironically, is what I will do if I actually GET a positive response from a query. I did decide at that point, however, to put a hold on the free/cheap writing and work on the sure-money method.The plan is simple; I will put out a minimum of one, preferably two, queries each week. I am thinking about copyng Feywriter  in her blog "Invalid Item" . Mary posts her current number of 'queries', actually listed as batches because she is a poet. She lists these at the top of her blog. This keeps her accountable. Right now, it reads:Current # of Batches out: 3 Poems submitted this year: 34 Accepted for publication: 3 Okay, she uses a color for the numbers, but you get the idea. I like the entire method of accountability she portrays. I then broke down my goals to a weekly plan. As I said, this involves getting up 30 minutes - and that is not a lot, that's about how long I usually snooze the alarm clock, anyway - earlier than the kids, and then spending some time in the evening writing. (I write better at night, in part because it gives me the entire day to think about what I will be writing) Scottie's Weekly Plan Monday: AM -> 30 minutes research on the strongest aspect of the chosen query NOON (while the kids are napping) -> blog for families.com PM -> review the research, write free article for ezinearticles for contest, make a note of any questions that I have for the next day Tuesday: AM -> Research on the strongest angle, as well as a secondary pitch for query. NOON -> blog for families.com PM -> Review, write an article for Constant Content with hopes of receiving payment, note any other questions Wednesday: AM -> 30 minutes of market research on possible places to submit to NOON -> blog for families.com PM -> Free article, continued research Thursday: AM -> Market research NOON -> blog for families.com PM -> Constant Content article Friday: AM -> Write query letter for primary angle NOON -> blog for families.com PM -> Craft second and third query letter if relevant Send all queries or prep them to be sent Saturday Saturday: (Technically, this should go at the beginning of the week, but there you go) Review my tickle file and list of upcoming, dated queries. Decide which query to pursue next week. Consider possible spin off markets. Make a list of questions to answer. Okay, some things to explain. First, my 'tickle file' is the lovely journal ordered from the writing.com shop. It is a small notebook with attached pen that I use to jot down whatever ideas for an article attract my fancy. Right now, I probably have about ten article ideas sitting in there. (One day I need to go back to my true love of short stories, but there you go). I carry said notebook with me wherever I go (<cough> in my writing.com bag <cough>), ready to whip out and jot down my thoughts. Second, I am going to continue the 'not simultaneous' submission idea. Specifically, I am going to continue writing the same article geared toward various markets. Thus, I am going to try to do preliminary research for mutliple articles at once. This way, I don't simultaneously submit but I do have various queries out at the same time. Third, how am I going to research markets? <sighs> I am going to have to figure out a way to convince dh to resubscribe to writersmarket.com, but the sad thing is, I am so much more of a hands-on looker. Hmm, I can spin this for the positive, though. Yesterday, my kids and I went to the local library for nearly an hour. I can utilize that time to research various magazines and markets. The more I travel, the more market research I can do. I can also persuade dh (somehow) to let me go to the bookstore once a week (like B&N)to do some research. They will carry various magazines. I just talked to him about needing 30 mts of down time while we are out of town, since we are all in such close proximity each day. That should allow me to do some research without the kids, which means I can manage more research in a short time. I will have to figure out which night to fit it in, though. Hmmm. I also need, at various points, to hit Craigslist for upcoming markets. Atlanta, at least, almost always has 'need submitters for new magazine/ezine' and I can keep them in my book as notable. When I start making money as a freelancer, perhaps I can start subscribing to new magazines. <dreams> Edited to add: found the link for Writer's Market 2007, the DE-luxe edition, here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1582974349/sr=8-2/qid=1154113917/ref=pd_bbs_2/0... $31.49 and free shipping, and this gets me online access. Available August 4, 2006, so it will be shipped then. I wonder if the online would come earlier. Hmmm, well, I am in the running for $50 Amazon gift certificate, so guess where I will be using it? So far I've qualified for either $26 or $30, I don't remember which. I just checked - $32! Woohoo! I can qualify for up to $50, which is where I'm aiming, but it's nice to know I can go ahead and get the writer's digest. I was going to save it for Christmas presents or essentials, but whatever. It's all about me, right? |
