Shut Up and Write Already!

This week I have posted about writing specialties and publishing platforms. This is valuable and important information for freelance writers - both experienced and inexperienced. However, I've realized that this advice could throw up huge roadblocks for some writers, preventing them from doing what they want to do most - write.

I've realized this because I'm a bit OCD, and if I were a freelance beginner, or another experienced writer who was also OCD, those two posts could easily get in my way.

If the information that I gave in those posts has brought your actual writing to a screeching halt, forget about it for now and write. Write about a topic that interests you, and don't worry about anything else. Once you have written your final draft, and you are happy with your work, only then think about what niche or sub niche the work belongs in, and then consider which publishing format will work best - not only for the information you have provided, but also in terms of the niche, the length of the work, and the audience that will be most interested in what you have to say.

The point is - Don't over think it...just shut up and write already!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am taking the day off to enjoy time with my family. We are hosting Thanksgiving dinner today for 14 people. We are, of course, cooking a huge turkey with all of the fixin's, and numerous desserts!

Make sure that you put your writing to the side today, and spend time with your family and friends. Be thankful for them, for your writing abilities, and all of the other good things in your life!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Which Publishing Platforms Will You Use?

All freelance writers want to be published - including ghostwriters. We also want to be paid well for the work that we produce. We also want people to actually read what we have written. All three of these desires are determined by the publishing platforms that we choose to distribute our work in.

Not all publishing platforms work well with all writing specialties or with all writing styles. It is vital to your success as a freelance writer that you explore the publishing platform options to determine which platform will be easiest for your work to be published in, be profitable, and attract readers.

Here are the options:

• Print Books - This is ideal for extremely long pieces of work. You can take the appropriate steps to find a publisher for your work, or self-publish through a company such as Create Space. The good thing about this option is that it works for most specialties, as long as the book is properly marketed.

• Print Magazines, Professional Journals, and Trade Journals - Unless you are the publisher of such media, you will need to send query letters out to the editors of these types of publications. The pieces that you write for these publications must fit in well with the theme and format of the publications, and be of great interest to their subscribers and readers.

• Print Newspapers - Newspapers typically have writers on staff. They do, however, often accept Opinion pieces and articles from non-staff writers. Write the editor before you work on your piece to get an idea of what they accept - and pay for - from non-staff writers.

• Print Newsletters - Many organizations regularly send out newsletters to their members, clients, or employees. These are very targeted audiences, and you should write the editor for submission guidelines - providing that they accept submissions at all. You will also want to know if you will be paid if your submission is published.

• Websites - Websites need content. You can start your own website, or you can write content for other peoples websites. Website publishers often submit requests for bids through sites like Freelancer.com. The competition is tough, but if you are a good writer, you can quickly become a "go to" writer for multiple website publishers. 

• Blogs - Start your own blog, or provide content for other peoples blogs. You can use the same information above to break into this writing platform. Blogs need even more content than static websites.

• Digital Books or Ebooks - Get your name in lights on Amazon by using their Kindle Direct Publishing, also known as KDP, program. It is free to publish with KDP, and if you use Create Space for self-publishing your print book, you get an option to also offer your book in digital format through KDP as well.

• Digital Newsletters or Ezines - Digital Newsletter and Ezine publishers are very likely to purchase articles that you write for their publication. The work must be highly geared to their audience.

• Digital Newspapers - Some newspapers have both print and digital versions, some just have print versions, and others have only digital versions of their publication. Newspapers that only offer digital versions usually have staff writers, but they are more likely to accept content from non-staff writers than traditional newspapers.

• Article Sites or Content Mills - Sites like this include Helium, Hubpages, and Squidoo. I've used all three in the past, and I can assure you that unless you publish reams of content in hot niches, and you have time to market that content, you are not likely to make much money. On these sites, you earn money for page views and through shared revenue - such as when someone clicks on a Google Adsense ad. With that said, these platforms can be fun to be involved in, and it is a way to use content that has been rejected elsewhere. My philosophy is that every penny counts. Join up, add content that won't sell anywhere else, and enjoy the passive income...even if it is just a few cents. Just do not rely on this platform for a serious income.

• Article Sales Sites - These sites include Constant-Content and Ghost Bloggers. With these platforms you can write on spec or fulfill requests for content. When you submit your article, it will be edited by a human, and if it is accepted it will be listed for sale on the site at a price that you set. At the time of this writing, this is one of the four platforms that I currently use.

As you can see, there are numerous options, but you are not limited to one option at all. Depending on your writing specialty, your work may do well in a number of these platforms. If that is the case for your niche, before you start writing, determine which publishing platform you will be writing your piece for.

Do You Have a Writing Specialty?

As a freelance writer, it is important that you determine what your specialty is, and that you hone your knowledge in that specialty. Many new freelance writers have no idea what their writing specialty is, and many experienced writers have never taken the time to find their niche either.

It is possible to specialize in more than one niche, but you do not want to have too many specialties. The following information will make my point clearer.

What is a Niche - 

A niche is simply a category. For example, when you submit an article at Constant-Content, you must choose what category the article belongs in, such as health, sports, or business among others. These categories are all "top level"niches. However, each of these categories has subcategories, such as weight loss, football, and business finance.

These subcategories are also niches, and they can still be broken down into even more distinct niches, such as weight loss for women, professional football teams, and small business loans.With some thought and research, these categories can become even more targeted.

