So You Want to Become a Freelance Writer? Part 4: Advice from the Pros

Great resources! Thanks for sharing

This is a great list to help even more. What better way to learn than from the pros who are doing what us aspiring writers want to be, making it on their own.

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You’re welcome, Alex. There is valuable information for freelancers in these links.

So much advice here, what a great resource. Thanks for putting this all in one place for me to bookmark.

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Hi, this is a great article with lots of valuable links. There are a lot of resources for freelance writers out there, but this is short, sweet and useful — you’ve done half the work for us by putting all these great links into one blog post. Thanks!

This is a collection of excellent resources that will take you plenty of time to get through. There’s a lot of good stuff here.

if only i could just get past the ‘just starting’ phase >_<

Trucker Jake,
I’m not sure whether you mean just starting writing or just starting a freelance career. In either case, I think the most important thing to do is … something – anything other than nothing. Whether it’s sitting at the computer for 30 minutes typing “I don’t know what to write,” which usually eventually leads to ideas, or making one contact, which makes the next one easier. The only way to start is to start.

excellent resource. One of the hardest aspects of freelance writing is setting your own fees. Most writers put too low a monetary value on their own work.

You’re so right about setting fees. Many writers have a difficult time figuring out how much to charge. Other articles on setting fees are included in the first installment in this series.

I just stumbled across this series, and boy, I’m glad I did!

Thanks for compiling all this information. It has definitely been helpful.

These are GREAT links. I’ve seen some of them, but not all, so thanks!

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Deb,
I’m glad I found some good resources you didn’t know about.

Thanks for the info. I have done freelancing now for a couple of years, and one thing I have found to be important is consistency and dedication. It is not easy, but it is very rewarding, and your advice is excellent. Thank you.

Consistency and dedication are important. It takes time to build a business, but it is worth it.

Hi Lillie! I’m away from home this week, and have missed some of your posts. I only have a quick minute now, but I have a question. Have you posted about filing taxes as a freelancer? This is the first year I’ve gotten paid any amount worth filing. Before ’08, I was a SAHM and the few dollars I got was lost in the tax shuffle; I’m not sure I even reported it – don’t remember, but I doubt they will arrest me for the price of a Big Mac, LOL! But this year, I need to keep better records. Can you direct me?

Renae,

I didn’t include anything about taxes but will go back and add a link to the above article. That way other people reading the post and not the comments will see them as well.

The worst part of taxes for freelancers is the self-employment tax which we pay instead of Social Security. Basically, we pay both what we would pay as an employee and what the employer pays since we’re both employee and employer. That’s the amount that always catches me by surprise.

thanks a ton – this is a great list, especially for me the newbie on the block

Holly,
I wrote this series in response to a question from an aspiring freelancer. I told her I would send her some links that she would find helpful, and as I started assembling them, I decided they were far too valauble to send to just one person. Many others aspiring and beginning freelancers would find them useful as well.

This whole series is packed with great information thanks.

In the article by Melissa Donovan, she mentions craigslist as a way to build clientèle. I hadn’t really thought of that. The one by Debra Jason also has some great information in it. Thanks again!

There is some terrific information in the linked articles. I’m glad you found them helpful.

Fabulous series, Lillie! Chock-full of resources for the aspiring freelance writer!

Jeanne

Jeanne,
I started out with the intention of writing most of the series. But I gathered up so many fabulous resources that I decided it would be better to just direct aspiring freelancers to the excellent advice others had already given.

Great idea, Lillie! It turned out to be quite a success!

Jeanne,
I’m especially pleased to see a number of comments from aspiring or beginning freelancers – people who have not commented on my blog before.

That’s great, Lillie! It’s always rewarding to get a good response from our target audience–especially when a significant portion of that audience consists of new readers. (Forgot to nest this comment. Sorry! Tried to delete it so I could nest it, but didn’t seem to be able to.)

Jeanne,
Don’t worry about the nesting. It’s not a big deal when the comments are in order, but it’s really valuable when the replies are separated by other comments.

Yes, I’m glad to have the new readers that the series was targeted toward.

Certainly many great points and ideas here. Thanks for all of the resources!

You’re welcome, Homer. I enjoy sharing great resources I discover.

Thanks very much for posting this, it is a great resource. Certainly details everything you need to get started. I am looking forward to making the leap into the world of freelance writing.

I checked out your resources, they are excellent! Thanks for posting.

I recently investigated going freelance and checked out some of the freelancer websites. I couldn’t compete with the prices that writers from some countries were charging. Any advice?

I think one of the best resources you pointed out is taxes and freelancing — because a lot of beginning freelancers don’t realize that freelance income is taxable income. Thanks for all the links, this is one packed blog post that helps a lot.

This is an excellent list, thank you! I’m off to check out some of these resources now!

Deb,
I’m glad you found the list helpful.

Thanks for the link love! I think it’s important for established freelancers to help people who’d like to give freelancing a try and this post does just that

Wow, Thanks a million for that link, Lillie. I know I might be too late in thanking you, but I didn’t even check. I came back and logged in after a long time to see that you gave me some link love.

Well, my actual blog vanished one day( the database went kaput).

I’ll be starting all over again

Ash

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Some great tips here. I think with the advancement of blogs, it is making writing more accessible to people which is always a good thing.