The Travails of Freelance Writing

The Travails of Freelance Writing

Since freelance work is growing due to a variety of labor-market factors, I thought it might be helpful for people who are considering a plunge into freelancing to write about my 30-plus years of experience as a freelance higher education writer and journalist. And I believe these experiences can be considered similar to any kind of freelance non-fiction writing.

Why I Wrote This:

1. As a possible source of helpful information based on my personal experiences in the field.
2. As a means to promote my writing and publishing services.
3. To possibly garner some sponsorship for Workforce Monitor.
4. To show my background in higher education writing.
5. To expose some of the challenges I have frequently experienced in this line of work.

On Earning a Living: Freelance writing is not a lucrative line of work unless you are incredibly talented and lucky. The odds of becoming wealthy as a freelance writer is equivalent to the odds of becoming a rock star. There are numerous articles online that profess how easy it is to become a successful freelance writer. Most of those articles are loaded with misinformation.

Garnering new clients or possible sponsorship for freelance work is a full-time job in and of itself. Be prepared to work long hours. The primary question becomes how to survive financially? Remember this is not a regular job with benefits. There is no such thing as sick pay, personal days, vacation pay, health insurance, matching 401s, or child care assistance unless you pay for those benefits yourself.

Rejection is commonplace, so having a thick skin is necessary.

I’ve tried just about everything in the book to boost revenues, including:

• Temporarily taking on employer-based jobs and relegating myself to writing part-time on the side.
• Writing and designing special reports for various profit, nonprofit, private and public education entities (the most lucrative assignments).
• Pitching story ideas (the most difficult and more often than not least rewarding financially) to publishers all over the place and at times getting accepted, but for peanuts.
• Writing two books paid for through relatively low-funded advanced royalties.
• Ghost writing, but I don’t recommend it because it feels like having your soul stolen.  
• Taking on new subjects to write about (see my relatively recent five-year older adult project that never seriously got off the ground).
• Writing and publishing prodigiously as a low-income, self-employed independent writer, which is what I’ve been doing at Workforce Monitor.

When I launched Workforce Monitor in January 2021, a good number of folks told me that it was a fabulous idea that was desperately needed and would surely succeed at a rapid rate. Since then I’ve been pushing myself hard to keep Workforce Monitor going strong because the information I produce is extraordinary helpful to the audience it serves: workforce development professionals who work for local, state, federal, institution, and intermediary organizations.

Why I Do This Kind of Work: I’ve always been driven by the fact that education can be a great equalizer, being raised in a low-income, working-class home and working my way up through higher education. Ever since working on my college newspaper as a self-supporting, non-traditional, late-blooming student in my late twenties and becoming editor-in-chief in the early 1980s and interning as a feature writer for a major metropolitan newspaper, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed writing about the many facets of higher education.

As noted on my LinkedIn home page, I have produced a lot of content. My independent research, writing, editing, and publishing services have been provided to many institutions, publishers, and organizations.

I also know that everything I have produced has helped numerous individuals, companies and organizations get their message out and further their success – and, I might add, for a very reasonable price, mainly because I have very low overhead expenses. I take great pride in what I have produced. When I re-read much of the stuff I have written over the years and more recently on Workforce Monitor, I still feel it’s damn good.

Bottom line, I can help you if you need help. All it takes to get things started is to send me an email (glorenzo@wfmonitor.com) for a no-cost consultation. Okay, there’s my sales pitch.

Tools of the Trade: Just like in all forms of business, technology has made a dramatic difference in how you ply your trade as a freelancer.

Recording and Transcribing Interviews: I remember having a tape recorder connected to my telephone for recording interviews. My office customarily had cassette tapes of interviews strewn all over the place. I was constantly hitting buttons and rewind functions. Today I have a cell phone and a handy digital recorder that fits in the palm of my hand that stores all my phone interviews, as well as any webinar or podcast recordings. I upload those recordings into an automated transcription service called otter. I then review the auto-transcription with an application called Express Scribe that features variable speed playback. And, of course, Zoom and video conferencing software like Google and Microsoft are other options. I have a paid Zoom account that also allows me to record.

When soliciting interviewees, always use polite email etiquette. Simply write “would like to interview you for an article on XYZ” in the subject line. Academics typically always agree to be interviewed. Give them day and time options over a period of at least two weeks. Usually, they’ll agree to be interviewed in about one week.

