Career Management for Writers Archives - Page 3 of 9

The Best Free Resources for Writers to Find Markets to Pitch

Posted on August 9, 2018 Written by Pinar Tarhan

Or you can just look at a pink screen until you can think of markets to pitch. 🙂

Newer freelancers or those who are just thinking about venturing into freelance writing might be afraid they will run out of ideas to pitch. If that’s the case with you, you can always restock your idea well by brainstorming, and I’ve got the post to help you with that: Finding Article Ideas & Writing About Them: 30 Inspiration Tips for Writers

But for many of us, the problem is usually matching the idea to the right market. So I went ahead and wrote an article about this for WOW! Women on Writing: How to Find the Right Markets for Your Ideas,where I interviewed fellow experienced freelance writers and included their tips as well as my own. I also talked about how long you should keep pitching after your idea has been rejected. After all, two of my ideas found homes in about two years.

If you are however in a too-long-didn’t-read mode and want me to just give you some useful links, here they are:

–wheretopitch.com: Wheretopitch is an amazing free tool run by Susan Shain. You put in a keyword, and the website suggests where to pitch for you.

–whopayswriters.com Whopayswriters is another free website where writers list how much they were paid for an article, how long it took, and how easy/difficult it was. If you do a little digging, you will see many magazines you haven’t thought or known about. And you will have a great idea on what you will be dealing with when it comes to payment terms.

– Contently’s Rates Database: This database is much smaller than whopayswriters.com, but you can still go through the list to get ideas on where to pitch.

– *Your writer friends: When I’m stuck on where to write pitch a given piece or if I need more alternatives, I turn to my writer friends. I try to return the favor as much as I can. Writers are busy. We don’t all have assistants (though we really need one), so make sure you are not just receiving favors all the time. The goodwill will dry up. Don’t leave a bad impression.

If you are bad at coming up with places to pitch, you can offer to do other things for your friends such as proofreading or brainstorming ideas with them.

-Funds for Writers: Funds for Writers is an amazingly helpful resource website run by C. Hope Clark. An established writer herself, the website offers submission guidelines for markets, information on grants and contests as well as articles on all aspects of making money from your writing. I strongly recommend subscribing to the free newsletter.

–Writer’s Weekly: Writer’s Weekly is also a great free resource featuring market guidelines and articles. Both Funds for Writers and Writer’s Weekly are paid markets for writers, should you think you have an article idea for them. However, as with any publication, read their guidelines very carefully before pitching anything.

– Paid Publishing Guidebook by Freedom with Writing, as well as their newsletters. Freedom with Writing website offers a free book of markets to their newsletter subscribers. You also get markets suggested to you in the newsletters.

– Paidwrite.com. Kristy Rice’s wonderful website offers comprehensive lists of freelance writing markets. Make sure you hang out there a while to make the most of it.

– Jennifer Mattern’s All Freelance Writing website.In addition to answering most (if not all) of your questions about freelance writing , the website features a markets directory.

And yes, you will encounter markets you have seen elsewhere, but the more you internalize them, the better. Nothing beats knowing at least five markets an idea might be a good fit for from the top of your head. It’s a wonderful time and sanity saver.

How about you? How do you find markets for your ideas?

3 Little Things That Cost Entrepreneurs Money: What Planning Ignores About Selling Products

Posted on June 24, 2018 Written by Pinar Tarhan

Entrepreneurs spend a lot of time and money on their product launches. They measure demand, arrange memorable pre and actual launches, get their fans, friends, and fellow entrepreneurs to spread the word, and their potential customers sulk and leave without buying. This happens on many occasions. The products are quality; the pricing is right.

So why doesn’t the sale go through?

– Limited Format.

Not all learners prefer one method. Visual learners stay away from texts, but some people can’t learn or stayfocused without reading. Not including transcripts for videos, or not including audio or video for texts is a missed opportunity.

– Payment Method.

PayPal has become the Google of online payment processors. It’s secure, highly convenient and almost ubiquitous, almost being the keyword. There are still countries that don’t allow PayPal. Even though “PayPal” payments technically allow credit cards to be connected, you can’t fill in your information correctly if you can’t use PayPal, meaning your country isn’t listed.

– Payment Schedule.

I’m a writing coach and creator myself. I understand the effort that goes into creating something valuable, evergreen,and comprehensive. You don’t want to sell your product short. But while it is okay to set your price at whatever your marketresearch and branding strategy prove logical, you can still offer installments.

A budding entrepreneur or freelancer who wants to learn from you might want to invest a couple of grand, but they might not afford it at one go. So not offering them options creates disappointment and revenue loss.