| Yes, it is all about money, as you could probably tell from my last post. My ideal writing gig would be to write short stories and sell them, something I haven't done for some time. But with our present financial issues, I feel more pressure to try to write for pay. Over the last year, I've been further inspired to write nonfiction, which is interesting. Not so much, I suppose, since I actually have a strong nonfiction background, via school newspapers and, of course, my summer internship at S&T. The problem I am having now involves the professional slant. I wrote before about writing for sites like constant-content, which pays pennies on the dollar. On the other hand, the entire submission process for print magazines takes a great deal of time. And patience. And a large amount of rejection. The biggest problem I have, however, is that of time. I am having serious stress and guilt issues involving my kids. I would love to sit down and put down the effort for freelancing but I feel like I am giving my kids the short shift. On the other hand, if I wasn't working part time at the gym, I could devote more time to the writing, becoming a strictly night time author. Still not full-time, but that is okay. The arguement for the first, of course, is that I can continue the night-time writing and still stay home while making minimum wage. That would be the blogging of sorts. Minimum wage isn't much, but since I don't make much over that now, at least I can stay home while doing it. And I love writing far more than flipping burgers or ringing up groceries. That is a big plus on the cheap writing. On the other hand, I would really like, over the next few years, to be a 'real' writer, to be professional. I'd like to make decent money doing what I love, more than minimum wage. Here is the flip side. If I have more time, I can spend more time. If I am not working at the gym. Now, if that is the case, the only way I can justifiably let go of my job would be if dh earned more money by working on the doors job all over the country. If he does that, then perhaps I could spend more time freelancing. It would make things harder, since I would have to carry any form of files around the country, and also there is the whole issue of the mail. On the other hand, with all of the travel to do, I could write some bangup articles. On a side note, I could go ahead and write full-time articles, and spin off short articles for CC to post online for additional income. Just use some of the research already maintained. Right now, I am in this podunk town for two weeks. I don't even have cell phone reception. There isn't a lot of things to do around here. However, a recent check of the local paper reveals that they have just opened a local farmer's market. I thought perhaps I might go down and interview some folks, and then see what kinds of information I might pull up. The problem is, I'm not all-together clear about what to write for the article. Obviously, this isn't a news-breaking piece. However, I think an article for a parenting magazine on local markets for food would be interesting. And I can take some pictures with the digital camera and put them together. Perhaps I could do a 'fun things to do with kids' article for next summer. Why do I always consider articles for a year out publication? Oh well, that makes it easier to query them, right? They can hold the article for the upcoming edition. Sure, that's it. Of course, I could possibly spin off some articles for Christmas and the holidays. Hmmm. I don't know. Do you think dh would let me go get a cool digital recorder so I don't have to take notes while my kids run around screaming? |
| Well, amazingly, despite their lack of full-sized towels, real blankets, and feasible door locks (we have stuff piled in front of our door at present, 'just in case'), the podunk motel we are staying at has free wifi internet. So now that everyone has gone to bed, I get to do a little bit of writing. I am supposed to be cranking out three quick 'n easy articles a day, but I don't seem to be able to pass the muster. For one thing, at the end of this very long day, I can't think of a single thing to write. I considered a book review, but honestly, that takes more effort than I can provide at present. What I need is an effective blog rant that I can pass on. <rant rant rant> Just kidding. Anyway, here I am, writing in my blog to get the juices flowing. Today was a tough day that involved manual labor. I missed my wimpy $8/hour job. Today, I got to help dh lift about 20 sections of folding door, weighing somewhere between 150-200 lbs (dh said most of them were probably closer to the 200 lb range). Mind you, I weigh about 115. I have no muscles other than functioning ones. This made me highly appreciate my dh, and anyone else who labors as a manual worker. I joked to my boss that I really appreciated my job, and would now consider paying him to let me sit in front of the computer and work. I also told him (again, mostly in jest) that I got a college degree specifically to AVOID working in manual labor. But today really made me appreciate those who do similar jobs for a living. Especially my dh, who doesn't do this full time but does it frequently enough, along with other physical odd jobs. When he comes home, he is physically exhausted. On the other hand, with three children between 18 months and five years, I am emotionally and mentally worn out. Mind you, this country is built on the backs of the blue collar worker. As a legitimate country girl who grew up in farm country, I can verify that. But despite our nations history, we tend to group the educated as intelligent and the blue collar worker as, well, not intelligent. This is quite unfair, especially since I know a large percentage of white collar workers are a bit thick between the ears themselves. I've also known (and dated, but don't tell my husband) many, many 'rednecks'. A large percentage of them were smart, hard workers, honest, and went out of their way to help others. Like any 'class' of people, there were varying degrees of intelligence among them. But, despite what the public sees, they are not any more stupid than everyone else. I know many who could have successfully held the traditional white-collar, work-with-your-mind positions. Instead, they preferred to engage in demanding work that earned them little respect - choosing instead to respect themselves. Most could not evision spending their days inside and preferred to be out and about. Me, I think I'll take the air conditioning, but