Jen's Writing Journey

Michelle Goodman learned the hard way how to build a freelance writing business. Then she captured her wisdom in an easy-to-follow guidebook so you don’t have to make the same mistakes.

My So-Called Freelance Life takes you from the beginning dreams of leaving the cube farm behind to planning for your retirement, with great advice in between. One of the most important points she makes is to ensure that you charge what you are worth. As writers, we see the ads for ridiculously low-paying article and blogging jobs ($2 for 500 words? really?). Goodman describes why those types of jobs are simply not worth your time–and she gives you tips for deciding when a pro bono or low-paying job is worth it.

My complete review will appear in the July 2009 issue of The Willamette Writer.

• Self-Reflection If I learned one thing in my days working on ed tech research journals, it was this: self-reflection is a key component of your ongoing development as a professional in your chosen field.So, I have decided to chronicle the things I'm doing and the lessons I'm learning as I grow......
• Tax Tips for Writers We're just over one month away from the deadline for filing your taxes. Have you put it off, or have you already taken care of them? I have put it off, not because of the IRS fear, but because this year has completely gotten away from me so far. I......
• Writing Roundup, July 10 I hope you are all having as productive a month as you would like it to be. This seems like such a good time to take a breather and go light on the writing projects. Not me, I always seem to have big deadlines in the summer. Maybe next year,......
• Writing Roundup, August 21 We've got a lot of interesting news posts this week in addition to the regular blog suspects. The Business of Writing The Limits of Control This article from the American Journalism Review provides a good synopsis of the ethics policies and guidelines major newspapers are asking their reporters to follow......
• Writing Roundup, May 15 [digg=http://digg.com/educational/Essential_Links_for_Writers]We're halfway through the month already. How have you done with achieving your writing goals so far? The Business of Writing Where Have All the Bookstores Gone? Obviously, you must sing this title to the tune of Paula Cole's Where Have All the Cowboys Gone. No? That's just me? Anyway,......

• Switching To Phone Systems VOIP For The Long Term Changing to phone systems VOIP from a conventional phone can seem like a daunting adventure that few would be willing to risk, but in reality...
• Blogging and Article Marketing A web log is a collection of journal posts that follow a particular theme. These blogs are easily maintained, updated frequently, and do not require...
• Wal-Mart Action: What You Can Do It is pretty common knowledge that Wal-mart offers such low prices in their stores by both forcing suppliers prices down and underpaying their employees, both...
• contracting, freelancing and linklings This gruesome economy...what fun we are all having. We started asking around about listing our house and moving, and we were horrified by the depreciation...
• Your calling doesn't necessarily fund your retirement by itself The Simple Dollar recently offered up a post on retirement planning for a low-income career, aimed at people like some of his friends who have...