How to Get Rid of Query Fear Once and For All

January 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment

In the five years since I first launched this blog — and in the 1.5 years since I began coaching — I’ve learned a thing or two about the things that can hold a freelancer back.

And aside from the lure of a smooshy couch, a good book, or a curated list of sparkly jewelry on Etsy, a lot of the roadblocks we put up around ourselves stem from the pitch process.

You’ve asked me so many questions about query letters over the years:

How do I find publications to pitch?

Which editor should I target?

What do I do if I have no clips/experience/personal connection?

How long should I wait before I follow up?

Is my letter really good enough to send out? 

I had the same questions when I started out and, over the years, I developed my own system for making the pitch to publish process go smoother.

So what’s my trick to busting query fear? [Read more...]

Filed Under: productivity, Resources, shameless self-promotion Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

How To Break Through Your Work Block

January 13, 2012 By 15 Comments

I’ve made a lot of excuses for myself over the past month:

I just finished several large projects; I deserve a break.

I’m distracted because I’m waiting on responses to my lit agent queries; can you blame me?

I’m suffering from Holiday Brain.

I’m suffering from S.A.D.

I’m suffering from this god-awful, nasty, lingering cold.

Poor excuses all, especially considering how much work I could’ve been doing based upon the goals I’d set out for myself.

I’ve been procrastinating on one project in particular: pulling together the notes for the ASJA panel I’m appearing on in the spring. (For more information, you can now find the lowdown on my Sex Writing panel here, on the tab for Saturday, April 28.)

Of course, when it comes to issues of procrastination, burnout, and rebooting, there’s a lot of advice out there: Step away from your work. Schedule in a walk, workout, or meal. Do something that nourishes your soul. Meditate. Etc.

But don’t these tips assume we’re all struggling for one, universal reason? Aren’t they all just temporary salves that don’t actually solve the underlying problem? Why else would we need to repeat them again and again (and again)?

Shouldn’t we be tackling the root of the problem? [Read more...]

Filed Under: motivation, productivity Tagged With: , , , , ,

How To Keep Up the Momentum During the Holidays

December 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I’ve been seeing it a lot lately. Fellow freelancers tweeting out that their calendars have opened up enough to allow for new business. I did it myself just last week.

Is it something in the air? Have our work cycles somehow become synced up? Are all of our regular clients just too damn busy stringing up twinkle lights and hanging stockings to bother with assigning out new work?

Part of it is the conclusion of another fiscal year. Large projects are ending. Annual budgets are drying up. Clients are holding back until 2012… fiddling with their editorial calendars… treading water until they feel safe spending money again.

Another part of it is Holiday Brain. Between all of those projects we just wrapped up, all of those pound cakes and soups we just made for Thanksgiving, and all of that holiday shopping we now have to do, we completely forgot about marketing ourselves. I mean, who has time to hustle when there are catnip candy canes and glittery tree ornaments to be bought!?

Unfortunately, considering how much money we tend to spend during the holiday season (buying a third ceramic Christmas tree was totally worth it), we need new income now more than ever.

So how can you make the holidays work for you? [Read more...]

Filed Under: marketing, productivity Tagged With: , , ,

How To Harness the Power of NaNoWriMo… All Year Long

November 4, 2011 By 1 Comment

We’re just a few days in to NaNoWriMo, and the tweets and motivational blog posts are already flying fast and furious. Not that I’m participating, mind you. I’m not a novelist, and all of my attempts at “fiction” back in college were thinly-veiled, totally emo personal essays (as were everyone else’s). But I can’t help feeling envious that fiction writers have a month like this, during which they can go all in on that large project they’ve been daydreaming about for eons, a built-in support network (and hard-core accountability) just an email or dedicated forum away.

Of course, I get my motivation and accountability elsewhere. My writing partner, Lyz Lenz, sends me threatening emails every week.

But what about the rest of you? Where can you go to ensure that your writing goals are met, thanks to a mix of motivation, camaraderie, and abject fear? [Read more...]

Filed Under: motivation, productivity, Resources, writing Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Didn’t Get It Done? That’s Your Own Damn Fault

November 1, 2011 By 7 Comments

Things that distract me:

- my cats
- an opened bag of Candy Cane Kisses
- music that is particularly peppy
- the knowledge that there is an unwatched episode of The Sing-Off on my DVR
- the dust I just noticed on the far edge of my desk
- a sink full of dishes
- Etsy
- my sudden obsession with yoga bolsters, brightly colored jeans, or illusion necklaces
- Twitter
- etc.

