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I love being a freelance writer because, you know, it’s so sexy.

Filed under Success Stories by Jennifer Brown on January 31, 2012 at 10:31 am {one comment}

I’ve been a freelance writer for several years now and I am always amazed that people see this job as sexy. I was at the Mall of America yesterday and a clerk in Eddie Bauer asked what I do for a living. I stumbled over my answer because I wear so many hats; freelancer, writer, ghostwriter, blogger, teacher (I will be teacher a class through community education this fall!!) but once I finally got it out he asked if it was as sexy as Charlize Theron made it look in that movie.

I haven’t seen that movie so I don’t know how sexy she made it look but it’s Charlize Theron so obviously it would be really sexy.

Um, no. Freelance writing, ghostwriting, blogging, etc… are not the most sexy of jobs. Unless, of course, you do all these jobs in the adult entertainment world and then I still doubt they’d be sexy…skanky maybe, but probably not sexy.

I didn’t aim to be a freelance writer. This was a career I backed into. I love it, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t something I have been trying to achieve since I was a young girl.

That said, I have always wanted to be a writer. A real writer, one who writes books and makes gobs of money. Unfortunately there are a lot of people reaching for the same apple on that career path and like acting there is a lot of waiting tables until you reach your dream. For me I have to write about things I might not have chosen to so I can earn the money needed to write my book.

Still, not a bad gig.

I don’t have to sit in a cubicle all day, I don’t have a boss who micromanages everything I do. I can wear anything I want to work, I can set my own hours and take off whenever I want. I can pick and choose who I want to work with. I have an incredible amount of freedom and that’s something that is really important to me because I need flexibility as a single mom.

On the other hand, I have no net and I have to hustle each job I get. I work long hours, don’t have time to take off whenever I want and when something goes wrong I have no one to blame but me. Um, and I don’t look like Charlize Theron, unless you count that one movie about the serial killer she did.

Still, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Savvy Writing Careers Has Moved to Better Serve Creative, Freelance and Ghost Writers (savvywritingcareers.wordpress.com)
How to Solve the Five Challenges Freelance Writers Face When They Guest Post (savvywritingcareers.wordpress.com)
Freelance Writer | the Write Man for the Write Job (dennishernz.wordpress.com)

I love being a freelance writer because, you know, its so sexy.

How to Become a Published Author Part 2 by David Hulegaard

Filed under Success Stories by David Hulegaard on January 17, 2012 at 6:28 am {no comments}

Editor’s note – This is the second article in a series by David Hulegaard, author of Noble and The Jumper, who shares with us his journey to becoming a published author. You can find the first part here.

At the encouragement of my friends, I looked into self-publishing options. I wasn’t looking for a multi-million dollar contract; I just wanted to share my story with people. Significant strides had been made in the way of independent publishing, and it didn’t take long for me to find the option that was right for me.

On October 16^th, 2010, my first novel was published! I will never forget the first time I held a printed copy in my hands. I imagine it’s similar to what parents must feel the first time they pick up a newborn child.

I never looked back after that. I got bit by the writing bug hard, and before I knew it I had a slew of other story ideas lined up. I kicked myself for not pursuing my passion sooner. That was a little over a year ago and I’m happy to report that I’m still going strong and loving every minute of it!

Am I famous? Not even close. Have my experiences taught me many valuable lessons that I can pass along to others? Absolutely. I am so grateful for the success that I have had over these past fourteen months, but they did not come without a share of pitfalls along the way—pitfalls that could have been avoided had I been a little wiser, a little less impulsive, and taken the time to do a little more research first.

Every author is likely to give you a different list of “do’s” and “don’ts,” but here are the key pieces of advice that have helped the most:

Do not publish without a professional edit

Nothing upsets a reader more than paying money for a book full of typos and missing words. All it takes is one bad review to kill any potential your book might have had. No matter how hard you scrutinize your writing, you will NEVER catch all the mistakes on your own.

I released my first novel without a professional edit. With a little luck on my side, I survived the faux pas, but as soon as I could afford an editor I did a re-issue that was free and clear of all the stupid little mistakes.