Internet marketers always try to narrow down their top level niches as much as possible because it is easier and more profitable to market to a very select group of people. You should use the same philosophy when you select your writing specialty.

What is a Specialty - 

When you have a writing specialty,this could mean two things...the niche that you write for, such as health or sports - or their sub-niches, or the form in which your work will be published, such as web content, books, digital books, magazine articles, newspapers, etc.

I'll save the merits of various publishing platforms for a later date, because you need to figure out what your niche specialty will be before you think about the type of publishing that will work best for that niche. You also need to determine the style of writing you prefer for the niches that you choose. You can learn more about that by reading the post "What Kind of Writer Are You?".

Right now, the important thing is to determine what writing specialty - or niche - will work best for you.

How to Find Your Writing Specialty -

Ask yourself these questions to figure out what your writing specialty should be.

• What topics do you enjoy writing about?
• What topics do you enjoy reading about?
• How much knowledge, experience, or education do you have on the topics you enjoy reading or writing about?
• Is there a market for content in those areas?

As you can see, these are very simple questions, but you should give deep thought to your answers for each question before you determine which writing specialties you want to go with. Remember that you can have more than one specialty, but you will have greater success as a freelance writer if you avoid branching out to too many specialties.

Fancy Words Do Not Make Your Writing Better

If it is your habit to continually utilize cutting-edge vocabulary in your writing in an effort to produce outstanding work, think again! You are actually making your writing less valuable because it is not targeted to the average reader.

Take a look at the first part of the first sentence here:

"If it is your habit to continually utilize cutting-edge vocabulary..."

This sentence would read better like this:

"If it is your habit to always use advanced words..."

It isn't fancy, and to a professional wordsmith it isn't as pretty or as polished as it should be, but to the average reader, it is concise and to the point.

For more information on fancy words that you should avoid in your writing, visit Laurel Shane's blog, Let's Just Be Clear. She has a wonderful post entitled Are You "Utilizing"Useless Buzzwords that every writer should read.

My Second Book Has Been Published

After experiencing a decent amount of success with my first book, How to Become a Freelance Writer and Get Paid Now: A Step-by-Step Guide to Your First Paycheck in a Week or Less, I decided to go forward with the book that I was working on when I became so ill (damn Lupus!). I finally finished writing, proofing, making revisions, making additions, proofing, revising...if you have ever self published, you know what I'm talking about. You must be your own editor.

Proofing and editing your own work when it comes to working without a publisher. I could hire an editor - I realize that...I just never bothered. I may do that with the next book, however.

Anywho, I finally got my newest book ready for publication, went through the easy publishing process at CreateSpace, and I am proud to say that my book, Simple Steps to Financial Security - A Realistic Guide for Real People is now available in both digital format and print at Amazon.

I really enjoyed writing this book just as much as I enjoyed the first one. I was able to write books that allowed me to share my own personal experiences with the topics. In my opinion, those are the easiest to write, and the best to read...for me, the voice rings truer in books that relate to the authors own experiences.

As you can see, the first book was a topic completely related to my career as a freelance writer. The second book is a topic related to my own personal financial dealings, and is designed to help people in bad financial situations - as my husband and I were years ago - get to a much sounder financial place, using the same method that my husband and I found great success with.

I'm already starting on my third book. My goal is to have ten published books by the end of 2014! It is an ambitious goal...but if Lupus will just leave me to my work for a long while, I can accomplish this goal!

Are You Spreading Your Freelance Writing Too Thin?

As I demonstrate in  my book, I used several different platforms for my freelance writing, and that ensured that I had a good income each month. However, when I first started out as a freelance writer, I was guilty of spreading myself too thin.

Let me explain.

As you probably know, today there are numerous bidding sites, content mills, and other outlets for selling your writing skills. When I first started out, this was not the case,

Elance was available, but a membership fee was required, and even if you could afford to join there was a great deal of competition. At  that time, I found my clients by using a signature file on my posts and comments on internet marketing forums. I was very successful in finding clients in that way, so I didn't join Elance.

So how was I spreading myself too thin? I was using about ten different forums at that time, writing for too many clients at one time, and churning out content for the mills.While this is a focused method for selling writing services, I should have focused on just two or three of the best forums, I should have charged more money and taken on fewer clients, and I should have avoided the content mills altogether.

The point here is that you should reign things in and get control of your freelance writing business. Are you using numerous bidding sites? Narrow it down to the one or two that bring in the most income for you, and focus on those platforms more. Are you writing for content mills and making money from this endeavor? Chose to write only for the one or two that are bringing in the most money, and ditch the others.

At the same time, compare what you are earning from the mills to what you are earning through the bid sites. Is it comparable? Would you do better to redirect your efforts solely to the bid sites - or solely to the content mills?

Do you have steady clients? Are there some who pay too little, or who are very difficult to deal with? These clients are sucking your time away. You should fire those clients, and focus your attention to the better clients.

Along with all of this, there is your blog, the forums that you participate in, and all of the social networking platforms that you use. All of these things take up yur time. Are you earbing any money from these things? If not, you should cut down on these activities, and focus on the activities that are actually earning money.

The overall lesson here is to determine what online activities are earning you income - the best income - and redirect all of your focus and energy in that direction. Otherwise, you are spreading yourself too thin, and this is greatly reducing the income that you can earn.