Comments on: Freelance Writing: The Early Years

By: Jill Preston

Jill Preston — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 21:36:25 +0000

I am needing to change careers. Nursing at my age is too hard physically. Your story is helpful. It points to a path for me. I started writing on examiner.com Like you I love seeing my name in print and I love writing about my hometown. I am not making a whole lot but I can see opportunity’s which is what is important to me. I thank you for posting your story.

By: Reading 12-22-09 | Summer Minor - Noisy Writer

Reading 12-22-09 | Summer Minor - Noisy Writer — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:21:38 +0000

[...] Freelance Writing: The Early Years [...]

By: Lee

Lee — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:15:28 +0000

I found your story completely inspiring as well!
I have written poetry here and there that has blown people away, and, been published, yet actual articles, I just got a position writing for Examiner.com for the Charlotte, NC Teen Relationships section. It’s flexible, yet now during the holiday season I’m not going to have much time travelling and all so i’ve got two articles published and that’s it so far.

By: Chris Anderson

Chris Anderson — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:41:54 +0000

I agree with Dawn, your story is just as interesting as any other story. I’ve always been interested in people and how their life goes. I would love to get into doing biographies. Have any tips on that .

Your story was very inspiring though. It’s nice to be able to relate to someone as I’m currently writing part time and working in a factory full time as well as taking care of two kiddos. Trying to balance things with a family and work is hard, but possible as your own story shows.

Thanks,
~Chris

By: Dawn

Dawn — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:02:50 +0000

I don’t have a story to tell – yet. But I wanted to comment because I disagree with your thought of your story NOT being inspiring. I found it completely inspiring! I love that your success is through opportunity and passion, not a fancy degree hanging on your wall… I love that every move you made career-wise wasn’t a strategic climb to the top but a well-thought out map of what YOU wanted and needed at the time outside of a paycheck. I especially love that so much of your personal story sounds JUST LIKE MINE (age, night classes, baby on the hip, criteria for work pursuits…). I am new to this site – very new, this is my first post alert, actually – and I have hope that perhaps an opportunity in freelance writing need no longer be a lofty dream out on the horizon but an actual possibility right here at my doorstep (or countertop since that’s where I’m currently typing from!). THANKS MUCH!!!

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:43:57 +0000

I actually paid part of my way through college by writing advertising copy and radio scripts. I pounded out ads for podiatrists and all sorts of businesses. I broke into magazine writing a few years after college by writing for equestrian magazines. I found that niche markets were easier to break into than mass markets. For many years, I worked full time, then came home and wrote well into the evenings. These were the days before the internet. I found the markets through Writers Digest and learned all I could about writing through magazines and books.

I stopped writing from 1997 to 2007 to focus on my marketing career, but after moving from New York City to our 17 acre farm in Virginia, I began freelancing again. What a difference the internet makes. Daily I can apply for many jobs and writing opportunities, try my hand at writing for revenue sharing sites, or write a few articles for a fee. I write for private clients, offer my expertise in online marketing, and write for many wonderful websites as well as edit. I am also a blogger for many private clients. Oh, and I still write for magazines, and have written several non fiction books now.

Thank you Deb for all the information and opportunities you give through your site.

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:37:51 +0000

I won my first writing contest – a nation one, in which I competed against grownups – at age 13. I published two short stories by age 19. I got a part time job in college writing ad copy and then they hired me full time when I graduated. I pounded out radio commercials, quick little scripts, and short profiles on local landmarks. I remember one long stretch of writing nothing but ads for podiatrists. I think I can describe foot care about sixty different ways thanks to that stretch.

But my career really took off when I began writing for magazines. I began publishing articles in equestrian magazines because that was what I knew; I’d ridden and trained horses since age 16, and I had a lot of experts I could interview on horse care. I also began to write some articles for business publications. I won a few more contests for personal essays. One was even picked up from a magazine for a book anthology, which was very exciting to see my name in a book.

I put my writing on hold around 1997, however, when I had the opportunity to move up in the ranks and become a marketing manager. I wrote very little for the next decade, but in 2007 I quit my executive job, we sold our Long Island house and moved onto a 17 acre farm in Virginia. Now I write full time and provide online marketing services to my clients. Re-entering the freelance writing world was tough after such a long break. A little thing called the Internet had happened. I was amazed by the opportunity and fast response now. I can write copy for Demand Studios, I can write for revenue sharing sites, I can write for private websites and oh yeah – I can still write magazine articles, books and such. It’s amazing how much the world has expanded thanks to the web.

I now write for several sites and private clients, edit and write for LovetoKnow, have a few non fiction book projects going, and continue writing for magazines.

Thank you Deb, for providing this website. You were one of the most important ‘voices’ easing me back into freelance writing. If I haven’t said it enough, I really appreciate what you have done for me and my writing career.

By: Thursday Bram

Thursday Bram — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:41:25 +0000

I always find the paths that people take to freelance writing to be fascinating.

Personally, I got my first clip in high school, writing for a magazine my mom published. In college, I figured out people would actually pay me for writing articles (rather than just letting me out of doing the dishes). After graduation, I started freelancing full time while I looked for a job — when I figured out I was making more money freelancing than I would as an entry level journalist and had more job security, I stopped looking.