More Resources for Freelance Writers
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Earlier this year, I put together a list of resources that I’d found helpful as a new freelancer.
In the 10 months since pulling that list together, I’ve come across a number of other helpful newsletters, books, and sites, and I thought I’d share them here.
Newsletters
Sonia Weiser’s Opportunities of the Week newsletter includes a weekly round-up of editors’ recent calls for pitches and submissions. Most of the requests can be found on Twitter, but Sonia takes the leg work out of having to find them individually by including them all in one email. (She also gets the occasional request for pitches via DM; those are calls you won’t otherwise see unless you’re one of her subscribers.) She charges a subscription of $36/year (or you can break it into monthly $3 installments); personally, I think it’s money well spent.
Similar to Sonia’s newsletter, Pitchwhiz sends out a weekly “calls for pitches” email. You can also review the latest calls and job opportunities on their website. It’s free to join, though many of the jobs/publications seem to be outside of the U.S. (I subscribe to both the Opportunities of the Week and the Pitchwhiz emails to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.)
The Freelancer’s Year is run by award-winning writer Lindy Alexander. Her blog, which you can subscribe to, includes a number of incredible tips on landing gigs, earning money, and basically not losing your mind while trying to make ends meet in this crazy freelancing world. (One of my favorite posts is her guide on following up with editors.)
Books
I love to read about writing, especially inspirational tomes written by people who seem to have it all figured out. My favorites are books that offer exercises to help the reader break up writer’s block, bolster creativity, and forge their own path. A few of my favorites:
A Writer’s Guide to Persistence: How to Create a Lasting and Productive Writing Practice* by Jordan Rosenfeld
The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life* by Twyla Tharp
The Crossroads of Should and Must: Find and Follow Your Passion* by Elle Luna
You Are a Writer (So Start ACTING Like One)* by Jeff Goins
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles* by Steven Pressfield
Write Smart, Write Happy: How to Become a More Productive, Resilient, and Successful Writer by Cheryl St. John
The Artist’s Way* by Julia Cameron
Though not in the inspirational vein, these are a couple reference books that I highly recommend:
The Business of Being a Writer* by Jane Friedman
Photo by Daria Nepriakhina on Unsplash
Podcasts & Courses
You’re never too old to learn, amiright? These are a few of the tools I’ve used this year to improve my writing and freelancing skills:
Longform Podcast is described as a “weekly conversation with a non-fiction writer on how they tell stories.” The tales are fascinating, educational, and inspiring. I’ve even discovered a few new favorite writers through the Longform episodes, including Christine Kenneally, who wrote an incredible piece of investigative journalism, four years in the making.
Skillshare offers online courses in a variety of creative categories. And just as anyone can self-publish on Medium, anyone can upload a class to Skillshare and potentially earn money (based on the number of people who take the class). Though I’ve never used the site to teach, I’ve taken a couple of their writing classes and they were fantastic. I highly recommend Roxane Gay’s personal essay course and Susan Orlean’s creative nonfiction course. (Bonus: Though the site can be pricey, you can sign up for a free month and take a couple of classes during that time. Fees after the free trial are $19/month or $99/year.)
Tweets and Articles and Blogs Posts, Oh My!
Yes, I realize I’ve said in the past that I don’t like Twitter. And I still don’t, really. But it can be a useful tool once you figure out how to parse through the b.s. and find the rare nuggets of wisdom. For example, Heather Demetrios’ Forge article, “How to Lose a Third of a Million Dollars Without Really Trying,” generated a LOT of heated responses in the Twittersphere. But amidst all the vitriol, there were a few individuals who used the opportunity to teach the rest of us the best ways to navigate the treacherous publishing waters. For example:
Writer Joanne Harris began a thread tagged #TenThingsAboutAdvances, in which she shared a bit about how book advances work.
Literary Agent Anna Sproul-Latimer wrote a long thread offering advice to authors, so they won’t find themselves in Demetrios’ shoes.
Literary agent and writer Kate McKean wrote a piece for Electric Lit about the “Ins and Outs of Book Deals.”
Author Chuck Wendig posted a comprehensive piece, “How to be a Professional Author and Not Die Screaming and Starving in a Lightless Abyss,” to his blog.
Miscellaneous
These items don’t really fit into any neat category, but are still enormously helpful.
If you’re interested in pitching an idea (or submitting a piece) to a specific publication check out WhoPaysWriters first. The site relies on user-submitted data to report the average payment amounts for hundreds of publications. Sometimes the information is out-of-date, but it should at least give you a ballpark of the publication’s range.
I used to rely on Excel for all of my tracking needs; I had a spreadsheet for submissions, a spreadsheet for rejections, a spreadsheet for finances, and a spreadsheet with publication information. It became overwhelming, not to mention time-consuming, to manage them all. Enter Airtable. I’ve transferred all of my data onto Airtable bases. It’s similar to Excel, but works more like an online database. With Airtable, I can link items, customize a database from an existing template, or create my own database from scratch. And with the Airtable app, I can access my information from my phone, tablet, or laptop. Best of all, it’s free (up to 1,200 records per base).
I hope this information is useful! And if you’re looking for more, I have Pinterest boards with a number of other writing-related Resources, Tips, and Inspiration.
Happy writing!
A version of this post also appears on Medium