I really want to pursue a full-time career in freelance writing. . .My dream would be to do corporate writing 1/2-3/4 of the time (bread and butter!) and then do magazine/newspaper/article pieces the rest of the time.  Since you seem to be familiar with these areas, can I ask you how on earth you got your foot in the door?  How did you land your first magazine gigs?  Corporate gigs?  I’ve talked to some freelance writers who started off with an agency or company, so their advice isn’t as relevant, but your situation is similar to mine so I’m hoping you might have even more helpful advice.

Yep, I dove right into magazine/newspaper writing, not knowing that there’s such a low success rate! Maybe if I’d seen the statistics, I might have become a crocodile hunter or something, but when I started freelancing, it was because I’d failed miserably at engineering, had been told I was a good writer, and thought I’d make some easy money churning out a few articles each month for pay (ha!)

Well, clearly, all my illusions were shattered within the first month (even though I started getting work immediately) and I realized that while it’s easy to make “some” side money as a freelancer, trying to do it as a career is, well, challenging to say the least.

I had zero contacts, so I did it the old-fashioned way: I came up with ideas that seemed like they might sell, I wrote the best query letters I possibly could, I marketed my butt off, and eventually, I started getting regular work. It wasn’t sexy, and it wasn’t all that fun, but for a long time, it paid the bills.

It also helped me build contacts and relationships and that led to more work.

I did do well enough that I never had to do any corporate writing, but I know that my experience is rare, and a lot of freelancers regularly do corporate and PR work (there’s no shame in that; if it helps you do what you enjoy, I say go for it!)

My career has moved slowly, but surely. I’ve worked my way up from low-paying publications, I’ve written about all kinds of shit that makes my mind go numb, I’ve sent out Letters of Introduction by the dozens, and I’ve written and re-written so many query letters, I could probably crank one out in my sleep.

With each article and publication, I’ve grown and improved, and therefore, made my way into the big leagues. And though, even now, the dratted bank account does sometimes hover around dangerously low levels, I don’t really doubt that I can have a long-term future as a freelance journalist. But it took time, a lot of patience, and at least for me, a lot of paying the dues, so to speak.

That said, there are certainly a few things I wish I’d known when I started and some myths I wish I hadn’t bought into (perpetuated by experts on the Internet, of course), so I’ll lay them out for you. This is my experience only, so I really recommend using your own good judgment in what works for you. There really is no one way to make a freelancing career, so I can only tell you what made it happen for me.

* The most important advice I received (and continue to struggle with) is the speed of work. You simply don’t have time to sit around and mope about your bank balance, spend days perfecting your pitches or waste away hours on writer’s forums. In the end, the more you work, the more you put out there, the more you’re going to earn, and you really have to watch that hourly (or daily) rate.

* I’ll follow up that first point by saying that most writers focus too much on the writing and don’t give that much thought to the idea. Look, if your idea sucks, no matter how pristine your writing or how clever your word choices, it’s just not going to sell. And if the idea is so fabulous, the editor really isn’t going to care if you misspelled a word or two. I think too many new writers really lose sight of what’s important and focus on the wrong thing.

* Hustle, hustle, hustle. Seriously. This is a business, and like in all business, you need clients. So go out and get them. You know, when I started freelancing, I’d read a lot about how you could now contact editors on the Internet, how you didn’t really have to live in a certain state or city to get work and how meetings and phone calls were no longer important because everyone was working via e-mail. I agree with all that, but I wish somebody would have just told me that it was perfectly acceptable to get off my ass and go meet some of my editors.  Because seriously, ever since I started doing that, my career has really taken off. It’s not about selling articles; it’s about building relationships. It’s much harder for an editor to reject, and much easier for her to work with, a freelancer that she has met.

* Finally, you have to, have to, have to, be persistent. I can’t tell you how many freelancers I know who simply refused to take no for an answer and kept sending ideas for years before they received assignments from certain editors. Many will simply not accept silence,  and will follow up on a monthly basis on their ideas, sometimes to a fabulous response. I know writers keep advocating against this, but why on earth wouldn’t you pick up the phone to call an editor and inquire about a pitch they’ve shown interest in? Why on earth wouldn’t you go meet an editor (or writer or photographer) you have worked with or want to work with?

It’s a tough business, there’s no doubt about that. But really, it’s not as tough as some people make it out to be. There are hundreds, thousands, of people all over the world who’re freelancing very successfully and getting work regularly. They’re not all the best writers, but they’re certainly professional businesspeople who treat their work as such.

You can absolutely be one of them. All you need to do is find good ideas, write engaging query letters, and make sure your pitches get into the hands of people who’ll read and assign them. Seriously, once you’ve mastered those three things, it’s really that simple.

Does that help? Let me know if you have any other questions, and I’ll do my best to answer them.

Let’s hear from the established freelancers? Have anything to add to what I’ve said? What tips would you give to someone just starting out?