Top 10 Blogs For Freelance Writers

When it comes to freelance writing, there are a multitude of blogs on the Internet that deal with the subject matter of being a writer. Some are good, some are bad, but a select few are great. Below is my list of the Top 10 Blogs For Freelance Writers.

Please keep in mind that though I have sought to be objective, in reality lists like this are very subjective as their inclusion is based on the mindset of the person listing them. In other words, how the chosen blogs speak to the wants and needs of the reader. You may agree or disagree based on YOUR mindset, but I believe that in any case you will find excellent advice, wisdom, guidance and resources from these Top 10 Blogs For Freelance Writers.


10. Quips and Tips for Successful Writers - Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen is a freelance writer whose blog is full of great advice married with quotes that tie in with each post. She also has some extensive sections dealing with Articles and Query Writing, Newspapers and Magazines that I've found extremely helpful.

9. Procrastinating Writers - Jennifer Blanchard is a Writing and Creative Coach who launched Procrastinating Writers in 2008 to help her overcome her own writing procrastination, Her ultimate goal in the community that has developed through her site? To get writing done. As a lifelong procrastinator, I find her blog very relevant and helpful.

8. Writing From My Mountain - Kathryn Magendie's site is one of those rare gems you stumble across by kismet. I freely admit that the only reason I first started reading this blog is because the author is a writer who lives on a mountain in Maggie Valley, NC, where I just moved last June. But it wasn't long before I came to enjoy her sense of humor about life in general and writing in particular. Oh, and her photos. My goal, like the title of her blog, is to be writing from my mountain some day.

7. WordCount: Freelancing in the Digital Age - Michelle Rafter's blog about writing and the business of being a freelance writer. Has a great advice column with realistic questions and sensible answers.

6. Write To Done - Leo Babauta, a journalist and publisher, writes this blog centering on the craft and art of writing.

5. Dollars and Deadlines - Kelly James-Enger is a regular contributor to The Writer magazine (one of my favorites) and a freelance writer who has written articles for more than 55 magazines and blogs here about freelancers and money. I've enjoyed and learned a great deal from her book, "Six-Figure Freelancing" and she always offers common-sense advice in her blog posts that is based on her 14 years of writing experience.

4. Writer Unboxed - Therese Walsh and Kathleen Bolton write this blog which specializes in helping genre-fiction writers by discussing the writing craft and interviewing writers who, as they say, "Have done it with style." They have also conducted and posted interviews with a number of authors, including some of my favorites such as J.C. Hutchins, Joe Abercrombie and Audrey Niffenegger.

3. The Renegade Writer - Linda Formichelli and Diana Burrell are published magazine writers who offer great advice and tips. There is a fantastic resource of 10 Free Query Letters (I downloaded these long ago) that were written by  professional writers who landed freelance assignments with the included query letters. Linda also offers teleclasses for writers.

2. The Urban Muse - Susan Johnston covers a wide range of excellent topics that all writers will enjoy. An eclectic mix of pertinent subject matter that is real and down to earth, written by Ms. Johnston and guest bloggers. After discovering her site 2 1/2 years ago, I quickly added both the blog feed to my reader and the monthly e-mail newsletter to my mailbox, as well as purchasing her excellent e-book "Guide to Online Writing Markets" late last year. Great stuff here!

1. Make A Living Writing - Carol Tice and her blog have become my "go-to" place these past few months for guidance in mapping out my freelance writing career hopes. Real-world advice from a writer who has been there and still is, offering information that will aid you in the pursuit of your dream. Her e-book, "Make a Living Writing: The 21st Century Guide" is full of excellent, usable material (I've read it 3 times since purchasing it late last year) and on this blog she regularly gives out free advice about how to improve your own blog and web presence. In addition, Ms. Tice has begun conducting webinars for freelance writers on subjects such as "How to Break In and Earn Big as a Freelance Writer" and "40 Ways to Market Your Writing."


Those are my current Top 10 Blogs For Freelance Writers. As I mentioned above, your mileage may vary but I believe everyone will learn or gain something from reading these blogs.

And I'm always searching for more good blogs on being a freelance writer, so if you have a freelance writing blog of your own or read one that you think is always helpful to you as a writer, please leave a link in the comments so we can all enjoy the goodness.

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2011 Writer's Market Deluxe Edition

Whooo Hoooo! The mailman delivered my copy of the 2011 Writer's Market Deluxe Edition today!!

This is the version that includes access to an online database of more than 7,000 listings that is updated daily. And, in addition to the market listings of more than 3,000 book, newspaper and magazine publishers, literary agents, greeting card companies and production companies found within the pages of this edition, there are also interviews and articles by successful writers, such as Charlaine Harris, as well as a completely updated "How Much Should I Charge?" rate chart for freelancers. But that's not all! There are also new articles on topics such as how to use social media and online freelance writing.

But, for most freelancer writers, the reason to own this book is the market listings and I'm looking forward to seeing just how much use I can get out of it during the next few months.

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The Weakness In Me

In addition to being the title of one of my favorite Joan Armatrading songs, my post title today will explore a little bit of my "Kryptonite", so to speak.

I was reading my brother-in-law's blog the other day in which he discussed a conversation he had with a friend about those interview questions we're all asked at some point. Typically you're asked what you would say are your strengths and then what are your weaknesses. If you've been in a position to do a lot of interviewing you've heard them and perhaps you've even prepared yourself ahead of time for them, as most job coaches advise.

By the way, my stock answer was one that was recommended by job coaches; you take one of your strengths and turn it around into a weakness. Thus, my strength of being detail-oriented becomes a weakness of being too easily drawn into missing the big picture. Most interviewers today are familiar with the tactic, but "back in the day" they were awed by your insight and impressed that, "Hey, this guy really doesn't have any BAD weaknesses."

But, truth be told, I DO have a bad weakness. I know, I know it's hard to believe, but I really do.

cc licensed flickr photo by Rennett Stowe

Now, if you ask my wife, she'll have a whole list of weaknesses she sees in me, with the biggest being that she thinks I'm a procrastinator. However, I turn that around into one of my strengths (see, it works both ways); that I'm cautious and deliberate. I do not run blindly into things without feeling that I have equipped myself with all the information possible to make the right decision. Here's an easy analogy; if we walk into a store together, my wife will make impulse buys and I will not.


No, the weakness in me is much more insidious. At least with Kryptonite, Superman can do his best to avoid it, construct lead shielding for it or even have friends remove it safely away from him. But the weakness in me is truly in me, and that makes overcoming it all the more difficult and more of a never-ending battle.

Because the weakness in me is a lack of self-confidence. No matter how much praise and accolades my wife, family or friends may heap upon me for my writing (and I love hearing every morsel of it) my inner demon tells me they're only saying that because they have to. Objectively, I don't believe that, but subjectively, my lack of self-confidence takes over and rises up larger than the praise. Even when the big media conglomerate picked my posts out of a hyperlocal blog and asked me to write for them, I thought it was a joke someone was playing or that a mistake had been made and they really meant to contact the person who posted above or below me.

cc licensed flickr photo by Brooke Raymond

But where this weakness really does the most damage is in causing me to not submit my writing to possible outlets. I know every writer (ok, most of them) have this issue to some degree and the advice is always the same; just grow a tougher skin and get used to rejection slips, but I can't even seem to get to the point of sending something out. Whether it's samples for other online outlets or blogs or sending a travel story to a magazine or a short story to  a contest or anthology, my lack of self-confidence holds me back from even taking the first step.

So, that's the weakness in me. But I've been fighting it a lot lately and I'll keep fighting it. One day you'll see my work in places other than this blog, of that I'm confident.

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