Freelancing for Fun and Profit

I graduated from Scripps as a newspaper reporter. I now work as a magazine editor and do about three freelance stories or projects a month for various outlets. I stumbled my way into a steady freelance business, and here's what I learned along the way.

Magazines pay the best; newspapers pay worse. It's easiest to pitch things that are local, and weird. I write regularly for Cleveland Magazine, and occasionally for Columbus Monthly. They each have a front-of-the-book department called something like City Life or City Notes — 500- to 600-word stories about interesting characters in and around their coverage area. Examples include: a hobo gathering, State Rep. Bill Batchelder, a webcomic called indexed.com and a guy in Eastlake building a jet-powered motorcycle.

The key is knowing where in the magazine your story would work, and writing a great pitch. These editors (like all editors) are busy, and have constant, looming deadlines. So if you can say, "I've got a great story about X that I think would work well for your March issue. Here's how it relates to your readers, and why it's interesting."

Also, photo ideas help.

Bottom line: The easier you can make it for this editor to say, "Gee, that would be a good story -- and one less thing I'd have to worry about. Great idea!" the better. You want to make their jobs easier, not harder. Also, consumer magazines have lead times of about two to three months, so keep that in mind if you have a timely idea.

Newspaper freelancing is tough. Nobody's making the money they used to with these rags, and so it's harder for us to get a little piece of it. But the same rules apply: newsy, timely, interesting-y features will get published.

Finding an editor is important, because they're your in. Once an editor likes your stuff, you have almost an open door to get published again and again because 1. They know you can write; 2. They know they won't have to spend 6 hours reworking your story once you send it in, and 3. They can trust you to write the truth and don't have to worry about finding someone else.

A lot of the same sites you and I use to find jobs (journalismjobs.com, mediabistro, etc.) have freelance sections, as does Craigslist.

But the best way to do it is to go buy the magazine you think you want to write for, check out the sections, and then contact the editors of those sections. Send in your resume and a few story ideas. The more you do it, the easier it gets, and the better you'll be at pitching certain publications.

Then, the whole thing snowballs. I started pitching Cleveland Magazine about two years ago, and now they (and some other books in the Great Lakes Publishing portfolio) come to me with stories to do. These assignments aren't enough to make me quit my day job — that's another post — but they're fun to do.

As for pay: Each place is different. As a freelancer off the street, you don't really have any bargaining power. Some places pay by the word; some pay by the piece. It just depends on the book and their rates.

And, if you do nothing else: Be polite. I send hand-written thank-you notes to editors after I do my first assignment for them. So much of this business is about relationships, and anything you can do to make an editor think about you (favorably) for an assignment first will help you get more (and better) work. So, that's my Guide to Freelancing for Fun and Profit. I hope it helps. If you have any questions, send me an e-mail. Good luck!

-- Chuck Bowen, a 2005 Scripps grad, can be reached by e-mail at chuck.749@gmail.com and his blog is http://749.tumblr.com/.