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Laid off? 10 tips for accidental freelancers
If you’ve recently been laid off, I’m sorry. Losing a job is emotionally, practically and financially destabilizing — especially when your identity and sense of purpose are closely tied to your work, as they are for many writers and editors. But let me offer some hope. When I took a last-minute buyout after 15 years…
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How to pitch editors right now
During AHCJ’s March Lunch and Learn, freelance members swapped tips about a perpetually charged topic: pitching. Some writers like me enjoy coming up with my own ideas. It satisfies my creative muscle and gives me a better chance of writing the types of stories I’m actually interested in — and others avoid it. It’s true:…
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Signs you’re dangerously overwhelmed as a freelancer — and what to do about it
Being a journalist inherently comes with stress. Sometimes it’s good stress, like the short-term kind that can drive you to meet a deadline or ask an uncomfortable question. But when it’s prolonged stress, like a constant low-level dread about the state of the industry or world, it’s not often productive — and can even be…
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Freelance journalists share their financial challenges and potential solutions
It’s not easy making a living as a freelance journalist. That’s long been the case, especially now with newsrooms halting freelance contributions (if not shutting down entirely) at the same time as more of us are entering the field. Plus, as I’ve noted before, one 2022 survey found that most independent writers’ freelance income was…
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6 ways to find fresh story ideas — and where to sell them
When aspiring journalists used to ask me how I got my ideas, I worried they were pursuing the wrong profession. After all, I’m a writer largely because there are so many stories I want to tell. Whether it’s the middle of the night or the middle of a shower or the middle of eavesdropping on a…
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How one freelancer juggles writing, voice-over acting and her cat rescue
Stephanie Stephens grew up in a small North Carolina mountain town and has lived in 16 cities — including New York, Houston, Denver, London, Sydney and Auckland. Her 24-year freelance career has been just as vibrant, drawing her to a wide range of print, audio and video projects on many topics including health and travel.…
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Why rest and sleep aren’t the same — and why journalists should know the difference
Around 2007, Saundra Dalton-Smith, M.D., had a full-time medical practice, two toddlers and a feeling of exhaustion she just couldn’t shake — or explain. The internal medicine physician was getting sufficient sleep, and medical tests revealed a clean bill of health. Plenty of patients were presenting with similar complaints. “I saw a lot of people…
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