still give them the respect they've earned. After an honest day's work (now I know where that phrase came from!), I think I need to turn in early. But as I snuggle in (after a very long, very hot shower, mind you), I tip my hat in the direction of those who spend each day in pursuit of honest labor. **** See, you guys inspired me to write my happy blog post, here in my blog even! I love my blog. It really does move me to write. This one I started off just talking about my day, and then, granted, made a concious decision to be more direct. I hope you don't mind that I continuously interject my writing into my blog, LOL. This road trip is going to either kill me or make me stronger by the end. Remember, we are going to be out of town for anywhere from 3-5 weeks. Three small kids, two adults, in a hotel room together. From now on, by the way, I'm demanding the nice suite. I still can't believe Dave pricelined that for $50! I didn't know Priceline still worked, LOL. I nosed around and that room regularly goes for $300/night. Or, well, that is the checkout extension, I could be wrong. Okay, I didn't nose around, I read the back of the door, but that generally gives you a good feel, right? Anyway, I am just earnestly hoping we hit a similar type room in Pennsylvania and Roanoke. I am not excited about this 'special' room - which, incidentally, costs us more per night.By the way, at present, I am up to 14 articles for this month. That includes the aforementioned blog. I think I'm never going to make my goal of 25. Granted, I have nearly a full week - five days - left, but I have basically no time, and I don't write well on my lap. Also, I am still waiting to hear back from families.com. Anyone else have any word on how long it takes to get accepted? I am also constantly checking out WriteForCash. I would really love to write for them for a guarenteed $10-15, but they still aren't taking new applications. They are probabaly glutted. I have a nice theroy on Harry Potter that I'm sure I could scramble together into an article. But I checked out the HP sites in the past and was curious about whether they are a paying market. Probably not; I'm sure they, too, have a wealth of material. But I hate to spin it for free when I could possibly make a little money on the subject. Dreadful, isn't it? Maybe it is just sensible, since our landlord asked us to wire him the rent today and apparently dh failed to tell him that we, um, don't have it. I am still unsure what we are going to do. Well, I am not going to think about it right now, although it disturbs me, because I strive to be an on-time bill payer. Okay, well, I guess I'll go to bed. It's nearly eleven. Then again, I should probably write. Bed, write, bed, write. Argh. I never finished why this trip would most likely kill us, did I? I'll have to save it for tomorrow's exciting entry. |
| I am putting off going to bed because I am afraid I'll wake up tomorrow without internet...Maybe not wake up without it but, you know, have to live without it. Just had another great idea for a quick article. Hang on! Well, boogers, my word document isn't working. I'm going to write it here, may as well. It will be quick, I promise: Almost a year ago, when I started working towards becoming a freelance writer, I considered writing for free as a method of developing 'clips'. Among all of the ups and downs, I've learned a valuable lesson - you can write pro bono but don't write for free! If you are truly interested in writing solely to build your portfolio, there are a few great spots that will help you do so and aid your pocketbook slightly. I'd like to discuss a few that I have found with you. Associated Content (sometimes referred to as 'AC' on freelancer websites) www.associatedcontent.com Associated Content allows you to post various articles on a variety of subject on their site for buyers to purchase. You can choose whether to sell exclusive rights - meaning that you cannot use the article again - or just usage. AC tends to have a high acceptance rate, and once you are accepted, you get paid fairly quickly via Paypal. The downside is the very low rate - reports I've seen on various freelancing boards range between $4-10. This is better than free, but not by much. Constant Content (sometimes referred to as 'CC' on freelancer websites) http://www.constant-content.com/ or contact me at my website via writing.com for an affiliated link Similar to AC, CC will allow you to set your bidding price. This means you can decide yourself to earn more than $4 per article, but that your article may or may not get sold. Like AC, CC has an editorial board that makes sure the writing is of a decent quality. It also pays via Paypal. However, because your items remain online, it is possible to be paid for the article after you have forgotten it - this can be both a plus and a minus. Your best bet is generally to peruse the 'requested content' section to see what buyers are currently looking for. You can also browse the 'recently sold' section to get a feel for what types of articles are being purchased. Families.com blogs www.families.com (click 'blog for us') Families.com offers paid blogs once you have applied. Writers can earn $3 for each 300+ word blog, with a minimum of 5 blogs a week and a maximum of 3 blogs a day. Writers are paid monthly by check, and after 90 days, earn $4 per entry. All rights are sold to families.com. In short, if you write only 5 blogs a week, 4 weeks a month, that is $60-80/month. If you write the maximum of 3 blogs a day over a 30 day month, you earn $270-360/month. Write For Cash www.writeforcash.com Although they are not at present accepting applications, I would highly recommend checking back periodically. WFC pays $10-15 per article and assigns them to you. Thus, you are guarenteed to make at least $10 per article, more than you tend to earn with AC and guarenteed, which is more than can be said for CC. The last time I checked, they had a maximum of 20 articles per month, which puts a cap on your earnings; however, that is basically one article per weekday anyway. All of these sites pay pennies compared to what you can earn as a freelance writer. However, they are a more lucrative alternative to writing your clips for free, and can used as a supplement to a full or part time freelancing career. Keep in mind that most of these sites buy all rights, or in some form limit you so that you can not sell reprints elsewhere. However, if you can turn out quick articles with little research, they may be a good way to make money while you send your queries out - not to mention a good way to build your resume. |
