Freelance Writing In 2010: What's In The Works

The end is near.

Well, not the end of the world, but at least the end of another year.  We're on the cusp of 2010.  In just a few short hours, like me, many of you will be involved New Year's Eve festivities in some form or another.  Enjoy that time.

At the same time, you probably have a project to work on over the holiday.  At least, I know that I do.  What this last minute assignment has done for me is remind me again that there are going to be things that I want to change about this coming year: goals to set, plans to organize, and tasks to perform.  The keyword is organization.

I'm writing the final post of the year with some ideas in mind for what I would like to see accomplished in 2010, where it touches upon my freelance writing business. This is not my version of New Year's resolutions. I'm not really sure if setting these sort of nebulous things free really makes a difference.  It is genuine planning and goal-setting that will bring the results.  (There's a great post I read that introduces a good system for getting things done.)

What do I want to do in 2010?

I would like to add more great content to ShaunKilgore.com.  That is an important goal.  Connected to this process, is planning out posts and establishing a regular posting schedule.  I will be continuing to tweak this site.  I've recently added RSS feed links and the like for those who would like to follow along on my journey.

While I will be writing on freelance writing and freelance ghostwriting, I will also be touching upon other aspects of writing that important to me.  I will try to have something for everyone, no matter what type of writing they may be involved in.

My publishing company, Founders House Publishing, is nearly ready to release its first book.  That's some exciting news, in itself.  For me, this first publication is just the starting point for what I hope will be a great year for my fledgling operation.

Freelancing decisions

My freelance writing choices will be based more on what I choose rather than what is handed to me by the groups I am already a part of.  Freelancing that way is fine, but it is hardly as satisfying as landing gigs that give you the face credit you may be craving.

Freelancing in 2010 for me is about making more money doing the kind of writing I love to do.  It is about taking the options that are already out there and taking hold of them for my own profit and creative gain.  Yes, creative is the word.  Freelancing for me is going to be more about creativity than it was in 2009 and in the past few years.  I am ready to take a place among those who create content that has greater value.  I'm also ready to make this a vehicle that helps me in all of my other endeavors as an entrepreneur.

That word, entrepreneur, is one that I've not used much to describe myself so far, but it is what I'm becoming.    Freelancing in 2010 will be about writing and getting the kind of work that will only help my business grow and facilitate the growth of other business endeavors I'm planning.

For now, I'll be writing more frequently on this site.  I want this site to get noticed.  If you happen upon ShaunKilgore.com or read this post, please let me know by commenting.  I appreciate your comments.

Taking The Next Step: Developing A Serious Writer's Blog

For those who have followed the progress of this blog so far, I have been attempting to focus on a niche.  It has been tough at times to find the right tone or voice to use when putting posts together.  I want writers and non-writers alike to get something out of each post I write.  I aim to share some of my freelance writing experiences as well point the way for others who wish to take their first tentative steps into this intriguing world.  

I've been writing targeted content.  I will continue to do this as I get better grasp of what I'm trying to accomplish here at ShaunKilgore.com.  Now that I've been a freelancer for almost most four years, I've been thinking about other areas of writing again.  I still have a spot for being a novelist and my second effort is still in progress.

It is whole big world of writing (and publishing) that really interests me.  I've been expanding my understanding of it.  I've even started my own publishing company.  Add to that a developing venture in travel guides with my friend Thomas Hollowell, and you've got recipe for busyness.  I'm definitely a busy guy, but still a ghostwriter trying to make ends meet and pay the mortgage.

I'm sure many of you are wearing multiple hats in your professional life.  I could also add stay-at-home dad to my list.  (I'm sure some of you are in similar positions.)  This makes it tougher, especially when you have little ones.  I've been making the best of it, attempting to juggle responsibilities.  Still, I have dreams I'm not ready to give up on yet.  Writing and publishing are two big ones.  Books and words, friends.  That is what I'm about.


Keep reading and maybe we'll both enjoy the journey to the writer's realm.

Identifying My Freelance Writing Niche

What is my freelance writing niche?  That is the question I should know something about since it is part of the reason I'm here blogging about writing at all.  I'm learning more and more about marketing and narrowing the focus of what I'm talking about on this blog.  As any web marketer will tell you, it is important to have a niche, a category or demographic you are catering your posts to each time.

