I was also wondering of you could give me some sort of rough estimate of what the money is like in freelance writing. I realize this is near-impossible to predict, given the profession’s vagaries, but I was hoping you shed some light on the area… like how much such and such mag/publication/website might be willing to offer to someone with my kind of background and experience.

This is a really difficult question to answer, because, like you said, given the way the business works, it’s absolutely impossible to calculate, even roughly, what a person can make. The beauty of freelancing is that there is no cap on how much you’ll earn, but that also means that the more you work, the more you hustle, the more money comes your way. With the caveat that sometimes no matter how much you work and how much you hustle, you may still struggle for a decent income.

I’m not trying to be negative. But the truth is that until you’re an established name and editors recognize your work, it can be very difficult to be trusted with the kind of assignments you mention in your e-mail (reporting in far-flung regions of the country or world).

More specifically, to answer your question about how much magazines, publications, or websites pay, well, it depends.

Obviously how big the publication is makes a difference. It matters, too, where the publication is based. And of course, how much time you’ll be spending on the assignment, whether or not you’re doing any investigative work, etc, all factor into it.

In the US, for instance, national women’s magazines will pay $2 per word and up, whereas you wouldn’t get that rate from Indian publications. Similarly, corporate writing pays much more than magazine writing, and newspapers usually pay a daily wage (though Indian newspapers are known to be low-payers). (You can find a lot of this information by searching for “writer’s markets” or “writer’s guidelines” in Google.)

(See also: On the Market Hunt.)

That said, it takes a while for most freelancers to get to the point where they’re making a decent income. In my case, it took me approximately two years of part-time freelancing before my career really took off, and I’ve often had to supplement my work with how-to and the “armchair journalism” that you speak of in order to keep the money coming.

So, I’m afraid, there is no rule when it comes to freelancing. Some freelancers I know make a good six-figure-per-month income, even in this economy, while others, despite years in the business struggle to churn out even a few thousand Rupees. I think the difference is that the people who’re actually earning are really self-motivated and keep plugging away. Most also understand that this is a business and that writing is a job, and they do treat it as such by negotiating, demanding good pay, meeting their deadlines, and networking with other writers and editors.

It seems, though, like you’re well on your way in that arena.