Advice for Authors and Writers

Americanisms Suck! Unless They’re Your Audience…..

Know Your Audience

The majority of my work targets an American audience and that means Standard English has to blow this particular pop stand. When I take on a piece of work I always ask for the language to be used is specified. If the piece is for British, European or Australasian consumption then my Mother Tongue is used, however if the work is for a North American audience then you need to be able to Americanize your spellings.

Here are some of the things I’ve learned for writing for American readers; Supaproofread have put together a short writing tip on the differences between British American English wording and spellings.

Selling Yourself As a Writer

A freelance Writer — Make the most of the opportunities available

When you offer your writing services you are selling yourself. If you have some notion that you are a writer and not a salesperson then carry on with your day job. If you are serious about writing for a living you are the one who is ultimately responsible for promoting your work. Taking on paid writing jobs involves selling and you are selling yourself far more intimately than if you were offering a widget or other tangible product. Writing comes from within you.

My experiences with selling go back over 20 years, so I by now I should know a thing or two. I was told once by a salesman I respected that there are three basic rules to selling:

See the people;
See the people; and strangely enough,
See the people.

The Fear of Rejection

Being told “No” just brings you one step closer to being told “Yes”

If you have now put together a writing portfolio to provide prospective clients with samples of your work you’re ready for the next step, which is to start asking for paid projects.

Asking for a paid project is for many a step too far.

What if they say “No”, criticise my work, or call my bluff on a topic I’ve researched but don’t really know about, to pass myself off as an expert on it?

There are two things I’ve learned by getting my hands dirty on the keyboard and they are simply this:

One: you will be told “No” far more times than you will be told “Yes” – it’s not personal, build a bridge and get over it and better still, try to find out why you’ve been rejected and see what you can learn for next time.

Two: somewhere there is a buyer who is going to love what you do and your task is to find them. When you are told “No” it is not a sign of failure, it is simply a step along the road to success and having your work accepted.

Who’s Going To Pay Me To Write?

Right now, at this very moment, we are living in a time when there is unprecedented demand for written content. Demand is so high that even a Third World native with a very basic mastery of English can make a good living from writing. As a native English speaker, you are going to have a major commercial advantage over the competition and can command a higher price for your work.

That may sound great, but who is actually going to pay me for my work?

Simply place “writer paid work” in any search engine and you’ll uncover a stream of offers, some pushing writing courses and some opening the door to a new career. I did this when I started out two short years ago, and I even parted with some money as well, but what actually has honed my skills so far has been getting my hands dirty and asking for work. You can short-cut a lot of the time you spend looking for a paying writing job by visiting Craigsists, GetaFreelancer (GAF), eLance and a host of other sites that require simple registration, no money and provide you with access to a swarm of projects that need someone to write English content. [Read more…] about Who’s Going To Pay Me To Write?

Is My Writing Good Enough To Get Me Paid?

Two years ago I was given my very first piece of paid writing work. I made a complete hash of it but fortunately my principal was very understanding and took the time to show me exactly what he wanted. Since that first faltering step I’ve become more confident and adept at producing work that clients pay good money for. My name as a writer is almost unknown on the web, however samples of my writing work can now be found on web sites all over the world.

There are two serious observations from my initial story, the first is that messing things up is not the end of the world as it’s how you will learn and get better. The second point is that you will find a lot of people in the writing community eager to help you. Writing for profit is not a closed community and the nature of writing itself, to express yourself and your ideas, automatically lends itself to self-promotion. Writers as a breed just cannot keep quiet about what they produce while good writers are always open to learning as they explore their expressive and creative skills.
[Read more…] about Is My Writing Good Enough To Get Me Paid?