9 years! Yes, this year (2018) marks the 9th year of my career as a freelance ghostwriter and copywriter. I would like to share my experience here for others who would like to take on the same journey of establishing their careers in freelance writing, and learn from the mistakes I made.
When I started back in 2009, I was newly married, in a new place, with a new life ahead of me. I had nobody to guide me on where and how to begin. I knew absolutely no one- NO ONE, who was working as a freelance writer. I started with zero knowledge and experience. All I knew was I could write. I was determined I could use this skill of mine to earn myself a living while still being able to look after my home and family. How could I tell others about it? How could I sell this skill of mine, and make any money out of it? I knew nothing. My only friend back then was Google, and not to mention, my husband, who supported me with what I wanted to do.
1. Triond:
Google search engines brought up a platform called Triond in front of me. Although it gave me a chance to write whatever I wanted, when I wanted and how I wanted, it didn't give me that satisfaction that I sought from my writing. I had no deadlines to meet and even had the freedom to write anything that I felt about writing at that time, I still believe I wasted a lot of my time (3 years!) there. I liked it initially as one of my blogs in the past about Writing on Triond might have suggested.
I have no record of the articles I wrote there as the site was a big scam, full of those annoying advertisements. It paid me a few cents a month for those who clicked on those silly, time wasting Ads and not those who read or appreciated my work.
I have to admit: it was a good start for me. The more I wrote there, the more I wanted to write (not on Triond though). That's when I found about freelance writing websites. It was Google again that helped me find them.
2. Essaywriter.net
I found a website called essaywriters.net. I did a few projects there, and the income was decent (or at least that is what I thought then bearing in mind the fact that I was just starting off). I could choose the projects I wanted to work on, but it was more like getting paid to write thesis and reports for those lazy students who were looking for shortcuts to get their homework done by professionals. I found it unethical. It just didn't feel right. I knew within the very first couple of months that this just wasn't my cup of tea.
3. Elance
My next find was Elance. I was very lucky to have found my first job there the very next day I signed up with it. I did quite a few jobs there as a freelance copywriter and ghostwriter. The pay was very low but I hated bidding on a new project every time I successfully finished doing one. I worked there for several years, but it was dying. It merged with Upwork that had a higher fee for both the freelancers and clients. I knew at once I had to move on and do something that would help others looking for quality content for their books or websites.
4. Self Publishing
My clients often ask me to provide samples of my work to them. This is natural. Clients often don't just rely on your profile and the reviews others have left for you. They can often be fake!
Clients want to see your work for real, compare it with that of other writers and then decide whether or not you're a right match for their writing needs. They need to be sure that if they are going to hire you and pay you, they would get back what they need.
While I am always happy to show samples of my work, when it comes to ghostwriting, I just can't show anything. As the clients pay me to ghostwrite for them, their work must be protected. It is my responsibility to protect their work. I sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) and give them all copyrights to the finished work. While this is an important part of the ghostwriting process, this often left me with no proof whatsoever of any books or ebooks I had ever written. I have so many ghostwritten books under my belt (300+ to date already) but I can never boast about them. I get it: this is one of the biggest drawbacks of ghostwriting but that is what ghostwriting is all about. I knew this would happen when I chose to become a ghostwriter- never get any credit or recognition for my work.
The solution: I came up with the idea of publishing my own books-finally having something in my name! Yay!
The easiest and cheapest way to do so was to self-publish my books on Amazon. As I was a new mother back then and was researching a lot about parenting, I decided to write several handy guides on parenting for all the knackered new parents, like myself, out there looking for some decent advice on parenting, and there you go. I did it! Today, I have about 6 of these handy parenting guides in my name on Amazon while I still continue to ghostwrite more for my clients.
5. Starting off with My Own Writing Business
While I was still working as a freelance writer and a full-time mother of two beautiful kids, I decided to expand on my work a bit. I was swarmed with writing which I could not handle alone. That's why I decided to build a team of professional and experienced writing experts and 'Ghoswriters' World' was born where my team and I cater to all of our clients' writing needs professionally.
Today
While I am successfully running this writing business of mine, and write blogs for other budding freelance writers here, I still actively seek to grow and expand upon my skills. I read a lot and I write a lot. Reading isn't just limited to books. I read other blogs, articles, quotes or whatever I can find. I look for advice from other professional and successful writers and continue to grow. In my future blogs, I will share with you more about my progress.
Until then, good luck with your freelance writing journey. Hope you can jump off to greater heights of success sooner than I did. I know it took me a lot of time to get to where I am today. Oh, what a journey it has been! There have been ups and downs, good times and bad times but it hasn't all ended yet. There is still a long way to go.
