June 18, 2013

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Listen up! 5 Podcasts for Freelance Writers

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podcastsI’m in the midst of packing for a cross-town move this week, so saying things are chaotic is an understatement. More like an office and kitchen supply store exploded in my living room. One bright spot of packing is that it gives me plenty of time to catch up on podcasts I’ve downloaded from iTunes. I also listen to podcasts as I’m washing the dishes, tidying up my apartment, folding laundry, or running errands, and it makes me feel productive even when I’m not typing away on my computer.

In addition to podcasts about online marketing and personal finance, I’ve found a handful of podcasts that offer insights on the craft and business of writing or more broadly explore creativity. Here’s a look at five of them.

  1. A Little Bird Told Me - Freelance writers from across the pond Lorrie Hartshorn and Philippa Willitt discuss “the highs, the lows, and the no-no’s of successful self-employment,” as they put it. Recent podcasts have covered topics like brainstorming ideas, turning one-off clients into regulars, and breaking into new markets. I especially like Lorrie and Pippa’s friendly banter and their charming British accents! 
  2. Longform - Produced by Longform and The Atavist, the Longform podcast is a weekly conversation with a non-fiction editor or writer who produces long-form journalism. My sweet spot seems to be articles around 800 words, so I’m always impressed by writers who can craft a beautiful, cohesive narrative that runs 5,000+ words. Recent guests have included New York Times obituary writer Margalit Fox, Vanity Fair and New York contributing editor Vanessa Grigoriadis, and former GOOD editor turned freelancer Ann Friedman.
  3. High-Income Business Writing - You might already know Ed Gandia from The Wealthy Freelancer or the International Freelancers Academy. He recently launched this podcast to explore how business writers can boost their productivity, attract higher-paying clients, raise their fees, and more. A few podcasts have focused on specific niches like white papers or case studies, with Ed inviting a subject matter expert to discuss those niches. Other times, Ed simply speaks from his own experiences as a writer and shares how he made his own business a success.
  4. Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing - Need a refresher on word choice, commas, or passive voice? Mignon Fogarty of Quick and Dirty Tips explains the nuances of the English language in short, playful podcasts, often using real-world examples to illustrate the concepts. I especially liked her recent podcast on how texting is changing English.
  5. The Accidental Creative - This podcast isn’t directly tied to writing, but the concept of creativity is one that writers often grapple with. Todd Henry, author of the book by the same name, interviews artists and creative luminaries to find out how they stay productive and inspired even on deadline or under pressure.

Your turn! Are there any podcasts I’ve left out? Which ones are your favorite(s)? Leave a comment and let us know!

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Filed Under: freelance writing

Veteran freelancer Kelly James-Enger: “There is plenty of work to go around”

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kelly_jamesengerWhen I started freelancing in the mid-2000′s, I devoured Kelly James-Enger’s books on writing, among them Ready, Aim, Specialize!: Create Your Own Writing Specialty and Make More Money! and Six-Figure Freelancing: the Writer’s Guide to Making More Money. Imagine my excitement when Kelly invited me to appear on a panel about successful freelancing, which she moderated at ASJA last year!

After the original edition of Six-Figure Freelancing (a must-read for freelance writers, in my opinion) went out of print, Kelly got the rights back from her publisher and published a new edition under her new imprint, Improvise Press.The new edition includes tips on blogging, writing for the web, thinking beyond magazines, and more. She also wrote a book called Dollars and Deadlines: Make Money Writing Articles for Print and Online Markets, which is geared more towards beginning freelancers, and was kind enough to share both books with me. If you’re interested in ordering one or both of those books, scroll down for a discount code.

I asked Kelly to share her thoughts on the evolving freelance marketplace and what it takes to launch your own publishing imprint. Here’s what she said.

What do you see as the biggest challenge facing freelance writers today? How can they overcome those challenge(s)?

I think there are several big challenges today. First, contracts have definitely become “grabbier,” in that publishers want more rights—often all rights—as opposed to less restrictive contracts in the past. That makes it harder to resell work to other markets. However, you can “reslant” topics and write about them more than once for different markets to get around these all-rights contracts.

There is also more competition for freelance work—sometimes I feel like everyone and their mother wants to be a freelancer!–which includes writers who are willing to work for a pittance (think $5 for a 500-word article or post) or even for “exposure.” But at the same time, there is plenty of work to go around, if you develop a niche and are willing to think about what potential clients want/need. For example, I just took on an assignment where I also shot photos to accompany a story; I hadn’t done that in the past, but my willingness to do so will mean more work from this market. I’ve found that many long-term freelancers are also breaking out of the article-writing niche and doing more corporate work, for example, or adding other income streams, whether it’s through teaching, consulting, publishing ebooks, etc.

