Savvy Freelance Writer
your guide to a thriving freelance career
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About Gina Hagler
Jan 15, 2012
I’m the writer behind Savvy Freelance Writer.
A lifelong avid reader and writer, my BA is in English Lit. My MBA is with a concentration in finance. I’ve worked as an assistant to a publisher, a financial analyst, a strategic planning analyst, a management consultant, and a full-time freelance writer. Along the way I’ve often written about complex topics for a general audience. That’s just what I intend to do here.
I chose the freelance lifestyle because of the flexibility it offered. I write on a variety of topics for a variety of clients. I’ve learned a lot along the way from my experience as well as from the experience of other successful – and not so successful – freelance writers.
Writing is a business. You need to get work, do the work, bill and collect for the work, and decide upon a mix of clients that will keep your bills paid as economic conditions fluctuate. It’s not easy but it is do-able. I’ll be writing about ways to maximize your likelihood of success.
If you have a question about something, send me an email at ghagler@me.com, or leave a comment. I’ll get back to you directly and most likely cover your question in a post as well.
You can see more of my writing at my website.
Chasing the Deadline
Jan 15, 2012 — 1 Comment
The past three days have been a complete scramble, mostly because I’ve been sick. Usually when I’m sick, I work anyway. This time I’ve been sick enough that I can’t think straight. Not a good thing in a writer and certainly not part of my plan for the week.
As a freelance writer, it doesn’t much matter whether or not I’m sick. I have deadlines to meet. I also don’t have a job with sick pay or sick time. But let’s face it, when I did have jobs like that, I had deadlines and bosses who didn’t want me missing deadlines. So pretty much it’s a myth that when you are full-time you take sick days!
I also know I want to keep my clients. Some of them I have good enough relationships with that I can get an extension. Some of them I just started working with don’t know well. It’s all part of the juggling act of working for yourself.
So. Deadlines to meet. A throbbing head. But if I can type this, I can type what I need for them, too.
Time to get to work!
Free Kindle App – Gutsiest Move of the Decade?
Jan 15, 2012
Remember back when Jeff Bezos said he was going to make Amazon.com a gateway – or maybe a portal – to the web and the world said, “What’s that?” Bezos’ point was that in the future, all anyone would need to know — from a hot chick in LA to a grandma where ever grandmas hang out these days — to do any sort of shopping on the web would be — www.Amazon.com
Since we purchase pretty much everything from diapers to lawn mowers and computers at Amazon these days, you’ve got to hand it to the guy. He’s a visionary. Seems he never was worried all that much about making money selling books. And he’s done it again with the Kindle.
It’s the sort of device every book-addicted early -adopter had to have the second it came out. The thought of carrying around hundreds of books, with more for the asking at the speed of bandwidth and the price of jelly beans was just too much to resist. Did they do right by those customers as they upgraded and improved the Kindle? Of course not. No one ever does. It’s the bane of the early adopter.
What Amazon did do is create an incredible inventory of ebooks on Amazon – currently outselling physical books – as well as in the accounts of every Kindle owner. Enter Apple and the iPad or Barnes & Noble and the Nook. Talk about non-starters. If my books are already on Amazon, for my Kindle, why am I going to diddle with those?
To close the deal, Bezos and Amazon gave away the Kindle App for free, thus allowing their avid reader customers to read their Amazon-purchased Kindle books on any device!
Analysts predict there will soon come a time when 90% of the ebooks read on any device will be read through the Kindle app.
What can I say except …
Bezos calls it again!
Can Indie Booksellers Rise from the Ashes?
Jan 15, 2012
Publishers Weekly reported good news from Wakefield, RI on February 10! Wakefield Books opened Feb 12, filling the space vacated by Waldenbooks after 30 years of occupancy.
“We are excited to welcome Wakefield Books to the Wakefield Mall with an expected opening date of mid-February,” said Phyllis Fish, mall manager, in an e-mail Wednesday morning as reported in the South County Independent online edition on February 12 South County Independent online edition on February 12.
The store will be opened by Bookstore Solutions Management, a new company formed by long-time independents Susan Novotny (Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza in Albany, NY) and David Didriksen (Willow Books in Action, MA). Their concept is to open bookstores that are ideally suited to their communities in the space left by the chain stores that are vacating in locations throughout New England, reported PW.
The stores are destinations for the community, many of whom are finding themselves without a local bookseller. In the case of Wakefield, PW reports that the entire staff will stay on at the new store. It will have a larger local tourist books section and a larger children’s area. Other than that, with only some cosmetic changes, they’re ready for business.
