Disclaimer: this entry is certain to be an absolute bore to anyone not interested in freelance writing. There will be no funny stories about my kids. No feminist rants. No pithy (or not) spiritual meanderings. Just the nitty gritty about what I’ve been doing to earn money in the last couple months, and how you could, too.

Okay, this is for all my writer friends that I promised to send links to, and then got too distracted by kids/relatives/babies/work etc. to deliver. Full disclosure: although I’ve been writing since–well, since I could form letters–and dabbling in article writing for the last year or two, I really only started submitting work seriously and trying to earn money in the last couple months. So I am far from an expert. BUT, I have made money, and earned quite a bit more per hour than I would slogging it out in an entry-level job around here. (Okay, so that’s not saying much, but still…)

Another observation before I get to the links. When people think of freelance writing they generally think of writing for periodicals: magazines, newspapers, and the like. Writing for print can be incredibly satisfying, and provides great clips, but the competition is fierce and the pay is all across the board. I ran across one magazine this morning that stated that it “reserved all rights, and did not pay for submissions.” (Read: they won’t pay you for your article, and won’t let you market it to anyone else either, if they publish it.) Unfortunately, I’ve run across quite a few magazines with similar policies.

That is where I draw the line, friends, and I hope for the sake of all writers that you will too. I understand that many magazines and websites honestly can’t afford to pay writers, and like most beginners I have written for free just to get my name in print, but I WILL NOT sign away my intellectual property rights without compensation. (I’d rather not sign them away with compensation, actually, but do so on a regular basis with content articles. More on that later.) In my opinion if a publication can’t pay for articles, the author should retain all rights, or, at most, offer the publication first rights.

That said, writing for periodicals is great fun and can (sometimes) pay well. I am working on building up my portfolio of magazine clips, but the income is sporadic and acceptances are hard-won. WritersMarket.com is the place to go if you want to try your hand at magazine writing; they’re deep in a morass of technical difficulties and seriously testing my patience lately, but they still have the largest online database of writing markets that I know of. If you’re serious about building a career as a freelance magazine writer, you need to purchase access to WritersMarket.com. End of story.

If you’re looking for a steady stream of income and don’t mind writing about inane topics, try content writing. The internet is full of websites that need written content; some sites have an actual need for information, and some sites just want short articles about popular search topics to draw page views and advertising income. Either way, they need writers, and are willing to pay.

Content articles are short–usually 300-600 words–and if you’re working smart you should be able to churn one out in less than an hour. Writers are usually paid per article, typically $2.00-$20.00 apiece. Now, I have a lot to say about websites that offer to pay writers $2.00 for an hour of work, but I won’t. Suffice it to say that a lot of websites hire writers from other countries where that is considered a livable wage. The least I will accept from a content site is $10.00 per article, and I’m not entirely convinced that’s good enough, since it takes time away from writing articles that pay more. Still, I am a firm believer in diversification, and figure the security of writing for several sites trumps the increased earning potential of focusing exclusively on better paying markets.

There are two main ways to get content work. You can bid on jobs at sites like elance, or you can apply to become an independent contractor for content-producing sites. I honestly haven’t done anything with the bidding sites yet, and I’m not certain that I will, given the low bids coming in from all around the world. (An aside, I think it’s awesome that people around the world are able to find writing work that can meet their needs, and I think it’s skanky that companies are willing to pay so little for honest work.) Anyhow. Here’s a couple content sites to get you started on your search for freelance writing income: once you know what you’re looking for and are familiar with how content sites work, they’re a lot easier to find.

Love To Know: Pays $20.00 per 600 word article. Interesting topics, good e-clip potential, but requires writers to have more experience than me. ;-P

Demand Studios: The mother of all content sites. Pays $15.00 per 400 word article. The ease of use and overwhelming crush of topics to choose from makes them my most profitable client by far, but I wouldn’t exactly send people links to my Demand Studio articles. How to Clean a Ceramic Flat Iron? Who cares?

Bright Hub: $10.00 per 300 word article, decent e-clip potential. This website is an especially good opportunity for techno-geeks.

Links to sites every freelancer should bookmark:

Freelance Writing Jobs: Fantastic resources and information about making a living as a writer.

Freelance Writing: A compilation of several job boards’ listings for writers. Check this site every day. Craigslist, Mediabistro, Monster, they’re all here. Awesome.

Freelance Home Writer: This lady updates her blog with information about all sorts of writing opportunities perfect for beginners. Very helpful. I check in every couple days.

Writers and editorial types–PLEASE leave your thoughts about this post in the comments so everyone can benefit from them!!! We’re all better when we work together and share our knowledge!