Freelance writing/editing jobs

[MidwestSportsGuy]

I'm sure this has been covered elsewhere, but a cursory search didn't return much. I'm looking for a freelance writing/editing gig, and I'm not sure where to start. Nothing too intense or demanding, but simply a way to make a few extra bucks. Doesn't have to be sports or any hardcore reporting. heck, I don't care if it's editing refrigerator manuals. The objective is supplemental income, not to go home and crank out 1,000 words after doing so at my "real" job.

Anyone know of a decent place to start looking?

Thanks in advance!

 

[SoloFlyer]

I'm sure this has been covered elsewhere, but a cursory search didn't return much. I'm looking for a freelance writing/editing gig, and I'm not sure where to start. Nothing too intense or demanding, but simply a way to make a few extra bucks. Doesn't have to be sports or any hardcore reporting. heck, I don't care if it's editing refrigerator manuals. The objective is supplemental income, not to go home and crank out 1,000 words after doing so at my "real" job.

Anyone know of a decent place to start looking?

Thanks in advance!

Get a time machine and go back 20 years.

Freelance budgets have been slashed everywhere. Newspapers, online media, production hubs have all cut back on the gigs available.

In all seriousness, your best bet is to cold call the local newspaper(s) and see if they need anything. It may not be what it was, but a few games/assignments a week could supplement your income.

Outside of that, LinkedIn, Craigslist, and other similar sites are your best bet.

 

[wicked]

I've also been trying to hustle up work on the side in recent years, and it's just not there. Few places, even in the tech writing world, seem to be hiring freelancers.

 

[playthrough]

Reach out to your local universities, to their main communication offices, alumni offices or individual academic units like the business school, med school, etc. Most have magazines and newsletters and rarely enough good writers/editors. And they have money. I work in communications at a university and just the other day I was working through some story budgets with a director and she said "I'll give a few of these to our freelancer" -- and I didn't even know we had one.

 

[Danwriter]

This is from a 30+-year freelancer who has never gotten a W2 in his entire adult life: There is plenty of freelance work out there; in fact, more freelance than staff, at this point, certainly for quality writers. Along the way in your career you have picked up other skills and knowledge. You may just not realize it. Spend lots of time in sports venues? Look for trends that can be turned into a feature for hospitality trades about restaurants, VIP suites, etc. Have an IT streak? Those same venues are adding wireless like crazy and there are IT trade pubs that will find that interesting. I've had a retainer-based sports-tech gig for 13 years now (one of a dozen various outlets I write for regularly each month) because I leveraged knowledge from other areas of coverage into that vertical. Like I said, I've never had a "job" in my working life, so I don't know how rough it can be to make the transition to freelance from W2 world. But look at it this way: you'll never have to go another meeting again.

PS: Playthrough's idea is also good. I have a freelancer friend who pulls in mid-five figures for a hospital newsletter. Requirements: an English B.A and a knack for biology.

 

[MidwestSportsGuy]

These are great ideas. I think I was limiting myself in considering various outlets, so these are helpful. Just looking for a second source of income, however modest it might be. As I look to get out of the industry, writing and editing seem natural extensions of what I've always done. Thanks, all!

 

[CD Boogie]

JournalismJobs.com - Job Listing - NFL contributor

 

[wicked]

They've been stepping into pro sports recently. Chris Sheridan has done stuff for them.