Trying to find some solely freelance writers...who can actually make a living...

Are there any writers on the boards who just freelance -- magazine, newspaper, webite, etc.?

Please let me know, so I can PM you some questions...

Or are there enough curious people that I should type some up here?

 

Where'd Jones go?

 

I'm not a freelance guy now, but its a path I could see myself exploring down the road...
perhaps you could post some questions so a discussion could kick off...

 

OK ICB, thanks for responding...

That's where I'm at now; now a freelancer, but want to be...

I've done freelance work for some very good major papers (Miami Herald, NO Times Picayune, etc.), and I have a nice, big story coming out for another major daily this week. I feel like I could get freelance work on a regular basis from some majors, even become a regular stringer for one like I was in college. But I don't know how much a realistic amount of money it would take to support myself on a freelance budget...

 

the money is what worries me. How do people who freelance full-time make ends meet? How do they keep the cash-flow constant?
Is there really enough opportunity out there that someone could live comfortably?

I know there's some freelance people on this board, hopefully they'll offer some insight.

 

Yup, I'm with you. If I were to freelance, I'd find a job bartending/waiting or 9-5. That's what scares me though, writing less and less.

Then again, if my movie sells...

 

I've done it. PM with questions.

One bit of advice: Have health insurance. And by that, I mean have a spouse with health insurance or be Canadian.

 

Generally there is a husband/wife/partner who helps keep them afloat. That way the freelancer can get health benefits and eat.
I've yet to meet a successful freelance writer in this country who can make a decent living on their own, without a second job or a partner's financial support. But I know several who have done it alone and full-time while living overseas.

 

CU, I had the great good fortune of landing at the mag without having freelanced. I've always been curious about that world -- it seems vaguely pirate-like to me, free and plundering -- but I've never been brave enough to take the leap from a salaried position.

What can I say? I like knowing when the check is coming.

But yeah, I'd be curious to hear from folks who make a living on their own.

 

You know, I don't want my above post taken the wrong way. I hope it doesn't sound like I'm looking down on freelancers or making fun of them. Quite the opposite. I've always had a highly romantic kind of notion about that life. I'd like to hear the truth of it, is all.

 

No, that's my bad. I guess I just didn't understand the exact nature of your employment. Magazine bytitles confuse me.