Yes, editors can be expensive, but I guarantee that there is no greater investment you can make for your career. If you believe in yourself and see writing as something more than a hobby, you owe it to yourself to get a good editor. They can make all the difference in the world between a good book and an unforgettable book.

Do hire a graphic designer for your book cover

You can’t judge a book by its cover, right? Wrong! Your book cover is your first chance to make a good impression, so spend a little money and get something eye-catching.

Got graphic design skills already? Fantastic!

Save yourself a few bucks, but do some research into your genre and see what the best-selling covers look like. It’s important to understand what speaks to your audience.

Do use social media to interact with readers

Personally, I only like Twitter, but the same principal applies to Facebook, Google+, and so on. Use your valuable time to write, but make sure to allow yourself at least an hour a day to get out there and mingle. Respond to people when they reach out to say hello. Show people you’re a real person and not sent from the future to kill Sarah Connor.

Do not use social media to spam potential readers

Yes, you need to advertise and market your books, but an onslaught of messages asking for money will do little more than harm your reputation and chase away readers. You need to find the right balance, which takes time and experimentation, but a general rule of thumb would be to keep your advertisements subtle and non-intrusive. For an example, “Thanks for following! Buy my book!” is a horrible way to start off a relationship with your readers.

Do make friends with other authors

Banding together with other authors is good for building a network, and support system, of like-minded individuals. We’re not in competition with each other. Authors can offer you advice, help share your messages, keep you in the loop on upcoming opportunities, and so on. I have made many new author friends thanks to the wonders of social media and I wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world.

Do not spend gobs of cash on marketing

This is a big one. If you’ve just published a book, you may be tempted to spend a lot of money to get it out in front of lots of people. DO NOT!

You want a crash course in reality? I hired a PR agency after I published my first book. Over six months, they bled me of $5,000 and netted me a grand total of seven followers on Twitter. In a word: Ouch. Present David wishes he could go back in time and punch Past David in the kidney. Do you have any idea how much you can do with a $5,000 budget? Well, I do now, and if I can help just one person avoid the same costly mistake I made, then I’ve done my job.

Do not ever stop reading

The more you read the better writer you will become. It can teach you new ways to attack your own shortcomings and refine your craft. If you’re reading, then you’re learning. Always remember to read!

There is plenty more that I have learned along the way, but this is a finite space that I am working within. Just remember one thing: This isn’t easy. If it was, everyone would be doing it. Don’t get frustrated and NEVER GIVE UP!

I hope that you have found something in my post that will help you. If you have any questions or just want someone to bounce ideas off of, I’m a pretty easy guy to find. I thank you for taking the time to read this and I sincerely wish you the best of luck!

Read a book or the Kardashians win,

~ David K. Hulegaard

–

David K. Hulegaard is an author and student of film and music. He developed an extensive imagination at an early age while burying his nose into a mixture of R.L. Stine books and literary classics.

With an established professional background in the real world of category management, consultation and marketing, he felt unable to quench his thirst for creativity. This led to the release of his debut novel in October 2010.

He currently lives in Oregon City with his fiancee, where there is never a shortage of inspiration. Citing a variety of influences, he loves to dabble within many different genres and settings to tell a story.

Scott Berkun on Self-Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing (jwikert.typepad.com)
THE BOOK MARKETING EXPERT NEWSLETTER! Issue #263 (amarketingexpert.com)

How to Become a Published Author Part 2 by David Hulegaard

How To Become A Published Author by David Hulegaard

Filed under Success Stories by David Hulegaard on January 10, 2012 at 4:53 pm {5 comments}

Editor’s note - Today we have a guest post from David Hulegaard, author of Noble and The Jumper, who shares with us his journey to becoming a published author. Like most writers, David is a bit long winded so his story has been broken down into two articles. The first half of his story is below and the second half will be published next week, so be sure to come back.

Right about this time two years ago, my department received word from the executive team that our company was filing for chapter 7 bankruptcy. It came as little surprise to any of us. We had been operating on borrowed time for the last couple of years. The worst part was in the not knowing, so when the hammer finally dropped, at least we knew when the suffering would end.

