Jenna Glatzer’s book, Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer: How to Win Top Writing Assignments was the first book I read while contemplating my decision to seek higher paying freelance writing opportunities. In fact, I credit Jenna’s book as giving me the inspiration and motivation to take a deep breath and begin querying markets beyond entry level web writing opportunities.

I was thrilled to interact with Jenna several years ago when she was the owner of the Absolute Write Forum. Through that forum, and an active member - Meryl K. Evans – I even landed a gig with Jenna, finding the job leads for the Absolute Write Newsletter. Jenna has always been generous with the advice and encouraging to writers of all levels. I’m so happy to present you with the FWJ Interview: Jenna Glatzer.

Jenna, tell us a little about you and how you got your start as a freelance writer.

I started on my path as a writer because I had a terrible panic disorder that left me housebound, and I needed to find a way to make a living from home. I thought screenwriting would be my path to fame and fortune, but soon found out… well, it wasn’t. A lot of close calls, but nothing produced. So I went online and did a little research about what else I could do as a writer, and thought I’d try writing for magazines. I got a lucky hit on my first query– a short profile of friends of mine from college who had started their own company– and thought, “This is going to be easy!” It actually took a couple of years before I was earning any sort of regular income from it, and another couple of years before I was making a full-time living from it, even though I was working full-time hours the whole time.

Writers have so many options nowadays, it’s more than newspapers, magazines or copy writing. What is your favorite niche and why?
I like writing for magazines, but these days, I focus on ghostwriting books. I enjoy helping other people tell their stories.

Even though writers have many choices, thanks to the web, they also have to be careful they’re not taken advantage of. What are some of the areas in which new writers should proceed with caution?

There really are a lot of potholes in the road. I wrote a whole book about it, actually– The Street Smart Writer: Self Defense Against Sharks and Scams in the Writing World. The most egregious problems are probably vanity book publishers pretending to be anything BUT vanity book publishers (don’t be wooed… if anyone asks you for money, or expects you to buy copies of your own book, that’s a vanity press– and they almost certainly will NOT help you get your book into bookstores or get it distributed to the general public). Writing contests (like at Poetry.com) where every work is accepted with praise and writers are invited to buy anthologies featuring their work, or plaques, or whatever… these are not legitimate contests and will do nothing for your career.

Watch out, also, for ANY type of payment arrangement other than “We will pay you $x on acceptance.” Avoid jobs that offer payment that’s based on their future profitability, or based on a number of click-throughs or portion of ad revenue, or anything resembling “Once we get some money, then we’ll start paying, and you’ll be so happy you got in on the ground floor.” It just doesn’t work. I can think of exactly one market in the past 12 years that actually lived up to their promise. Hone your skills until you’re capable of getting work from established markets, rather than taking risks on every bonehead with a modem who calls himself a publisher.

Pay attention to what kind of rights you’re selling, too. Understand that if you sell “all rights” or “work-for-hire rights,” then you’ve given the company the right to do anything they want with your work forever, and you can never resell it. Try to negotiate for “one-time rights” or “First North American serial rights,” or even creative variations that enable both of you to get what you need, like, “Exclusive online rights for 30 days, nonexclusive thereafter.”

At FWJ we respect writers’ choices, even those we might not agree with and we’re a little distressed by recent negativity – especially by writers who insult those who take on entry level gigs. What are your thoughts regarding web content sites – and the choices writers make, as well as the bickering that is going on among freelance writers regarding the available opportunities and pay rates?

I totally agree with you and have never understood it. I’ve always thought “live and let live” is a good motto.

Writers who are willing to work for peanuts are NOT, in general, driving down the going rates for established writers. Real Simple magazine is paying $2/word. Joe Shmoe who wants search engine optimization articles for $1 apiece is never going to be in the market to hire a professional anyway.

The main point I try to convey to people who are taking on these low-paying gigs, though, is to try not to get stuck in that rut forever. The thing is, you can spend so much time doing these types of gigs that you don’t have the time to research your markets and find better work. And it’s not going to improve your writing skills much, because you’re not working with a real editor and you’re not being challenged to craft great prose– just to churn out lots of words quickly. (Well, at least you might get practice working with deadlines.)

I took on many low-paying gigs when I began writing, though never the SEO types, which weren’t around when I started. I wrote for a disabilities website, a local bridal magazine, a couple of college magazines… I’m glad I did it, and some of those assignments did lead to better things down the line. I worked on them as if I were getting paid big bucks, and I was able to use the articles as clips to get work that actually DID pay big bucks.

