Becoming a writer (and earning money as one)

Many work at home mums would love to earn a living as a freelance writer. But if you think the best way to earn an income as a writer is to spend nine-to-five writing novels, think again…. 🙂

With the book publishing industry going through massive changes due to electronic books, the Kindle, IPads and blogging, it’s much harder to get a book deal than it was just a few years ago. Even if you do, as the author you’ll be expected to do virtually all of your book’s promotion yourself. You’ll only get to keep around 8% of the book’s cover price, so unless you’re JK Rowling and can sell books by the truck-load, that’s a lot of work for not very much money.

True, there’s more to life than money. But if you’re determined to use your writing as a way of keeping a roof over your family’s head, you’ll need a better strategy than getting a novel published.

Now isn’t an easy time to break in to journalism, either. Digital publishing has taken its toll on newspapers and magazines too, meaning that any budding journalist will be competing for work with trained journalists with years of experience. Plus tight deadlines mean that journalism often isn’t flexible enough for mums with young children.

But don’t despair, there’s one place that always needs fresh writing – the internet.

Here are some of the ways you can earn an income writing for the web: Continue reading “Becoming a writer (and earning money as one)”

How I Became a Home Worker by Simone Castello

Simone Castello is a freelance copyeditor and copywriter.  Simone’s business website is simonecastello.co.uk and you can also find her at her blogs From Rat Racer to Positive Parent and Cambridge Ecothrifter.

When I started maternity leave in January 2007 I planned to take a year off and resume my career as inhouse freelance subeditor. I had been doing it for over a decade, so it seemed like the easy option – I had lots of contacts in the industry and knew there would be work for me provided I could find reliable childcare for my child. Mind you, I envied freelancers who could work from home but knew that in my sector opportunities were rare, plus you needed expensive equipment and software. Despite using MACs at work, I had a modest PC at home and no fancy design software. Continue reading “How I Became a Home Worker by Simone Castello”

Nicki Cawood’s Transition from Career Woman to Business Mum (Part 2)

Today, Nicki continues her story. Here’s the link to part 1 of Nicki Cawood’s transition from career woman to business mum.

After three years things were getting a bit stale. Getting up to the next step in the ladder at Usborne would take huge personal sales on my part, as well as my team’s and personally I was finding this difficult. Running a home-based business under a company umbrella has it’s pros and cons. You start up for very title outlay, have resources, training etc on hand but similarly, to really excel you need to push the boundaries to rise about the group or you are “Another Usborner…”. Continue reading “Nicki Cawood’s Transition from Career Woman to Business Mum (Part 2)”

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