What has kept you from buying an online course or other product?

How (Not) to Get Followed on Twitter: 13 Tips

Posted on March 27, 2018 Written by Pinar Tarhan

I’m not a celebrity. I’m, however, a social media enthusiast and expert. I’ve been experimenting with and reading about these things since 2007. Yes, that’s a very specific date: That’s when I started using Facebook. I remember because it was a year after my year abroad as a student. I was deeply missing my friends and being bored out of my mind at an internship. I had the technology, particularly no responsibilities (I tried to get them, believe me!) and tons of free time.

Then came blogging, Twitter and Linkedin.

Exceptions: We are friends offline, and I already know who you are. Then none of the below matters. For strangers, take note:

– Write your profile in another language. If I can’t understand what you say, I won’t follow. Simple. I’m trying to learn other languages, but English and Turkish are my only fluent ones at the moment.

– Treat it like content mills treated articles. Don’t make it a keyword dump. There should be some words without hashtags.

– Ignore all the logical advice I happily give.

– Have the picture of an egg.

– Just put a picture of you in your underwear. Really? Unless it’s the cover of erotica fiction you wrote, and it’s not your picture. Then it is fine. Still…do think twice.

– Tell me your marital status, number of kids, what sect of religion you belong to or which prophet you love before telling me what you do and who you are (and no, I don’t think “you” begin with your marital status, number of kids or religion). It’s okay to put them in your bio somewhere if you have to, but I really don’t think they should be the first things I should know about you.

– Don’t be genuine.

– Don’t give any links I can check out.

– Name all the brands you are endorsing.

– Just have an account to offer to get x number of Twitter and/or Instagram accounts for free. Anyone who has spent like a day or two learning about social media will know paid followers mean nothing.

– Follow me, get followed by me, and then drop me because…well, if you lose interest in my work or awesome personality, fine. But unless you are one of my favorite artists, writers or fantasy mentors, I will return the favor. I understand there’s a follower to following ratio. But if you sacrifice me, I’ll do the same. How do you think I remembered to add this here? I’ve just unfollowed people who unfollowed me after following me first.

– Don’t follow me. I’m a rational person. I don’t expect to be followed by Chris Evans, but if you are not him or you’re the editor of Cosmopolitan, I might unfollow you after a while. I’m just saying.

– Never post anything about you.

That’s it. It’s not that hard, but even marketing needs some personality. And believe it or not, you can be professional and personable at the same time. Try it, and you’ll have more followers that are human beings. Maybe one day they will even turn into fans. For more useful tips on social media, please check out my post Social Media Mistakes Writers Can Avoid on the awesome blog Write Naked by Tara Lynne Groth.

January – First Three Weeks: Resolutions Success Breakdown, and Self-Publishing News

Posted on January 22, 2018 Written by Pinar Tarhan

2017’s last post was aptly about resolutions. I’m here to hold myself (and you) accountable for resolutions. You can refresh your memory here: The 2018 Goals Post: Here’s to a Productive and All-Around Kick-Ass Year.

The post basically talked about goals in the areas of health and fitness, networking and socializing, organizing, and writing.

Health and fitness: I bought myself a cheap smartwatch, but I’m using it as a fitness tracker- I got it because it is hard to track your steps with a phone all the time, and seeing the number motivates me to walk more.

Still trying to figure out how certain functions work.

I’m aware the total number might be more than about 1000 than my actual number since it is on my wrist, and I move my hands a lot more than my feet. But I try to take it off if I’m sitting and writing a lot, and I consider how inactive/active I have been when noting the final number. Still, I’m happy to say it serves its purpose. I’m moving more. Can’t disappoint the watch, can you? Also, it is pink and really fun to look at.

Writing: I didn’t write any pages for the works in progress I talked about in my previous post. However I decided to self-publish my novel Making A Difference (M.A.D.). It is a small step for humanity, but a gigantic one for this writer. I’ve had the concept for so long. The only way to get closure on this story was to share it with the world. I’ll share the details on when it will be published, so keep an eye out. I’ll say this: I can promise a fun time for romantic comedy lovers.

Not the actual cover. Currently working with a designer to capture the tone and atmosphere of the story better. 🙂 This is me, learning and experimenting with design.

Networking and socializing: I’m afraid I’m failing in this department this month. I haven’t met anyone new except for online, but 3 weeks wasn’t enough time to get all my work done. I’m hoping to be more productive on this front from February and onward.

How are you faring compared to your resolutions? Share away in the comments.