If you could jump in a time machine and redo something from your early freelance years, what would it be?

Actually, I wouldn’t change that much! I feel like I made a lot of mistakes early on, but I also learned from those mistakes—like to do enough research about an idea so that I could write a strong, compelling query. I suppose one thing I would do would be to focus on getting regular clients from the outset. It took me about a year and a half to figure that out. :)

What was the hardest thing about launching Improvise Press? Any tips for writers who’d like to go indie?

First off, the overall work load has been pretty significant. When you set up your own publishing company, you have to do everything from find a printer, hire a designer (for cover and interior layout), market and promote your books, set up a Website, create a logo, file your DBA, etc etc etc…and if you’re the author (as I am of Improvise Press’s first two books) WRITE the books as well. It was a pretty crazy six months, and I have thousands of dollars invested in the new company—and I have yet to get out of the red. (It will happen, but it’s taking longer than I expected.) Peter Bowerman has a great book on self-publishing (The Well-fed Self-Publisher) that is very helpful. In general, I’d say to make sure you can afford the money upfront and that you know how to target and reach your audience. And of course you’ve got to promote the heck out of your books all the time!

Will Improvise Press be acquiring titles from other writers in the future?

Yes; the plan for now is early 2014 depending on how sales go. Improvise Press publishes books for “people who want to profit from their passions,” or turn their hobbies into a source of income, so that’s what I’ll be looking for.

Anything else you’d like to add? 

I think the biggest thing for freelancers today is to keep learning and adapting the changing publishing environment. I’m doing things (like shooting photos, providing consulting services, editing books, publishing e-books) that weren’t in my business model a few years ago, and my career is benefitting as a result. Finally, educate yourself if you lack knowledge about some aspect of freelancing. Improvise Press’ first two books are primers for people who want to make MONEY from their writing, not just get published. In Dollars and Deadlines, I include an entire chapter on publishing contracts and how to interpret and negotiate them, for example. I also walk readers through the process of researching, pitching, and writing a dozen actual articles, showing them how they can follow the same steps to get published and PAID.

Six-Figure Freelancing is more for writers who know they eventually want to freelance full-time, or to make significant money from writing. It’s a freelance classic and was just updated this year, and it has a couple dozen templates every writer should have on his or her hard drive, plus advice from 20+ six-figure freelancers about how to survive today’s publishing environment.

You can purchase either book through online and brick-and-mortar bookstores, or order directly through ImprovisePress.com. Use the discount code IMPROVISEPRESS (all breaks, no caps) for 20% off of your order.

Filed Under: writers on writing

5 Problems New Writers Face (and How to Overcome Them)

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writingBy Mridu Khullar Relph

Two weeks ago, I received a frantic e-mail from a writer who had subscribed to my newsletter and received a free copy of an e-book in which I share 21 query letters that sold to major publications around the world. “In all your queries,” she wrote, “you mention that you’ve been published by all these big-time magazines and newspapers. OF COURSE an editor is going to buy your work, you’ve got the credits to back you up. But what about me? I’ve never even been published. What am I supposed to send instead of bio and clips?”

As it happens, ten years ago, I was that newbie with no credits, no clips, and no contacts to speak of. I lived through and solved all the problems that plague new writers and today, I want to show you how you can, too.

Recognize any?

1. You have no money. Most of us, when we’re starting out, want to invest in our education in the form of books and e-courses, perhaps even conferences, but we’re bringing in no money and so it becomes difficult to justify that expense.

The solution: Blog. Find paying blogs and write articles or stories for them that you can write quickly and easily. Once you get that small payment (usually around $50 or so) use it to buy a couple of books to get you going.

2. You have a full-time job or young kids or both. I’m a full-time freelance journalist. I have been a full-time freelance journalist for ten years. Writing is all I ever do. And you know what? I still complain about not having the time to write. Sure, I write articles, but that novel that I haven’t finished in two years? I don’t have the time for it because I have bills to pay and freelancing allows me to do that. The truth is, you’re never going to find the time for the things you love to do or want to do, so you’re going to have to get creative and make it instead.

The solution: Make a date. On Sunday, at 4 p.m., you will do nothing but go to the local café and write. Pick your time, pick your place, tell your family you have a meeting with someone important and just do it.

3. You can’t think of anything to write about. When I first picked writing as a career option, I’d just failed my first year of college as an engineering student. At 19 years old, I had no life experience, no knowledge of the world to contribute, and no burning desire, really, to say anything that the world hadn’t heard before. What could I write about?

