A Career in Freelance Writing

If writing has always been your passion, you must consider a career in freelance writing. You don’t have to go back to the grueling process of trying to find a job at a publication house. Instead, you could freelance.

Usually people have this misconception that freelance writing involves the writer being in his pyjamas at all times and it is considered to be a code word for ‘unemployed’. This isn’t true. Getting established as a successful freelance writer is quite a daunting task. Most freelance writers usually have a job in other industries and also write to pursue their passion.

A career in freelance writing is not easy

If you want to succeed as a freelance writer, you must swallow your pride and consider the failures that come your way to be the stepping stones to success. If you want to make it big in this industry you must patiently and constantly try impressing the editors with renewed energy.

The path to becoming a successful freelance writer can be a little intimidating at times. Sometimes all your brilliant ideas in your masterpiece can be junked by just a click of the editor’s delete button.

The freelance writing industry

The freelance writing industry is quickly developing. Print media no more dominates this industry. The internet is currently the cave of opportunities as far as freelance writing jobs are concerned. There are increasing numbers of websites and publications online that need freelance writers.

Professionalism along with payment ethics and outsourcing has made freelance writing a highly profitable career. Freelance writers can work from home, especially content writers, and they tend to be much sought after by different industries. This can make writing even more enjoyable and you get to learn a lot in the entire process.

How to get started

As a freelance writer you start off by calling or emailing editors and simultaneously surf the internet for opportunities. When you finally find freelance writing jobs that you are interested in, you can send in a query or fill in the submission guidelines. At least one out of five tries will get you a positive response.

Being a newbie in the industry, you should never waste time waiting around. You need to start writing from day one. So until you get adequate work, keep sending them articles on whatever’s been asked for on the websites. You could also send them stuff you have already written as well.

You never know how things could turn out as they may use the articles you’ve sent them and pay you with a nice ‘thank you’ letter as well. But if they reject it then don’t lose heart but continue writing. Keep all the articles you have written till date in a file for future samples and references.

In case you find freelance writing markets, zero in on the most popular one and start subscribing to their newsletters. This will give you an idea of who can be a reliable employer. Following these steps will land you a perfect career in freelance writing. 

About the author:

Grace is a senior article writer with blog writing service. She has interests ranging from social media, Copy writing to web technologies and trends.