Land more paying assignments with these tips.

Hey Writer, Scribe, Influencer!

It’s a red-letter day over here! After far too long, we finally finished our update of Jumpstart Your Writing Career (and Snag Paying Assignments). I’m pretty thrilled with this third (expanded) edition covering tons of new information on selling online.

This is by far one of our best selling books and getting it updated this year was a big priority.

I love when a plan comes together…

Jumpstart isn’t available in other stores yet, but you can get it direct from us for a substantial discount.

I’m pretty excited…

In the meantime, check out today’s feature article… an excerpt from Jumpstart!

Enjoy today’s issue of Writing Etc.,

Beth 🙂

P.S. Here’s the link if you want to check it out.

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Has COVID mucked with your bottom line?

Think it’ll take forever to earn a great living as a writer? Think again.

With this newly edited and completely updated 3rd Edition of Jumpstart Your Writing Career, you’ll discover how easy it is to:

• Think like a writer
• Hone your writing skills until they’re razor sharp
• Tackle the most lucrative branch of writing
• Learn the secrets of great fiction
• Organize your nonfiction articles for maximum impact
• Craft powerful queries
• Promote your writing business for little or no money
• If you want to be a freelance writer who snags paying assignments, this book’s for you.

AbsoluteWrite.com says Jumpstart is a “marvelous tool for novice writers and often-published authors alike. It’s refreshing, easy to use, and applicable.”
You will get the following files:
PDF (3MB)
EPUB (250KB)
MOBI (1MB

Just click here

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Get the Word Out!

Beth Ann Erickson

An Excerpt from Jumpstart Your Writing Career (and Snag Paying Assignments), the Third Edition.

Lately, many Writing Etc. subscribers asked, “OK. I love writing. But how do I get PAYING assignments!?!?”

Depending on where you live, landing those paying jobs may not be as hard as you think. The secret is to start small and build from there.

As many of you already know, I began my illustrious writing career covering local city council and school board meetings. That job alone gave me more clips than I knew what to do with.

Armed with your local clips, you can start approaching bigger markets. Markets like small and mid-sized magazines that are hungry for new articles. With the good name you’ve cultivated in your community, (you did get a byline for your city council articles, right?) you can start writing for local businesses.

Writing for businesses (otherwise known as copywriting) is one of the best ways to make a living wage as a writer. Depending on the market, you can reasonably expect to earn $40 – $75 per hour as a beginner. If you live in an urban area, you can demand more.

So how do you pick up commercial clients? Easy. Good writers are in demand, especially as the economy softens. Business clients need writers that get results. And if your copywriting pulls in responses, you’ll get work.

Back in the days of yore, to start attracting commercial clients, you can run a small ad in your local paper. As your expertise increases, place more ads in surrounding papers. Maybe you’ll want to write a snappy classified ad in the business section.

Today, you can run a low-grade Facebook ad targeting businesses in your area. Carefully select keywords. Narrow your audience big time. Then let it run with a super-low budget of around a buck to five dollars per day.

Send your prospective customers to your website (you have one of those, right?) and get ‘em on your list. You can also encourage them to contact you direct via your Facebook page.

Another way to get business clients is to join your Chamber of Commerce. You’ll meet the movers and shakers in your community and make invaluable contacts.

Send out a direct mail piece. I use a quarterly newsletter and it never fails to turn up something. You can write a snappy sales letter complete with a reply form and buckslip, or you can keep it simple.

If you have nerves of steel, you can call prospective clients – otherwise known as “cold calling clients.” I’m a raging introvert and have never done that – yet. I don’t rule anything out until I’ve tried it once. If you have the courage of a lion, go for it and let me know how it goes. I’ve heard this is the best way to get clients but I couldn’t say one way or another. I’m a weenie when it comes to cold calling.

Another technique to keep the money rolling in as a freelance writer is to have lots of irons in the fire. Along with the magazine queries, and copywriting, I always have a book (or two!) in the works and am busy sending out proposals for it.

You can also self publish a book aimed at attracting clients for your niche. A solid paperback can establish you as an expert in your field. Give it away as a freebie to potential clients, it’s the BEST business card ever. (Note: it doesn’t have to be complicated to do this! Schedule a consultation with me and I’ll get you on the right track and save you a ton of moola.)

Make goals each day. Decide how many queries you’ll send. Decide how many sales letters you’ll mail. How many words are you going to write in your book?

The possibilities are endless. That’s why this job is so great. Find out what works for you and then run with it. You just may find yourself making a nice living.

Assignment: Brainstorm ways you can start generating business.

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You can use any of these articles free of charge on your own website or zine. Just don’t make any changes and be sure to include this byline:

This article is courtesy of Filbert Publishing. Make your writing sparkle, market smart, repeat. Subscribe to Writing Etc., the free e-mag for freelancers, and receive the e-book “Power Queries.” http://filbertpublishing.com

Enjoy!