What's my demographic?  What is my niche?  Well, I've started out by writing more targeted posts about freelance writing, noting my experiences as one and, hopefully, tackling issues that other freelancers have to deal with on a daily basis too.  Yet, "freelancing" isn't targeted enough perhaps. After all, I've not taken too many steps into magazine freelancing.  My realm has been strictly ghostwriting.  

Ghostwriting is where I've gotten my start.  It's also where I've stayed.  I'll admit it isn't where I want to be.  In fact, I want much more from my writing than being the anonymous voice behind other people's works and success.  That being said, there is nothing wrong with ghostwriting.

Now That I Know

It wasn't as though I had no clue I was a ghostwriter.  It's just that I didn't consider it my niche until this moment.  Sorry, folks, sometimes I'm a bit slow.  What this means is that I'm a freelance ghostwriter.  I'm the man behind the curtain.  Perhaps, you've seen my work and did not even know it.  That's because I don't get face credit.  At least, I haven't yet.  My freelance writing life has been defined by the articles, eBooks, and web content that I have writing for others.  That may be what you do as well.  That is also what I plant to concentrate on more for a while.  My posts must keep this in mind.

That's what I'll be trying to share with all of you.  My perspectives and experiences on freelance ghostwriting.  I'll tell you more about the way most of the jobs I've done work. I'll also offer some insights into the topic, you may not have considered.

Keep reading, folks.

Freelance Writer Mistakes And Blunders

It's bound to happen sometime.

When you become a freelance writer, you take on a lot of responsibility.  Each project has its own share.  The extent may change all the time, but it is still there.  A moment will arrive (or may be it already has) when you make a mistake that seriously complicates or even compromises your writing assignment.  The danger for you as the freelancer is three-fold.  There the possibility that this occurrence is just the latest one in a line of blunders that have marked your freelancing career - and it may be symptomatic of an unprofessional attitude.  Next, you might lose out on future opportunities for work because of the delays and problems that characterized your project relationship with the client.  The third one is the biggest: you receive a request for a cancellation and/or refund from the client.  This third one really hits you where it counts - in your wallet.

Now What?

You have a few options you can take.  You can either shrug it off and move on, perhaps making a future mistake or blunder inevitable, or take this opportunity afforded by the end of the project to reassess what it is you are doing.  (I will admit, that I'm a culprit in this scenario.  Thus, I'm having examine my working process and decide what I can do to improve it and to ensure that nothing like what just happened, ever happens again.)  For those of you, my fellow freelancers, this may be true as well.  You might be wondering which road you will take.

It's easy to tuck your tail between your legs and keep going down that path, bumbling along until you get right back where you started.  Who wants to be under the unnecessary press, being crushed under a furious writing pace, just get everything fixed and up to speed?  Folks, I just don't want to do this anymore.

A New Course Ahead

Those of you who may be reading this might have also caught some of my earlier posts on freelance writing.  I've said it many times that there is a right way to do this.  Now, sometimes, even when you know better, you end up falling into the same sort of traps you've harped on to others.  I'll admit I've done just that.

The challenge, though, is to step up, take responsibility, but then move on.  We writers can just write on to a new page - a new chapter - in our writing careers.  Yet, this requires that all of us take the proper steps.  For me, it is not burdening myself with work that I cannot possibly finish on time, when considering my peculiar stay-at-home dad/freelance writer juggling act.  I have to be more creative that that and so do you!

It doesn't have to be some big epiphany where you decide to skip out of freelancing and become a novelist.  No, it may be just a series of small decisions that help refocus your path.  You may be ready to take another step into uncharged writing opportunities.  That's great.  It will be a way for you to grow more a writer while also getting paid for your time.

Then again, the hope of securing better pay through new writing directions may be in your immediate future.  Who isn't looking for better pay these days?  (The economy is making it tough for everybody out there, writers included.)

Whatever you decide, now is the time.  You cannot afford to mess around.  Your future career as a freelance writer may be at stake.

Get On With It

That's what it's about isn't it?  You can't be in front of the computer screen sitting on your hands, folks.  Get on with it and go find new ways to be a writer.  Go be the kind of professional that you are despite the blunders and mistakes you've made lately.  The main point is to believe that you have what it takes to be a freelance writer - and keep writing, for the love of Shakespeare, keep writing!