Comments on: Fees – Writers Probably Need A Speciality Or Two

By: Deb

Deb — Sun, 03 May 2009 14:55:31 +0000

I agree about having more than one specialty. My whole life has been spent learning new specialties (Not My IDEA, just trying to make a living). The challenge at this time is to not have too many areas of specialization! Deb’s last blog post..Free Anti-Virus and other Utilities

By: Sue Chehrenegar

Sue Chehrenegar — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:59:01 +0000

Yes, Writing about a “specialty” is a great way to make money. It is also very satisfying. I am in the process of completing web pages for a man who wants to market a new sort of supplement. My focus is on pages directed at children and parents.

( I majored in biology at college; since then I have taken a correspondence course about writing for children)

By: admin

admin — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 13:21:04 +0000

Devon and Isaac, you’re both right as well. Having more than one writing specialty or niche or genre is also a good idea. ‘Tis a balancing act isn’t it.

Autumn, you’re right about being able to write 3-5 500ish word articles an hour. I did my stint at this in the real estate market and I found it terribly boring after awhile. Was grateful for the cash when I needed it and was more grateful when I could move on. Also nice to know I can go back there if necessary.

Julia, what I really like about what you say is you’re already planning to diversify once you get a good start on the user guides, etc. Sounds like wisdom to me.

By: Devon Ellington

Devon Ellington — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 13:51:39 +0000

Hey, you guys want to limit yourselves into "niche" writing, there's all that more open for me. One of the reasons I freelance is so I can follow anything that interests me and get paid for it. And I do. Devon Ellington’s last blog post..Friday, March 13, 2009

By: Money Matters: Take Control of your Hourly Pay « Autumn Editing & Writing’s Blog

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 09:48:55 +0000

[...] 13, 2009 by autumnediting Today I was reading one of my favorite blogs , which recently discussed a few money issues when it comes to freelance writing. In this and other [...]

By: Autumn

Autumn — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:33:23 +0000

I've written plenty of SEO articles for $25 or more, and I did start out writing SEO articles that paid $5 each. Once you know what you're doing, you can actually write several 500-word articles per hour. Granted, they're not full of quality; in fact, mine were almost stream-of-consciousness writing with some keywords slapped in there. But they had proper grammar and made sense, and I could write about 4 or 5 an hour. That's $20 to $25 per hour just getting started in freelance writing...I was able to pay my mortgage with such articles, and it led to better jobs that allow me to actually provide quality content. Autumn’s last blog post..What Are the Top 5 Traits of Good Content?

By: Isaac

Isaac — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:46:58 +0000

There's an interesting article related to this over at editorunleashed.com about not boxing yourself into a niche too much. It's an interesting contrast to this. Isaac’s last blog post..Query Letter that Worked

By: Julia Borgini

Julia Borgini — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:12:30 +0000

Yes, I totally agree Anne. In trying to get my freelancing technical writing career off the ground, I’ve seen all sorts of those jobs float by. I don’t know how people could possibly make a full-time living off of them. As you said, you’d get a bit of coin & some credits you could point to, but that’s about it.

This is why I’m focusing really hard on my specialty of technical writing– by which I mean user guides & online help, not articles about technical topics. But that doesn’t mean I can’t do that in the future. It’s just that’s what I’m ready to offer right now, and what can earn me the most for my time. Once I’m able to diversify and do things like write up articles on technical subjects, I’ll offer that as well.