Congratulations! Not only did you finish writing your 120-page cinematic opus, but you have a motion picture producer interested in bringing it to the silver screen. You’re ready to sell. Ready to see your name on the back of a director’s chair. Ready to chow down on craft service while Jake Gyllenhaal and Rachel McAdams deliver your prose… But wait, not so fast. What’s this agreement the producer’s handed you? An option? He’s not buying it? What does this mean? Well, let’s break it down… What is an option exactly? An option agreement is an industry-standard document that interested producers give writers when they’re not quite ready to buy the script, but don’t want anyone else to buy it either. Maybe they don’t have enough money yet, aren’t sure they can get it made or don’t know what the budget will be (and the budget often determines the writer’s fee). An option simply gives the producer the exclusive right to purchase the material at any time during the term of the agreement. Here’s a sample option for reference: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kpiuHbB6zUJhm1FDUq__4OrB6LeaJ25QnJvF2fM_Vrw/edit?usp=sharing What do I need to have in place before optioning my script? First, make sure the script has been registered with the More
Making a Living as a Life Story Writer
/ 2019-01-25A business card left at a coffee shop that garners a $50,000+ writing gig. Same card, different coffee shop, that results in a feature story in a local publication. No, it’s not the card that’s magic, but the profession it advertises: life story writer. Those were only two of the many strokes of good luck I’ve had since I started my career as a life story and family history writer nearly ten years ago. The genre, also known as personal history, serves a population of mostly older adults eager to preserve their stories without having to do the writing themselves. The books are intended for family and friends, not the wider public, so there’s no need for queries, book proposals, agents, or publishers—just a client willing to invest the time and money to record their cherished memories. Here’s how it works: I sit down with a client for a series of interviews in which we talk about their growing-up years, their parents and siblings and relatives, their first loves, their war experiences, their careers, their challenges and joys, their reflections on what it all means—in other words, anything they feel moved to talk about. In between interviews, I’m at my More
Make Time to Be Solitary
/ 2019-01-11Loneliness expresses the pain of being alone and solitude expresses the glory of being alone. ~ Paul Tillich Books take many hours to write, which gives the public the impression that writers are lonely, solitary creatures. The average person cannot stand being alone. However, it’s next to impossible to be alone anymore. I’m not talking about people interference, though that is an issue. How often do you write without access to the internet? Your phone? Earbuds or background music? Most writers aren’t solitary. On the contrary they usually cannot stand not to be connected. And maintaining that connection means you are not completely alone which could be impacting your writing. You may think you need the noise, connection, or music because your brain cannot take the concept of being totally shut off from it. You’ve convinced yourself you need that accompaniment. Truth is, being focused on one, intense thing like creative writing is a challenge. We multi-task so much these days that we have lost touch with single-tasking. If we are too long silent online, or do not answer our phone, other people worry. Actually, when people are able to slide away into solitary mode and remain there a while, More
Cashing in on Local Copywriting Gigs
/ 2018-12-29When I began freelancing over a decade ago, I greatly enjoyed the challenge of pitching and achieving payment for writing magazine articles. But since the assignments weren’t easy to come by and patience is not one of my top virtues, I decided I’d rather target copywriting opportunities in my own backyard. My first step was to learn about search engine optimization (SEO) so I could attract clients to my website. That meant creating pages on my site for keyword combinations like “Sacramento copywriter” and “Sacramento freelance writer.” I also targeted a wider area with pages for “Silicon Valley copywriter” and “California freelance writer.” I decided that I would specialize in electronic newsletters, which included writing, creating, and managing them with Constant Contact. I planned to target my favorite local day spa as my first potential client, but I couldn’t find an email address for the owner (and I was too chicken to pick up the phone). So, I typed up a letter letting him know I was a long-time customer of the spa, as well as a local copywriter and marketing expert. I said that he was missing out on business opportunities by not publishing an electronic newsletter. The day More
Ghostwriting: A Lesser Known Career Path that Pays Big
/ 2018-12-22Graduating with an engineering degree, I had no clue I would end up being a freelance writer. I chose to be one, as it best suited my life during the recession period back in 2009. Like many other writers who get stuck with low paying content mills like Elance (now Upwork), I started my career earning peanuts. That changed when I did research for a blog post in 2013 about how much ghostwriters earn. That research taught me that I was highly undercharging at $1 per page. The first eBook I ever ghostwrote for a client was over 50 pages long and paid only $50. And that included Elance’s and PayPal’s fees, too! Today, in 2018, I charge as much as $1-$2 per word. I charge more for creative work or fiction than for nonfiction. If the work requires extensive research, the rate runs higher. This means ghostwriting a 10k words novella would easily earn me $10,000. Now, imagine what a full-length novel of 60,000 to 100,000 pays. Ghostwriting is a lucrative niche that many writers don’t know much about. Why Ghostwrite? The truth is: I have tried self-publishing. This requires time to market and sell your books. Ghostwriting is More
Five Tips to Promote Yourself as a Newbie Freelance Writer
