Could you Borrow $100 from a Stranger?

Do you view editors as
ogres who take pleasure
in trashing your work?

Back in May, I told you about Jia Jiang, an Austin-based entrepreneur who's vlogging his attempts at being rejected 100 times over the course of 100 days. As of this writing, he’s almost done with his goal and has learned powerful lessons about business, communication, customer service, and career advancement in the process. Along the way, there have been lots of great nuggets for freelance writers, too.

On Jia’s first day of rejection therapy (Watch the Video), for example, he attempted to borrow $100 from a stranger and was immediately rejected with a no. If you watch the footage, you can see that Jia is quite nervous and is relieved that the stranger, who appears to be a security guard, only says no without getting angry or pulling out a gun.

Something Jia fails to notice, however, is that the security guard does not, in fact, just say no. He also asks him a question: Why?

But Jia is so focused on his goal of rejection that he just walks away, perhaps missing the opportunity to gain the interest or sympathy of the security guard, who might actually be persuaded to lend him the $100 if he understands why he needs it.

As you can see, Jia has painted a picture of this man in his head of a scary authority-figure who has the ability to crush him. He thus approaches him in a way that sets himself up for rejection without even considering the possibility that he might actually be interested in what he has to say.

A lot of writers exhibit the same complex when it comes to editors. They do not think of editors as regular people with children and a mortgage who go grocery shopping and scrub the kitchen sink after dinner. Instead they are ogres sporting evil grins whose sole purpose in life is to trash your work and make you feel like a lowly beggar for having the audacity to seek publication in their magazines.

When you approach an editor with feelings of fear and inferiority, this is likely to show in your writing.

My husband, who is a sales and marketing professional, has advised me numerous times not to write things like, “Sorry to bother you” in an e-mail. He says people often write such phrases with the idea they are being polite, but that it gives one the appearance of having done something wrong. Subconsciously, an editor may believe you are a weak writer when you continuously apologize or subtly put yourself down by mentioning your lack of experience, your lack of education, your lack of clips, or anything else that you may lack. I don’t know about you, but I would certainly feel reluctant to hire someone who kept telling me how unqualified they were.

Did you notice how quickly Jia cut short his interaction, which is essentially a pitch, with the security guard?

Did you notice the lack of introduction?

Personally speaking, I wouldn’t be very inclined to loan a stranger $100 either, unless I felt there was a strong reason to do so. If Jia had introduced himself in a friendly manner and perhaps explained some difficulty he was having (desperately needed to have his car towed, for example), this would have established some degree of trust and rapport between the two parties.

As an editor and occasional outsourcer, though, I have had the experience of writers and others sending me form e-mails that are impersonal and do not take the time to explain why I should be interested in their services. These individuals are so focused on their own needs (getting published or making money) that they forget that any work they do is supposed to serve the needs of the magazine or business. They forget that I need to trust them before I can even think about assigning them an article or job.

Successful pitches are clear, succinct, and show that the writer has enough confidence to handle an assignment.

Take Control

Here are some things to reflect on:

• Remember that editors are regular people like you and me. What’s more, they need talented writers to make contact with them so that they have enough material to publish. If they fail to get enough material for a magazine issue, they will often end up having to write it themselves. In effect, they are looking for reasons to accept, not reject, your articles, but you must convince them that you are the right person for the job.

• If an editor does happen to reject your work, understand that they are not doing so to be mean or spiteful. They are simply acting in the best interests of the magazine at the time. Take your idea to another publication, or pitch another idea entirely. Be objective about your pitches to see if you have conveyed your ideas clearly.

• Remove self-deprecating language from your correspondence with editors. Talk about what you can do – not what you can’t.

• Add a touch of personality to your queries and pitches. Your queries should be tailored to the particular publication and show that you are enthusiastic about your work.

Been rejected lately? Share your insights by leaving a comment.

 

50 Markets that Pay Freelance Writers More than 50 Cents per Word – Including 27 Markets that Pay up to $1 per Word and More

The fourth e-book in my Markets for Writers series is now available for sale at Amazon.com. Here is some information about the new title:

• All of the publications listed in this e-book pay more than 50 cents per word. The pay may vary depending on the specific department you write for and other factors, such as the quality of your articles and the amount of time and research you put into writing them, but these are all high-paying markets.
• 27 of the publications pay up to $1 per word or more.
• More than one half of the publications do not appear in the 2013 Writer's Market published by Writer's Digest Books (widely regarded as the “Bible” of freelance writing).
• Each listing is presented on its own page in a concise, uncluttered format that allows you to assess markets quickly and access up-to-date guidelines and other relevant information confirming the rate of pay with the click of a mouse.
• 38 of the publications are U.S.-based, while the rest are based in Canada (9 publications) and Australia (3 publications).
• Although standards are high, many of the publications are open to working with new writers.
• Niches include everything from cooking, parenting, sports, travel, health, and the military to science, history, politics, business, education, women’s issues, the environment, and more.
• Each market has been painstakingly researched so you can focus on what you do best: Writing.

Imagine if you wrote 1,000 words per day, five days per week, solely for markets that paid an average of 60 cents per word.

You’d be a six-figure freelancer who earned an average of $12,000 per month.

Think that’s unrealistic?

Let 2013 be the year you start earning more than half a buck for every word you write, and find out for yourself.

50 Markets that Pay Freelance Writers More than 50 Cents per Word – Including 27 Markets that Pay up to $1 per Word and More may be just what you need to take your earnings up a notch.
 

Content Mill Myth #1: Content Mills Provide Steadier Work than Magazines and Private Clients

You won't know about all the goodies
that are waiting for you until you
start sending out those queries.

