Or, maybe you’ve been operating your writing business for a while now, but you wish that you had business advice from someone who’s been there. Wouldn’t it be great if someone with some experience would answer your questions?

I’ve written the How To Start A Freelance Writing Business e-book (published through Freelance Folder) specifically to help you succeed as a freelance writer. I’ve been a professional writer for 19 years, and I’ve been freelancing for seven of those years. I want to share with you what I’ve learned.

In fact, it actually took years for me to learn some of the information that I will share with you in How To Start A Freelance Writing Business. However, when you purchase the e-book you’ll have the information that you need today.

I’ve met my goals as a freelancer, and you can too! This book will help you do it.

The e-book is written in a clear, concise manner with plenty of examples. It tells you exactly what you really need to know to get your freelance writing business started. Most people should be able to read this e-book in an hour or two, although you’ll probably want to refer back to it often.

Avoid making costly mistakes as you start your freelance writing business. How To Start A Freelance Writing Business can give your business the competitive edge that you need in this tough economy.

So, what are you waiting for? Get your copy today! Click here to view more details

(This is the first in a series of Freelance Folder e-books designed to help freelancers start various types of businesses.)

Did you already read How To Start A Freelance Writing Business? If so, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment here, or drop me an e-mail.

(In a future post, I’ll share the process that I used to write this e-book, for those of you that are interested.)

About Freelance Writing contains a good mix of advice, book reviews, and job listings. (Yep, for everyone who has asked me where you can find a freelance writing job, here is one place to look.)

This blog’s mix makes it a valuable resource for freelance writers. If you haven’t been  reading it, you’re missing out.

The previous writing blog of note was Willow Sidhe’s The Freelance Home Writer blog. You can read about Willow Sidhe’s blog here.

Note: If you’re consistently posting great information and haven’t seen your blog featured in “Of Note” yet, I apologize. I’ll probably find you soon. I know there are a lot of great blogs out there; I discover more new ones each day. (So many blogs, so little time!)

Contents (c) Copyright 2009, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved.

Recently, I had the privilege of working under the Freelance Folder umbrella to create the How To Start a Freelance Writing Business e-book.

I have to say I’m excited! This is the e-book that I wish that I’d had in my hands seven years ago and now it’s less than a week from being released.

In this book I get to provide the information that you need to get a head start on your writing business. It’s the head start that I never had.

I’ve answered all those basic questions that new writers struggle with, like:

• What skills should a freelance writer have?
• How do I pick a writing niche?
• How can I create an online identity?
• How do I pick a name for my business?
• Where do I get writing jobs?
• And more. . .

You can read the Freelance Folder announcement here!

Stay tuned for the official launch. . .

Contents (c) Copyright 2009, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved.

Image Source: http://www.stockxpert.com/

The Internet has made it easier than ever to compare ourselves with other freelance writers and bloggers easier than ever.

The question is: Is comparison with other writers healthy?

Everyone’s probably already heard about the problems of “keeping up” with the fictional “Joneses.” Comparing yourself with other writers can certainly lead to unhealthy competition and posturing.

Comparison can also be a healthy way to learn more about writing. After all, we’ve all learned from reading each other’s blogs, right?

Frankly, though, I sometimes don’t do well when I spend too much time comparing myself with other writers. Too much comparison leaves me feeling, well, somewhat inadequate, overwhelmed, and even a little bit sick.

“How do they ever manage do get all of that done?” I wonder. “I could never manage even half of that .”

Of course, without contacting the other writer directly, there’s no way for me to know how they did it, either. It might be that their accomplishments look more amazing than they actually are.

The trick when reading other writer’s works is to spend enough time so that you learn something usable, but not so much time that you get caught up in unhealthy comparisons.

How does comparing yourself with other writers affect you?

Contents (c) Copyright 2009, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved.

Image Source: http://www.stockxpert.com/

Most experienced writers realize this claim is ridiculous, so normally I wouldn’t even mention it except for one sad fact: a few unfortunate companies have been taken in by the so-called writers who make this claim and the results have been less than desirable.

Let us take a look at this claim logically, shall we?

Typing speed

If you really think seriously about typing speed, then you will probably immediately realize that any claim to create unique and original material so quickly is false.

To even get 500 words on paper someone claiming to be able to write 500 words in five minutes would have to be able to type over 100 words per minute. While a few professional typists might be able to reach this speed, most people type much more slowly. If you can believe Wikipedia on the subject, most professional typists work at speeds of 50 to 70 words per minute. If this statistic is true, then the person who types over a 100 words per minute is relatively rare.

It is also important to remember that typing speeds are measured when a person is retyping material that has already been written. Such measurements do not take into account the creation of new material.

Let’s look at what it takes to create new material:

• Research
• Organization
• Proofreading

Here is what goes into each step.

Research

Depending on the complexity of the subject and the writer’s prior knowledge on the topic, research can take anywhere from a few minutes for a familiar topic to most of a day for a complex topic that the writer is not familiar with.

Organization

Once the writer is comfortable with their knowledge level on the topic, the material needs to be organized in a way that will make sense to the reader. For short pieces like 500 word articles, the writer may create a simple outline or jot a few headlines down in the order that the topics will appear in the article. He or she then fills in unique text in his or her own words to create an initial draft.

Proofreading

After the writer has created an initial draft, he or she needs to check it over carefully. The writer will look carefully to make sure that there are no typos, grammar errors, or spelling mistakes. He or she will also make certain that nothing has been left out of the article accidentally.

An article is not finished until all of these steps are complete. If you can do the math, you will quickly realize that five minutes is not nearly enough time to produce original quality work.

