Good morning to all-
I have been a freelance writer for the past 20 years- part-time before I retired from a public school teaching gig- and now more or less full-time. It's hard to put an accuate estimate of part-time/full-time on writing- it ain't that kind of job.
Anyway, for anyone who is considering free-lancing for a paycheck, here are a few things I've learned.
1. Make sure you have a very specific field of knowledge and experience. You don't have to know everything, just enough to know when help is needed.
2. Have a stable of experts in your field who will be willing to provide information.
3. Get in touch with an editor of the publication you are interested in writing for and talk with her/him. Find out what word count, what format, what due dates, what kind/how many photos are needed for the particular publication. Each magazine is different, and each will have specific requirements.
4. Get an assignment and do it well and get it in on time! If you solve a problem for the editor, you will get more work.
5. Don't expect to get rich. It probably won't happen.
My particular areas of writing just happen to be rural living, outdoor sports- fishing and boating, and education, but I've done work on other topics as well.
Good luck, and let us know how you're doing.
Ed