What do you feel is the first thing someone who is contemplating a freelance writing career should do?

Totally self-serving, but I hope he or she would read Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer. Another excellent book on the subject is The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success . I think it’s important to learn from other people’s mistakes and successes, which both of those books provide.

What is a common mistake made by brand new freelance writers?

Diving into the 2010 Writer’s Market Deluxe (Writer’s Market Online) and sending out query letters in a frenzy without actually learning what each market needs and how to tailor a query to that market.

What is your number one tip for anyone looking to become a freelance writer?
Get a wealthy spouse. (DOH! should have asked Jenna about this one ten years ago. – Deb)

Also: be meticulous, be persistent, and be on time. If you keep at it, eventually someone will notice.

What do you feel is the key to freelance writing success?
Knowing how to study a market is probably the most important skill. That means paying attention to things like tone, word count, topics covered, the publication’s “voice” and target market, and noticing which types of articles are covered by freelancers and which are usually taken by staff writers and editors. After that, it’s a matter of not giving up, and of behaving in a professional manner– not missing deadlines, in particular. I was amazed when an editor at a national magazine told me that her biggest problem with new writers is that they so rarely met their deadlines. How could you blow a big chance like that?

What are you up to these days, Jenna. Feel free to tell us about your current projects.

My latest book came out last month: Unthinkable
by Scott Rigsby (I’m the co-author). Scott is the first double-amputee to finish the Hawaiian Ironman triathlon, and his story is amazing. I’ve been so thrilled to see the Amazon reviews, which are more positive than any of my other books… actually, at the moment, every review is five stars (now I’m jinxing myself. The 19th review will be the killer). See it at scottrigsby.com.

I just finished a book with Susan Markowitz, whose son’s murder was the basis of the movie Alpha Dog. The working title is Stolen Son, and it’s coming out in the spring from Berkley.

And I’m having a blast with my 2-year-old daughter, who recently informed me that she’d like to be a ghostwriter, too.

Thanks, Jenna. We hope you’ll come back and talk with us again!

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Marye Audet

by Marye Audet

When Deb asked me to write about how to write a cookbook I was hesitant. There is a reason I don’t usually write for friends. What if I mess up in a big way?
But Deb is one of the people I would do anything (almost) for so I decided to try to collect my scattered thoughts into a cohesive mass and write. So, if you are thinking of writing a cookbook, or even writing a food blog, hopefully you can walk away with something.

The cookbook gig landed squarely and literally in my lap. Julie Fletcher emailed me with a link and said “This has you written all over it!” So, after some nervous deliberation with the rest of my personalities the resume was emailed and I waited nervously. A few days later I received an email asking for a Table of Contents and an index of 300 cookie recipes.

I scrambled through all my recipes, and my mom’s recipes, and my grandmother’s recipes until I had 300 titles I was fairly comfortable with. A week later I was emailed with the news that someone else had gotten the contract. Two weeks after that I got an email saying the other person had flaked, was I still interested?

I say all of this to let you know that cookbook writing is an emotional roller coaster and it doesn’t get better once the book is published… but we’ll get to that in a minute.

Knowing how to write a cookbook and knowing how to write a food blog are really two totally different things. First of all, I was on a strict deadline. I had to have the first two chapters and 125 recipes written and formatted in three weeks.
Hellooo? Excuse me, publisher? I have a life, remember? And freelance deadlines?

A week after I started on the book I received the contract in the mail from the cookbook publishers. Signed, sealed, delivered…I’m yours…

Those first three weeks were frustrating. I would knock out my freelance and blogging work and then start feverishly on recipes. I tested the ones that I wasn’t sure of. The biggest problem for me was formatting. The publisher that I worked with wanted the pages to be formatted for the copywriters. Any dreams I had of just typing it up and sending it off were dashed to the ground pretty quick.

Some nights I would fall asleep typing and wake up to something like “Melt the soldiers in sealing wax and cool before adding the mixture to the tea tree oil.”
I type odd things when I am asleep.

Emotionally I was not prepared for the radical waves of uncertainty bordering on hysteria:

• What if it is a total flop?

• What if I copied someone else’s recipe without realizing it?

• What if the publishing company goes bankrupt before they pay me?