Writing about content mills is sort of a delicate topic because some people will inevitably feel that you are being elitist by discussing the negatives of writing cheap content. As I have said before, the reason I write such posts is not to disparage anyone’s choices. Some people say that writing for content mills provides them with a steady paycheck, which is obviously something most of us desire. If you have found an easy, stress-free way to write for the content mills and earn a living doing it, more power to you.

What I have noticed, however, is that many people don’t find writing for the mills easy at all. It takes a lot of time and effort to sit there and pound out multiple articles for hours each day. Also, the term “steady paycheck” is vague. For some people, that might mean making thousands of dollars each month (rare with content mills), while others might consider a few hundred dollars “steady” and enough to satisfy their needs.

Regardless, my goal here is to dispel some myths about writing for higher-paying markets, such as magazines and private clients, so that people who haven’t tried this type of writing can make more informed decisions. After all, if there was an easy way to make 10 cents, 20 cents, 50 cents, or $1 per word on your articles (instead of the 1, 2, or 3 cents typically offered by content mills), you’d want to know about it, right?

Okay, so here’s something I frequently read and hear – that, compared to content mills, writing for magazines and private clients does not provide steady work. An acquaintance of mine broke it down for me by saying that she finds it too time-consuming to think up an idea for a magazine, research and query the market, wait for a response, write the article (if accepted), go through edits, then finally wait for payment. All this for one measly article, a procedure she will have to repeat multiple times in order to get enough work to make a living from her writing.

Forget for a moment that a single article written for a magazine can pay as much as $500, $1,000, or even more. Let’s say that you are writing “average” articles that pay $100 to $200, common with magazines that pay 10 cents per word.

What many people don’t realize is that editors who like your work will often assign you more work right away. They will find ways to keep you in their stable of trusted writers and even recommend your services to other editors and potential clients. Recently, I was thinking about all the projects I’ve worked on throughout my freelance career and realized that the vast majority of them came through repeat-business and word-of-mouth recommendations.

The first time I wrote for a magazine, for example, I was immediately invited to write the publication’s monthly health column. I wrote other articles for different sections of the magazine and also became their copy editor.

When I branched out and started writing for another magazine, I only sent in one query. Once the article I wrote was accepted and published, the editor asked me to write other articles as well. Sometimes I came up with my own ideas, while sometimes the editor gave me assignments to fit in with each issue’s theme. Here, too, I became the publication’s copy editor. Within a short period, I was promoted to production manager and then managing editor. Now I was the one responsible for recruiting writers and assigning articles!

I queried yet another magazine with several ideas and had three of them immediately accepted. The editor asked me to keep sending them in.

While this was going on, I started writing for a newspaper to which I sent a mere LOI (Letter of Introduction). All I really had to do here was send a couple of clips and mention my experience at the other magazines I was working with.

This publication sent me monthly assignments that they conceived of in-house. The newspaper was based in California, and I was living overseas at the time, so they provided me with the contact information of local people to interview whenever necessary.

Do you see a pattern here?

I could go on and on with countless examples – like the private editing client who asked me to be her personal research assistant (a gig that lasted about five years), the other private editing client who recommended my services to an internationally known public figure with the budget to match his reputation, the harried project manager who hired me to help him with thousands of dollars of his own unfinished work, and the many others whom I’ve formed lasting relationships with over the years.

Do all my queries turn out this way?

No. There are times when I’ve tried really hard to gain repeat-business from a good client, and the need simply wasn’t there. Overall, though, I would say that the effort I have put into my queries over the years has definitely paid off. I still receive repeat-business from some of my first clients and also have to turn down lots of work due to my busy schedule. Every now and then, I get the urge to write for new markets and will send out a batch of queries to get the ball rolling. This often results in a deluge of projects that keeps me occupied for months and even years at a time.

It is normal to work hard on a query, which is basically a sales letter. If you put this effort in early on, it may pay off for you, too.

You may feel uncomfortable giving up your work with the content mills in the beginning, which is understandable, but this should not prevent you from sending out queries on the side. If you happen to get an assignment, you can then manage your other work accordingly. Remember that having a by-line in a magazine is a valuable commodity as it gives you a clip that you can then use to leverage better-paying assignments with other publications. In contrast, content mills often do not provide you with clips that demonstrate your best work. In addition, some editors will not take them seriously, so the articles you write for content mills often go to waste once you collect your paycheck.

Over the next several weeks, I'll continue to discuss other common myths having to do with writing for magazines. Feel free to chime in by leaving a comment, too!

Oh, and...
 

You’re a Nurse (or other Professional)…Why are you Writing for Content Mills?

While visiting a popular forum for WAHMs recently, I followed a particular discussion with interest. An experienced labor and delivery nurse was interested in making a bit of extra money and asked for recommendations for content mills she could approach. Her goal was to make 5 cents per word, but she was having trouble finding a company to pay that amount.

Responses to this poster included statements such as the following:

Unfortunately, few content mills pay 5 cents a word. Many start out at about $1.50 for 400 words.

I only know of a handful of sites that pay 5 cents a word, but it takes time and effort to reach that point.

***** 

You would be hard pressed to find a content mill paying that much.

If you can afford it, you may want to consider writing for residual income sites. In this case you can be paid by ad clicks and/or affiliate links for the same articles over and over. This can result in pennies or be very lucrative depending on traffic, topic etc.

*****  

I recommend starting with Textbroker. They don't pay a lot starting out, but prove yourself and sign up for teams. Most of the teams I'm on pay at least 2 cents a word. Plus, you set your own rate for direct orders. I have mine set at 3 cents a word. I tried higher, but 3 cents seems to get the most work.

