Tag Archive: freelancing

“Fixing my toilet will be great exposure for your plumbing business” and other bullshit writers deal with

June 8, 2016 1 Comment

Emails like the following are not uncommon, so today I figured I’d spotlight one of them – and anyone who writes, draws, or designs for a living gets this sort of pitch all the time: Dear Eric, Hope all is well. In the coming month a new and unique website will be launching called REMOVED.  While virtually all other sites directed towards the male audience focus on sex, sports or men’s fashion, REMOVED will provide men with the resources to connect and exchange ideas on everyday issues, including relationships, life, marriage, parenting, etc. Based on your expertise and published work, we feel you have a voice that would be complimentary to the content we will be offering.  We’d love to have you contribute an entertaining and…
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Rants, Writing

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8 things they don’t tell you about freelancing

March 7, 2016 4 Comments

When I decided to abandon the world of 9-5 and finally try my hand at living life as a Full-Time Writer™, I was taking a calculated risk. I knew it wouldn’t be easy. I knew money would be tight for at least a year (my planned time to test the experiment). I knew it would take a lot of work to keep myself on task. But I did my research. Crunched the numbers, outlined my plans, set up some safety nets, crossed my fingers and made a wish to the magic wish fairy, and took my pants off as soon as humanly possible. In other words, I did it without the total recklessness that so often defines my major life decisions. Yet there are a…
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Writing

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Why you should never write for the Huffington Post

February 22, 2016 3 Comments

Imagine for a moment that you want to hire chefs to prepare food at your chain of restaurants, but you don’t want to pay those chefs. You want them to volunteer.  And when asked why you believe that’s a valid way to do business, this is what you tell people: “If I was paying someone to cook something because I want to draw in customers, that’s not a real authentic way of cooking. When somebody cooks something for us, we know it’s real, we know they want to cook it. It’s not been forced or paid for. I think that’s something to be proud of.” You’d be laughed out of the room, and rightfully so. A few chefs might even be inclined to throat-punch you…
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Rants, Writing

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So I have to be an accountant, too?

May 29, 2015 4 Comments

When you daydream of being a Writer, sitting at home doing Important Work and actually getting paid for it, you most certainly DON’T daydream of filing tax documents, managing bank accounts, chasing people for money, and other such nonsense. Yet you’re sure as hell going to end up doing it, and plenty of it, too. They never tell you this. (Never mind who “they” is.) No one explains that if you plan to make a go of supporting yourself as a freelance writer, your days will be just as filled with “business” stuff as they will with writing. They never tell you that you’ll sometimes have to rattle cages just to get paid for work you did, or that dealing with the tax man will…
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Rants, Writing

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Writers, don’t get suckered into working for free

July 20, 2012 0 Comments

Writers want to be read. That is why you write. You write to express yourself or to earn a living, yes — for me writing is as much a job as it is a joy — but it begins with a desire to say, “Look at this. These are my words.” That’s why it’s very easy for aspiring writers to get suckered into doing free work they should be getting paid for, or worse yet, for established writers to get tricked into doing the same. In the world of freelance writing especially, there are plenty of people out there ready and willing to prey on your eagerness, naivety, or desperation to get some writing work. Here’s one trick I see a lot when prowling freelance…
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Writing

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