How to Earn More This Year...And Make More Progress
Welcome back, readers! Today's post is sure to please. Whether you aspire to start a blog, finish a novel, elevate your platform or your bottom line, I've "picked the brains" of 10 accomplished writers to help you accomplish those writing goals.
All as part of my ongoing mission to help you "work smarter, not harder" and advance in your career. So grab your favorite brew, get comfortable and get your pencils ready...you'll want to take notes. :-)
THE BIG REVEAL...
“Look for regular clients—those that you can write for more than once. You’re more likely to get a “yes” to a pitch; regular clients come to you with ideas/assignments; you spend less time pitching overall; and you’re also more likely to be able to negotiate more money because your regular clients appreciate what you do for them. At the outset, I pitched ANY client, but after I changed my strategy to target clients (at the time, magazines that I knew I could write for more than once), my income more than doubled."
KELLY JAMES A.K.A. KELLY JAMES ENGER
Author of books on freelancing including Six-Figure Freelancing, Second Edition: The Writer’s Guide to Making More Money. http://www.kellykjames.net/
"Guest post on top blogs. Whether you are writing novels or nonfiction, there are issues and topics that will interest bloggers and their audiences. Getting known in the larger world via leveraging other people's audiences is the fastest (and most fun) way to get traction for your books."
C.S. LAKIN, AWARD-WINNING BLOGGER @ LIVE, WRITE, THRIVE
"Do your research. Although it may sound generic, I truly believe this to be the key because it's so many ways that it proves beneficial. Whether researching others in the same genre to see how they wrote the book or how they made their millions, it's always a good idea to know what you're about to embark upon. That way, instead of reinventing the wheel, you solely have to customize it to your demographic."
TONEAL JACKSON, FOUNDER OF AUTHORS PROMOTING SUCCESS
The reason I say almost is because nothing in business is truly hands off. The courses have to be kept up to date. But this is not difficult; the real hard work is putting it together initially.
If you do choose this route, be sure to choose an evergreen subject, so you can sell the course for years. I've been selling my SEO writing course since 2009; and my romance writing course since 2017. I have one more, and another one on self-publishing in development.
Again, it's a lot of work in the beginning, but once they're up and going, they can be great money makers -- and can pad dry spells we all encounter as freelance writers.
This helps you to earn more in two ways: (i) via direct income from the course itself; and (ii) because it allows you to have another income stream, you can be more selective about the types of freelance writing projects you take on, and/or raise your freelance writing rates."
YUWANDA BLACK, AUTHOR OF "THE ULTIMATE
FREELANCER'S GUIDEBOOK"
DAN BROTZEL, CONTENT DIRECTOR & AUTHOR
KAREN E. LANGE, AUTHOR & INSTRUCTOR
"Seek retainer projects. After years of writing for professionals, small business owners and nonprofit organizations, I am beginning to seek retainer projects from established companies and corporations instead of one-time projects. Also, I use my freelance writing checklist to ensure I am charging for each service I'm providing to complete the project. In addition to blog posts and newsletters, I'm thinking of the communication tools that companies use weekly, monthly and quarterly so I can pitch my services for those."
(On making progress...)
"Meditate and affirm. Set your intentions: In this writing session, I want to feel...{excited, eager, confident, harmonious, peaceful, flowing}. After this writing session, I want to feel...{satisfied knowing I am fulfilling my mission, excited, eager for the next session}}."
DR. NOELLE STERNE, AUTHOR OF
TRUST YOUR LIFE
"Being a writer begins with passion and continues through open-minded growth. Being open to an editor's remarks or to taking yet another class (or reading another book) on how to write well. Passion puts our fingers to the keyboard. Hard work brings about the story we want to convey. Unfortunately, it's not about the money. It's actually rare to make one's living as a writer. Even the "Cheryl Strayeds" of the world have to teach a class or give a talk (with compensation) to supplement their writing income. But if you love it, you'll do it, and you'll keep wanting to grow. And you'll change the world (one story at a time) as you go."
MELANIE HOLMES, GLOBAL MEDIA AWARD 2014
"My top tip for making more progress toward achieving your writing success is to set external deadlines. This could be submitting a scene the first day of every month to your critique group/partner, revising a short story or poem in time for a contest or magazine submission deadline, or editing the current draft of your manuscript to get it to your editor by an agreed-upon date. Setting external deadlines will force you to make your writing a priority and inspire you to get the work done."
KRISTIN OAKLEY, MANAGING EDITOR OF WRITE CITY MAGAZINE
https://kristinoakley.net/
...And last but not least. What Jen recommends:
Jen @ Pen & Prosper |
Teachers do. Cosmetologists do. Other serious practitioners do.
Take classes. Invest in information products. Hire a creative coach.
When you "invest" in yourself it pays off!
Your turn, readers.
As Pen & Prosper celebrates "10 years" in the blogosphere, I hope you'll join me in celebrating these ten experts who contributed a great wealth of wisdom to this project by leaving a comment.
Thoughts? What's your favorite success tip shared?
Any tip you'd like to add?
Thanks for reading.
Image credit: Pixabay.com
Thank you, Jen, for collecting and sharing these great tips. Appreciate this creative group of writers sharing their insight. I am seriously inspired! Thanks also for including my thoughts here. No matter where we are in our journey, there's always something to learn and glean from others.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, Karen!
DeleteThanks for including me in this roundup Jennifer. It was so interesting to read what others had to say.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Yuwanda. Wasn't it interesting? Couldn't agree more.
DeleteWelcome back, and thank you for these great tips from great writers.
ReplyDeleteHi Lin,
ReplyDeleteGreat to be back. Thanks so much!
Jennifer, thanks so much for including me in this list. It was great to get tips get from other scribes on how to get to the next level in writing.
ReplyDeleteIt took a lot of work to assemble and produce, but worth it.
ReplyDeleteThanks much, Marcie
Thanks very much Jen for putting this together and including me. It's an inspiring collection of thoughts - I'm raring to do some writing now!
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Thanks, Dan.
ReplyDelete