Howdy! It's your Weekend Update from the Freelance Room

Okay, I kind of went AWOL and I apologize!

Summer is rough - three kids don't leave me with enough time to get all my work done, let alone blog. Thanks to all who post here and help keep things going.

Since I have a migraine today and am doped to the gills, I can't really gather my scattered brains together enough to come up with deep insight and words of infinite wisdom. Instead, I figured I would give you the Grace update -- since I know y'all are simply DYING to know everything about me and what I am doing.

On the home front, I managed not to get divorced this summer, though things are still shaky. I and my sig other are in a state of truce and trying to work things out - it's hard when you have kids and are trying to make the best decision for everyone involved.

We have a new vehicle ('05 Chevy Suburban) which we were forced to buy when some idiot ran a stop sign and drove hubby into a ditch, totaling our almost paid for truck ('01 Chevy Silverado club cab). Only good thing about it is that our payments and the interest on the loan actually went down, and we got the hulking thing for about half what it would have gone for four years ago, even used. Go decline of the SUV market, woohoo. Gets the same MPG as the truck did, is more convenient for hauling tools (rain can't cause problems) and LOTS more room! (Plus, DVD player for the kids for trips to Dallas, Yay!)

On the work front, I am about sick and tired of my boss at my 'real life' work at home job where I am down to what is more or less a token position. I'm pulling in less than $700 a month supervising a small crew... but every time I try to bail my crew has hysterics (Oh please don't go! We'll eat you up, we love you so!) so I keep hanging in there. Boss is a total (insert derogatory word here) and I hate him. Seven years of him has been six and a half years too much.

Writing. Going well, actually! I keep busy and make enough to get by most months. Made some good contacts, and the repeat work keeps coming in. This month I tried something a little different; a lot of one-offs to fill in gaps. I started bidding on the little bitty jobs since Elance has a $50 minimum, and managed to do about three this week, bringing in a nice bit of side money.

Rewrite a social media newsletter, edit 2500 word sales landing page for a real estate book, and come up with 2,000 words in first person on solutions for premature ejaculation. Seriously. I pulled it off according to client, who said (and I quote) "You write really well in first person for a problem you've never experienced, haha!" I replied that I had "asked my husband if he had any input, but he got affronted and asked me if I was complaining." LMAO.

Who says you can't have fun at this job?

All right, next week maybe I'll have something better to offer, but for now keep trying, keep bidding, keep hunting for jobs, and don't ever give up. Those who persevere may one day land a premature ejaculation gig of their own. :D

Enhance your Writing from Cyber Resources

Sometimes it is impossible to hit upon everything there is to know about writing, the trends and overall job tips. No matter how experienced you are, even the pros need to be reminded of how this business changes and the need to listen.

To start off your Monday, which on a personal level is the start of a new beginning; the following five recent articles should not be miss. Refer to them and make this content part of your writing career bible.


5 Ways to Instantly Become a Better Writer by Mason Hipp

The information is so simple, yet very important advice to consider as a writer. Freelance Folder has advice for all types of freelancers and not for writers only, but when they come up something in our niche, it’s terrific.


To Query or Not to Query: That’s a Question for the Pros! by Jennifer Mattern

Jennifer created a series involving seven well established writers; Chris Bibey, Angela Booth, Jenna Glatzer, Kristen King, Deb Ng, Allena Tapia and Anne Wayman using a question and answer format. The series began on June 15th and should be coming to a close soon.


Avoiding the temptation of easy to score but low paying gigs by Jennifer Mattern at Freelance Writing Jobs

Jennifer stopped by Deb Ng´s fabulous site and offers a wealth on infomation that we all are guilty of – low paying gigs. Deb, herself, is an adament foe of the cheapies.

How to Increase Your Freelance Writing Rates by Anne Wayman

After reading about Jennifer’s tips to avoid low paying gigs, a must is Anne’s guidelines on how to increase your rates. I know you are probably afraid to do so but if you want to make a living out of your love of writing then this article is a must read.


Writing: how to get more great ideas every day by Angela Booth

Although Angela is a prime marketer of her numerious eBooks on writing, her blog has been bookmarked as very informative. Sink you teeth into it.

Topics such as these are what make the web a worthwhile resource for a writer. There are hundreds of thousands of others in cyberspace. We all narrow down the ones we prefer. Why not list some of your favorites here as a reference for others?

Freelance Writer's Update

And here I am! I've been writing furiously, trying to meet deadlines and take care of my lil chilluns - all three of which have birthdays! Vivien Grace turned 10 on the 10th, Duncan Ray is 2 today (the 11th) and Chane Delaney turns 8 next week on the 18th. Yes. You counted on your fingers correctly. August in Texas is very, very hot, and an air conditioned bedroom is quite inviting! :)

Anyhoo. Here, albeit belatedly (this is my blog and I can use all the ten dollar words I want), is the update I promised. This past month the Hack Writers' Guild has featured a lot of wonderful posts!

In alphabetical order by first name, we seem to have quite a following already: The Baseball Goddess (our own outrageous Mandy); Daisy McCarty (my sis); Diane Quinn; Isabelle (Belle Starr); Jim Bessey; Kim Leah, Kristina (who just landed a VERY lucrative project - go Kristina!!); Lynn C; Margaret Merrill; Melissa Bickel (Missy, our creative writer and poet); Molly O'Shea, Shelley (who was just accepted by Demand Studios - Yay Shelley!) and Veronica, who posts to the blog every week faithfully and with excellent posts that make me VERY grateful to have her here with us! (Thanks, Veronica!!)

I see Alex, Carolina, Conny, Dawn and Leigh peeking around the corner - we will lure them in yet.

In recap: we have hammered home some points on the origin of the name of the Hack Writers' Guild, how to be a hack, getting started as a part-time writer, learning SEO, rules for writing 'good', when to break the rules, good freelance sites to find gigs at, how to frame a successful bid, finding a freelance writing project made for YOU, how to wease the link juice (thank you, Mandy and Pauly Shore), creative writing (from our resident poet, Missy), and sptting freelance writing scams.

The one post I want to pull up to the front so we can continue discussion is the contract writing one Daisy started, as this is VERY important. It will be repeated along with the pertinent info from the comments for the next post.

Thanks to every one who is contributing to this blog! We hope it will become a haven and resource for budding freelanceers from all walks.

Slainte!

Grace