Lindy Alexander | The Freelancers Year

3 reasons why your pitches aren’t getting commissioned

Feature Writing

3 reasons why your freelance pitches aren’t getting commissioned

Wondering how to write the perfect freelance pitch to a magazine or newspaper editor? Don’t make these mistakes.

Everything you need to know about tax for sole traders and freelancers

For some of us (and I’m looking at myself in the mirror here), coming up to the end of June is definitely not the most wonderful time of the year. Because for Australian sole traders and freelancers, July means tax time and it brings up all kinds of questions like: “How do I pay tax as a sole trader?” and “What tax deductions can I make as a sole trader?” and “How much tax do I have to pay when I’m self-employed or as a sole trader?”

Business of Freelancing

How to become a ghostwriter

There’s something quite mysterious and intriguing about being a ghost writer.

The one attribute you need to earn more money freelancing

I’ve been thinking a lot about why some freelance writers prosper while others, despite their obvious talent, struggle to get long-term traction. I think it’s a combination of lots of things, but lately I’ve realised that there’s one characteristic that is absolutely crucial to you earning more money as a freelance writer, and happily, it’s one that you can improve.

Where to Pitch

7 publications that pay well for personal narrative essays

Interested in writing a personal narrative essay, seeing examples of personal essays and discovering publications that pay for them?

The false start I haven’t told you about

The other day I suddenly realised that there’s something important I haven’t shared with you. I know it may seem that my transition to becoming a full time freelance writer was relatively seamless and easy, but actually, I had a false start, years before I went full time in 2017.

Travel Writing

What no one ever tells you about being a travel writer

Wondering what it takes to be a travel writer and how to score travel writing jobs? Some of the world’s best travel writers spill the beans.

Rejection – The 4 things freelance writers must know

Last week one of the readers of this blog emailed me a question and asked, “I’m wondering how you handle those weeks of silence and/or rejected pitches from editors?” It’s such a great question and one that I’ve been asked regularly since becoming a full time freelance writer (and pondered regularly too!)

From pitch to published article – a behind the scenes look at travel writing

I recently received an email from a fellow writer saying they would love to see a post about freelance travel writing. More specifically, they wondered if I could share a timeline for what goes into getting a travel story commissioned. So I thought that rather than giving you an arbitrary timeline of what it generally looks like as a freelance travel writer, I’d pick a trip that I did last year to give you a sense of the time (and level of communication with editors and PRs) it takes from pitch to published article.

the 4 things you must include in a content proposal

Corporate Writing

The 4 things freelance writers must include in a content proposal

We’ve all heard that content is king. Nearly every business has a website and in order to creep up the Google rankings content needs to be updated regularly.

the best (free and paid) tools and apps for freelance writers

Business of Freelancing

The best (free and paid) tools and apps for freelance writers

I am definitely not someone who nerds-out on the newest freelance writing apps or writers’ organisational tools, but I have to say, there are a lot of super helpful (and easy to use) tools that can make a freelance writer’s life so much easier. In this post I’ve rounded up the best tools I’ve found for freelance writers – I use them all and they have saved me time, money or a mental breakdown (and at times, all three).

The 4 best rejections I’ve received from editors

I’ve been thinking lots about embarrassing moments and how many I have had in my (fairly short) writing career. I think it’s easy to see ‘successful’ writers and not see their backstory, where they have made mistakes or had challenges. Well, today I wanted to clear that up. I’ve unearthed the best (read: the worst) rejections I’ve had to pitches and stories. Because let’s face it, no one is perfect. And the truth is, it’s only a mistake if you don’t learn from it.

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Author: Lindy Alexander