Need to work from home - how lucrative is FREELANCE JOURNALISM?

Question

I am aware this is quite a vague, open-ended question, kinda like "how long is a piece of string?"

I used to work in a press office writing articles and releases. I was made redundant when I was pregnant. I initially wanted to return to work part-time, but childcare costs would make life difficult.

I am just putting my feelers out to see if there is anyone out there who has been in a vaguely similar situation (i.e. wants/wanted to return to work but childcare too expensive and so decided to become a freelance journalist).

WHat kind of publications do you write for? DId you study journalism or you just picked it up?

Answer 1

I used to edit a magazine and we used freelance writers a lot! They get paid about, on average, £250 per article. But, as you realise, it's not easy - there are days of research, phone calls, visits to the library or trips to interview people and the time it takes to sit down and compose a well-written, informative article.

You must decide where your talents lie. Do you have experience of any particular field (music, home decorating, computing, cars etc). Then target your market, approaching publications with some examples of your work. The hardest thing will be to get your first item published, after that, when people see you have experience, are reliable and have talent, it should be plain sailing! The very best of luck.

P.S. If you want to consider freelance PR writing, check out my website (www.coralhousecommunications[dotcom]) - silly Yahoo won't accept .com] and send me your details. I can't promise anything, but we'll have a chat and see what comes of it.

Answer 2

You are asking a few very difficult questions. For the core of it:

Freelance journalism can be lucrative, but it is often so after you’ve made yourself a name and gathered a very good reputation and a hefty contact book. You might find the road to it tricky if you don’t actually sit in a newsroom.

Having marketing and press office experience is good, but being a journalist is a lot about taking a press release and making into viable, interesting piece of news. The skillset used to write marketing communication and materials is entirely different than those of being a journalist. Generating news if often a laborious task that will require your sifting through a lot of materials in a very short space of time, and some times finding the guts to ask questions no one else would.

You might want to consider advertising writing, which is a stage up from press releases, or writing reviews for various topics and magazines. For achieving this, you will need to contact magazines you would like to work for, send CVs and cover letters (both email and letter) and follow them up with the people in the recruitment/HR department of that magazine. Again, it is often known that the first few pieces you might be writing for the love, just to gain trust with the publisher.

I used to be a journalist, then investigative reporter and executive editor of a financial publication. I did not learn journalism, but did have a background of running my high-school’s publication (quarterly newspaper and yearbooks). I spent my first 3 months networking through the key players of my speciality field, and as I gained trust of sources news weren’t so much of a hunt and often fell in my lap. I will be very honest: that was not an easy job. News writing is a 24 hour job, 16 of which I stayed in the office. My first 6 months I was paid a mere pittance, but within 2 years I tripled my initial salary, and worked mostly from home once I started working with monthly magazines.

I hope you found this helpful.
Wishing you the best of luck!

Answer 3

It depends on the publication, the subject, and the uniqueness of your article.

If you get a story relating to some famous person or politician, that could become headline news, you could be talking thousands of dollars.

If you are writing about a specialist subject, such as certain scientific fields, economics, technical than you could earn anything from a few hundred dollars to a couple of thousand dollars. that depends on the publication, newsworthiness and specialised

If you are writing a story for a local magazine or paper, then you are talking very little.

First - identify what subject you would like to write about. Is it a specialised field? Is general journalism. local News, International News etc.

Second - find out which publications would suit you or would like to write about

Third - read the publications and check their writing style and how each articles are covered.

Forth - Do not submit your stories straight away. Go and see or speak to the Editor directly.

Fifth - See if you can cover local event and get that published.. This is important that you can show that you have published something.

Alternatively, you could try also some commercial companies if they are looking for someone to write articles for their press releases. Even for your local politician etc. Governors. Speech writing, etc.


www.journalism.co.uk
www.freelanceuk.com/journalists/index.shtml
www.practicaljournalism.com

Answer 4

I write occasional articles for certain publications, magazines and papers, and sometimes I get approached to do articles. I never studied Journalism or even went to Uni.

I have spent a lot of time in both Business and Hotels, so I can build on that experience to write. Hotel reviews, travel guides, business opinions and business guidance sheets make the most of my knowledge and experience.

The hardest part of this job is breaking it. News happens all the time, so it is not like you will be out of work for years or months at a time. The hard part is gettinng noticed.

Choose a subject that interests you or a topic you want to cover, write an article and submit it FREE OF CHARGE to some newspapers that you have interests in. If they like what they see, you'll get a call from them.

What is even better is the advantage you have that I did not. You already have both experience in media, but more importantly ,contacts in the feild. Give them a call and ask their thoughts, suggestions etc. They should help give you a boost.

Good luck

Answer 5

Yes Dear ! 1: Must Have An I Pod / Music player. 2: Re luxe and Easy . Now When U Got these 2 Simple Steps then u r on the Line To work As A GYM / Light Exercise ...... Note: Not 2 forget Reading the Books...

Answer 6

I do think you have used the wring term for what you are looking for. You can wright articles from home As many as you would like to wright. Selling them is the problem. There are a great many of you out there that wright and submit articles and only a few are accepted and paid for. If you know how to wright properly and have a vast knowledge base then you might be the one to sell what you have to say. You are home so do it. you will not be any worse of then you are now and you will learn in the process.

Answer 7

it can be very lucrative, my dad was freelance journalist and this was before the days of computers etc,he wrote for the observer and guardian group,.mainly features, reviews..................do it, you won,t know until you try

Answer 8

it depends on how good you are.

Answer 9

try http://home.createmyfuture.com