freelance

4 Marks of Good Writing

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How can you tell if a piece of writing is strong? Whether you’re editing for a publishing company, working as a freelancer, or self-editing, correctly assessing the quality of the work is imperative. In this excerpt from The Editor’s Companion, Steve Dunham discusses four marks of good writing and how you can...

Wrestling Alligators: On Embracing Curiosity

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BY LIZ CRAIN GIVEAWAY: Liz is excited to give away a free copy of the second edition of her just released book, Food Lover’s Guide to Portland, to a random commenter. Comment within 2 weeks; winners must live in the US to receive the book by mail. You can win a blog contest even...

The 5 Attributes of a Successful Ghostwriter

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BY KELLY JAMES-ENGER I’ve been writing about making money as a freelancer for well over a decade now. I have written five books, dozens of articles and hundreds of blog posts about the subject. I get many questions, and lately many of those have been about the field of ghostwriting. What...

Freelance Your Way to a Better Platform

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Long before you publish your book—and long after—you should be thinking about your writer platform. How do you build that core audience? How do you enhance your reputation as a great writer, as well as a knowledgeable one? How do you build name recognition? There are countless answers to these questions,...

careers for english majors | freelance writing skills

The 3 Skills Every Successful Freelance Writer Must Have

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Today’s writing tip discusses freelancing for a living. If you are thinking about becoming a freelance writer and wondering what skills you need to survive within the freelancing world, today’s writing tip from I’m an English Major–Now What? can help. Whether you are writing, editing, or both, being a freelancer is...

Flat Fees vs. Hourly Rates

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My daughters like to play bookstore at our house. They hide behind one of our beds, pull up a giant pile of books and ask me to buy them—and I'm happy to oblige because 1) I love books and 2) it costs me pretend money. And I'm willing to buy nearly...

How to Land Writing Gigs When Meeting Editors

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Last fall, author and journalist John Moir redeemed part of his grand prize from WD’s 78th Annual Writing Competition when he traveled to New York City, where his escort from the WD editorial team had arranged for Moir to meet with his wish list of editors from The New Yorker, Harper’s...