Twelve hour days were nothing. I was working 20 hours and sometimes more all seven days. I was focused totally on cookies. We ate hot dogs, pizza, sandwiches, and tuna casserole.My family thought that they had become a participant family on Wife Swap and they had gotten the “Generic Boxed Mac and Cheese Mom.”

I made my first deadline a week early and had finished the book by the second deadline, a full month early. I sent it off, anticipating a return email that said “We hate it. You suck.”

But there was no return email. Not a bad one anyway. The book was submitted September 27, 2008 and it hit bookstores September 17, 2009. If you think that year was just a matter of waiting you are wrong.

There were edits to make; the copywriters had questions about the recipes and measurements. Then when they were done the book got sent back so I could go over it for typos and send it back with corrections…All in 24 hours! After that,  the book went to other editors, with more questions. Did you ever put a four year old to bed? For awhile it was like that; my email would get quiet and then I would get hit with several questions, some of them a little off the wall. Then it would get quiet and I would sigh with relief…and then there would be more questions. Finally all was quiet and I heard that the book was at the printer.

When I got my box of copies to send out for review I could not believe it. Seeing my name on a real book seemed so…surreal. You would think that with the book out and in stores I would be proud, happy, and confident. Not so. I was worse.

You see, now the book had to be reviewed. I had to send it to people so they could try the recipes and review it. What if the recipe didn’t work for them? What if it tasted awful? What if they hated it? I hadn’t had much creative input on the cover or the book, since it was part of a series put out by Adams Media. I was concerned that there were no images in the book, what would people think?

My fears seem to be groundless. Everyone has accepted the book, liked the recipes, and the reviews have been good. So far. Knock on wood.

If I was going to impart anything to you about how to write a cookbook, or any kind of book, I would want you to understand the need to prepare yourself emotionally for the biggest roller coaster ever. There are no tiny mistakes with books. There are big, glaring problems that stress you out one day and are gone like a Texas snow the next.
Other than that? Here are some tips I think might help:

• Be easy to work with. You are going to be working with several editors and being cheerful, kind, and helpful can give you an edge that a prima dona won’t have. You are not Julia Child. Work with them. Your reputation will follow you for a long time and you may need these people to speak well of you.

• Test your recipes or use recipes you have made many times before.

• Be specific and make the recipe steps as easy as possible.

• Be aware that the publisher may cut things you don’t want them to cut. They left in my acknowledgment but cut my dedication because of a scripture reference.

• Count up the number of pages (or recipes) you have to have done by your first deadline and divide it into days. If you don’t get much else done get your daily allotment of writing done.

• Try not to do what I did and work round the clock. The more rested you are the easier the process will be.

You will probably not feel like an author. You will just feel like you got one more project done.

If you have a food blog that is a good start. You are building up readers. Many of you probably have amazing food blogs, so what I am about to say will be redundant but for those of you who are just starting out, here are some things I look for in a food blog:

• Images! Work with your camera until you can take macros. Spend time at the antique shop picking up props. Work with lighting. Learn to take really good pictures and use more than one in your posts.

• Let your reader know you. Be real, share who you are, let them get a feel for what you are about.

• Don’t copy other people’s work. Give attribution if you use someone else’s recipe as a springboard for your own.

• Interesting recipes. I know how to make meatloaf, what can you offer me that is different than the normal meat loaf?

• Use social media like face book and twitter. Chat…a lot. Be approachable and available. Readers tweet me questions about recipes all through out the day sometimes.

• Email people when they comment the first time. Thank them for reading.

• Always answer comments!

If I can write a cookbook and have it published, trust me, anyone cane. Focus on the goal and head for it. You can do it, you know you can.

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by Sharon Hurley Hall

One of the worries people have about taking their freelance career on the road or moving it abroad is how they will actually get work. There can be a feeling that if you are cut off from the major urban hubs then you might find it difficult to gain access to high paying clients. That’s not true at all. With a bit of organisation, you can have a successful freelance writing career, no matter where in the world you choose to live.

1. Get A Good Website

if you’re not at the end of a local or national phone line – and even if you are – most people are going to want to check you out online, so make sure there’s something for them to see. When I started freelancing, I didn’t have a lot of recent clips to put on my site, but I made the most of what I had, creating a simple site that said who I was, how I could be reached, what I had done, and what clients had thought. I added a few examples of my work and I was done. These days, for writers at least, all of this can be achieved with a decent blog. It’s a great place to post sample articles and show that you can write, and there are so many good templates out there that you can have a fantastic looking website in no time at all.