***** 

I agree with those who suggest giving the mills a try to get your feet wet. Your experience is worth a great deal, but you also need to learn the ropes of writing for pay. Some people find it tough to make the shift from writing for themselves to meeting a client's needs, and writing for a mill or bid site can ease that transition.

I do not write this post to disparage anyone’s choices, or to say that people should not write for content mills if they truly want to.

My impression, though, is that many people do not understand the opportunities available to them, and this is why they look to content mills for what they perceive as an easy source of income.

As I mentioned in a recent post, I was pretty clueless when a magazine gave me my first paid assignment. Since I was writing for pleasure and did not even realize I would get paid, it came as a nice surprise to receive $120 (about 10 cents per word) on my first try. Since then, I’ve gone on to earn ten times that amount for a single article.

While I have built up my knowledge over the past several years and write in niches that are both comfortable and familiar, I worked hard to reach this point. People with ready-made niches like nursing, finance, law, and others should be able to capitalize on their professional expertise and dive right in to the world of high-paying markets.

Although you have to be a skilled writer, the idea that you need to “pay your dues” by writing for the mills is a fallacy.

I’d never heard of content mills when I started out and thus avoided them completely. Sure, I made some amateurish moves in the beginning, but no one rejected me or told me I’d have to stop writing due to my ignorance. I just kept trucking along and found that editors were generally okay with teaching me the ropes until I understood what I needed to do differently.

To be fair, some of the people in the above discussion recommended that the nurse skip the content mills and seek out private clients instead. These could include hospitals, clinics, doctors in private practice, and others. Some also said she should start her own website or write her own e-books, which will give her both a platform and a passive stream of income. I agree with this advice.

A quick search on the Internet showed me that nurses frequently become medical writers, a profession that paid an average of $82,232 in 2007. Medical writers might write for healthcare websites like WebMD (a market that pays $700 for articles of 800 to 1,000 words), contribute to medical textbooks, or write hospital newsletters. They might write for pharmaceutical companies or work on government-sponsored projects like creating healthcare brochures and posters.

Beyond that, there are several websites and magazines out there catering to nurses and other medical professionals. Nurse.com, for example, pays $200 to $800 for assigned articles. Other options might include health or pregnancy magazines, or even women’s magazines that publish first-person essays. In many cases, magazines like these pay up to $1 per word and more. I’m guessing that most nurses have gripping anecdotes to share that would be of interest to others. These could also find themselves in religious magazines and just about anywhere people seek inspiration.

As you can see, the opportunities for nurses and medical writers are numerous and varied, and it is a niche that pays quite well.

If you work in nursing or another profession, be wary of content mills seeking your expertise. Some of them shamelessly recruit nurses, doctors, lawyers, and others to write quality content for insultingly low rates. Take pride in your education and knowledge, and look for clients who understand your worth. If you believe that 5 cents per word is the best you can do, that is what you will achieve. If you believe that $1 per word is the norm in your niche, you will set better goals for yourself and soon become a high-earning writer who may even be tempted to leave your profession and start freelancing full-time instead.
 

Rejection Therapy for Writers



Being rejected is
uncomfortable for many people.

If you are a writer, you are almost certainly no stranger to the word “rejection.”

 

Rejection is something that nearly all writers experience at one time or another, with the mere thought of rejection paralyzing many writers to the point that they do not ever attempt to get their work published. Fear of rejection also causes many talented writers to devalue their work and only submit articles and queries to low-paying markets they consider safe, thus depriving themselves of the opportunity to make a living from what they love doing the most.

If any of this sounds familiar, I don’t have to tell you that anxiety over rejection is frequently closely tied to feelings of self-doubt and the belief that both you and your writing do not measure up. It is a never-ending cycle that keeps you from achieving the success you both crave and deserve.

You may have wondered why it is that some people able to handle and overcome rejection, while others find it a constant obstacle that prevents them from reaching their potential as writers.

It may be that writers as a group are generally introverts who have difficulty treating their craft as a business.

What’s your Type?

If you haven’t taken it yet, the Myers-Briggs personality test may yield some clues.

According to an informal survey conducted by marriage and family therapist Jeannie Campbell, INFJs only make up 1 to 3 percent of the general population while nearly 25 percent of writers identify as INFJs. Other introverted types, particularly INTJs and INFPs, are also over-represented among writers.

INFJs are typically insightful, creative, sincere, dependable, and highly intelligent, yet they are also very introverted and may have trouble with things like negotiating contracts and pay-raises, asking people to hire them, asserting themselves verbally, making cold calls, or conducting interviews – in short, all the skills you need in order to do higher-level freelancing.

Although this has not been studied much, I would not be surprised if the reason so many writers and creative types in general have so much trouble marketing their work is because of their natural tendencies towards privacy and avoidance of conflict.

Personally, I am married to a sales and marketing professional and am often stunned by how easy it is for my husband to pick up the phone, call a complete stranger, and convince him that he needs a particular product or service. This is a skill that all writers need to have in their arsenal, yet very few of us do.

So, what can be done?

Obviously, allowing fear and anxiety to rule your life and determine the outcome of your career is not the best option.

Get Rejected

Instead, perhaps what many writers need is a healthy dose of Rejection Therapy.

Rejection Therapy is a game, but it’s based on a very real phenomenon – the idea that you must expose yourself to the things you fear in order to become desensitized to them. For someone who fears flying, that could mean getting on an airplane multiple times until the thought of air-travel no longer invokes dread. For people who fear germs, it might mean working with dirt or garbage without the option of washing the grime from their hands or clothes until the end of the day, after all the work is done. Eventually, it is hoped, they will stop feeling so dirty.