If you suspect that a writer has not provided you with original material, here are two excellent tools that can help you detect plagiarism:

• Article Checker
• CopyScape

So, now that you know what it takes would you believe someone who claimed to create a 500-word article in five minutes?

Disclosure: This blog post is slightly over 500 words long and took about 45 minutes to create. I was able to create it so quickly only because I am relatively familiar with this topic.

Contents (c) Copyright 2009, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved.

Image Source: www.sxc.hu

My answer, surprisingly, was: “so far, not much.”

I have lost a few clients in the past year - but they were my lowest paying clients anyway. A few other low-paying clients have contacted me less frequently.

On the other hand, it seems that there are now more folks in need of hiring a freelance writer than there was a year ago.

I think the reason for that is two-fold:

1. Companies who might have hired an in-house person a year ago are now sending their work out, piecemeal, to get done.
2. I’ve been pursuing new opportunities a bit more aggressively this year than I did in the past.

I have been reading that there are more people just starting their freelance businesses, but even the added competition hasn’t really hurt - at least not yet.

That may be because many of the people who talk about freelancing never really get started, or it could be because companies are looking for more experienced and stable freelancers. I don’t know.

What has your experience been? Has the economy hurt your freelance writing business?

Contents (c) Copyright 2009, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved.

Image Source: www.sxc.hu

Success means many different things to many different people:

• For some, success is fame.
• For others, success is power.
• For still others, success is obtaining wealth.

My take on success is a little bit different.

If you’re at all familiar with the story of how I became a freelance writer, then you may already know that I was drawn to freelancing in my quest to balance my life: specifically my attempt to achieve a balance between my professional life and my time with friend and family. For me, no amount of fame, power or fortune would be worth the loss of friends and family.

I’ve actually found that keeping a healthy balance enables me to produce a better quality of writing. In the long run, better writing means more clients, which is good for business.

Over all, I feel that I’m successfully meeting my goal of a balanced life. Most of the time, I am able to achieve a comfortable balance between the personal and the professional. It does take work. I say “no” more often than I’d like. However, if you have a similar definition of success know that achieving balance as a writer is quite doable and well worth the effort.

How do you define success?

Contents (c) Copyright 2009, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved.

Image Source: Laura Spencer

Basically, it means that if something works for one person, it should also work for another.

It’s a nice saying - but it isn’t always true.

I’ve found it to be particularly not true when it comes to advice given out on the Internet.

You see, I love to read Internet advice and often I learn something from out. I’ve even doled out some of my own advice.

My attitude toward Internet advice, however, has been to pick and choose. If the advice applies to me, then I make use of it. If it doesn’t fit, well, then I don’t use it.

I would pretty much expect anyone reading one of my posts to apply the same type of discernment.

Lately, however, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend. Some advisors have become more agressive - suggesting that their advice is the ONLY correct to do things. Sometimes, they even become disparaging and downright rude.

Once in while, they are right. Sometimes there is only one correct way to do something. Most often, however, they are not right. My situation differs from that of many other writers and often advice given with a specific scenario in mind doesn’t apply to me at all.

All this to say - be wary when following writing tips. Keep your own writing business in mind. Use found advice when it makes sense, when it doesn’t ignore said advice (even if it’s mine ).

Contents (c) Copyright 2009, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved.

Image Source: http://sxc.hu

“Uh oh, it’s happening again.”

Even though it’s midnight and I’m exhausted I can’t sleep. I keep thinking of ideas for blog posts and articles.

“I wonder, should I keep staring at the clock and hope that I’ll fall asleep? Or, should I give in and get up?”

If you’re involved in a creative profession, then the previous scenario has probably already happened to you. Not only are you taking work home with you (I work from home so my work is alway here anyway), but you’re taking it to bed with you.

I think it’s an occupational hazard. How you deal with it depends on your personality.

For my part, I feel that there’s a high risk of making a mistake when I’m tired. For that reason I try to avoid doing client work late at night.

Blogging, on the other hand, is something that I might risk when I’m tired. Especially when it’s my own blog.

What about you? How are you sleeping?

Contents (c) Copyright 2009, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved.

Image Source: http://sxc.hu

Shh!

Don’t tell anyone. . .

I play favorites. I didn’t start out to do it, but that’s just that way that it has worked out.

You see, I try to visit as many different blogs about freelancing and about writing as I can. I’ve shared many of those visits with you, and I have to admit that there’s a lot of great blogs out there.

But over time some blogs have consistently stood out. I find myself looking forward to visiting these blogs each day and am impatient when the expected post doesn’t materialize.

The time has come, however, to share these favorites with you:

• Men With Pens - Witty, original, and amusing. Yet, I learn something each time I visit. Just when I think they can’t possibly come up with something new, the penmen manage to do it again. Don’t forget to visit the comments, which are a world in and of themself. There’s also a forum.
• Freelance Writing Jobs - Deb Ng started this site to help writers find better paying jobs. She still does that, but she evolved the site into something more when she turned it into a blogging network. Deb’s managed to attract some of the most talented writers to her site (while you are there, check out my guest post: Baby Steps to Paid Blogging).
• Freelance Folder. Alright, yes. I do write for this site so I might be a bit biased. However, I enjoy reading this blog even when I’m not the author of the most current post. The information is always on target. There’s also a forum and a job bank. The real strength of this site, in my opinion, is the way the readers pitch in to help each other, as seen in the comment.

Do you play favorites too! What blogs do you find indispensable?

Contents (c) Copyright 2009, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved.

Image Source: Laura Spencer