What stage of your writing career are you at? How far do you want to go? Comment below to let us know. Also, if you have got any questions for me, just write them in the comments section below and I'll be pleased to answer them for you.
When I started back in 2009, I was newly married, in a new place, with a new life ahead of me. I had nobody to guide me on where and how to begin. I knew absolutely no one- NO ONE, who was working as a freelance writer. I started with zero knowledge and experience. All I knew was I could write. I was determined I could use this skill of mine to earn myself a living while still being able to look after my home and family. How could I tell others about it? How could I sell this skill of mine, and make any money out of it? I knew nothing. My only friend back then was Google, and not to mention, my husband, who supported me with what I wanted to do.
1. Triond:
Google search engines brought up a platform called Triond in front of me. Although it gave me a chance to write whatever I wanted, when I wanted and how I wanted, it didn't give me that satisfaction that I sought from my writing. I had no deadlines to meet and even had the freedom to write anything that I felt about writing at that time, I still believe I wasted a lot of my time (3 years!) there. I liked it initially as one of my blogs in the past about Writing on Triond might have suggested.
I have no record of the articles I wrote there as the site was a big scam, full of those annoying advertisements. It paid me a few cents a month for those who clicked on those silly, time wasting Ads and not those who read or appreciated my work.
I have to admit: it was a good start for me. The more I wrote there, the more I wanted to write (not on Triond though). That's when I found about freelance writing websites. It was Google again that helped me find them.
2. Essaywriter.net
I found a website called essaywriters.net. I did a few projects there, and the income was decent (or at least that is what I thought then bearing in mind the fact that I was just starting off). I could choose the projects I wanted to work on, but it was more like getting paid to write thesis and reports for those lazy students who were looking for shortcuts to get their homework done by professionals. I found it unethical. It just didn't feel right. I knew within the very first couple of months that this just wasn't my cup of tea.
3. Elance
My next find was Elance. I was very lucky to have found my first job there the very next day I signed up with it. I did quite a few jobs there as a freelance copywriter and ghostwriter. The pay was very low but I hated bidding on a new project every time I successfully finished doing one. I worked there for several years, but it was dying. It merged with Upwork that had a higher fee for both the freelancers and clients. I knew at once I had to move on and do something that would help others looking for quality content for their books or websites.
4. Self Publishing
My clients often ask me to provide samples of my work to them. This is natural. Clients often don't just rely on your profile and the reviews others have left for you. They can often be fake!
Clients want to see your work for real, compare it with that of other writers and then decide whether or not you're a right match for their writing needs. They need to be sure that if they are going to hire you and pay you, they would get back what they need.
While I am always happy to show samples of my work, when it comes to ghostwriting, I just can't show anything. As the clients pay me to ghostwrite for them, their work must be protected. It is my responsibility to protect their work. I sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) and give them all copyrights to the finished work. While this is an important part of the ghostwriting process, this often left me with no proof whatsoever of any books or ebooks I had ever written. I have so many ghostwritten books under my belt (300+ to date already) but I can never boast about them. I get it: this is one of the biggest drawbacks of ghostwriting but that is what ghostwriting is all about. I knew this would happen when I chose to become a ghostwriter- never get any credit or recognition for my work.
The solution: I came up with the idea of publishing my own books-finally having something in my name! Yay!
The easiest and cheapest way to do so was to self-publish my books on Amazon. As I was a new mother back then and was researching a lot about parenting, I decided to write several handy guides on parenting for all the knackered new parents, like myself, out there looking for some decent advice on parenting, and there you go. I did it! Today, I have about 6 of these handy parenting guides in my name on Amazon while I still continue to ghostwrite more for my clients.
5. Starting off with My Own Writing Business
While I was still working as a freelance writer and a full-time mother of two beautiful kids, I decided to expand on my work a bit. I was swarmed with writing which I could not handle alone. That's why I decided to build a team of professional and experienced writing experts and 'Ghoswriters' World' was born where my team and I cater to all of our clients' writing needs professionally.
Today
While I am successfully running this writing business of mine, and write blogs for other budding freelance writers here, I still actively seek to grow and expand upon my skills. I read a lot and I write a lot. Reading isn't just limited to books. I read other blogs, articles, quotes or whatever I can find. I look for advice from other professional and successful writers and continue to grow. In my future blogs, I will share with you more about my progress.
Until then, good luck with your freelance writing journey. Hope you can jump off to greater heights of success sooner than I did. I know it took me a lot of time to get to where I am today. Oh, what a journey it has been! There have been ups and downs, good times and bad times but it hasn't all ended yet. There is still a long way to go.
What stage of your writing career are you at? How far do you want to go? Comment below to let us know. Also, if you have got any questions for me, just write them in the comments section below and I'll be pleased to answer them for you.
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