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Editor’s Notes: Making Your Passion Pay
A Beginner’s Guide to Copywriting, Ghostwriting, and Freelance Work
BY ELIZABETH GILLILAND
So you’ve decided to be a writer, brave soul. Doubtless, several helpful relatives/friends have stepped in to inform you that you’ll never make any money doing so. The bad news? They’re right, sort of. The good? They’re also wrong, too. Let me explain.
If you’ve gotten into the writing gig expecting to earn oodles of cash, unfortunately, the odds are not in your favor. For every J.K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer, there’s also EVERY OTHER WRITER YOU’VE MET who has not become a millionaire (most of them talented, driven, creative people, too). So no, while it’s not impossible to hit the jackpot as an author, it is highly improbable. If you really want to play the numbers game, you might want to invest your time instead in coming up with a winning lotto ticket or a new idea for the next big social networking website. Your chances are probably much better.
But if you’re in it for the love and not the cash, if you adore words and stories and characters, the good news is: there is a way to make money with this gig. It’s called freelance work, and it can encompass everything from copywriting, ghostwriting, and editing. Again, we’re not talking Scrooge McDuck levels of cash here, but it can be a great way to supplement your income while at the same time honing your skills.
There are probably as many ways to go about doing freelance work as there is to writing your own stuff, and I am by no means an expert on the subject. Here are some tips that I’ve found helpful in being successful in my own freelance work—but as with advice on any kind of writing, feel free to tweak, alter, and explore to find ways that best fit your individual style.
1. How to Get Started. Most states (to my knowledge) are going to require you to register as a private business and fill out a 1099 form come tax time. You can go to your state government website to find out more information on the process. At least in my home state, all I had to do was register with my social security number, come up with a name for my business, and mail a small fee. Within a month, the paperwork was sent back to me, and I was good to go.
2. How to Find Clients. The two go-to sites for freelance work are guru.com and elance.com. Both give people who are looking for freelancers an opportunity to post jobs (e.g. “Needed: Screenplay About Dancing Monkeys”). There, you can ‘bid’ on the projects you want. Each freelancer is allowed a certain allotment of free credits per month and you can purchase more if you choose. Bidding on a job will generally use up anywhere from one to three of your credits, depending on what the client has requested. In your bid, you state how much you’d be willing to do the project for (either per hour or for the project as a whole) and how long it will take for you to complete it. If the client likes your bid, they’ll follow up, and you can fine tune the details from there.
Want something a little less structured? Look for ads in craigslist, the newspaper, or any online classifieds. Elance and guru can be really competitive, so sometimes it’s nice to go through these mediums where your chances of actually getting noticed by a client are a little higher.
At the same time, keep in mind that freelance sites in many ways act as a safety net for both you and the client. They handle everything to do with the payment and making sure that everything stays above board. If you’re going to search for clients without that safety net, you’ll want to set certain protections for yourself, like a paypal or safepay account so that neither you nor the client has access to the other’s bank account; a contract that sets up the official terms of what service is being done (does their payment cover one draft or two, when should they expect the final product, and when is the latest they can pay you for that product, etc.); and an NDA contract which states that you will not sell your client’s ideas and that all rights will be turned over to them once they have paid you. (For the record, I’ve never had a problem with any of my clients on any of these matters no matter which medium I found them through, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry, and to set up a professional expectation that helps to put the client at ease, as well.)
And finally, never underestimate the word of mouth. Let people know what you’re doing. You’ll be surprised whose uncle’s nephew’s cousin twice-removed needs someone to write his life story. My first major client I found through my friend’s little brother’s teammate’s dad. Seriously. So, you never know.
3. How to Choose Your Jobs. There are a LOT of different options of what people are willing to pay you to write. In the time I’ve been doing this, I’ve done screenplays, fictional books, non-fictional books, query letters, press releases, blog posts, memoirs, articles, and more. Again, this is only my own personal philosophy, but stick as much as you can with stuff that you’re not going to hate writing. You probably aren’t going to get hired to write nothing but detailed articles about Hugh Jackman’s muscles (and if that job ever pops up, I will fight you tooth and nail for it), but you CAN find things that will be enjoyable for you to write, things that you won’t mind spending a few weeks (or months) with. I, as someone who gets bored by the mere mention of football, probably shouldn’t commit to writing an entire book about it, but maybe that’s right up your alley. At the same time, don’t be afraid to commit to a topic just because you aren’t an expert about it, so long as you’re honest with your clients about that up front. At the end of the day, many times you’ll get paid to learn about some really interesting things!
