Jen A. Miller and I "met" through the forums on Freelance Success (highly recommended and highly addictive, by the way), and I was thoroughly impressed by her depth of knowledge and willingness to share information. She has contributed to the New York Times, Woman's Day, Psychology Today, and also wrote The Jersey Shore, Atlantic City to Cape May: Great Destinations, which will be published in May 2008. Read Jen's secrets to success...
Urban Muse: Could you tell us about your first big clip?
Jen: Early in my freelance career, I wrote a regular book feature for a regional magazine. I had just started learning about repackaging the same material for other publications (within your rights, of course), so I took information about a local author and pitched it to Pages, which was a national publication about books and authors. The editor got back to me right away and assigned the article – my first $1/word assignment! I did that with the next local-author profile I wrote for the regional magazine and was assigned a feature in the national magazine (the local magazine article was only a short piece). Pages became a regular gig for me until it folded.
UM: What is the best way to impress an editor and build a long-term relationship with him/her?
J: BE ON TIME. I can’t stress this enough. Before going freelance, I edited a regional publication and could not believe how many people turned in their articles late. If you are going to be late, for whatever reason, tell your editor in advance. You don’t know if he or she is on a tight deadline, and the last thing you want to do is put him or her in a jam.
Another great way to build a relationship is to not freak out when an editor asks for changes – within reason – especially if this is the first time you’re writing for someone. It’s rare that you’re going to get their style on the first shot, so revisions are normal. Do the changes, and get them back to your editor in a timely fashion.
UM: Any tips on staying organized as you juggle multiple assignments and sources?
J: All of my assignments are in one binder, and arranged the same way. First is a piece of paper with the assignment name, publication name, deadline, work count, and editor name. To this page, I’ll create an article timeline. When did I call this source? When did he or she get back to me? What’s his or her contact information? This also helps if an editor gives you someone to interview, and that person never gets back to you – I have a timeline of every time I tried to call or email. Then I’ll hole punch any other documents or information relevant to the article and put that behind the assignment page. Contracts also go into this section. When the assignment is done and accepted, it goes into a larger binder. This way, if there’s ever a contract dispute, or I want to re-use a source, I know where everything is.
This doesn’t have to be high tech or expensive either. The binders are cast offs headed for the trash before I snagged them, and the loose leaf was bought at a back to school sale.
UM: How did you transition between writing magazine articles and writing your book?
J: By writing a book about the same subject I cover in magazine articles! I write a lot about New Jersey, for both local and national publications. I saw that Countryman Press was looking for new destination travel guides, so I pitched an area I knew: the South Jersey Shore, which is how The Jersey Shore: Atlantic City to Cape May (Includes the Wildwoods) A Complete Guide started. Since I already had contacts in the region, I wasn’t starting from scratch. This has also lead to more magazine work – I discovered so many new-to-me places to stay, eat, shop and play that I had buckets of material for new articles.
I also set magazine-like deadlines for the work. That made the work more manageable. Instead of having to write, say, 400 pages, I just had to write 10 by the end of the week.
UM: What is the one piece of advice that you wish you’d gotten earlier in your freelance writing career?
J: Write for trades, and never expect to be paid on time.
Trade publications make up more of my income than ever before. Even though you might not be able to buy these magazines at Barnes & Noble, they’re still wonderful publications with big readerships. I wrote the cover story to the latest issue of Jeep Magazine. It’s beautiful, was fun to write, and paid more than most of my consumer magazine articles.
I also had to re-learn my finances. It’s not easy going from a regular, direct deposit paycheck to freelance income. And it’s not just the little magazines that are at issue when getting paid, either. I’ve had problems with major magazines and getting paid, sometimes because of an accounting oversight, sometimes not. So stay on top of who owes you what when, and don’t be afraid to ask where your money is. You have to pay the mortgage, too, after all!
Thanks, Jen. Read more on her blogs, Book a Week with Jen and Down the Shore with Jen.