Written by Michael W. Michelsen, Jr.

I have been a freelance writer for more than 30 years, beginning shortly before my graduation from college.  As part of what I call my “giving back,” I speak to groups around the country about writing and how anyone can not only publish, but earn a good living from freelance writing within six months of starting.  As part of my usual spiel, I usually ask groups, “How many of you believe that you can earn a respectable living as a freelance writer?”  The response I usually get is not only discouraging but irritating.  After all, why would anyone spend the time and money to learn to write when they don’t expect to make at least a decent living at it?  Unfortunately, I don’t usually get much of an answer.

I have wanted to write for a living since I was a freshman in high school.  You will notice that I used to term “write for a living,” not just to “write,” since I consider being paid for my work to be the validation of my effort.  Writing without being paid for it seems to be like urinating in a pair of dark trousers, it gives you a warm feeling, but nobody else notices.

I earned a degree in journalism from San Diego State University, which does give me a great advantage over a lot of those starting out as freelance writers.  I had the additional benefit of learning from many professors who worked as writers themselves, whether before they started teaching or during their teaching career.

The trouble with the background in journalism that I received was that most of the experiences I was exposed to could not support me as a full- time freelancer.  After all, nickel and diming myself with articles that pay $.05 a word won’t pay bills to support me, much less a growing family and a mortgage.  I had to learn a better way.  And for this, I was on my own.  The good news in this is that this is where I think the “secret” of being a successful freelance writer lies.

I am not an “overnight” success.  My success has arrived one hard-earned step at a time.  Part of the reason for this is that freelance writing is a career that is largely self-taught.  You might be able to learn some writing skills in classes.  You might even learn some of the methodologies of submitting your work for publication in workshops, but to a great extent freelance writers learn what they do by themselves, via trial and error and by picking up tips from here and there, from a multitude of sources.

My success as a freelance writer really started several years ago when I took a subscription for a newsletter called Writing for Money.  The approach of this publication was to offer writers markets that were not quite top-tier, the thinking being that the Cosmos, Fortunes, and other were so inundated by queries that the chances of a beginning writer being accepted were practically nil.  As a result, Writing for Money featured listings from new and emerging publications that found themselves nearly begging for writers.  You might say that this is really where I got my start since nearly everything I wrote for these publications was accepted, and often paid very well for the trouble.   Unfortunately, after about a year of receiving this publication, it “evolved” into a different format that largely replaced the new market orientation that had gotten my attention.  As a result, I found myself in a marketing funk that was high and dry, but not for long.

After only a short while I decided that I could do the same kind of research that had been done by Writing for Money for my own benefit.  Several days each week, a couple of hours each time, I would visit the library looking for publications that I thought could be called “emerging” in my area of specialty, business and technology.  I also make a regular habit of listening to editors talk, especially when they discuss the new and emerging publications that they are finding as competitors.

This marketing approach creates a real godsend in the Internet, since more often than not the newest publications tend to create a website very soon after they set up shop.  This gives me good, and very early access to the publication and its editors.  This allows me to contact editors at the start of their publications, when they are most likely to need stories and willing to look at someone who is new to them.

In most cases, new publications don’t pay much, of course.  On the other hand, I have used this approach to get my foot in the door of publications that have grown very quickly after I got started with them, which often leads to not only continued interest by their editors in my work, but in larger paychecks as I grew with the magazine.

My point in telling the story of my approach is simple: don’t allow yourself to be too strongly tied to Writer’s Market, or any other similar publications.  All of these are valuable, but so is your own experience.  The result of this approach will be not only an extensive list of markets that is available nowhere else, but a collection of editors and like professionals who will consider your work for as long as you want to provide it.

Let’s face it: fame isn’t what it’s cracked up to me.  As a result, if I had the opportunity to become the next Stephen King, I would gladly turn it down.  What matters most to me is to spend my days doing work that I love and appreciate for what it is, and making a good living at it.  Needless to say that as a freelance writer I can take off any time of the day that I wish to get a haircut, go to the market, or even take my grandsons to the park and play with them on the swings.  The fame you can keep for yourself.