Also, make sure you know how to write what you say you can write. I know that might sound elementary, but if you have no experience writing screenplays, don’t say you know how to write a screenplay. (And for the record, knowing how to write a novel doesn’t mean you know how to write a screenplay. It’s a completely different format and style of writing.) No one’s going to benefit from you claiming to know how to do something you don’t.
4. How to Decide What to Charge. To be honest, this is probably the most difficult part of the job. If you’re bidding for projects on elance or guru, most clients will list a range of what they’re willing to pay, and you’ll be able to see a general idea of what other people are bidding. If you’re just starting out, I would suggest bidding on the lower end of the scale. If people hire you, make sure to ask for them to give you feedback on the site, which will give you more credibility for future jobs, which means you can start charging more.
Some people have set rates for what they charge per page/per project, no wiggle room. I tend to be a bit more flexible. I have a general going rate for different types of projects, but if it’s a topic I’m really interested in, or if I can tell this is someone’s absolute dream project and they’re taking on a second job to pay for someone to write it for them, I’ll take that into account. At the same time, make sure you’re being adequately compensated for the time and work that you’re putting into it. If you charge too low, you’re going to run out of steam, and it’s going to negatively impact your work, which again won’t help anyone in the end.
If all else fails, you can always google what the standard prices are for a certain type of project and see what pops up. Even if you decide to go lower or higher, it can give you a general starting point.
5. How to Manage Your Time. It may sound too good to be true—getting paid to sit on your couch and write—and to be honest, yeah, sometimes it’s awesome. However, freelance work requires a lot of self-discipline. True, you’re reporting to a client, but if you’re working on a big project for several months, you’re going to have to be the one in charge of your time, and that means you’re going to have to manage it well. Distractions can pop up in all sorts of fun places—the internet and television are my most regular offenders. Many family members and friends will think that because you don’t pull a regular nine to five, you’re not “really working,” which means of course you’re free to babysit/run errands for them/drive them to the airport, right?!
I’ve found that what works best for me is to set a schedule and to plan for breaks (lunch and even times to check the Internet), then stick to it. Find a quiet place to work where you aren’t going to be distracted. If that isn’t home, try the local library or a coffee shop. If you’re being inundated by favors that people need you to do during the day, turn off your phone while you’re working. It may seem extreme, but if you aren’t willing to treat it like a job, then it’s going to be difficult for you to make money doing it.
6. How to Stay Afloat. You probably aren’t going to want to quit your day job right from the start. Build up your client base. Try different projects and see what’s a good fit. The majority of my income now comes from freelance work, but I like to supplement with other things (including temp work, seasonal jobs, nannying gigs). Personally, I prefer to have a secondary income that has nothing to do with writing so that I don’t burn out and can give each client the attention they deserve, but again that’s my own preference.
7. How to Keep the Client Happy. For me, the most important thing to keep in mind is that the client is boss. Whatever you’re writing, it’s their baby; you’re just the doctor who’s delivering it. Just like you wouldn’t want to turn over your novel to an agent or publisher who’s going to butcher it, your client is putting their trust into your hands to help them give shape to the idea they have in their heads but don’t have the time or skill to put into words.
But what if you think you see a huge red flag in whatever they’re writing? (A plot hole, a character that doesn’t make sense, etc.) My personal rule is to mention it once—and only once—and let them decide from there. If they want to keep in the gaping plot hole, it is their gaping plot hole, and you have to respect that.
Hopefully now you feel slightly more prepared to take on the exciting world of freelance. It is more often than not a really rewarding experience to help someone in this way, so make sure you’re prepared to put in the time and effort that they’re investing in you. Good luck, and happy writing.
Editor Elizabeth Gilliland is back at The X working her word magic. Her next project, Conjectrix, the sequel to Vivatera by Candace J. Thomas, will be released in the spring, 2014.
Featured Friday: Steampunk Shakedown
WHAT IS STEAMPUNK BY SCOTT E. TARBET
This article is reposted by permission from the author’s website.
Quick—the girl to the left. What’s her deal?
If you guessed, “She’s a Goth,” with all that entails, you could be excused. Likewise if you guessed she was into Punk Rock–whole different set of societal baggage and expectations.
