Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer: How to Win Top Writing Assignments

by Jenna Glatzer

Book Overview

Step-by-step instructions on how writers can earn top dollar writing for magazines are provided in this book. Secrets are revealed about what the high-paying magazines really want, how to build relationships with editors, how to ascertain which sections of a magazine are open to freelancers, what kinds of stories are in demand, what to do if a deadbeat publisher doesn't pay up, how to market reprints, and how to become an expert in one's chosen writing...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 097220265X
• ISBN13: 9780972202657
• Release Date: May 2004
• Publisher: Nomad Press (VT)
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.1" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Valuable Information in a Conversational Tone

You could easily finish this book in one sitting; Glatzer's tone is amicable and the information is very accessible. My favorite aspect is that there are many quotes from editors of the most popular magazines (Woman's Day, etc.), as well as lots of other tips specific to magazines that are in my chosen women's genre. Glatzer uses a great method of coming up with story ideas; you take a very general concept - she used cats as her example, and then she suggests categories pertaining to cats (or whatever your general concept may be) that are a bit more specific. Fill out her chart completely and you'll arrive at 10+ different article topics. I've alread made a spreadsheet mimicing her chart and plan to use this once a week to brainstorm article ideas. For the aspiring freelance magazine writer, this book is extremely useful!

From a pro- she tells it like it is!

I have many books on freelance writing. And I have had some luke-warm results in my relatively new freelance career. But, the books I have read in the past were either written too text-booky- or were filled with things that every other book contained- it just had a different title! However, reading Glatzer's book was a great change of pace. It was not even the content- but her voice that made it such a great read. She is a passionate freelancer with wonderful success- yet in reading her words, I realize that she once was just like me. It was personal and uplifting and tongue-in-cheek at times- her style matches mine. So this book meshed well with my personality, and therefore, it has rejuvanated my spirits that my work can one day be in major magazines. Her book told real stories- real successes and real roadblocks. Seeing real magazine names and all her other true stories gives her an immense amount of credibility. Her willingness to share is wonderful. Look at some other freelance books- are they from successful writers that you have heard of, or can easily find clips of? Not really- they are from someone who wants to write- and therefore tells others how-- not with Glatzer. I am actually taking a magazines class now, and I gave the book to my profressors- I think it should be demanded by journalism professors everywhere to open students to the world of freelancing!

The Best Book for Magazine Freelancing

If Jenna's book was around when I went full-time a few months ago, I would probably have more work than I know what to do with. As it is I have tripled my response rate on queries and my productivity has skyrocketed. How? Simple. This book is like camping out in the personal office of a professional freelancer. Jenna offers invaluable insights about queries, markets, resources and how to maximize on your time. Sidebars filled with websites that all freelancers should be privy to are peppered throughout each chapter. Real life scenarios play out between the pages and you learn what works and what doesn't with supermarket publications like Family Circle and Woman's Day. Interviews with successful writers and seasoned editors reveal the keys to making it into the acceptance pile. Queries? Jenna answers all the questions by disclosing her personal methods. Simultaneous Submissions? Always. Email pitches? You Bet. Multiple ideas queries? Why Not? She delves into interviewing, syndication, contracts, copyrights, and everything else that a newbie and even pros should brush up on. Even if your shelves are filled with other books on the business of writing and even if you subscribe to all the best newsletters, you still need this book. Barbra Annino www.barbraannino.com

Sustain a Lucrative Career while Wearing Pajamas

Book Review by Maryanne Raphael, Writers World Sustain a Lucrative Career while Wearing Pajamas.MAKE A REAL LIVING AS A FREELANCE WRITER explains how to be successful "in today's publishing climate where the Internet rules and stamps are nearly obsolete and the articles that earned front-page headlines last decade wouldn't even get short blurbs today." The book shows how to earn top dollars writing for magazines, how to write a marketable story, how to know what sections of a magazine welcome freelancers, how to market reprints, and how to become an expert in your chosen field. Author Jenna Glatzer is the editor-in-chief of Absolute Write and author of Outwitting Writer's Block. She is a full time writer from NYC who has published 9 books and hundreds of articles. Her style makes reading fun with her quick wit, vast experience, knowledge of her subject and her use of meaningful quotes, relevant anecdotes and helpful resources.She says, "You'll have to learn where to find writing markets and how to study them, write irresistible query letters, make editors fall in love with you, get regular assignments, negotiate, make deadbeats pay up and more." She helps discover your strengths and how to use them.,, shows you how to set goals, see writing as a business and get started. "You must find something worth telling to a mass audience," she says, "and convince the `powers that be' that you're the right person to tell it." She even tells how to make the most of rejection slips, how to network, write a column, interview, write for the Internet, have a Web Site, and make your article timely. She shows how to become your editor's favorite by being "reliable, accurate, nice, respectful of the editor's time and by proposing plenty of new ideas with regularity." Author Glatzer helps readers learn from her mistakes as well as her achievements. After stating that big magazines do not want stories that have appeared elsewhere, she tells how she goofed once . "You shouldn't be a dummy like me and actually emphasize this as a selling point in your query." The book tells everything you need to know about taxes once you start earning money from your writing. By the time you finish this book, according to the author, "You'll have the insider knowledge you need to figure out what sells to whom and how to build up and sustain a lucrative career while wearing pajamas." I'd recommend the book to anyone who wants to try freelance writing.

Makes a good read

This was an easy-to-read book written with a "you can do it" attitude - good for writers who are new to the field or are trying to break into bigger markets.The book is a good mix of the author's experience (what worked and what she learned from mistakes she made), and quotes from editors and other established writers. Very helpful were the websites with additional helpful information, like a fax site where you can receive your faxes by e-mail at no cost (i.e. no need for a fax machine), websites for writers, websites for finding sources, etc.Also helpful were sections on negotiating contracts, how to pitch a story, how to study the market for your work (and the importance in doing so), how fact checking works, and how to find story ideas (and spin them off into even more ideas).If you're the type who does well with assignments, the book has assignments you can do like one on coming up with ideas. The book is less how to write, than the mechanics behind getting assignments and following through on them. It takes the mystique out of the process. I ended up earmarking a bunch of pages to go back to, and have already used some of the information (mainly websites) to further my own writing.