When a company files for chapter 7 bankruptcy, it enters into a long, arduous phase known as the “wind down” period—otherwise known as purgatory. It’s excruciating because every fiber of your being just wants to conduct business, but all you can do is sit on your hands and prepare the company for closure. I was grateful for a paycheck, but the ever-growing amount of free time was sure to drive me insane.

I needed something to occupy my mind. So, rather than sit idly by and watch the last fourteen years of my career die a slow, painful death, I started a blog. I didn’t tell anyone about it or anything, I just wanted a nice quiet corner of the internet to call my own and scribble down my most random thoughts.

Now, when I say my most “random thoughts,” I don’t mean detailed descriptions of what I ate for lunch (today was black bean soup and corn kernels, if you’re interested). At the time, I was in love with a little TV show called “Lost.” It inspired me to think up quirky story ideas of my own and write them in serialized blurbs on my blog. I told my story through fake newspaper clippings and “found footage” transcriptions. Imagine my surprise when I received a comment on day three of my venture that said simply: “Dude, you’re killing me! When is the book coming out?”

Book? I didn’t know the first thing about writing a book. Sure, I’d enjoyed writing as far back as I could remember, but a book? A whole book? What a scary proposition! Though I appreciated this blog surfer’s enthusiasm, I put the thought out of my mind and continued to work on my blog. Each post inspired me to think of other twisty-turns for my story to go. It was like there was no end in sight as to how far I could take my project. That’s when it hit me: Do I have enough ideas to write a whole book?

I wanted a second opinion. I sent the link to my blog over to my best friend and asked for his feedback. What came back was: “Yeah, if you don’t write the book soon, I’m going to punch you in the face every day until you do.” For him, believe it or not, that is endearing.

Without much of a day job to hold me back anymore, I took the plunge and began writing a manuscript. Again, just for fun. I had no delusions about preparing a query letter or soliciting agents. Heck, I didn’t even intend to bring a product to market. It just seemed like a fun way to exercise my brain before the doldrums of the wind down phase dragged it kicking and screaming into oblivion.

I gave myself a realistic goal of writing one thousand words per day. I only had one rule: Write a little each day no matter what. Some days I’d struggle to hit my goal and others I’d blow it out of the water. I finished a first draft of my manuscript in about six months. I was very proud of it and knew that I had made the right decision to stick with it.

–

David K. Hulegaard is an author and student of film and music. He developed an extensive imagination at an early age while burying his nose into a mixture of R.L. Stine books and literary classics.

A Self-Published Author’s $2-Million Cinderella Story : NPR (gwensutton.wordpress.com)
A venture into self-publishing (radar.oreilly.com)
Kindle How you can make a million writing your own e-book .yournetbiz tv (chicipad.com)
Author Solutions, Inc. Offers Tips on How Writers Can Become Published Authors in 2011 (prweb.com)

How To Become A Published Author by David Hulegaard

From Kindle Selfpublishing to Nobel Prize in Literature 10 Steps to Literary Fame – A Very Personal Vademecum

Filed under Success Stories by Dieter Moitzi on September 7, 2011 at 4:28 pm {2 comments}

Step no.1: As soon as you have learned it, read as many books as you can, in any language you muster. Make your choice as wide as possible, from comics to novels, from poetry to non-fictional work. You will be astounded by how many words each language can offer. And how many of these words will stay in your mind, only waiting to spill out when you least expect it.

Step no.2: Write, write, and write some more. Shopping lists can be a good start, albeit your audience risks being a small one. Poems will help you to find a tone, to describe whole universes in ever so few words. Short stories will teach you the economics of story-telling: how to stick to the basics of a plot, how to not digress too much. Articles can be helpful, too, because they force you to concentrate on a given topic. A novel? Why not, of course; as soon as you feel you’ve got enough breath and courage to undertake such a vast operation.

