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A free peek at “The Complete Writer.”

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If you’re a freelance writer, a homeschooling parent or even just a word nerd, listen up: Week by week, Dr. Victoria Hay has been making chapters of her upcoming book available for free.

“The Complete Writer: The Ultimate Guide to Writing, Publishing and Living the Writer’s Life” is based on Hay’s considerable knowledge of the written word. For decades she has been making a living as a writer and editor, and also taught writing at Arizona State University.

Every Friday she posts a new work-in-progress chapter on her writing blog, Plain & Simple Press (“Independent fiction and nonfiction”). Currently she’s up to Chapter 9.

Here’s some of what you’ll be getting:

 

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The flexibility of the freelance life.

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Sometimes the freelance life is frustrating: isolation, long hours, dry spells between assignments, no paid time off.

Sometimes, though, the freedom to order your own days makes it all worthwhile.

A few days ago I was just about to tackle a current deadline when my teen-aged nephew, M, called from the school counselor’s office. He’d just learned that a friend had committed suicide, and was too shaken to finish out the day.

His mom had okayed his leaving but could not break away from work (she’s a teacher) to come get him. Was there any way that I could?

You bet there was.

 

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Free summit from Work At Home School.

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Not everyone who took my Write A Blog People Will Read course expects to make a full living as a writer – at least, not right away. Some of them wanted to blog for their own fulfillment, and some took it to become better communicators at work and in personal relationships.

Similarly, not everyone who wants to work at home will be a writer, either full- or part-time. Quite a few other options exist out there, and you can learn about them at a free program from the Work At Home School.

The six-day Work At Home Summit features more than 40 speakers who will talk not just about potential jobs (some of which you may never have heard of before), but also about things like time management and how to create a viable business plan.

 

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Get a discount on ‘Earn More Writing.’

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One of my personal finance writing buddies has an online course designed to help earn more writing. Starting on Black Friday she’s offering a short-term, 20 percent discount on her Standard and Pro packages.

Why take the Earn More Writing course? Because Holly Porter Johnson knows what she’s talking about.

“I make my living as a freelance writer, not selling courses,” Johnson says.

In other words, she practices what she preaches. Rather than spend all her time promoting her course and selling webinars, she’s a workaday writer who routinely bills five figures per month. Last year she earned $225,000 as a freelancer.

Interested yet?

 

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Writing career tips from a veteran.

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A former editor recently received recognition from his state’s press club. It was sort of a “lifetime achievement” award, although that’s not what it was called.

The guy’s writing career stretched for half a century and across multiple media. His words have appeared on radio and television, in newspapers and magazines, and more recently books and online articles.

A young reporter at the banquet asked for career tips. The editor offered some, and gave me permission to reproduce any that I wanted. The trio I chose may not all apply to your genre, but all three are food for thought.

 

Never turn down any assignment.

 

This is particularly true for freelancers, who may experience long dry spells until they develop their abilities at pitching stories and getting themselves known.

 

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Meet pro bloggers and podcasters (and a rapper!) at Dallas writing event.

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This year’s Financial Blogger Conference has something special planned for members of the public. Despite its name, the conference isn’t strictly for those who write about personal finance (more on that in a minute).

If you’re interested in freelancing writing and/or interested in getting a handle on your money – and if you’re in or near Dallas on Friday, Oct. 27 – then you need to check this out.

“Your Money, Live!” is an eight-hour event with workshops, speeches by (including keynote speaker David Bach), and something called Ignite FinCon, which is TEDx style speaking followed by a networking party where you can meet personal finance writers, bloggers and podcasters.

And did I mention the appearance by rapper Dee-1?

 

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Proof. Proof! And proof some more.

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My second book is now out. “Your Playbook For Tough Times: Needs And Wants Edition,” like its predecessor, was published by me (on Amazon, Kindle and as a PDF through my personal website).

As a publisher, I’m a pretty good writer. Getting this brainchild born took much whirling and howling in the forms of back-and-forths with designers and formatters, and re-teaching myself how to use the different platforms, and much proofreading.

But apparently not enough proofreading. Shortly after it came out a reader wrote to me:

“I love the book and it is my second frugal bible. … I was upset that the spine has your name spelled incorrectly.”

Hey, thanks! … Wait. Wut?

 

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Vanilla freelancing.

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A post by Suzan St Maur had me laughing out loud recently. In “Vanilla sex: Here, have another helping,” the writer, coach and humorist applied the idea of “vanilla” (boring) to concepts other than sex.

Such as:

“Vanilla Politics: Politicians, usually at local government level, who … hate cutting ribbons and are useless at kissing babies – and expect to justify their existence merely by represent the interests of their electorate.”

“Vanilla Friends: Friends who offer you absolutely nothing in the way of valuable social contacts, wild nights out on the town, parties straight out of Hollywood and air-kissing companionship … and simply exist on the basis of always being around when you need them.”

But it was her “vanilla blogging” example that got my attention. 

 

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Make sure you get paid to write.

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My subconscious is very active while I’m sleeping. Often I wake up with thinking of stuff like the need to send a birthday card, or the perfect lede for an upcoming article.

Recently I sat up straight in the morning and said, out loud, “Did I ever get paid for that (publication redacted) gig?”

In early March I delivered an assignment to a freelance client who pays via direct deposit. Checked my account and nope, the payment never showed.

When I brought this up (politely, via e-mail), the very-busy editor was a very-embarrassed person. The result: an apology, and a slightly higher payment than usual.

There’s a lesson here for me, and for you.

 

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Win a ticket to FinCon17.

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The Rockstar Finance site is giving away a free ticket to the 2017 Financial Blogger Conference, which will take place Oct. 25-28 in Dallas.

Someone has to win. Why shouldn’t it be you?

Note: You don’t have to be a personal finance writer to enjoy FinCon17! In fact, you don’t even have to be a writer at all. Some people go because they’re interested in topics like FIRE (financial independence/retire early), paying down student loans, conquering consumer debt, video production, podcasting and awards travel.

But if you are a writer, or planning to be one, you’ll learn plenty about that, too.

 

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