This form of therapy, sometimes called “exposure therapy” or “flooding,” is often used to treat phobias and anxiety disorders.

Jia Jiang, an Austin-based entrepreneur, decided to do his own form of rejection therapy for 100 days and “vlog” the experience.

“I hate being judged and rejected in a business setting, whether it’s being turned down when making a sale, or getting blasted after a pitch. I hate it!” writes Jia on his blog.

Don’t we all?

Watching Jia’s rejection videos over the past few months, I’ve been fascinated by the insights they contain for freelance writers, and I’ll be sharing some of my observations in future posts. In the meantime, think about what makes you uncomfortable about freelancing. Maybe it is talking on the phone, writing a query, or being assertive about your rates.

Could rejection therapy change that for you?

 

Analyze your Target-Publication for Better Pitches

Some of you may have noticed that I haven’t posted much over the past several weeks. In part, this is because I have been busy with my “day job,” which includes a mixture of freelance writing, editing, and Arabic to English translation. I am also working on a bunch of side-projects that I am having fun with, including doing the research needed to compile my Markets for Writers series.

Most recently, I released 50 Markets that Pay Freelance Writers 35 to 50 Cents per Word and am now working on another guide that will list 50 markets that pay freelance writers more than 50 cents per word, including 20 that pay up to $1 per word and more.

I have to say that I am incredibly excited about these last two guides in particular as I have been so busy with my existing clients for the last couple of years that it has been a while since I felt inspired to query a new market. Sorting through the high-paying markets that fill these last two guides, I have identified several within my comfort-zone that I could potentially pitch. One magazine in particular pays 75 cents per word and covers a niche that I am very familiar with. I had no idea such a magazine existed and am really psyched about the possibility of writing for this publication.

As usual, I see good opportunities for profile pieces in many of the magazines and have also found it motivating to read some of the publications themselves. An article on a luxurious top-floor San Francisco hotel suite that recently appeared in an in-flight magazine that typically pays $1 per word, for example, really made an impression on me. I used to live in San Francisco and could have perhaps written an article like this – if only I had thought about it!

This makes me wonder how many ideas we miss on a daily basis.

Writers who succeed do not just have ideas. They take practical steps to make these ideas attractive to editors and then do the work needed in order to write stellar articles.

The article I am referring to included quotes from the hotel manager and also required the writer to do some research on the history of the suite. Numerous details on various aspects of the room were provided, and a series of professional photographs complemented the text nicely. All this combined with good writing are what made this an article worthy of $1 per word.

As you can see, analyzing the articles published in a particular magazine can help you understand what is expected of that publication’s writers. It can also really help you decide the direction you want your own ideas to take. The article on the hotel suite may have looked effortless to a casual reader (as it should), but it is clear to me as both a freelance writer and the former managing editor of a magazine that quite a bit of work was involved.

As I work to pitch the magazine I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I will be spending some time reading the archives to make sure I understand the tone. I will also be noting how many experts are typically quoted in an article, whether the articles are tied to current events, what sources are used for statistics, and other nuggets that will hopefully give me an edge. In addition, I’ll follow the guidelines to a T, briefly mention my personal interest in the topic, and provide clips in a slightly different, but related, niche. In other words, I won’t go into the whole thing blindly like I did the first time I pitched a magazine.

Have you pitched any magazines lately?

Tell us about your approach by leaving a comment.
 

How I Got My First Paid Writing Assignment

My first assignment paid
approximately 10 cents per word.

This blog has moved! View an updated version of this post here.
 

Reslant your Articles for Unlimited Earnings

  

Some regional publications
pay 20 to 30 cents per word.

Last time, I shared some tips on how to write local when you live far away.

Is it worth the extra time and research, though?

It definitely can be when a region-specific publication pays well or allows you to demonstrate expertise in a particular topic. Another potential benefit, which I will delve into today, involves your ability to sell reprints or reslant your articles for different markets. The beauty of writing for regional publications is that you can often sell the same or similar material to non-competing markets, thus increasing your bottom line.

Let’s focus a bit on parenting publications to see how this might work. Imagine three made-up publications: San Francisco Parent, Dallas Parent, and New York City Parent.

It is obvious from the title of each publication that each one caters to a specific readership. Parents in San Francisco, for example, don’t generally concern themselves with the parenting scene in Dallas, New York, and other cities.

So, let’s say you lived in San Francisco and wanted to write an article for San Francisco Parent on the benefits of raising children to be bilingual. You would probably first do some research on bilingualism and outline the basic direction you wanted the article to take, explaining to the editor in your query how the article would be relevant the readers of San Francisco Parent.

Unless you were writing a personal essay (which could later sell as a reprint), you would probably want to find people living and working in San Francisco to interview for your article. Most likely, you would look for a couple of parents as well as an expert, such as a pediatrician, university professor, or language teacher, to quote. You would then fit the anecdotes and expert quotes into your outline so that your article became more lively and informative. For a side-bar, you might also list a few local-area resources for San Francisco parents wanting to raise their children as bilinguals.

When negotiating rights with the editor, you would make sure not to sell more rights than needed by the publication. You might, for example, sell “first” print rights for California, or even just the San Francisco Bay Area, thus giving you the flexibility to reuse the material as you see fit. You could then pretty much target similar publications, such as Dallas Parent, New York City Parent, and even Los Angeles Parent.

The basic article would stay the same, especially your introduction, conclusion, and whatever background information you had included on bilingualism and how wonderful it is for children.

