Writers Unbound

Applying for new jobs is very important for freelance writers. It’s our lifeline, our income, the food on the table… No new jobs, no steady jobs = no money. No money = sad (and hungry) freelance writer.

The time taken in applying for new jobs can keep us from the work we already have waiting. Which one is more important? Money now, or money later? Obviously we don’t want to lose the clients we already have, so we need to meet those deadlines with productions of excellent quality. Keep ‘em begging for more. In the meantime, though, we don’t want to miss the opportunities out there. The answer is to do both: get your work done for your current clients and be sure to search the job boards and put in the applications, submit the queries, send in the manuscripts. It’s all about streamlining.

1. Take half an hour and update your resume, then save it in three different places: first, as a document on your computer, saved in a format that anyone can open. A pdf file is usually acceptable, or a rich text format. Save it on your computer in a couple of formats, if you’d like. Second, as a publicly accessible document on your website or blog. If you have only a blog, not a full website, you probably have the option to create separate, static pages. Put a link to it on your contact information, your about sidebar information, your profile… wherever you can on your web space. Finally, save it in some web-based document holder such as Google docs online. This way it’s easily accessible for you from any computer.
2. Next, pin down your top five areas of expertise. You should already know these. If you don’t, now is the time to figure them out. What do you write about most? What do you want to write about most? What do you know the most about? You don’t have to niche yourself into a corner, but you want to be prepared with specific writing samples for the different jobs you might apply for. You can’t be ready for anything, but you can be ready for the subjects you are most likely to notice and find appealing.
3. Polish up one article for each area of expertise. These will serve as your writing samples. They could come from anywhere: a magazine article, a longer blog post, something from your own website, from someone else’s website, from a client project. Anything you wrote can be your sample writing. Choose the best you have, somewhere in the 500 to 700 word range. (It’s usually faster to trim down than to add more.) Edit the articles you choose, take out irrelevant or outdated information, and put your information at the top. Save each as a separate document, clearly labeled so you can find it; title it something like “writingsample.education” for your education writing sample. You get the idea.
4. Finally, put together a 1 to 2 paragraph biography/summary about yourself with a picture and current links to your writing. You won’t need this for every application, but it can be the extra little bit that puts you ahead of all the other applicants. It’s funny, but in this telecommuting world we still have a keen curiosity about what people look like. Come on, admit it. Aren’t you disappointed when there is no photo to be found on the profile page? Yeah. Save this bio with photo in the three places you saved your resume.

Now, when you hit the job boards and find some likely leads, you have your resume ready to send or link to, your writing samples handy, and a professional bio to add a little icing to the freelance cake. And it won’t take nearly as long, so you can get back to the projects already waiting.

Image Credit: JulyYu at Flickr.