Tuesday, June 16, 2009

A good month so far

So far for June, I'm on pace to make about $1,200 in content writing online. That combines with my regular salary editing a trade magazine plus the stories I've nabbed from my regular print and trade magazine clients.

It's a busy month, then. There have already been several late nights at the keyboard pounding out stories about the Royal Canadian Mint or hammocks. But I'm trying to strike while things are suddenly hot.

It's always this way in this business. It's like a drought some months; Your regular clients have abandoned you. New ones are hard to find.

Then, all of a sudden, everyone's back, and they all want something from you.

That's where I'm at in June. Who knows what July will bring, though?

My advice: Don't turn down work these days. Grab as much of it as you can, even if it means you feel tied to the keyboard. Then you'll at least have a financial cushion for the inevitable slow periods.

4 comments:

  1. Glad to hear things are going well. I completely hear you on having that financial cushion. Keep kicking ass and taking names. =)

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  2. Thanks, Gabriel:

    I do wish things were a bit more even. But you do what you can.

    Dan

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  3. Hey Dan

    You're making good money online. Any suggestions on how you did it?

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  4. Hi, Frank:

    Actually, there's no real secret. I've just been visiting certain job sites -- Freelancewritinggigs.com being one of them -- and Craigslist and applying for a lot of jobs. Maybe that's the secret: I try to apply to at least two writing jobs every weekday. Sometimes I fall short, and I don't even hear back from most of them, but every once in a while you hit paydirt.

    This month, for instance, I'll start writing for an anthology book of odd facts that I found through a Craigslist posting. And last month I wrote my first story for a solid-paying medical trade magazine, from an ad I found at craigslist. I try to write fresh query letters when applying for jobs. Fortunately, I've gotten pretty adept at writing these letters, so it doesn't take me long. I'd estimate that I spend about 20 minutes on each query.

    Thanks for writing.

    And how's the Wraith going these days? We've spoken in the past about possibly working together on some stories for any future Wraith comics you write. Unfortunately, with the fallout in the economy, I haven't had the time to really work on a story for you. (Wasn't sure if you knew this was the same Dan who writes comics at times.)

    Dan

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