2. Market Yourself

Once you have a web presence, it’s time to let people know you are there. Effective marketing will help your location independent writing business really take off. You can do this for free, by using techniques such as article marketing, or you can pay to drive traffic to your site through Adwords, StumbleUpon and others. The aim of this is to make your site more visible in search engines for the keywords people will use to find you. Another good strategy to raise your profile is to write about topics you want to be known for on other people’s blogs. Guest blogging gives you a link to your site and can also get you noticed by paying clients. I’ve gained at least two long term blogging gigs that way.

3. Participate In Social Media

Social media interaction is another way of getting the word out there. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and others keep you connected to your peers and potential clients, no matter where you happen to be. I find it best to pick a couple of places where you feel comfortable and stick to them. If there are forums related to your interest area, join them and be an active member. The key here is to be active. When people can’t visit you in an office, online is the only way they will get to know you, which brings me to my next point …

4. Watch Your Language

Almost everything you contribute to forums and social media and social networking sites is indexed. And unless you’re using an alias, your name is attached to it. So keep that in mind whenever you post a status update or reply to a forum post. Never say anything you wouldn’t be happy to acknowledge as yours. I once nearly lost a job because someone had reprinted one of my articles on a questionable site. When I pointed out that I was not in control of the site and had no affiliation with it, I saved the gig, but it was a good lesson.

Those steps get you noticed, but what do you do once you actually have the work to make sure that you can make a viable living and keep your clients happy?

5. Find Alternatives

In a big country, you take a working internet connection and affordable phone calls for granted. In a small one, you may have to find a workaround. I use Skype wherever possible for international phone calls, though I am thinking of getting a MagicJack as I talk to so many people in the US. It’s also worth having a backup if your internet connection goes down, as it might. That means knowing where to find free Wifi, having a dialup connection or both. Online backup is a must as you never know when you will be traveling and can’t afford to be without essential files. I use Syncplicity and Mozy.

6. Be Professional

No matter where you are, sending in a bid or application where you answer the clients’ questions (including the ones they didn’t even know they had) will help you get the job. As you secure more and more work, it will get easier, as you will have a bigger portfolio, more testimonials and a larger web presence to prove to clients that you can do the work.

7. Don’t Cheap Out

One of the disadvantages of being in a small place is that some people think you should do the job cheaper. My view is, if you have the skills and do the job, you should get paid the going rate. Unless you’re a beginner looking to gain experience, find out what the going rate is (I can suggest a few resources) and pitch yourself around that level.

8. Deliver

All of the above steps are designed to get you to the point where you get writing gigs. Once you’ve got them you have to provide what’s expected on time. End of.

9. Get Paid

Working out how to get paid when you can’t get a direct deposit can be difficult. If you have moved abroad, it’s worth maintaining a bank account in your home country for easy money transfers. Apart from that, there’s always Paypal and Western Union to cover most other eventualities.

So, Does It Work?

It does. From an island in the Caribbean, I write for clients in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and elsewhere. I generally get the rate I ask for and get paid on time.

Sharon Hurley Hall is a location independent freelance writer and blogger. See more of her work at Get Paid To Write Online.

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"ProBlogger" Darren Rowse

Many of you know Darren Rowse as the famous “ProBlogger“. I can tell you Darren is much more than the man behind the blog. He is kind, funny, generous with his information, and someone who I am proud to call “friend.” I met Darren last fall and he’s just as warm and genuine as you’d expect.

Darren has agreed to be FWJ latest Success Story. Here he shares how he got started as a professional blogger, how an idea for an ebook between Darren and another friend, Authority Blogger Chris Garrett led to the mega-successful ProBlogger book and so much more.

I give you Success Stories: Darren Rowse

Darren, you began blogging six years ago with your Digital Photography School blog. What made you decide to start a blog?

Actually I started my very first blog (it was called LivingRoom) just under 7 years ago. The reason I started it was that I stumbled on another blog one day and was almost instantly hooked by it. The guy behind the blog was living on the other side of the world but talking about stuff that was of interest to me. He was a fairly ordinary guy yet he had this ‘voice’ that enabled him to talk on a daily basis to thousands of people around the world.

Not only that, he was connected in a network like nothing I’d ever seen before – a network of other bloggers scattered around the world who were all talking about the same kind of stuff, building upon one another’s ideas and all benefiting as a result. I decided that I wanted to become a part of that and started a blog of my own that very day.