The solution: I wrote my first story about failing (and surviving) your first year in college. And I wrote about the things I wanted to learn about, such as finding ways to fund your world travel or how to study effectively.

4. You have no clips or experience to show to prospective clients. I worked my way up from publications that paid $10 a piece to publications that pay $2,000 a piece. It took ten years. Some of my colleagues, however, started with those top publications right away. How?

The solution: Come up with brilliant ideas that only you can write. I broke into The New York Times because I proposed a piece about plastic roads in India that hadn’t been covered before and was unique to me (I live in India). Similarly, I broke into Parade.com with a personal essay about a relationship in the midst of collapse, and I pitched a travel story to Time magazine when I was in Ghana and the American president was visiting.

5. You have no confidence. I’d like to say that this will cease to be a problem as you grow, but that’s not true. We are part of an industry in change, a career that is unpredictable at the best of times, and this does manifest regularly in the form of lost confidence.

The solution: Write anyway.

mridukhullarMridu Khullar Relph is an award-winning journalist. Get her free e-book “21 Query Letters That Sold” with queries that landed her in The New York Times, Time, Ms., Writer’s Digest, The Writer, and many more publications or follow her on Twitter @mridukhullar.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

10 Highlights from #BUNarrative

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A Primer on Pacing: breakout session with Jeb Sharp (left), Mark Kramer and Amy O'Leary.

Power of Narrative Conference in Boston, April 2013. A Primer on Pacing:
breakout session with Jeb Sharp (left), Mark Kramer & Amy O’Leary.

Last week, I returned to my alma mater, Boston University, for the Power of Narrative Conference. If you’re interested in long-form journalism, multimedia storytelling, or discussing the craft of writing with some of the best in the business, then you would probably love this three-day conference as much as I did.

I recapped breakout sessions by NYT’s Amy O’Leary and Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Laurie Hertzel for the Ebyline blog, but there were a ton of great quotes and insights from other sessions or keynotes too.

Here are a few highlights:

  1. On reporting constraints: “Don’t despair if you have a scarcity of resources. Sometimes if you have too much it can be daunting” ~Kelly McEvers, an NPR foreign correspondent based in Beirut Lebanon, during her keynote address Better than Fiction: Covering Arab Spring and its aftermath, one story at a time. McEvers shared stories about recording at a protests with an iPhone stuck in her sleeve and conducting interviews via skype through a secure internet connection. She also recalled (with plenty of irony) a government-sanctioned junked for journalists called “Syria is Fine.”
  2. On pacing a narrative: “The tragedy of narrative nonfiction is as soon as you have the reader’s interest, it’s time to digress.” ~Mark Kramer, writer-in-residence at Boston University and conference director, during a breakout session called A Primer on Pacing (pictured above).
  3. On editing and revising work: “Don’t just push the same old stuff around. Throw it away and start over.” ~Tracy Kidder, Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning author, during a keynote address with Richard Todd On Editing and Being Edited.
  4. On showing gratitude to editors: “Your prose is not a gift to editors; remember to thank them for reading it.” ~Tracy Kidder, during a keynote address with Richard Todd On Editing and Being Edited.
  5. On the issue of nonpaying websites: “Look for places that are actually sending you money instead of spending two days blogging about your outrage. ~Richard Todd, former executive editor at The Atlantic, during a keynote address with Tracy Kidder On Editing and Being Edited. During the Q & A portion, an attendee asked Todd about the recent Nate Thayer/Atlantic issue.
  6. On the challenges of editing: “You can ridicule any piece of writing. What’s harder to do is to point out something that’s not working. ~Tracy Kidder during a keynote address with Richard Todd On Editing and Being Edited.
  7. On dealing with difficult editors: “Bitch at the bar, not at the editor.” ~Jina Moore, freelance reporter for The Christian Science Monitor and other outlets, during a breakout session with Charles Homans on How to Sell Stories in Multiple Media: Freelance 101.
  8. On comparing stories to photos: “If I were to take a picture of this, what would the picture be of?” ~Jina Moore during a breakout session on Turning Topics into Stories. Moore used the comparison to illustrate the sometimes tricky distinction between topics and stories.
  9. On the importance of networking: “Building your own network is like an insurance policy. It’s often a path to more work.” ~Ann Friedman, former executive editor of GOOD, during her closing keynote, How the Internet Killed My Job and Made Me a Star.
  10. On writing with personality: “As an editor, it’s easy to strip out voice but impossible to infuse it.” ~Ann Friedman during her closing keynote, How the Internet Killed My Job and Made Me a Star.
Filed Under: business of writing
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