The key, though, would be to acquire new quotes from local parents and language or child development experts, which would inject the article with the local flavor desired by each publication. Add a new side-bar with relevant local-area resources, and your article would be as good as new.

This is just one method of reslanting an article. There is lots to say about this topic, so look out for future posts that talk about reslants from different angles. As you can see, planning how you will reslant an article can make your hard work and research stretch a bit further than usual.

How to Write Local When You Live Far Away

As usual, profiles are
often a good place to start.

There are thousands of publications out there looking for writers. Some of the best ones cover local issues and expect their writers to be familiar with the local scene. So, can a writer living in, say, California, successfully write for publications in Kansas, New York, or Tennessee?

The answer will depend on the specific type of publication you are writing for.

Some magazines want their writers to conduct interviews in person. They may also need them to personally visit factories, farms, shops, restaurants, and other sites to take pictures or observe the activities taking place there. They may want them to use very descriptive writing that can only be done by someone who has actually immersed him or herself in a particular environment in order to soak in the sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and other sensations present there.

A writer’s understanding of a region’s history and culture, along with knowledge of local politics, sensitivities, and jargon, may all be important as well, and it is thus easy to understand why an outsider might not be able to do a good job with this. Some guidelines specifically ask writers not to submit articles or queries unless they live nearby.

Don’t let this discourage you, though.

Although you must respect a publication’s wishes and guidelines, there are numerous ways to write local when you live far away. In addition, it is helpful to realize that many publications are short on writers and will accept material from non-local writers when needed.

Phone and E-mail

The most obvious way to write local is to conduct your interviews on the phone whenever possible. Many publications allow this, and many people actually prefer being interviewed on the phone as it is much more convenient than taking time out of a busy schedule to meet someone in person. Depending on the article you are writing, you may need just a couple of quick quotes. A profile, however, may require a longer conversation. Plan accordingly, making sure not to keep your subject on the phone any longer than absolutely necessary. E-mail interviews may also suffice in certain circumstances.

Internet Discussion Forums

If you need to interview everyday people from a particular city or town, Internet discussion forums can be a good place to find them. Look for a local discussion forum or a more general one related to the topic you are writing about. If, for example, you are looking for parents of children with ADHD in Cincinnati, you could visit a local forum for residents of Cincinnati as well as national parenting forums and forums dedicated specifically to ADHD. Once there, you would look for members who fit the profile you need. Also make use of the groups you already belong to. You might find that a writing colleague in a writing group you belong to fits the profile or knows someone else who does. You might also have success finding people to interview via searches on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media venues.

Old-Fashioned Sleuthing

If you can’t find someone on the Internet to interview, you may need to pick up the phone and do a bit more detective-work. You could, for example, call a business, association, club, organization, hospital, school, or foundation and ask if they can help guide you to people who may be interested in having their story told.

Immerse Yourself in Local Culture

Spend time reading magazines and newspapers in your target region in order to understand the issues of importance to the people living there. You may also want to join a few e-groups for local residents where you can interact with members and ask questions that are relevant to your research. When writing an article about a tsunami that struck Oman a few years ago, I joined an e-group comprised of American and British ex-pats living in Oman. The people in this group provided me with numerous insights into how residents were dealing with the tsunami. Although I was unable to physically visit Oman, I came away with powerful anecdotes that enriched my understanding of the crisis. Lurking in the group also allowed me a glimpse into ex-pat life in Oman and gave me many ideas for other articles.

The above hints should help you write informative and relevant material for local publications. Remember, though, that some publications will not accept articles from writers who live outside their target area, so you should not approach publications like these unless you are confident that you will be able to convince the editors of your expertise and ability to write quality articles that discerning readers will relate to. Instead, approach publications that allow writers to conduct their research across state lines. The majority do allow it, but you must be open with editors so that there are no unpleasant surprises.

Have you ever written for a local publication outside your region?

Share your experiences by leaving a comment.

Next time, I will further illustrate how writing local has the potential to increase your earnings.

Another 25 Markets to Explore if You Want to Earn 25 to 50 Cents per Word

In a recent post, I shared a market with you that pays an average of 25 cents per word. The listing was taken from my new e-book, 50 Markets that Pay Freelance Writers 20 to 30 Cents per Word.

In case you missed it, here it is again:

Arizona Bride
Website: www.arizonabridemag.com
Type of Market: Magazine
Based in: Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA)
Publishes: Relevant articles about local (Arizona) wedding resources, covering topics such as gowns, catering, photography, etc.
Accepts: Queries
Buys: Exclusive one-time rights for a period of 60 days from publication and right to reprint editorial material for promotional use
Pays: Average of 25¢ per word, on or about 60 days after publication
Guidelines for Writers
Contact Info.

When compiling the e-book, I adhered to a policy of only including markets that state their rates explicitly on their websites. Even if I was 100 percent sure a market paid 25 cents per word and had confirmation from multiple sources, I did not list it unless that information was clearly stated in black and white in the guidelines. I felt that this would provide more value to my readers, some of whom might hesitate to query a market without seeing proof of it offering a particular rate.

This led to an interesting situation with certain markets, including Arizona Bride.

If you look at the bottom of the magazine’s website, you will see links to some other bridal magazines, including California Wedding Day, Minnesota Bride, Oregon Bride, Seattle Bride, and Wisconsin Bride.

Because these similarly-themed magazines are all published by the same entity (Tiger Oak Media) and all work with freelance writers, it is pretty safe to assume that they also pay an average of 25 cents per word even though the guidelines for these publications do not state this explicitly. Minnesota Bride and Wisconsin Bride did, in fact, list this rate on their websites at one time in 2012, but have since removed information about payment, which led me not to include these magazines in the 2013 edition of the e-book.