| Okay, I met my goal for tonight. I wrote two articles, both for my blog. I started with a simple vacation oriented one, on small business owners and vacations. Then, as I was examining my site (and planning to do a bit of 'simple' work), a news piece caught my eye. I did a little investigating and had to expand on it. I placed it here, and would love any feedback! http://www.merchantcircle.com/blogs/Redd.Infinity.2.678-468-2664/2006/7/Bad-Pres... It is an interesting piece on defending your online persona. In this case, your business persona. Alright, now it is time for bed. We are leaving in the morning, which means everyone will go crazy. I am going to read a few more things on the freelancer forum I recently found. That's my down time. It will most likely inspire me to feel enough guilt to write. |
| We are supposed to leave Williamsburg tomorrow and head to the land of no internet access. The tiny tiny town of 900 people has two inns; both in the under-$35 range, neither with Internet access, and both with low ratings from what we've seen online. Our other option is a town 30 miles away - an hour trip according to yahoo. We are hoping that Yahoo is wrong and it is closer to a 30 minute trip. We are going to measure it off tomorrow while driving, and also check out the two motels to see how their real-life safety rates. Personally, I am hoping to find two filthy rooms with no locks on the doors so we can stay 30 mts away in a free-internet hotel. I think I will die of Internet withdrawl if I have to spend a week and a half off-line. In the meantime, I am going to utilize the laptop to write, write, write. I love writing and inspiration. I was puting together an article in my head last night (while going to bed, of course) about Noah's ark baby showers. For crying out loud, I still can't figure out why that works as a theme, although it not only seems popular but was the theme my MIL chose for my first shower. Why in the world would you use it for a shower? Maybe for boy-and-girl twins, but I don't know. Anyway, while I was thinking about various games, I started considering the idea of a teddy bear baby shower. That article took a bit more work; probably about an hour. It would be nice to have it sell. I asked $30 for it, since it took more organization and a touch of research; I played around online and came up with a variety of games that I based slightly off kids party games. I had several of them, but I think there was one I played around with. Anyway, I need to think some more about the Noah's Ark theme. I will probably put that together while working out of town. There are two other sets of articles that were requested today but they require some research. If I have Internet access, I will start on them, but otherwise I won't be able to. I also need to write some free articles, including some blogs for work. I wrote 10 this month and actually had a goal of 25. I am going to put together some book reviews; those should be quick and easy. I need to write a few blogs for business; that should be a touch rough. Oh my goodness. I just checked my stats at ezinearticles and I saw that one of my articles has FIVE ezine published views. It was the article on CraigsList. I guess that means they liked it. Pretty cool. So that's a bit of a smile-causer. Too bad I didn't put that one as a for-charge article. Then again, maybe I will rewrite it into new material (will take a bit more planning and effort) and list it. Then again, it's not necessarily an in-demand item, so I'm not altogether sure it will sell. Perhaps I will file it away on my 'to do' list as a possible upcoming thing to write. Then again, I am considering a nice little article or two on Harry Potter. I don't do a great deal of the in-depth research, but I thought a few things might be of interest. These would be light, throw-away, ten minute articles, mostly written for the goal of bringing me up to my 25 article goal. I have to decide whether or not to stay up all night tonight while dh and the kids. Even if I did get to write next week (I could stay up then, too), I would not get any internet access. I also have to decide about the ezine stuff. I will probably do most of that in longhand anyway, then type it up and somehow try to submit it. Not even sure I can without internet. But dh said that there is only a 49% chance we will be without internet access; after everything he read online he is not inclined to stay at either motel. Hopefully it will all work out. I am once again using my blog here to 'prime the pump' for writing. I did manage to write some this morning with the kids attacking each other (the baby shower article) but it was difficult. Perhaps I can knock out a free article on the blogging. Just a quick 300 word piece or so, maybe two of them. I think I'll do that so I can keep things moving. Two quick articles/items, written and posted. Okay. Um, any clues on what to write for my business blog? |
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