Step no.3: Publish your work when you feel it deserves to be read. Don’t take the word “publish” too literally in the beginning. Don’t forget that when you ask a friend to read your first short story, you make it public. “Publish” can mean many things. Create a blog. Join literary networks such as The Literary Network, for instance, where you can post your writing, which will be read, commented on, criticised. Join other online communities like Tribal Blogs or Book Blogs, where you can share your work as well as your passion with like-minded people. Treat the red-haired ladies you might meet very nicely as their own warmth is only matched by their passion for sharing things, views, opinions.

Step no.4: Make your work known. If you have created a blog and posted your work, visit other people’s blogs; comment on their writing, be open for debate, answer their questions, and they will come to your space to see what you have to offer. It’s all about politeness, exchange, mutual visits, sharing, feeling part of a community.

Step no.5: Be excellent. And try to be even better. And then, try a little harder still.

Step no.6: When time is ripe, gather your courage and publish your first volume of short stories and/or your first collection of poems and/or your first novel in ebook-format. Try out Amazon Kindle, for instance. Try out smashwords.com. Tell the whole world you’ve done it (i.e. mail your mom and your aunts and uncles; your friends; spread the word on Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, Tribal Blogs, you name it; don’t tell your boss, though, as she/he might become suspicious of your work motivation – you can tell her/him after you’ve received your first huge contract with Penguin AND your first huge paycheck for the first million copies sold).

Step no.7: Create a Free-Copy-coupon for your ebooks on smashwords. Send it to your friends, invite fellow bloggers to read your work and write about it.

Step no.8: Visit US Adult Trade Literary Agents, where the writer Gerard Jones has compiled an exhaustive list of Literary Agents (with their emails!). Send an email to every single email address. That sounds tedious but it can be quite fun if you do it while sipping a glass of French champagne and listening to Massive Attack (however, make it Marylin Manson or similar if the task starts to make you feel grumpy). The first of the seven pages contains some 190 addresses; you can do it in an hour. Write a nice little text; for your convenience, here’s the one I came up with:

“Good morning,

Do you think I can directly go from Amazon Kindle Selfpublishing to Nobel Prize in Literature? Wouldn’t that be wonderful? But if this dream came true, I wouldn’t need you anymore, now, would I?

I gather your desk is overflowing with unsolicited manuscripts. Fear not – I’m not going to add mine to the pile. On the contrary, I’d like to offer you not one, but two gifts! Yes, I’m in a generous mood today. If you can spare a minute, just go to smashwords.com and download both my collection of short stories and my collection of poems for free.

Here are the links and the free-copy-coupons:

- “Miss Otis regrets” and other short stories (I added my link here) – I added my coupon here

- “and somewhere under” and other poems (I added my link here) – I added my coupon here

‘Why, thank you, that’s mighty generous!’, you say.

‘You’re welcome,’ I answer with a smirk.

Oh, and by the way, I’d need a literary agent as well. You game?

Yours sincerely

Here I signed

PS: More of my writing on my blog. If you can spare another minute or so, that is.”

And added my blog address right below.

Step no.9: Wait for the right fish to take the bait. Get yourself published.

Step no.10: Buy a designer tuxedo or evening robe and prepare your speech for the Nobel Prize in Literature (jeans and T-shirt, whatever practical, won’t do; you’re going to meet the Swedish king after all).

PS: Do I sound naive? Well, I guess I am.

Do I sound optimistic? Well, I’m sure I am.

Do I sound conceited? Well, I hope I’m not. But my daily mantra is “I’m going to meet literary success”.

Betcha I will!

Author Bio:

My name’s Dieter Moitzi. I’m just your average European guy, I guess. Ok, there have been protests concerning ‘average’ so, if you wish, make it outstanding. Or whatever. Don’t change ‘European’, though, because that’s what I am. I’ve been born and raised in Austria. I’ve attended Vienna University in the early 90s studying Political Sciences. Then, I’ve moved to Paris, France, because it seemed such a hip idea at that time. I’m still living here, with boyfriend and dog, and don’t find the place so hip anymore. Well, yes, we all get older and change our opinions. I’m aged (argh!) 39. I’m working as a graphic designer. Living my life, trying to get my shit together, pardon my French. And I’m the creator and owner of “Confessions of A Wannabe Writer“, my literary outpost on the web.