What was the “Aha!” moment when you realized there was something to this blogging thing?

I guess the first Aha moment was before I started blogging (as described above) – but after that there have been many. In the early days they were daily moments – when I got my first comment (the first one that wasn’t from a family member), when I got linked to from another blog for the first time etc

I guess the first time I saw the possibility that it could be more than a hobby was when I started my first photography blog (one that is inactive today). I started the blog thinking that it’d be a place to share some of the photos that I was taking with my brand new digital camera. I put some images up and also a review of my camera. The images barely were looked at but the review did really well in terms of traffic from search engines. Around the same time I started to experiment with the AdSense ad network. I only earned a few dollars the first week but it was enough to make me take notice.

I guess I had an ‘Aha’ moment at that point and began to wonder what would happen if I continued to write reviews of cameras and stuck to it over the long term. I saw some potential and began the very slow journey to ‘going Pro’ as a blogger’.

Many new bloggers, and blog network owners, think the traffic and revenue should begin flowing as soon as a blog is launched. What is the reality?

It is possible to make some money from day one of your blog – but the reality is that most blogs take considerable time to begin to generate enough traffic to make much money. Every time I survey readers of ProBlogger on how much they make from their blogging the majority say they earn a few dollars a month. Yes a few make a full time living – but they’re in the minority.

I get quite angry when I see people in the ‘make money blogging’ niche talk about how easy it is to make money blogging and how ‘passive’ the income from blogging is – the problem is that I not only see the hype I come across the burnt bloggers who tell me about how they quit their jobs to ‘go Pro’ without having realistic expectations. I could talk about this all night (and get fired up about it) – but the take home lesson is to not expect masses of traffic or money from your blogging too quickly. It takes a heap of work and a long time to build a profitable blog.

ProBlogger is the first stop for many bloggers each day. Why start a blog teaching others how to blog. How did you know you were destined to be a leader in this field?

I started ProBlogger simply because I was looking for a blog to teach me how to make money blogging. I’d been making a part time living from blogging for a while and was moving towards going full time (it took a couple of years) and I wanted advice, tips and to connect with others who were doing similar things. There were no other blogs solely dedicated to that – so I started one.

I had no real intentions of being a leader in the field or even being known for writing on the topic – I was writing more for myself than anything.

Many of FWJ’s readers are interested in the book publishing process. You and Authority Blogger Chris Garret wrote the bestselling ProBlogger book together. Can you tell us how that came about and take us through the process?

After I’d been blogging at ProBlogger for a while I had a couple of approaches from publishers wanting me to write a book. I was always interested in doing it but didn’t see it as something I wanted to do alone – partly because I didn’t have the time and partly because I wanted to work with someone else who might have a different perspective and set of experiences to bring to it.

Chris and I had been interacting for a while online (we had never met in person – and still haven’t) and out of that relationship we decided to write an ebook together. Chris was going to take a lot of the content I’d already written on ProBlogger and rework it into a more up to date and logically ordered pdf. There was never really any intention to write a hard cover book – but as we approached having it all together Wiley (the publisher) approached me to write a book. I shot them a copy of the ebook and they said that they thought it’d be a good start on a real book.

From there we decided that it’d be interesting to pursue it. We divided up the writing of the book and worked to get it finished. The process was quite long but in the end I think we came up with something that is pretty good for new bloggers wanting to get started and intermediate bloggers looking for a little inspiration.

What is the biggest mistake many new bloggers make?

One of the big mistakes is simply giving up too early. I look back on many of the bloggers I used to interact with 5 or so years ago and there are so few still doing it. We all had similar sized blogs and our blogs were growing at similar rates – but many of them got frustrated by the slow growth and gave up.

Longevity doesn’t guarantee success – but it does help a lot.

What is your advice for anyone wishing to make a career of blogging?

1. Don’t give up your day job…. yet. I know I’m coming across as a bit negative here but it’s worth entering into things with realistic expectations. I worked a number of part time jobs in my early days of blogging and only gradually gave them up as my blogging income increased. If you can do that kind of thing I’d recommend it.

2. Choose a topic you’d write about for free. Choose something you have an interest in and a passion for. If you do this you’ll be much better positioned to keep at it for the long haul (it’s hard to write a new post every day for years on a topic you don’t really like).