But that’s not all. If you visit Tiger Oak’s website, you will see that they actually publish an additional nine business and lifestyle magazines, as well as nine magazines covering meetings and events in various regions. Digging around on the websites of these publications shows me that Tiger Oak publishes even more magazines not listed on their homepage, such as Northwest Home and St. Louis Park.

Logic tells me that business magazines put out by such a robust publisher should pay more than bridal magazines, and guess what? If you visit the guidelines for the meetings and events magazines, you will see that they pay an average of 50 cents per word.

How cool is that?

By examining just one market (Arizona Bride) with a critical eye, you have now found at least another 25 decent-paying markets in different niches (possibly more) to keep you busy for a long time to come.

If you are able to successfully write for one of these publications, you will have an easier time pitching another magazine in the same group because the editors will already be familiar with your work.

This is why I always recommend writers not discount a particular market without thinking about it from different angles. People who initially shied away from bridal magazines and did not even click on the guidelines for Arizona Bride, for example, would be missing out on some great opportunities for other types of writing.

Think about this.

If you are able to write just 1,000 words per week for 50 cents per word, that’s a cool $2,000 per month that is much easier to earn than the $2,000 you could earn by writing for markets that pay just 10 cents per word.

How much do you want to earn?

My hope is that my e-books listing various rates for freelance writers will help you as you make that decision and chart a course for your writing career.

Can I Write for Magazines if I'm Not a Native Speaker of English?

If you speak English as a second language, you may have wondered whether it is possible to write for magazines published in the United States, Canada, and other English-speaking countries.

As the former managing editor of a Seattle-based Muslim family magazine, I can tell you with certainty that it is definitely possible. I have personally hired and worked with writers who spoke English as a second language. Although their articles sometimes required heavy editing and/or complete rewrites before they could be published, the writers compensated for this by bringing other skills to the table. They were, for example, able to score interviews with people the magazine was interested in featuring. They had good ideas and research skills. They could conduct research in their native languages and interview people in those languages, too. They were reliable and turned their work in on time. Some of them had expertise in topics that were of special interest to readers.

Simply put, these writers were able to do things that others—even if they were good writers—weren’t always capable of doing. Some people write stunningly beautiful prose but are too afraid to conduct interviews. They may not have the same valuable connections or ability to conduct research. They might not really understand a magazine’s target audience. Maybe they aren’t really experts in the issues a particular magazine wishes to cover. Their writing may be smooth but lacking in substance. In other words, being a native speaker of English—or even a good writer—is not necessarily the most important factor when it comes to hiring a writer.

Do you have a particular skill or expertise?

You should consider this question when approaching the publications you want to write for. After reviewing hundreds of author guidelines for markets that pay freelance writers 10 to 30 cents per word for their work, I have been overwhelmed by how many editors emphasize the fact that expertise in a particular topic is generally more important than a writer having perfect grammar. Beginners are often invited to submit their work, provided they have something of value to share.

Does this mean you should be sloppy about grammar and the technical aspects of writing an article?

Absolutely not.

Editors are busy people and definitely prefer to work with people who have a solid command of the language. Not only does this reduce the amount of work that must be done in order to produce a publishable article, but it also reduces the chance of any undetected errors creeping into an article, giving the editor more time to work with you on improving the actual content of the article.

If you speak English as a second language, it does not automatically mean that you cannot write for English-language publications, but you should, in my opinion, consider having your work (including your e-mails and query letters) edited by a qualified native speaker before submission. If you think this is a service you cannot afford, consider the fact that you will be able to earn substantially more by writing for quality publications. You should also constantly strive to improve your writing and learn from any edits made to your articles.

To further increase your chances of scoring a gig, seek out niche markets that can benefit from your specific connections and skills. As I mentioned above, I was the managing editor of a Muslim family magazine, so we generally preferred working with writers familiar with the local Muslim community. You, too, may find that ethnic or cultural publications are a good place to start.

Earn More by Writing for Markets that Pay 20 to 30 Cents per Word

Those of you who are regular visitors to this blog may have noticed that I recently put a new e-book up for sale: 50 Markets that Pay Freelance Writers 20 to 30 Cents per Word.

Like the first book in my Markets for Writers series, 50 Markets that Pay Freelance Writers 20 to 30 Cents per Word packs lots of useful information into a single volume, this time providing you with direct access to author guidelines and contact information for 50 different magazines and websites that (as the title indicates) pay freelance writers 20 to 30 cents per word.

All of the information in the new guide is fully updated for 2013 and is presented in a concise, easy-to-read manner.

I have been looking at some other popular market listings lately and find they all seem to suffer from certain issues:

1. Disorganization. I don’t know about you, but I get overwhelmed when I am presented with a mish-mash of markets in different genres and pay-ranges. As I see it, there are a couple of different ways to organize such listings, but I have not seen many that attempt to organize them by how much they pay, even though you often see statements from writers like, “The least I will write for is 25 cents per word,” or, “I only write for magazines that pay a minimum of 50 cents per word.” Can you imagine, then, how frustrating it can be to wade through hundreds of markets you find irrelevant to your personal income goals?

2. Information Overload. If you are an experienced magazine writer who always strives to make an average of 25 cents per word for the articles you write, you probably do not need all the fluff that often accompanies certain market listings. In my opinion, there is really no need for a book to cram magazine listings into the same volume with agent listings, book publisher listings, contest listings, etc. As a writer, I may be interested in all of the above, but not usually all at once. A more compact volume that only provides the information I need at a particular moment is far more useful to me when it comes to actually nailing down an assignment for pay.