But the truth is fundamentally different. Truly fundamental.
Before I tell you what that truth is, and why it’s so, let me relate a typical conversation I had just last night.
The word has gotten out in the opera company I sing with—probably because I put it out there—that my first novel (A Midsummer Night’s Steampunk) is about to be released. Truth is, I haven’t just put the word out there; everybody has seen me sit in the dressing room through several productions writing, writing, writing. Writers gotta write, right?
So last night, a number of people came to congratulate me and pre-order copies of the book. And several of them asked two very typical questions, like this:
Q: “What’s it about?”
A: “It’s a Steampunk treatment of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’.
Q: “What the hell is Steampunk?”
Typical.
Back to the girl: of course the goggles are a dead giveaway.
She is neither Goth nor Punk. She is something else entirely, something with an entirely different ethos: she’s a Steampunk.
Although Goths and Punks have their own versions of beauty, the Steampunk sensibility involves neither depression, anger, violence, nor destruction.
Steampunk is fundamentally different: it’s the marriage of the curiosity and wonder of science fiction and a nostalgic yearning for the retro-beauty of a simpler, bygone, semi-mythical era. It’s all about creativity, hope and optimism.
Yet even when Steampunk has become so recognizable in pop culture (what better example than this 2013 Halloween TV commercial?), there are still a lot of people who don’t know what it is, and even more who misunderstand it.
So what is it? Where did it come from?
What is Steampunk?
Ask any three Steampunks that question and you’ll get a half dozen different answers. Maybe more. Some will tell you it’s all about the costume play (“cosplay”), the Live Action Role Play (“LARP”), table games, online games, formal balls, and conventions that are springing up across the U.S. and around the world.
The hardcore enthusiasts are frequently organized into “airship crews“, and go on Arthurian/D&D-flavored quests that sometimes involve long distance travel and stretch days and weeks.
Some Steampunks will tell you it’s all about the Big Hollywood Idea, with movies and TV shows proliferating, such as Wild Wild West, the latest pair of Sherlock Holmes movies, and Back to the Future, Part III.
Still others will tell you it’s all about the ‘Victorian Futurism’ graphic arts or the costumes. One of the fundamental activities of each and every Steampunk con is a formal fashion show, followed by lots of admiring each others’ costumes, taking pictures of each other, and picking each others’ brains for tips and tricks.
Ditto with the weaponry. For more than one Steampunk it’s all about the creativity of the retro-futuristic weaponry. Repurposing Nerf guns is particularly popular, and most cons feature Nerf battles.
The Settings
Common denominators in all the forms of steampunkery include a Victorian or fantasy-Victorian setting, sometimes in the U.S. Wild West, during the budding Industrial Revolution. Usually electricity is present, but hasn’t become widespread, and steam power rules. Clockwork mechanisms are everywhere; thus the gear motifs that dominate steampunk art.
Some fantasy variations include post-apocalyptic scenarios in which technology has reverted to steam power. These scenarios vary by storyteller, be they authors, movie makers, or LARP leaders, and are limited only by the power of the storytellers’ imaginations.
The Roots in Literature
All of the different manifestations of Steampunk culture come back to the literature–the books and short stories.
The term “steampunk” was coined by K.W. Jeter, an author of the emerging sub-genre, back in 1979, and has flowered ever since. Since that time there have been hundreds of new Steampunk authors and titles every year. Some of the most notable include:
- Philip Pullman (His Dark Materials series, 1995-2000)
- Scott Westerfeld (Leviathan series, 2009-2012)
- Stephen Hunt (Jackelian series, 2007-2012)
- China Miéville (Bas-Lag series, 200-2004)
- Tim Powers (The Anubis Gates, 1983)
- James Blaylock (Homunculus, 1986)
- K.W. Jeter (Morlock Night, 1979; Infernal Devices, 1987)
H.G. Wells and Jules Verne were the proto-pioneers of the sub-genre, and are worth picking up over and over again.
In Conclusion:
Now that you’re an educated consumer of Steampunk, new horizons are open to you. Have fun!
Scott Tarbet manages to squeeze in his writing between belting out tenor arias and/or playing villainous thugs for the Utah Opera Company, and running his Texas barbeque catering business in Salt Lake City, Utah.