I take an informal interview approach, meaning I don’t send over a bunch of specific questions, unless asked for in advance. I simply say I’d like to get a general overview of XYZ. I'll add that I may interrupt them as a conversation ensues and questions arise. Interviews usually last about 20 minutes, but I’ve had many that have lasted for more than an hour. Always listen intently. These are golden learning experiences that will help you write an informative article. Learning-through-interviewing is a fringe educational benefit. At the end, always ask “is there anything else you’d like to add?” That’s the point when you usually get the best quotes because the interviewee has been primed to give an informative and enthusiastic answer. 

The Actual Writing: Like the use of technology today, the parameters of writing are going through enormous change. I haven’t tried dictating a story into my digital recorder yet, but I assume there are writers who can take that approach effectively and maybe save time with an auto transcription service and then edit their recording into a worthy article.

I still follow the Strunk & White Elements of Style, although I’m seeing more articles saying it’s not necessary today. I disagree on that point, although occasionally I will break Elements of Style rules.

If you can afford it, hire a proofreader as an independent contractor who can quickly turnaround your work.  

Perhaps I’m old-style. The articles I write may not be short enough for the modern reader. I recall going back to those years as a student in the 80s, before social media, when an English professor told me we live in an age of the “easy reader,” meaning shorter the better. Today I think we are entering an age of the “effortless reader.” I recently started to look into Axios HQ, also called Smart Bevity®, which claims to power clear communication.

Miscellaneous Stuff: Invest in a decent printer. Printers are much less expensive than they were in the past. The HP printers and the HP Instant Ink plan are good deals. Call me old fashion, but I still print out articles and research resources that can consist of numerous pages - so, in addition to ink, I invest in a lot of paper and always have a box of reams at the ready. 

Then, of course, your work station is important. If possible, have it stationed by a window in a private space with a door for privacy. Hopefully you'll have a good amount of square footage to spread your papers out when in the zone.  Also, you really don’t need a fancy computer. A decent laptop in the $1,000 range is sufficient, and it should be connected to cable internet access, and you might want to invest in an inexpensive webcam and a green screen (but not absolutely necessary). Logitech has some good deals. I also have a $250 less-powerful, slightly-larger-than-tablet-sized laptop in my living room next to my lounge chair for times when I get an idea that I’ll quickly email to myself.

In the software arena, I have found Adobe Acrobat Pro (the paid version) to be indispensable for referencing research papers and articles. For instance, it allows you to convert news and feature articles to pdf format so that you can more easily review them and copy and paste text into your word-processing program and quote accurately as well as avoid the possibility of typos. Also, you may have to learn how to use the free Google Docs word-processing application, which I really dislike, preferring the paid version of Microsoft Word. More clients these days are using Google Docs to share comments and edits.

IMO for graphic design, illustrating, photoshopping, and video editing, the entire Adobe Creative Cloud cannot be beat if you are doing more than writing, but these applications require lots of practice, trial and error, tutorials, and possibly a class or two before you become a proficient user. Plus, if you don't use them regularly, you can quickly get rusty and forced into reacquainting yourself with all their phenomenal functions and features.

If you have a website, WordPress has become the de-facto web development tool, and I find it incredibly difficult and non-intuitive, but it has impressive functionalities for the kind of site I'm building, so I have become a semi-proficient user. If you have a electronic newsletter, my favorite these days (it has changed a lot over the years) is Constant Contact. 

Marketing Frustration: Marketing is a prodigious challenge. I have repeatedly said that marketing is not an exact science, and I wish it was not required. If you're a low-income freelance writer trying to make ends meet, marketing becomes relatively non-existent except for the free services you can take advantage of via social media, the effects of which, at least for me, have been lackluster. Additionally, you have to be careful about being perceived as overly self-promotional. Finding a balance can be tricky. Be authentic, even though sometimes being authentic doesn’t work in your favor– you’ll feel better about yourself, which is oftentimes more important than money.

I hope I can sustain this effort with the little marketing I’m capable of doing, and I have been busy reaching out to possible sponsors and clients. But things are extremely competitive. You’ll need a stick-to-itiveness that may be in short supply if you’re going broke.  

Rejection: I’ve learned how to accept rejection and let it roll off my back in this very-tough-to-survive business. Getting rejected in business is a fact of life. In many ways it’s a numbers game. There have been times when I had very successful spans of decent-paying, family-sustaining work, but it has never lasted for more than four or five years. And those dips in between can be devastating.

I’m not complaining though. There are so many people in the world living under tragic circumstances that the best action to take is keep my head down, carry on, and hope to make a small difference. I’m still living comfortably, swinging the bat vigorously, although striking out more these days for reasons I can’t figure out.

Well, that concludes my piece on the travails of being a freelance higher education writer. Feel free to contact me at glorenzo@wfmonitor.com if you’d like to discuss further, or, if you’re a freelancer, please feel free to post some comments about your experiences - good, bad, or ugly.