3. Lastly (and there’s plenty more tips I could give but I’ll limit it to three) – be useful. Successful blogs almost always meet a need, solve a problem or fulfill a desire that readers have. Do this and you’ll have people keep coming back for more and bringing their friends with them.

How do you define success?

For me it mainly comes down to whether I’m enjoying what I’m doing and feeling that it’s ‘giving life’. Earning money is a factor (I’ve got to pay the bills) but ultimately I want to be doing something with my time that gives me energy and that helps those around me. If I’m getting positive feedback from those I write for and keep feeling fresh and inspired about it I’ll keep doing what I’m doing.

What is next for Darren Rowse?

I’ve just launched a few new projects so I guess my next phase is more about getting them up to speed.

One is the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog work book – it’s a book with 31 daily tasks to help bloggers take their blogs to the next level.

Another is a new Twitter account – @probloggerdeals – a Twitter account that provides deals, discounts and competitions for bloggers

The last new one is DarrenRowse.com - a personal blog. In some ways I’ve come full circle and have been feeling a need to create a blog where I can talk about a variety of topics of interest to me.

There’s another new project that I hope to launch in the coming month or two but for now – those ones are more than enough to keep me busy!

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Patrick O'Keefe

I met my friend Patrick O’Keefe at the South by Southwest Interactive conference this fall where we were both speaking and I interviewed him for BlogTalkRadio. We met online sometime before that, however. Through Twitter we discussed community and social media and Patrick asked if I would like to read and review his terrific book, “Managing Online Forums.” I did and I’m and learned so much.

I invited Patrick to be the second interview subject for our Success Stories series because he took his passion and used it leverage a business and write a book. I feel the community here can benefit from Patrick’s experience pitching, writing and promoting a book. I hope you enjoy his story as much as I do.

Tell us about Patrick O’Keefe

I’ve been professionally developing websites since 1998 and run the iFroggy Network, which is my network of websites covering various interests. I’ve been managing online communities for more than 9 years now and my passion for doing so led me to write “Managing Online Forums.”  It’s a practical guide to managing online forums, communities and social spaces. I also speak at conferences and events about online community, social media and related subjects.

What is iFroggy Network

iFroggy Network is really the banner brand for my sites – all of the sites I run fall under the brand and cross promote each other where appropriate. It includes sites like phpBBHacks.com, KarateForums.com, PhotoshopForums.com, Bad Boy Blog , YanksBlog.com and more.

Why online forums? What is so great about them?

What’s so great about Twitter? Or social networking? Or the internet itself? I like all of these things. It’s not so much a competition between the new and cool and forums, but that they all fit together. Forums are, at the most basic level, a text based communication platform that is threaded. This is a great means of communicating and one that many prefer.

In fact, Forrester Research released a survey last year where they asked 10,000 U.S. consumers about their participation in various forms of social interaction online. They found that more people read forums or discussion groups than blogs and that more people contribute to a forum or discussion group than comment on a blog.

Why did you decide to parlay your love for forums into a book?

In addition to my network related duties and managing online communities, I also write a lot. I felt that I could help people with my knowledge and sharing it in a book form just appealed to me greatly because, even though most of my reading is done online, I love the book format and I wanted to see if I was up to the challenge.

Take us through the process, was it difficult to query publishers? Were you turned down at first?

I don’t know if I would say it was difficult to query publishers (most have the info on their website), but yes, I was turned down – many, many times.

I pitched myself at first and I pitched maybe 12 or so publishers. Some interest here and there – but, in the end, it didn’t work out. After that, I asked my friend Jeremy Wright if he’d introduce me to his agent (Jeremy had just launched “Blog Marketing,” his book from McGraw-Hill) and he did and I signed with the agent, Neil Salkind. And then Neil probably pitched to 80 publishers or so… 79 nos and 1 yes. But, that doesn’t mean anything, honestly. You just need one person to believe.

Did you use an agent?

Yes, and I definitely recommend that people have an agent. Having a good agent is well, well worth it. You don’t have to have one and you can do great, it’s not really a matter of that. It’s not a requirement. But, having a good agent can make things go faster, can increase your chance of success and can help you to generate more money.

Neil helped me improve the manuscript and to do things that would help attract the publisher, he pitched the work and knew the people to pitch to and how to best present it and, when it came time to negotiate, he raised my advance and added a bunch of nice provisions to the contract, as well. So, it’s definitely worthwhile.

Tell us about the book writing process from beginning to end? What is it like starting a book project from scratch?