His short story, “Tombstone,” was released in October, 2013. His first full novel, A Midsummer Night’s Steampunk, a revisionist history expansion of Shakespeare’s classic, is slated for release in November, 2013.
Editor’s Notes: The Grammar Trap
BY TERRI WAGNER
As writers, we often get bogged down in grammar issues when we are actually trying to focus on content. As a result, both our content and our grammar suffer. I know you have read pieces of work that were on target with grammar, and the content was boring, jarring, or too simplistic. The flip side is not any better. Great content will lose a reader when too many obvious grammar errors jump out at them.
How can we avoid this endlessly looping cycle?
There are several suggestions. One of the most shocking to me was to write without any punctuation. No periods, no commas, nothing, nada, zip! The idea was to focus solely on content. Make notes in the margins. Tree-line your work, with arrows pointing to suggestions from yourself to yourself. Make a total mess of the project.
Does that work? Well, ask anyone with a messy desk or room, and odds are, they know where things are. In their mind, they have a picture of their mess. If you mess with their mess, they are likely to get grumpy about it. So make a mess. When you are ready to focus on the grammar, then go back and add the punctuation. There are even publishers who prefer this anyway. They let their grammar editors handle it. That said, a well-polished, well-written piece of work is going to impress publishers .
This approach allows content to become your only focus. Think Gettysburg Address: grammatically speaking, it doesn’t work. Content-wise, it delivers.
A second, more traditional option, is to work on your content and make margin notes on what you may need to check on later for grammar. Like, “note to self, is it ‘who’s or whose’?” Many people like this approach because they will not forget to check, while at the same time, they can remain focused on content. Just a note of caution, however: addressing grammar last may necessitate content changes. Rewriting those sentences ending in prepositional phrases can change the whole intent or meaning of a scene.
Then there is the odd fellow that will proceed line by line, making sure his/her work is grammatically correct before moving on to the next paragraph or page or chapter. A lot of new writers will do this: check chapter by chapter as they move along, desperately trying not to have to re-edit and recheck all the time.
The biggest trouble with this approach is that you get lost in the grammar aspect. How many of us have googled to death the right grammar, only to realize we cannot figure it out. This is probably the worst way to solve the grammar-perfect issue. By getting hung up on the grammar, you lose your muse. Your scene fails to deliver on content.
The best approach, favored by most publishers, is the “second” eye. Simply put, have someone well-versed in grammar to read it over for you. They can use the chapter-by- chapter approach or even scene-by-scene. It is amazing how much they will catch, leaving you time to work out the content.
But, remember, keep good writer’s karma. Lend yourself out as a grammar editor, especially to those who have helped you in the past. This allows you to realize the relief you find when you really can concentrate on one thing at a time.
When she’s not keeping Tweens on the grid at her local middle school or losing her voice rooting for the Crimson Tide, Terri writes and edits from her home in Alabama, overseen by her cat. Her latest project, Shades and Shadows: a Paranormal Anthology, was released on October 31, 2013, to excellent reviews. Her next project, the sequel to Vivatera by Candace J. Thomas, will be released in spring, 2014.
Now Available! Shades and Shadows: a Paranormal Anthology
Happy Halloween!
Now available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback.
In the dead of night, you sense something . . . other . . . beyond your sight, out there in the darkness. You feel a breath upon your neck, cold and clammy, fecund with mold and decay. Your hair stands on end from no random chill. The air is still. No one is there.
Travel with nine talented writers into their paranormal world, but don’t disregard that inkling that niggles somewhere in the pit of your stomach to leave the light on, to shun that dark room, and to pull the covers over your head.
Whatever you do, don’t look under the bed.
With Foreword by SyFy Channel’s Ben Hansen.
The Music Man: An ill-begotten ghost story and a child’s disappearance has haunted Peter Holt his entire life. His one wish: face his personal bogeyman and right a terrible wrong . . . and perhaps find the key to laying his childhood demon to rest.
China Doll: Nothing stays broken in Kris’ small town, but someone always pays the price. Kris must decide if she is willing to do so when her beloved doll is shattered, and discovers deep secrets about her family in the process.
Split Ends: The love between Frank and Bets has never been physical, as the entire town knows. But when Bets faces heartbreak and turns to Frank for comfort, their choices open up a whole new realm of possibility.