3. Outdated Listings. Numerous websites list markets for writers, but many are seriously outdated and contain loads of broken links. Even if the links are working, it is not uncommon to find that the magazine or market in question ceased publication years ago. When compiling my e-books for writers, I have been especially careful not to include any market that is not currently active.

4. Lack of On-Line Guidelines. One popular guide for writers tells you the address of a magazine’s website but does not link to author guidelines, even when they are available on-line. This leaves you with a bunch of extra detective-work as you navigate a website to find where the guidelines might be buried.

In 50 Markets that Pay Freelance Writers 20 to 30 Cents per Word, I have done everything possible to provide market listings that get right to the point and lead you to the information you need with just a click of the mouse.

Here is a sample listing from the book:

Arizona Bride
Website: www.arizonabridemag.com
Type of Market: Magazine
Based in: Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA)
Publishes: Relevant articles about local (Arizona) wedding resources, covering topics such as gowns, catering, photography, etc.
Accepts: Queries
Buys: Exclusive one-time rights for a period of 60 days from publication and right to reprint editorial material for promotional use
Pays: Average of 25¢ per word, on or about 60 days after publication
Guidelines for Writers
Contact Info.

As you can see, the listing is brief and tells you everything you need to know. I do not attempt to copy the guidelines word-for-word in the book. If the market is of interest to you, you simply need to click on the Guidelines for Writers and read further. To get full benefit from the listings, I recommend downloading the Kindle for PC app. It is free and allows you to view Kindle e-books on your computer, even if you do not own a Kindle device. This is especially useful when you are clicking on links like the ones that appear in the listing above.

Stop Writing for the Content Mills and Earn a Minimum of 10 Cents per Word Instead

One of the reasons I compiled 50 Markets that Pay Freelance Writers 10 Cents per Word was to offer hope (plus a big dose of reality) to aspiring writers who’ve been duped into believing that the most you can earn from an article is $20 to $30. If you’re “lucky,” that is. So many writers earn much less writing for content mills, writing dozens of well-researched articles for rates as low as a dollar apiece.

If you’re not familiar with content mills, these are entities that pay insultingly low rates to writers in exchange for large volumes of web content. In many cases, the content is packed with keywords in order to rank high in search engine results. The people or companies purchasing such articles make money by selling them to other websites or by placing them on their own websites in order to attract paying advertisers.

Content mills are notorious for requiring their writers jump through some rather ridiculous hoops in order for their articles to get accepted. Their owners are often difficult and unpleasant to work with. You really can’t help but conjure up images of assembly line workers being supervised by money-hungry slave-drivers when thinking about content mills.

Not to state the obvious, but good writing is not something that can be mass-produced under such stifling conditions.

No matter how quickly you write, or how motivated you are to earn, it is a poor use of your time to write for the mills when you could be marketing yourself to higher-paying magazines and websites instead. Writing for legit publications like the ones listed in my e-book will help you build your portfolio and amass clips while you earn a respectable wage.

Look, though, I’m going to be honest with you.

Although it beats the mills, ten cents per word isn’t really all that lucrative in the world of professional freelance writing, either. Many writers earn substantially more. In my opinion, ten cents per word is the very minimum a writer should accept because it is a rate that will allow you to earn in the neighborhood of $2,000 per month if you work reasonably hard and have a steady flow of assignments. Even if you only earn half that amount to supplement another source of income, you should be able to do it without feeling stressed out or pressured to produce multiple articles under tight deadlines. Writing for magazines is generally fun and provides you with a by-line you can be proud of, too.

So, what are you waiting for?

Take the plunge, and query a market that pays 10 cents per word.

Once you see how easy it is, I’m almost certain you won’t want to write for the mills again.

Should You Write for Free if You Don’t Have Clips?

Many beginning writers wonder if they should write for free.

They reason that writing for free will allow them to get their foot in the door with paying publications, many of which want to see samples of your published writing (called clips) before offering you an assignment. If you don’t have clips, you might feel like you are caught in a vicious circle. If you don’t have clips, you can’t get an assignment…and if you can’t get an assignment, you can’t get clips.

On the face of it, this may seem logical…except for the fact that it is not true.

While some magazines specify that they want to see clips, many others do not. Even when they do, this requirement is not necessarily set in stone, especially if you are able to demonstrate to the editor that you have what it takes to write a quality article for the particular publication you are targeting.

Many of the author guidelines listed in my new e-book for writers, 50 Markets that Pay Freelance Writers 10 Cents per Word, clearly state that the editors are willing to work with new writers. Some of them even go so far as to state that your knowledge of the subject matter is more important than whether you are a published writer. But that doesn’t mean the editors want to see dull, uninspired writing.

So, what can you do to convince an editor to publish your work?

First, read the guidelines carefully. The guidelines tell you almost everything you need to know about submitting to a particular publication. Then spend some time reading articles that have already been published in the magazine. This will help you understand the preferred tone and style of writing being used. If you can emulate this tone and style in your own writing, you are already one step ahead of the game.

But what about clips?

Several possibilities exist:

1. The guidelines don’t mention them. Great! Neither should you. Simply follow the guidelines, and submit your query or article. You don’t need to state that you are a “new” writer.

2. The guidelines ask for clips. Send samples of your writing instead. Ideally, the samples should be both well-written and relevant to the magazine you are approaching. One or two samples should be sufficient. Note that some magazines clearly understand the clips dilemma and ask new writers for samples in lieu of clips.