“What reader doesn’t like to go into a bookstore and poke around?” asked Marc Archambault of Wakefield [as reported in the South County Independent]. “They had the new books, and the staff picks were always interesting to see. Plus talking to the employees – I loved it – it was like a mini-book club walking into that store.”
PW weekly reports that Novotny will begin as the buyer for the store. something that will transition to Wakefield Books. Didriksen will oversee operations.
Amazon Publishing – What’s the Story?
Jan 15, 2012
Publishers Weekly (PW) ran a piece on Amazon Publishing this week. It seems Amazon is not going to rest with dominating physical and ebook sales, they’re also going after a piece of the publishing pie.
The agents interviewed for this article gave their thoughts on condition of anonymity. (Can everyone say, ”McCarthyism” with me?) They’re basically leery because Amazon Publishing is a new entity. One agent is quoted in the PW piece as saying, ““As a matter of rule, I don’t like to test the waters with big authors. I’d rather deal with a firm that is well established.” Makes sense to me.
The Indie booksellers interviewed spoke with attribution. Their comments range from those like this from Richard Goldman, co-owner of Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont, Pa., who is quoted in the PW piece as saying, “Generally our position on carrying a book is, if we can get it at 35% or better, and it’s returnable, we’ll order it.” to this comment from Lisa Sharp at NightBird Books in Fayetteville, Ariz., who said in the PW piece, “I hope not to [stock Amazon titles]. I mean, if somebody calls and wants one, I’ll order it, but I’m not going to keep it in the store.”
Indie bookseller Harvey Finkel of Clinton Bookshop in Clinton, New Jersey expressed his sentiments quite clearly in the PW piece. “We’re not doing that,” said Harvey Finkel at Clinton Bookshop in Clinton, N.J. “I’d love to stock their books and give them more money to put me out of business.”
The PW article also included some discussion of the lack of a clear understanding of Amazon Publishing terms, the method for coordinating between offices on both coasts, and questions about who was doing the actual editing. When asked about the editing, Jeff Belle, v-p of Amazon Publishing is quoted thus in the PW article, “Like many publishers, we do outsource some copyediting for our books. There are a lot of talented editors out there who have set up their own shops, and we’re happy to work with them where it makes sense. Over time, we will find the best balance of in-house and outsourced editing.”
The consensus seems to be summed up well by Jeff McCord, owner of the Atlanta shop Bound to Be Read Books, as quoted in the PW piece, “Amazon Publishing is a bigger worry for publishers than for bookstores.”
All in all, it leaves several big question marks!
In the Weeds
Jan 15, 2012
This post is coming to you from in the weeds…
I’ve wondered for a while now what it means to be in the weeds. I think it’s kind of like pornography – you know it when you’re there – but still, I went through my public library access to look it up in the OED. They had nothing so I tried The Urban Dictionary. The better bet, they defined being in the weeds as “when someone or something, usually in the food or beverage industry, becomes overwhelmed and falls behind.”
Why this interest in in the weeds? Because I’ve spent the entire day trying to get my WordPress blog template to work with things that would be a snap with widgets. Why you ask? Because while my template looks great on laptops and iPads, it doesn’t work with widgets. Who knew that was possible in 2011?
I could switch templates but I really like this one. And I’m thick-headed.
Plus, it gives me a chance to use the term, in the weeds, which I absolutely love.
The Right Pen
Jan 15, 2012
Real Simple recently had a piece about pens. I read it with interest because the right pen makes a world of difference to me. The Real Simple article included pens in categories from gel to superfine. I agreed completely with their assessment of the Flair Felt Tip.
Still, my hands down favorite pen du jour is the Lamy Al-Star Rollerball. I can get them locally or online, along with a lot of other amazing writer-stuff, at Fahrney’s Pens. I can also get them online from Levenger.
The Lamy comes in plastic or metal. The metal is a bit slicker in the hand but the plastic edges are a bit harder against the sides of the fingers. I prefer the metal but a tiny bit.
The rollerball is flawless. It’s not fine point but the resulting writing is not thick and it doesn’t leave blotches or drips.
The pen just feels good.
I also love the Sharpie-Fine Point pens. The only drawback to them is that if one of your kids gets hold of it with a heavy hand, the point is ruined in a blink. Ditto if it gets dropped on the floor without the cap on.
So – What about you? If you were stranded on a desert island, which pen would you consider a must-have? Leave a comment and I’ll take the answers and create a poll 
