click to enlarge
The venerable and respected Writer’s Market’s Web site is being updated. You should subscribe, it’s good value.
Which brings me to the topic of MARKETS. There’s a lot of confusion about what a “writing market” is among freelance writers.
If it communicates, it’s a market
This confusion leads many writers to assume that the only markets for their writing are those which offer an open “write for us” invitation – the ones in Writer’s Market. Unfortunately those markets, the traditional newspaper/ magazine/ book publisher venues are the ones which pay the least, and which have the least respect for writers.
Markets are everywhere. My ebook Writing For The Web discusses some of them. My Pro Write subscription site gives you more information. However, what you most need to remember is, if it communicates, it’s a market for you. This includes the new audio-visual markets, podcasts and videos.
They need you, even if they don’t know it
I read a book recently with – I kid you not – at least one and occasionally more, exclamation points per paragraph. I ordered the book from a Sydney bookseller. It was nonfiction, and published by a global conglomerate. I won’t give you the title, or the name of the publisher, because I want to protect the guilty. I wanted to read the book, because I wanted to know more about the subject, but I couldn’t finish it. Each time I hit an unnecessary (and they were all unnecessary) exclamation point, I felt as if I’d been punched in the face. I may be more sensitive to writing than the average reader, but even so, this book, published by a major publisher, was a travesty.
This is long-winded way of saying that markets that you might once have been proud to be published in, are not what they were.
Find your own markets
The exclamation-point book needed a copy-editor, and copy editing is a market for you. So is every major company’s communications: their Web site, intranet, marketing communications and advertising. Markets are everywhere. Look for the ones which don’t ask you to “write for us.” They need you the most.
Technorati Tags: how to write as a freelance, find freelance writing markets, Web sites as markets, writing for the Web
Did you like this? If so, please bookmark it,
Sell Your Writing Online NOW
Info Product Maestro: Make $500 a Day with Your Information Products
