I hope none of you have to lose a parent prematurely (my Dad was 55), but the past several weeks have taught me a bit more about life and freelancing.

Today, we have an interview with Katy Tafoya, a blogging consultant, and the owner and editor of ConstantChatter.
How did you get into freelance writing? Why did you choose freelancing over a full-time jobs?
I didn’t really choose freelance writing, for the most part, it chose me. I’m more of an accidental entrepreneur. I’ve always […]

Every so often, I get a prospective client asking for me to take a look at their site and let them know what I think can be done to improve the copy. The things I see–well, you have to get this right, folks. If you don’t, you are damaging your reputation and hurting sales.

Credentials can be a bit nebulous, when it comes to writing. Personally, I think actual results often prove your abilities better than any other credentials, but the folks hiring you will use their own metrics.

I got an email the other day from a freelancer who asks: “I am a freelance writer who is still in that ‘trying to work full-time while finding time to write’ phase. I’d love it if you could share a little insight on how you handled both before you left corporate America to write full-time.”

It’s a fine line because you don’t want to get a source’s hopes up by promising her coverage Big Name Month Mag (or waste your time doing tons of legwork on an article that may never see print), but you also don’t want to disappoint an editor by pitching her an interview with a source you can’t deliver.

I got into hot water once because I got my editor excited about a story, then couldn’t get the source to return my emails. This was a profile piece, so we had to scrap it completely, but at least I’d worked with the editor on several other stories, so she knew I wasn’t a total flake. Still, I did lose some face with that one and learned a tough lesson.

I’ve come to the conclusion that if the article is one where you could slot in any number of sources, then you can pitch it by saying “potential sources include Jane Doe, author of….” The phrase “potential sources” is key because it shows the editor that you’re given it some thought, but you’re flexible enough to consider alternate sources.

Jane might have written a killer book on DIY fashion or interracial dating, but chances are, you can find another expert if you have to. Since the article does not hinge on her opinions about a highly specific topic, you can wait until you have an official assignment before you email her publicist (some will happily forward you background information and others will give you the cold shoulder at this stage).

If, on the other hand, you hope to pitch a profile, then you should make sure that your source is receptive before you get an editor involved. Recently I had a slew of potential sources refuse interviews for reasons I never would have anticipated (fortunately, I didn’t pitch the article and it didn’t have super-specific requirements, so I was in the clear). You might assume that Jane Doe would be thrilled to do an interview and promote her book, but she might have her own reasons for not wanting her profile to appear in a certain publication. Or maybe she’s so busy doing interviews with The New Yorker and Rolling Stone that she doesn’t want to spend her precious time on a mid-sized magazine. If it’s an article with a variety of sources, you can just find another one, but if it’s a profile, well, you’re kind of screwed.

During the query stage, it’s important to emphasize to your source that you are hoping to write an article about her, but it’s not a sure bet. If you can get away with saying “I’d like to pitch this to women’s magazines” or “I’m going to shop this idea around to some travel websites” instead of dropping specific names like Cosmo or Concierge.com, so much the better. You don’t want them to get their heart set on a certain publication, but some people will press you for details. This is something I still struggle with!

Another strategy is to reuse sources you’ve used in the past. It’s (generally) a safe bet that if someone was willing to talk to you in the past, they will probably be receptive to doing another interview in the future. I wrote a profile about a young businessowner who was so excited to see her story published online that I had a hunch she’d be happy to do it over again for a feature article in a different pub. I was right. Plus, you can often include unused bits from your original interview to beef up your new query.

What do you think? Do you usually conduct a pre-interview when you’re writing a query? How do you explain this to sources? Any other thoughts on the topic?

I spent the summer in New York and in Vermont, where I have family. It sounds like a vacation, but it was really more of a working vacation–and I had to take a lot of client work with me. So no time for blogging. . .here’s what I learned.

It’s mid-August, so it’s clearly time to start thinking about hearts and candy, right?
Don’t look at me like I’m crazy. I really am planning five months ahead, at least when it comes to pitching projects. I’m not doing this because I’m super-organized, either.
Right now, magazine editors are planning their February and March issues. They […]

A reader sent in a couple of questions this week, specifically about where to start if you want to move into writing for money. I think that these aren’t exactly uncommon questions, so I decided to post my answers here.
How do you make money writing a blog?
There are a couple of different approaches to making […]

Since freelance writers are usually paid by the word or the project instead of by the hour, it behooves us to choose our projects carefully. I’ve been writing  for several years, yet I still sometimes find myself slaving away on an assignment that takes twice as long as I’d expected or otherwise makes me crazy.

Often it’s those assignments that editors dream up and graciously bestow upon one of their unsuspecting writers. It may be outside our comfort zone, but we accept it because we’re so tickled to have an assignment that didn’t require a query. Plus, it’s good to stretch ourselves from time to time. But not every opportunity is a good one. Here are some of the signs I’ve learned to look out for:

1. Hard to find sources. If the leading expert on your topic is retired or deceased, then that may be a sign that the idea is not as juicy as your editor thinks it is. You will eat up precious hours tracking down secondary sources, none of whom will be able to provide the specific information your editor wants. Save yourself the heartache and say no, unless it’s a topic that you’re dying to research for personal reasons.
2. Mismatched scope and word count. Say your editor wants you to explain a complex concept that is totally new to your readers. She’d like you to include quotes from experts on both sides of the issue as well as examples and resources so that readers can find more information. Oh, yeah, did I mention that it’s only 250 words and it’s due by the end of the week? Run!
3. Unusual ways of quantifying the project. I once had a client who only wanted to pay me for words with at least three letters (has anyone else encountered this? it was bizarre!). That should have clued me in that something was amiss. It didn’t. In case you’re wondering, MS Word does not have an easy way to calculate this. I checked. In future, if clients don’t want to pay for “a” and “of”, they should simply adjust their rate per word and let me focus on writing, rather than bean counting.
4. Ethical dilemmas. There are enough writing gigs out there that you shouldn’t have to resort to working for companies whose values do not align with yours. Say someone from Marlboro asks you to write ad copy and your best friend died of lung cancer after smoking Marlboros for years. Probably not the gig for you. There are more nuanced examples, but you get the gist.
5. Dread fills you when you get emails or calls from your contact. When I get emails from certain people, I know it’s going to be a long, confusing road ahead. Often I put off opening the email or I screen my calls, only to discover that it was actually a very simple question. When this happens, I remind myself to weigh the income versus the emotional costs. In one case, I decided that I could put up with a lot of s— for $XX per hour, but I was secretly relieved when the project fell through. With that much baggage, I never should have taken it on!

Yes, many of these go back to the person’s work style and temperament. But that’s another post. For further reading, FreelanceSwitch had an interesting post a awhile back about when to say no. Monica Valentinelli also posted suggestions on how to say no. Anything you’d like to add?

Note: I should mention that my current gig is going well, so this post has nothing to do with that project. These thoughts have been percolating for awhile and I finally had the chance to blog about them!