Child of the Underworld: Starving for love and affection, Lara escapes her mother’s bleak realm to feast on the light, color, and sound of the world “upstairs.” But only one thing sates her rapacious appetite—and threatens to banish her to the darkness forever.
The Cost of Custody: When a child goes missing, Jonathan Alvey, PI, knows none but he has the skills to rescue her. But, her estranged parents must come together to create the powerful magic to find her before it’s too late.
Tombstone: Death couldn’t stop one old farmer from protecting his land from oilmen, timber-cutters, and his own family. But can he hold out against 21st century technology and a researcher who sees more than dollars and cents in his homestead?
Ghost Townies: Dean and Jimbo need two things to survive the ghost apocalypse: a bolt hole where no one has died, and batteries for their flashlights. Running skills and dumb luck have kept them alive thus far, but not all the evil is amongst the dead.
Crossroads: An unexpected road trip gives Rob Daniels a chance to escape the shackles that bind him. Can Nate, his down-and-out brother, save Rob from repeating Nate’s mistakes? Or will a stranded traveler tempt Rob down forbidden paths?
The Death of Dr. Marcus Wells: The young resident doubts his own sanity when he sees his dead fiancé in the night, but a mysterious stranger offers him clues not only to her disappearance but the gruesome murders which plague London, and the means to solve both mysteries.
Editor’s Notes: What’s In A Name
BY MCKENNA GARDNER
Character names tell a story just as much as the choices the characters make and the events going on around them. As an author, it is your responsibility to create strong, believable characters, and a very important aspect of those characters is their name. Indiana Jones, Atticus Finch, Pepper Potts, Rocky Balboa, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Maleficent, Cruella De Vil, Captain Jack Sparrow, Holly Golightly . . . whether from movie or books, these are all characters which immediately strike an image in our minds. And their names! Unique, fun to say, and boy, do they speak volumes even before you meet them.
What are your character names? Do they sound original? Not only unto themselves, but against the other characters in your book? Do too many of them start with the same letter? Do any of the first names sound too much like another character’s last name? Are they too common in our world if you are writing a fantasy? Are they too weird for your reality-based fiction? Does the spelling become a stumbling block to the reader? <blush>
If you have more than ten characters, you should have a nice list of their names and basic information about them somewhere accessible. When you organize them this way, it’s easier to see and figure out if some changes need to be made. I once accidentally named three of my characters Mr. Henderson, Henrietta, and Henry. I didn’t even notice until about year seven into my writing process.
So, how do you decide what to name them if you haven’t already? I’m so glad you asked.
Step One: determine their ethnicity/cultural background/age/era in existence/etc. You can’t name your average Asian boy Joe Dirt. And you can’t name an average Midwesterner Cho-Lin Huang. Well, you can, but you better have a good reason for doing so. Make their name fit the foundation of who they are. Use http://www.behindthename.com/ and http://surnames.behindthename.com/ to do research on names.
Step Two: analyze your character’s personality. Unless you are going for irony, which is a tried and true literary device, don’t name your bad guys Glen, and your mean teenage girls Theresa. There are always favorites like Skinny Pete who weighs 350 pounds, and Clark Kent who is hands down the toughest superhero in the known galaxy. But then there’s Forrest Gump, and his friend, Bubba. Their names say so much about them and fit them perfectly. So, either be brilliant or stick to the standard, but never be boring. Your characters won’t be, either.
Step Three: research your names. Make sure there aren’t characters with the same name in the same genre, written by someone much more famous than you. Make sure there isn’t a famous serial killer with the same name as your hero. Consider what kind of nicknames kids at school might come up with to torture your character. Does a popular curse word rhyme with their last name? Will that distract the reader, or will it be part of the story? Try to ensure that every thought triggered by the reader is intentional.
Then, go through that list again. Do too many of your characters’ names start with vowels? Too many in the lower half of the alphabet? Too many have double consonants in the middle? Just make sure they sound good, alone and together in the group. You can never have another Bilbo Baggins, but you can certainly make a character just as memorable.
Dog-body McKenna Gardner writes, edits, administrates, and thumps writers into submission from her home in Arizona. A talented author, her short story, “Reformation,” appeared in A Dash of Madness: a Thriller Anthology.
Her most recent project, Shadow of the Last Men, Book One of The Next Man Saga, was released in September, 2013. Her next project, A Midsummer Night’s Steampunk, is slated for release in November, 2013.