This past weekend — at a time when I was supposed to be working on the first chapter of my book so that I could get it to my writing partner by Monday — we lost power (along with hundreds of thousands of others on the east coast, thanks to a freak October blizzard). Okay, fine, I thought to myself. I’ll give myself a pass. My laptop will die in under two hours anyway.

Then, on Sunday night, the power came back on.

By Monday morning, however, Internet had still not been restored. “Ooh!” I said to my husband. “I’ll take this opportunity to write that chapter without any distractions!”

I then proceeded to spend the next few hours watching Project Runway, playing Spider Solitaire, and checking email on my phone. [Read more...]

Filed Under: motivation, productivity Tagged With: ,

Want Freelance Success? Watch Your Health

September 22, 2011 By 4 Comments

At the beginning of June, I started ghostwriting an ebook with a very aggressive timeline. I didn’t take on many other projects during that time, aside from a blog post here and there, and some copyediting work. I also didn’t take breaks for lunch. I stopped going on my afternoon walks. My topless living room yoga sessions became far less regular. And I ate a lot of takeout Chinese.

Finishing that project (the last of the edits were completed in mid-August) was like coming up for air. It was freeing, but I also felt burnt out and unmotivated. I lost all momentum. For weeks, I did the bare minimum, telling myself I’d get back in the saddle after “that trip” or “that holiday weekend.” But I never did.

Then I started making yoga a bigger part of my life* and, suddenly, I was able to jump into new coaching work, start singing funerals again, and write a book proposal. Magic? Not quite. [Read more...]

Filed Under: balance, productivity Tagged With: , , , , , ,

How To Work From Home Without Losing Your Mind

April 12, 2011 By 10 Comments

According to an infographic recently put together by the American Museum of Corporate American History and Solvate, the average commuter spends 429 days just commuting over the course of their lifetime.

Which makes me feel relieved that I put a stop to that bullshit early on.

I mean man. What a waste.

Not to say that working in an office isn’t better for some. Office culture provides structure. A social outlet. A separation between work and home.

But still.

You can have that at home, too. In fact, you can have it even better.

How?

[Read more...]

Filed Under: productivity Tagged With: , , , ,

Bring In New Projects Without Lifting a Finger

July 29, 2010 By 22 Comments

Things have been awesomer than usual lately, and that’s a relief.

Because 2009 was a rough one.

This time last year, it seemed that — no matter how desperately I looked — it was impossible to find paying work.

But then, at the end of 2009, shortly after I had started a new part-time job at YourTango, Ian Kerner contacted me about co-writing an ebook with him for his new Good In Bed web project. Several months later, I was contacted by someone at AOL’s Patch about copy editing. The other month, an editor at The Frisky asked me if I’d be interested in writing a regular sex column for them. And then, the other week, someone at Psych Central e-mailed me, asking if I would be interested in writing for their site, as one of their editors had seen my LoveMom piece on depression, and had been impressed.

I’m not trying to gloat (though sometimes I like to point at my husband and say neener-neener). I’m just sayin’… it’s totally possible to bring in new projects without lifting a finger. How?

[Read more...]

Filed Under: finances/income, marketing, networking, productivity Tagged With: , , , , , ,

How To Avoid Social Media Fatigue in 5 Easy Steps

April 8, 2010 By 3 Comments

[Image via]

Oh my god, you guys. The other week, I asked for suggestions on what I should include in my Job Hopping for Word Nerds e-book. Heather of CraftLit provided me with a goldmine of great suggestions, some of which I deemed outside the scope of my book. Still, I thought they would make for some great blog post fodder. So today, I decided to address this one:

How can I use social media without being swallowed by it?

So I opened up my Freelancedom dashboard, typed in the title of this post, aaand… then proceeded to spend the next four hours on Twitter.

Oy.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: balance, community, marketing, networking, productivity Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

February 2010 Monthly Goal Meetup

February 1, 2010 By 6 Comments

Lordy, it’s shaping up to be quite the month. Things at YourTango continue to get even busier (who knew that was possible?), and my ongoing copywriting project soldiers on. I’m also leading a team in Freelance Success‘s biannual Query Challenge, and I spent yesterday doing some market research at Barnes & Noble, and sending out query letters and LOIs. I’m loving my team. They’re so…motivated. It’s gonna be a trip to keep up with them!

But let’s hold off on February for the moment. How did I do last month?

[Read more...]

Filed Under: motivation, productivity Tagged With: , , , , ,
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