So, who qualifies as a freelance writer?
Just about anyone.
However, there is one absolute prerequisite you have to write in a professional
manner.
Though most of us have a
fundamental grasp of grammar and have practised our writing skills in high-school, college
and at the office, to break into the higher income bracket, talent, experience, and
knowledge of the language are all essential.
But for an Editor to
hire you, and work with you on an on-going basis, its crucial that you convey
that you are professional in all aspects of your work, not only in your
love of detecting split infinitives.
You know what those are,
dont you?
Indeed, its your
commitment to professionalism that will ultimately allow you to develop a career in
freelance writing.
Your query letter will
probably be your first contact with the Editor. The role of the query letter is to see
(i.e. query) if opportunities exist for freelance writers at the publication.
The Editor will
obviously be influenced by the quality of this letter. In a sense, its your first
deliverable you need to make the right impression. This is where professionalism
counts.
Most novice writers tend
to make the same mistakes, and effectively rule themselves out of winning any commissions.
The most frequent
mistakes they make include:
- Contacting the wrong
person. For example, sending it to the Arts Editors rather than the Business Editor.
- Spelling the editors
name incorrectly. Or worse, addressing the editor as Mr. Instead of Mrs. If you dont
know weather the editor is male or female, use common sense and refer to them by the full
name, e.g. Dear Chris Evans.
- Spelling the publications
name, or news column, incorrectly. Doesnt show much interest, does it?
- Sending the query letter
to a general address, rather than to a specific person. On the web, this is equivalent to
emailing info@whateverwebsite.com and magically expecting a
response from the Editor. It will never happen!
- Boring the editor. If you
cant win his/her attention, youll hardly win the readers. So, you have to make your
query both exciting and compelling to read.
After youve
prepared your query letter, ask yourself: would I want to hire this writer?
Failing to discuss the
proposed article in sufficient detail will disallow for the editor making an informed
decision. This is where most newbie writers fall down. Clearly outline the topic,
length, and target audience.
The point is that if
youre new to freelance writing, dont rush, take your time and prepare a battle plan
for approaching editors.
If you overlook this
step, you will probably have limited success is selling your material, and become
dispirited despite all your hard work.
Battle Begins
If you are serious about
cracking this market, you need to give yourself every opportunity to succeed.
One of the interesting
things about freelance writing is that very gifted writers dont always succeed but
those with a solid plan carve out very lucrative careers.
Prepare a media pack
Developing a media pack
is one step towards developing your sales arsenal. This pack should include:
- Cover Letter: This
one-pager explains what you do, your education, recent publications, specialty areas, with
a nice bio to wrap it up.
- Photo: Include a
high-resolution headshot. Get your photo taken by a professional and ask for copies of the
original. DONT get your photo taken in a passport booth it makes you look amateur.
- Samples. In this
internet-age, you can keep your material as PDF files or alternately as high-resolution
JPG screenshots. You need to be careful with photocopies; they tend to get crushed in the
post, torn when opened, and are easily lost. PDF files tend to look more professional and
are easily stored.
- References. Provide a
list of editors that can be contacted as references. Make sure that the editors agree to
this beforehand, as they will be contacted.
- Online Portfolio. Setup a
nice website and use it as a deluxe calling card. As well as serving as a glossy
portfolio, it will generate leads and promote your work. It also shows that youre
web-savvy which is essential today. Getting it professionally designed is well worth
the effort, as homemade websites tend to look inferior and send out the wrong message.
Making Contact
Once you have this
ready, contact a small number of editors.
With your first media
kit, its important not to rush and start a mass-mailing; after all, if there any errors
of anomalies in the pack, you can fix them before you send out your next batch.
Also, when you first
email an editor, dont attach large files. There are two reasons for this. The first is
that their email system may have a policy of stopping large files, and will reject your
email. The second is that youll choke their inbox with megabits of data. Editors,
especially those who work on small publications, will not appreciate your files
restricting their web access as they wait for them to download.
After you get permission
to send the media pack, sit back and be patient. This isnt easy, but if you keep
calling the editor, theyll begin to feel nagged and nobody wants to work with such
people.
Many writers
guidelines will tell you how long to expect before getting a response.
Once you get feedback
from the editors, note their remarks and update your media pack accordingly. For example,
if they cant read the PDFs, offer JPG/GIF files as an alternative; if they dont have
web access, or dont know how to open attachments, dont be disparaging or snide. Be
proactive in a positive way.
Whatever you do, always
be courteous. Email can be a clumsy medium for interacting and what initially may appear
to be blunt criticism or some harsh words, may not have necessarily mean to be so. Maybe
the editor was simply in a hurry.
PS
The secret is to learn
from your mistakes, refine your sales material, and go after more business.
In this way, every time
you interact with an editor, convince them that youre a real pro. By doing this
you will eventually build up their trust, which is a critical ingredient in forming a
successful business relationship. |