For me, it took five years, but I took my time and went slow. I wanted to write the book first as I wanted to make sure I could actually write something long enough to be a book. This ended up working out even better because, when you are an entrepreneur and run a business (or even if you have a demanding job), you can’t just throw it aside for 3-6 months and say “hey, I’m just going to write a book!” and be at the behest of the publisher’s schedule.

How I started, when I decided I wanted to try, was to make a list of notes – things I wanted to talk about. I would literally be managing my forums and I would do something, maybe I would deal with a challenge or some slimeball and then I would think “I should write about that!” And I’d make a note. Eventually, that list of notes grew quite long. I organized it into chapters and wrote them out.

I then went through various revisions. I’d write new notes and incorporate them. I’d read through the whole work and adjust, remove, add and edit where I saw fit and, after many iterations, I finally saw fit to pitch it. I discussed that earlier, but once I did sign on with the publisher, it was about a year until the book was available. We went through a few different stages with editing – development, copy editing and final editing. Even though I turned in a “finished” work, there was still a lot to do and a lot to improve that helped to create the finished project.

So, if you are looking at it from concept to publis hing – it was five years.

Did you ever get discouraged?

Discouraged, not really. Disappointed, yes, sure. It’s hard to receive tons of nos and not get a little disappointed. But, I always felt it would be published and because of the amount of work and honesty I put into it, I hoped that it would be well received and that it would help people.

What types of promotion do you have to do in support of your book?

This is the case for most authors these days and I was no exception: I am most of the marketing. I booked nearly all interviews I’ve done. I set up nearly all review copies that AMACOM has sent out. I e-mailed hundreds of people, one by one, from the host of the smallest podcast, to a reviewer for a major publication, just introducing myself and asking them if I could please send them a copy of the book. I do everything I can.

What has the response been like for “Managing Online Forums?”

I have been really blessed. The book has been very well received. I have received amazing praise from people from all walks of life, all backgrounds and levels of experience. From people just starting their first community to social media veterans and people who have been managing forums for a very long time. It’s been humbling and I am truly grateful.

Did you have an interest in writing before your book?

Yes, writing is something I’ve been doing for many years, through my network and elsewhere. I write for a few blogs and have written articles and guest posts for other publications, like SitePoint and ProBlogger, many times.

Any more books in the works?

I would like to do it again. I have some ideas that I’m playing with, but nothing that is concrete or that I’m ready to pitch, let alone talk about. You have to keep in mind that I told maybe 3-4 people about the idea of my first book, outside of publishers, before I had a contract in my hand. I didn’t even tell my family. I’m a little superstitious, I guess you could say. I hate to talk about something – and not do it. But, we’ll see.

What is next for you?

Managing my network is what I see for now. I’m working on getting into direct ad sales as a means of increasing my income. I also hope to get more into speaking and start to do some paid speaking, if I am given the opportunity.

What is Patrick O’Keefe’s definition of success?

There are a lot of answers and it depends on what we’re talking about. I think that creating value is a good one because if you create value for people, you are successful and it’ll come back to you.

Related posts:

1. Success Stories: Susan Gunelius
2. Success Stories: Chris Brogan
3. Success Stories: Darren Rowse

Susan Gunelius

Welcome to a new a series that will be featured regularly here at Freelance Writing Jobs. Success Stories will profile the people who turned freelance writing and blogging into a successful career. It’s my hope that you’ll learn or become inspired by the personal accounts posted here.

Today we’re happy to bring you an interview with my friend Susan Gunelius. She’s an author, freelance writer and About.com’s Guide to Weblogs. I’ll let her tell you all about it.

How about a brief bio?
I spent over a decade directing marketing programs for some of the largest companies in the world, including divisions of AT&T and HSBC. When I gave birth to triplets in 2004, returning to the corporate world wasn’t going to work. About a year later, my husband and I decided to leave the rat race of Northern New Jersey and the New York City area for better weather and headed to Central Florida. A year or so later, I had an idea to write a book about copywriting for small business owners who couldn’t afford to hire a professional copywriter. It’s about two years later now, and I now run a thriving business writing books, copy, articles, blogs, websites, and more through my company, KeySplash Creative, Inc.
How long have you been writing professionally?

I’ve been writing professionally in one way or another since 1993.

Was it hard to get your foot in the door?
My journey is unique in that I started writing as an employee for large companies. It wasn’t until I left the corporate world that I started freelancing and writing for my own company. When it came time to start my own business, I focused on developing my online platform to sell my first book proposal. My freelance business and company were born as a byproduct of trying to sell my first book proposal.

