Writing as a freelancer
Writing articles as a freelancer can be a very interesting and rewarding career, even if it is not a full time one. One of the greatest joys in life is to see your name in print and what better way to do this than by writing as a freelancer, where your articles can appear in several newspapers and magazines.
As a freelancer, you have freedom to write on topics of your own choice and to submit your writing to a wide variety of newspapers and magazines. If one is persistent, freelancing could even become a full time career, and if not that, it could certainly become a very rewarding way to supplement your monthly income.
So how does one go about becoming a freelancer? First thing is to know your market. Make a list of all the newspapers, magazines and websites that accept submissions from freelancers (most of them do). To begin with, you could try to write for a local publication.
Call their office and find out who is the person who deals with freelance submissions. Speak to that person if possible. Generally it is better if you already have some kind of article written, or at least an article idea, but that is not necessary. You can ask the concerned person if they accept freelance material and if so, in which particular areas of interest.
Next step is to find out the kind of length of articles that can be submitted. Most of the time, the section of the newspaper in which you are submitting will determine the rough size of an article. Basically if it is in the main section, it will be shorter (300-500 words), if in the features section, a little longer (700-1000 words). Magazines generally publish even longer articles. There are no hard and fast rules for this though.
Now you need to know how the article is to be submitted. These days, most newspapers do accept e-mail submissions (but find out first). If they accept e-mail, they will generally accept scanned pictures as well. Remember to send the picture in JPEG format (editors do not like to waste Internet time downloading large BMP or TIF files). However, the JPEG should be good quality.
Another important aspect about writing is the importance of presentation. Even if you are sending in articles by traditional snail mail, make sure that the article is neatly typed; that your name, address and telephone number and e-mail address appear on the upper left corner of the first page and that the number of words appears on the upper right corner of the page. Avoid sending articles that are handwritten.
It is extremely irritating for most editors to have to decipher some poor handwriting and many times these articles end up in the dustbin. Take a little pain to make your article appear neat; it's well worth it.
Make sure that your article does not contain spelling mistakes and that all punctuations are in their proper place. It is the sign of an unprofessional writer to send in an article that contains spelling mistakes.
Once you have written the article and sent it, be patient! Remember, newspapers receive lots of submissions from freelancers and it does take some time. In case the article has not appeared for 20 days or more, a gentle reminder on e-mail will not be taken badly. Sometimes, articles are misplaced and sometimes editors do forget about articles you submitted.
In case your article is rejected, remember this important rule of writing (and I stress the importance of it by capitalising) – DON'T TAKE IT PERSONALLY! A rejected article does not mean YOU were rejected. It does not even mean that there was something wrong with your article; it just means that at the time, the editors were not interested in publishing your material. Remember, once an article has been rejected by a publication, wipe the dust off your feet and submit it somewhere else. Keep on trying. However, remember – DO NOT SUBMIT TO MORE THAN ONE PUBLICATION AT A TIME.
Suppose you send an article to more than one paper and both of them print your article, neither one will like it. So, don't do it. There are many subjects to write on, so write different articles for different newspapers.
Finally, comes the day of reckoning! Your article is published! You feel glorious to see your name in print. Keep a cutting of your article in a file. Tell your friends, make photocopies, and share your article with your circle of contacts.
When it comes to paying you for your contribution, most large newspapers in India have a well-managed system for payments, but this can take weeks or sometimes even months, so again – BE PATIENT. In the meantime, keep on writing.
Where do you get ideas? Ideas for articles can come from anywhere – conversations, books, articles, the Internet, TV and movies and even maybe while taking a walk in the park.
The Internet is now one of the best places to conduct research from. There is so much information available that sometimes there is actually information overload.
So try to find just a few good sites to look for information. Check out what the site is about and who runs it. Remember that not everything you read on the Internet is accurate; so do a bit of cross checking before you use some information in your article.
Writing is something that you can start doing right now – so go and write now!
(Published in the Delhi MID DAY April 22, 2003)