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Blogs by Sherri Smith
How I Became a Freelance Writer 6/12/2012 10:57:26 AM
Beginning a freelance writing career. I published my first book about 7 years ago. It was a book of poetry dedicated to my Dad. My intention was to keep it a secret and surprise him with the book on a Father's Day visit to California. It was the one and only Father's Day I spent with him. Unfortunately, the publisher took longer to deliver than expected and it didn't get here in time. I still kept it a secret while I was with him, I still wanted it to be a surprise. Unfortunately, the Wednesday following my visit with him he passed away suddenly. He didn't know, but he did when he got to Heaven.
A couple of years passed and I challenged myself to write a 50,000 novel for National Novel Writing Month. I achieved my goal and Bitter Water was published. Again, circumstances intervened and instead of using my time to write another book and promote Bitter Water, I found myself in a position of trying to keep our finances afloat after my husband was injured at work. I began looking for freelance writing jobs.
You will be pleasantly surprised to know there are a ton of sites where you can apply for freelance work. The first time I looked for freelance work I scoured the Internet for different sites. I was hired by a couple but ended up writing for one particular client. I wrote articles for this client for almost 18 months. 500 word articles, at least 50 a week. Pay was determined by what their client was paying them. I wrote and wrote and wrote myself into burn out. My husband got his settlement and I quit writing. Period. Nada. Zilch.
Last fall I decided after much urging from my sweet mother in law to start working on a sequel to my first novel "Bitter Water." Again, I wrote it during National Novel Writing Month and succeeded. This time, I knew I would have the time to promote my book!
Well, it published and I had a 3 week episode of upper respiratory infection, then immediately after that I broke my leg! So, it didn't take long to decide to keep my writing skills honed by writing freelance articles again.
My first step was to join this Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Facebook4Freelancerscom-Freelance-Writing-Jobs-Freelancing-Group/106581329394324
I started receiving notices on a daily basis and I started getting more serious about getting back to work while I was house and recliner bound.
My next stop was The Morning Coffee Web Site. www.freelancewriting.com/.../morning-coffee-freelance-writing-jobs. That led me to a lot of other sites. There are so many people out there looking for writing to be done for a decent pay. I first looked at all the most popular sites listed. They are:
1) Online Writing Jobs
2) eLance
3) oDesk Online Writing Jobs
Those three sites and the Morning Coffee newsletter will help you get started.
The application process for the sites I have visited are quick and easy to apply online. You will need to either write an original article based on their subject, or send in an interesting article you have already written.
Pay is low until you get established. Some are bid jobs where you are competing with other writers to land the job and others are strictly pay by article. Most pay through a paypal account.
I have found one particular client that I truly enjoy working with. I can choose which articles I am interested in, usually have one day to complete it and then I can choose another one. I love travel articles and that's the first place I look on their site. I am currently working on an article about Hong Kong. Very interesting stuff!
So, if you are looking for a way to add a little extra income why not try doing a little freelance work? You might find you really like it and it will also hone your writing skills.
