Hello, fellow Working Writers.
Up until now, all of the posts you’ve been getting were pre-written and pre-scheduled. I basically wrote out a course on how to become a freelance writer and now, for the most part, that course is complete.
And the world looks a lot different now than when I wrote out all those other e-mails.
I wish I had some expertise to guide you through navigating these strange times, but this is new to all of us, and we’re all figuring it out together.
I’ve been thinking about the unique challenges you might be facing as writers, the challenges I myself am facing, and what we can do about those challenges. So this week I’m doing something a little different and rounding up resources for you.
Whether you’re an established writer or just getting started, finding work is a challenge right now. As far as pitching goes, here’s a great article on how to tailor your pitches to the times and challenges we’re facing to help ensure you’ll keep getting work.
And here are places I haven’t already mentioned where you can look for freelance writing work. These can be a mixed bag — some are job bidding sites where you’ll be competing with international writers who can afford to bid really low, and some are basically classifieds that tend to be a minefield of exploitative listings in search of cheap labor or trying to get away with hiring full-time employees without providing benefits. So use your discernment and if something seems fishy, go with your gut. But it is possible to find decent work at these places.
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If you’ve got some decent pieces in your portfolio, then I recommend wasting no time signing up to some content agencies and creating portfolios with them. Carol Tice at Make a Living Writing has a good breakdown of the best ones here. And although she refers to them as content mills, as someone who has written for actual content mills, I can assure you there is a HUGE difference between these content agencies and exploitative content mills like Demand Studios.
I currently have regular clients through both Contently and Skyword, and that makes up almost 100% of my freelance writing income (I’m also signed up with Clear Voice but have yet to find any work through them, although to be honest I haven’t submitted any pitches there yet). And so far, the work is still coming.
It can take time to get noticed by the managing editors at these agencies and invited to join content teams, so again, don’t waste any time signing up and setting up your portfolio on these sites. The pay is good and the work is reliable, if you can get it.
Whether you’ve been laid off, or had your hours cut, or you just want to take advantage of any extra time on your hands to jump start your freelancing career, I hope this helps. I also hope it helps to know you’re not in this alone.
I don’t know what the future is going to hold for this newsletter. For now, I’ve done away with the paywall, so everything is free to everybody. You’ve all been very short on questions so I’m not sure how I can serve you further from here on out. If there’s something I haven’t covered that you have questions about, by all means, use this thread to ask. And if you’ve got your own tips for finding work to share, please do.
In the mean time, take care, be smart, and stay safe.
Until next time,
Jean