3. The magazine accepts articles “on spec.” This means that you can write a finished article and send it to the editor. Although potentially time-consuming, this is an excellent way for the editor to judge whether your writing is a good fit for the magazine. If your article is rejected for any reason, you will at least have a writing sample on hand for next time.

4. The magazine only accepts queries. In this case, you do not write the finished article but “query” the editor with a specific idea for the magazine. I will cover queries more in future posts, but basically the advantage of queries is that you do not waste time writing entire articles “on spec” that may or may not get published. Writing your query in the same tone and style used in the magazine subtly shows the editor that you understand the target audience and won’t botch an assignment.

So, should you write for free if you don’t have clips?

In my opinion, no.

There are plenty of publications out there that pay at least 10 cents per word, so why work for free when you can get paid and even make a decent income if you put sufficient effort into your articles and queries?

Cash in by Writing Profiles that Pay 10 Cents per Word

Let's focus on profiles for a moment.

If you’ve always wanted to write for magazines but feared you didn’t have the expertise, profiles are a great way to break in. Using myself as an example, I know almost nothing about dirt bikes or ceramics, but I’m pretty sure I could write profiles of people who are active in these fields and thus believe I could successfully write for publications like Dirt Rag Magazine and Ceramics Monthly, both of which accept profile pieces and pay freelance writers 10 cents per word.

 

In my new e-book for writers, 50 Markets that Pay Freelance Writers 10 Cents per Word, I provide author guidelines and contact information for a diverse collection of magazines, newspapers, websites, and e-zines, many of which are seeking well-written profiles of interesting people who are doing something worthwhile and unique in the world of sports, business, politics, the arts, environmental issues, animal rights, and so on.

 

The possibilities for this type of article are endless.

 

Unique people exist in all facets of life. Think about just the people whom you personally know. Maybe your dentist moonlights as a novelist, or perhaps there is a teenaged entrepreneur in your daughter’s school. Maybe your next-door-neighbor knits scarves for the homeless despite his own financial struggles, or a local artist you are friends with isn’t as well known as she should be. Now throw in your Internet acquaintances, and I bet you can think of lots of people who are interesting enough to write about for publications you may not yet even realize exist.

 

Most magazines are pretty clear about what they want in a profile. Often, it is simply a straightforward interview with a local business owner, artist, or athlete. In many cases, the publication will actually have a “wish list” of people they’d like to feature. One website I regularly write for, for example, often sends me personalized requests to write profiles of Muslim scientists.

 

Profiles are usually fun to write because you frequently get to be creative as you write the “story” of someone’s life or work. The people you interview are usually happy to be interviewed due to the positive publicity, and you usually end up learning new things as you acquire another clip to add to your growing portfolio. Readers enjoy profiles as well (the lure of a good profile is often what sells a particular issue of a magazine), so editors will generally do their best to help a coveted profile make it into print (more on this in a future post).

 

What kinds of profiles can you write for 10 cents per word?

 

Check out the author guidelines in 50 Markets that Pay Freelance Writers 10 Cents per Word. I’m almost certain something will strike your fancy and inspire you to write a profile.

How to Earn $2,000 per Month by Writing Articles that Pay 10 Cents per Word

Let’s do some basic math.

Can you write 5,000 words per week?

If so, you have the potential to earn $2,000 per month if you write solely for markets that pay 10 cents per word.

In 50 Markets that Pay FreelanceWriters 10 Cents per Word, I provide author guidelines and contact information for 50 magazines, newspapers, websites, and e-zines that pay 10 cents per word for every article you write.

Let’s say that you are an inexperienced writer who doesn’t know where to start. What kinds of articles could you write for such publications? What might a typical week of writing for such publications look like?

 

Here is one possibility:

• For a newsletter devoted to frugal living: An 800-word article on how you slashed your family’s clothing budget in half without sacrificing good taste or fashion ($80);
• For a parenting magazine: A 1,200-word article on how to raise bilingual children ($120);
• For an arts and crafts magazine: An 800-word profile of a local artist ($80);
• For a pet magazine: A 1,500-word holiday gift-guide for dogs ($150);
• For a surfing magazine: A 700-word article about a cool surfing experience you had ($70).

Can you see yourself writing the above?

 

If so, you are well on your way to earning a cool $500 per week, just by combining your personal interests and experiences with a bit of research. The above examples are all ideas taken from the author guidelines and other information you will have access to in my new e-book, 50 Markets that Pay Freelance Writers 10 Cents per Word.

 

Want to Earn 10 Cents per Word for Every Article you Write?

Hi, and welcome to the blog!

I am pleased to announce the publication of my first Kindle e-book for writers: 50 Markets that Pay Freelance Writers 10 Cents per Word. As the title implies, this e-book identifies 50 markets that pay freelance writers 10 cents per word. Included are guidelines and contact information for 50 magazines, newspapers, websites, and e-zines in a wide variety of genres - everything from sports, travel, and politics to parenting, frugal living, animals, green living, and more. In short, something for everyone!

As I explain in the book, markets in this pay-range are ideal for people who are just getting started as freelance writers or who are trying to get away from the low-paying content mills. Writing for this market segment can also come in handy for more experienced writers who are seeking to fill in any gaps in their monthly earnings. Writing a simple article for The Dollar Stretcher (one of the markets listed in the book), for example, took me about an hour and paid just over $50.

 

Many of the editors of the publications listed in the book have stated that they are open to working with new writers and will even help writers polish their work in some cases. So, what are you waiting for? If you have ever dreamed of seeing your name in print and earning a living from your writing, you are sure to find a publication to suit your interests and talents in this easy-to-follow guide. For just $4.99, this is an investment that will pay for itself many times over with each article sold.