How long was it before you were able to leave corporate America for a life of freelance writing?
Freelancing came after I left Corporate America as an indirect result of trying to sell my first book proposal. I wasn’t planning to start a new career. It just happened!
Tell us about some of the places you’ve been published
My books have been published through Palgrave Macmillan (a division of Macmillan Publishing), John Wiley & Co., and Entrepreneur Press (distributed by McGraw Hill). My freelance articles have been published on Entrepreneur.com (I’m a featured columnist there), WomenEntrepreneur.com, BusinessWeek.com, MSNBC.com, FoxBusiness.com, TheStreet.com, SmartMoney.com, Yahoo! Small Business, Yahoo! Finance, WashingtonPost.com, TodayShow.com, AT&T Onward Small Biz, HispanicBusiness.com, and more.
How did you land these great gigs? Querying? Cold Calling? Referrals?
Two of my books I sold based on proposals I wrote. The other two were offered to me by the publishers who found me through my online presence. All of my other gigs have come organically as a result of my online presence. Once in awhile I might stumble onto an opportunity online that I follow up on, but it’s rare that I have the time to look for new work. I’ve found that by growing my online presence, more and more people find me.
What is your best tip for a beginning freelance writer?
Know your niche and develop an online presence establishing you as an expert in that niche. Start a blog, find paid and pro bono writing work that will help to build your online presence as an expert in your niche. Don’t try to wear too many hats. Focus on your strengths. And take the time to do your research. Understand the world you’re trying to get into before you dive in.
You’re the author of several books. Many in the FWJ community are particularly interested in learning about the process of having books published. How did you land your book contracts?
My first book deal came as the result of a blog post I wrote. The publisher contacted me and asked me to write a book about the success of the Harry Potter brand based on a blog post I had written about Harry Potter. A couple of weeks later, I sold my first book proposal to a different publisher. I landed that contract because I took the time to do my research first. I spent a lot of time on the forums at AbsoluteWrite.com. I took the time to write a good proposal, develop a unique approach to my subject, and establish my online platform before I queried any agents. Then using my copy of Writer’s Market, I researched agents and made a list of agents to query. I sent out my proposal to 10 agents and within a week or so, I got 2 responses from agents who wanted to represent me. My agent sent my proposal to one publisher to test the waters. That publisher bought it, and the rest is history.
Is it hard to pitch a book to a publisher?
It depends. You need to have a strong platform for nonfiction (that’s what I write), so I try to continually build my online platform. You also need to have a unique twist on your subject because just about every topic has already been written about. It also helps to have a great agent who can get your proposals in front of the right people.
What is involved in the process?
For your first book, you have to write your proposal and either send it to agents or directly to publishers who accept direct author submissions. Once a publisher extends an offer, you are given an amount of time to write the book by the publisher. The process from proposal to publishing for nonfiction can take anywhere from 6 months to a year or more. Once you have an agent, the process will vary depending on how your agent likes to handle it. My agent allows me to send ideas to him, and then he either takes a 1-page write up to publishers to get an idea if there is interest or he has me write an entire proposal if he thinks the idea is a good one. He also tells me if he thinks an idea won’t fly, so he saves me a lot of time!

How long does the process take?
From proposal to publishing it can take anywhere from 6 months to a year or more.

What is your best piece of advice for anyone wishing to publish a book?
Do your research first. Understand how the process works before you dive in.

What do you feel makes a successful writer?
I write about subjects I’m passionate about, and I work hard to continually grow my online presence. It also helps that I love to write.

What is next for Susan Gunelius?
I have a new book coming out in the Fall of 2009, “Building Brand Value the Playboy Way”, and I’m in the process of writing some new proposals. I also have some speaking engagements coming up. For example, I’ll be speaking about my book, “Harry Potter: The Story of a Global Business Phenomenon” at the annual Harry Potter fan event, Azkatraz, in July, and I’ll be speaking about branding at the Entrepreneur of 2009 event sponsored by Entrepreneur Magazine and UPS. When my triplets go to school full time in the fall, I hope to have time to grow my business even more. Right now, I’m tied to not having enough hours in the day to do all the writing I’d like to do.

Related posts:

1. Success Stories: Patrick O’Keefe
2. Success Stories: Chris Brogan
3. Success Stories: Darren Rowse