Writing on the side with an eye to the future

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jean Fritz on June 17, 2011 at 7:42am

Why not sign up at Elance.com as well? You can start with a free account and bid on editing jobs - there are a lot of them that require A/P style guideline proficiency (I'm a CMS person and totally bombed with A/P style, even though I have a BA in Journalism). College papers / theses usually conform to APA (American Psychological Association) style guidelines, so bone up on this if you want to add college papers to your repertoire.

Permalink Reply by Erin Casey on June 17, 2011 at 12:21pm

Hi Harold,

 

You can certainly make a job of editing and writing - but I'd advise to include in your plan a way to earn residual income... either from books, or some other materials. Also, it really helps to develop relationships with editors and publishers so you can start getting steady work. If you show a few key people in different organizations that you can write and edit well, you'll have better luck earning a solid living. Small, odd jobs like editing college papers may be a difficult way to earn significant money--unless you're working all the time.... or unless you set it up as a business and hire people to edit for you so can leverage their time.

 

Hope that's helpful! - And, welcome to the group! Glad to see you're jumping into the conversations right away!

Erin Casey

www.mywritersconnection.com

Permalink Reply by Harold Downs on June 23, 2011 at 4:51pm

Thanks for the advice. It was just a thought. I'd really like to write like everyone else on this blog. So I'm trying to find my way to do it.

 

Permalink Reply by Marianne Clements on June 17, 2011 at 1:26pm

It doesn't sound like you have much to lose by stepping out and trying this idea.  If this is something that you really love to do and is not just about making money, then I say go for it!

 

Have a Victorious Day!

Marianne Clements

Permalink Reply by Harold Downs on June 24, 2011 at 4:20pm

In addition, I'm trying to figure out what to write, who to write for and how to market it. Is it really all about just starting my own blog or is it a lot more/less? I am reading Jon Acuff's book "Quitter" and it is very inspiring.

 

Permalink Reply by Beatrice M. Young on June 30, 2011 at 5:23pm

I know I'm a little late, but the books The Well-fed Writer and The Well-fed Writer Back for Seconds by Peter Bowerman may be very helpful.  The books are like step-by-step guides to becoming a full-time freelance writer without starving.  Here is a link to a podcast interview he did discussing how he became a full-time commercial writer: http://www.wellfedwriter.com/podcast.shtml.  I own his book The Well-Fed Self-Publisher, which is fantastic (I have many dog-eared pages), and if the Well-Fed Writer books are anything like the Publisher book, the books will provide a myriad of actionable items to get you started.

 

Hope this help!

 

Happy Writing!

 

Beatrice