/ 2018-12-22It can get hard to get off the ground while starting your freelance writing business. This is especially true if you have quit your day job and you’re yet to get your first assignment. The pressure can be extremely agonizing. All you need to do is leave your worries aside and get down to business. Here are five ways you can promote yourself as a freelance writer and get a regular stream of work: Create a Portfolio A portfolio would help you to showcase your work to your clients with a quick link. The first step to create one is to get published on some of the existing blogs or magazines as a guest author. Once you have a bunch of published articles and client work, (including websites, and newsletter content, etc.) you can make use of portfolio sites like Contently and Clippings.me to put up your published clippings. I created my portfolio on Contently before I quit my full-time job to get into freelance writing. Throw up a Website A website is a great way to promote yourself as a freelance writer. You can create a site on a free platform like Tumblr or WordPress. You can create one More
House-Sitting Puts Ink in the Travel Writer’s Pen
/ 2018-11-30Staying for extended stretches in exotic and culturally rich places for free? Then being paid for pieces you’ve written about your stay? Sounds unreal, but the reality is anything but: over the past several years I’ve spent one- to two-month periods in Hawaii, Mexico, Panama, the Bahamas and St. Vincent and the Grenadines with my sweetheart Alice, without paying a cent for lodging. With some careful prep, and an open eye and mind for stories when you get there, you can set yourself up for exciting travel—and even some green from writing about that excitement. Finding the Opportunities For the past few years, mindmyhouse.com has been our house-sitting site of choice. The site provides descriptions and photos of the properties, dates and length of stays, and what the homeowner wants you to do in exchange for staying at their home. MindMyHouse emails listings almost daily, and they are truly from all over the world. Some owners want you to do things like manage multiple Airbnbs or groom their herd of buffalo, but most of them want someone to take care of pets, water plants and keep the house secure. The Net, Cast Wide To be doable, you have to have work that More
Multiple Submissions of Freelance Material
/ 2018-11-30A reader asked me to address this topic. She had an article to query to publications and didn’t want to wait for one answer at a time. Could she pitch to several markets at once, she asked. The answer isn’t a simple Yes or No. It’s actually Yes AND No. And I have my own personal anecdote for this lesson. Back in my earlier freelance days, I proposed articles on writers and grants to Writer’s Digest as well as The Writer. Each was a unique pitch, written differently, but on the same subject. I’d just gone full time as a freelancer and knew the odds of both nationally-recognized magazines accepting my pieces was slim to none. One of the publications accepted within a month but never stated when the story would come out. The other didn’t get in touch for almost a year but told me when the article would appear. They both came out in the same month. I received a contributor’s copy feeling completely ecstatic. Then I opened the other envelope in the mail and saw where the other publication sent me their contributor’s copy. The thrill of opening one was replaced with dread and despair. Sure enough, one More
Tapping into Local Businesses for Writing Work
/ 2018-11-02Here’s an optimistic thought: writing is a necessary part of every business. You read that right. Every business – big and small – has the need for written language. More good news: most businesses don’t have a full-time or even part-time writer on staff. Hint: here’s where you come in. Local businesses need your skills. They just don’t know it yet. It’s up to you to tell them. Identifying potential clients First you have to find them. Take a walk or a drive and make a note of locally-owned businesses in your town and the writing needs they might have. Browse the Yellow Pages online at yp.com. Identify potential clients by joining the chamber of commerce. Local rotary clubs also give you access to small business owners. (I’ve found small businesses better targets than large businesses, which are more likely to have in-house writers.) Compiling your information Once you’ve identified potential businesses, it’s time to give them something – for free. I’m not advocating you work for free. Instead, put together a brochure or letter that includes helpful writing-related information: how email newsletters benefit businesses, ways to generate social media content or writing for your target audience. Then remind them More
Writing for Hobby and Leisure Activity Magazines
/ 2018-10-19When I began my freelance writing career in 2007, I would never have believed I’d end up writing dozens of articles for hobbyist magazines. But today, my bylines include more than 20 special interest magazines for hobbies as diverse as gardening, gold prospecting, ham radios, four-wheel drive vehicles, classic cars, art and sculpture, wine tasting, hiking, brewing beer, living history re-enactments — even UFOs! My bylines in hobby and leisure activity magazines include Garden Answers, Pacific Horticulture, Lost Treasure, Monitoring Times, Popular Communications, National Communications, VHF Communications, Off Road Adventures, Collectible Automobile, Open Minds, Renaissance, Sculpture, Videoscope, Walking New Zealand, Washington Tasting Room, New Writer, The Writer, Writers Forum, Writers News, and Zymurgy. I’ve found hobbyist magazines among the easiest genres to break into. And I’ve found that once I’ve got my foot in the door with these publications, their editors have been highly receptive to repeat business. Leisure activity magazines exist in a mind-boggling plethora of topics; trains, quilting, motorcycles, automobiles, cats and dogs, dolls, scale modeling, yachting, cycling, running (and nearly every other sport imaginable), camping, hiking, video games, arts & crafts, astronomy, military history, stamp collecting, coin collecting, rock & gem collecting, antique collecting, and every other More