Friday, September 28, 2007

Getting In....

Continuing our conversation from Tuesday, how do you break in to freelance writing when you don't have clips? Your main focus should be looking for publications that welcome new writers. Often these publications will state that in their writer's guidelines.

Look locally. There are usually several local publications that will work with new writers. The idea is to build clips, good clips, that will enable you to keep taking steps to building a solid writing resume.

Beside the local publications, obviously there are web publications that are also open to writers. Start by a simple search of sites on a subject you are interested in or have some background in. I caution against pitching the big sites right out of the box.

Another good place to get information is Writer's Market.Com is the bomb! It has up-to-date listings, industry information, and a great search engine. Publications you have never even thought of are available and with the current information you should find plenty of publications to pitch.

Now hold you're excited horses, don't just fire off an email to the editor asking for an assignment. You have to work on your pitch, your query letter. You also need to assess your skills and by the way have you even research freelance writing yet? There's a lot to do before you hustle off to find an assignment.

Looking at what's available out there for new writers is to get you in the mindset of what your interests are and where you see yourself as a writer.

Monday we will talk about researching this freelance writing game and go over some common industry lingo. Wednesday I want to start tackling the art of the query letter. So have a great weekend!

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