Jeff Smith Interviews Nancy about Freelance Success

Jeff [Question]

Nancy, thanks for giving up some time to share your knowledge with our readers today. Can you give us an overview of your writing experience and what types of writing you have done to earn a living?

Nancy Hendrickson [Answer]

Jeff, I’ve written five books and over one-thousand shorts, features and Web pieces. My clients include Discovery.com, Family Tree Magazine, eBay Magazine (when it was still in print), Men’s Fitness, Personal Journaling, Writer’s Digest, The Writer, Image-Acquire.com, History Magazine, LAPTOP and Personal Computing. As you can see, I write for a large variety of companies and interests.

Jeff [Question]

You have a fabulous book – “Secrets of a Successful Freelancer”. When did you come up with the idea to write this book and where did the idea come from?

Nancy Hendrickson[Answer]

I met writer after writer who really didn’t know how to get started in the magazine industry. The book evolved from a series of e-mails I developed to answer the qestions I received about the in’s and out’s of getting published–or advancing a writing career.

As you know, for someone without clips (samples of published work), it seems almost impossible to get someone in the industry to notice you. However, if you go about it the right away–and are willing to do some jobs for free or low pay–you WILL get published. And, once you’ve been in print once, it’s easy to move up from there.

Jeff [Question]

Many of our readers REALLY wonder if you can make a good living selling your own writing – without being a top author or expert writer. What would say to them?

Nancy Hendrickson [Answer]

Well, I’m living proof that you can make a living as a freelance writer–and clearly, my name isn’t Tom Clancy!

Jeff, it’s all a matter of building a business from the ground up. It takes time and perserverance, and an unwillingness to give up. I have a very thick file of rejection letters I received when I first started writing–but instead of making me want to give up, they just spurred me to try harder.

Also, I believe all writers MUST be willing to branch out into several directions (i.e. also writing for the Web or writing e-books), and learn about promotion and marketing. Let’s face it – - as writers, we’re selling ourselves, and we need to know how to do that most effectively. In fact, your readers might also be interested in a new e-book I’m writing now that covers the nuts and bolts of e-publishing for writers. It’s called “Make Money e-Publishing” E-books are a fantastic way for writers to make an ongoing passive income–which I’m all for!

Jeff [Question]

One of the questions I get asked the most from people looking to earn a living writing is “How do I find topics to write about that people will buy?” Whether it be articles, books, ebooks, special reports – what methods do you use to find subjects and titles that people want to buy?

Nancy Hendrickson [Answer]

If your readers concentrate on developing interesting topics that they, themselves, enjoy reading about, they’ll have a wealth of topics to draw from. For example, I’m one of those people called an “early adopter”. That means when a new tech gadget hits the market, I’m one of the first to buy it. In my case, that holds particularly true to digital cameras and personal digital assistants (PDAs).

How I use that to my advantage is to find spins to those general topics that I know other people will be interested in too. For example, I’ve written at least a half-dozen articles on how to use your Palm-based handheld for genealogy. I’ve also written about using handhelds for health, keeping track of your kids’ soccer schedules, keeping track of your wine tastings, and travel. I’ll probably keep writing about this general topic for years–but putting a different spin, depending on my target audience.

If there’s one “secret” I’d like to pass on to your readers, it’s this: Find ONE topic you really love and write down at least 25 different ways to spin the topic for different audiences. Once you do this, you’ll find how easy it is to come up with salable story ideas. In fact, in my book, I did a list of 25 ways to sell stories about San Diego (where I currently live). It was an interesting exercise for me–and valuable as it helped me sell several articles.

Jeff [Question]

Excellent stuff!

Nancy, you are obviously very accomplished – do you recommend that people specialize on a certain market niche or that they go broad with their writing?

Nancy Hendrickson [Answer]

I discovered an interesting fact awhile back about that question. It’s not really important if YOU consider yourself a specialized writer—what’s important is that EDITORS think you are. As an example, I write about several fields, but each of my editors in those fields consider me an expert in THEIR field. So, my technology editor thinks I’m just a whiz at tech articles, while my genealogy editor thinks I specialize only in genealogy.

Yes, you HAVE to market yourself to editors as being expert (or knowing where to get expert interviews) in their field. However, you can still write for more than one field–and in fact, you really need to. So, although I’m really a generalist, I’m also a specialist.

Jeff [Question]

Where do you see the leading opportunities in the field of writing – examples: articles, corporate, travel, books, ebooks, self-published versus published, etc…

Nancy Hendrickson [Answer]

Jeff, in terms of the magazine market, I think you’ll see more and more articles on health and business. As boomers age, their health is a MAJOR concern–they want to live longer and be healthier than their parents.

If your readers have an interest in this field, I’d suggest signing up to take a class on health writing–or read all you can about it.

Also, I write more about business now than I ever did. In tihs global economy, competition among businesses is so intense, businesses need solid stories on their industries to help bring them more clients.

In the world of e-books, my advice is a little different. Write about what you love and know–trust me, there will ALWAYS be other people with the same interests–and they’re your target audience. Reaching these markets is one of the major subjects of my new e-book.

Jeff [Question]

Nancy – I want to thank you for your time, sharing your valuable experience with our readers. Before you go, can you offer our readers your advice on the 3 most important things to know about freelance writing?

Nancy Hendrickson [Answer]

1. Never give up–I don’t care how many other writers there are in this world–none of them brings YOUR eyes to the business. What you have to say is valuable.

2. Treat your writing business like a business. If you want to succeed, your focus has to be on building a business, not indulging in a hobby.

3. Learn to become a master marketer–whether you’re writing a query or selling an e-book, you must learn to sell yourself and your products or ideas. Once you’ve mastered this skill, it’ll be hard for an editor, or a potential customer, to say no.

Jeff [Final Remarks]

Thanks again Nancy – your information and book really help us understand what separates the starving writers from those who use the written word to write their own ticket to a terrific income.