What Ive Learned, and Earned, Using This Newsletter

What Ive Learned, and Earned, Using This Newsletter I have been subscribing to Hope Clark’s Funds for Writers newsletter for ten years. Initially, the listings overwhelmed me, because I hadn’t yet â€Å"turned pro† and only wrote when I felt like it. But here’s how I learned to use the FundsforWriters listings to structure my writing practice and eventually earn income as a professional writer: Competitions Not every contest is right for you – but every writing prompt is. The goal is not to write a perfect, submittable poem, short story, or essay. Instead, practice so your craft improves to the point of actually having a worthwhile submission one day. Years ago, a contest listing called for car essays. I used the prompt, wrote a terrible first draft in five minutes, and filed it away. Recently, a local publisher placed a call for car essays. I dusted off that draft and revised it for submission. That essay â€Å"My Ba Grants If you’re not an undergraduate journalism student, don’t apply for such a fellowship. Similarly, if you’re not interested in spending two months in a National Park cabin, don’t apply for that retreat. But every grant link is highly informative. You learn about the grant-giving organization, their requirements, and the nuts and bolts of an application packet. Information like this is valuable so that when the right opportunity comes along, you can recognize it. You can’t recognize the opportunity just In the past 12 months, I applied for three grants. Two applications were rejected, but one is under consideration. Wish me luck. Freelance Markets Often, aspiring freelancers mistake an idea for a pitch. A pitch requires three elements: idea, angle, and timeliness. Using the listings for freelance markets, challenge yourself to push past ideas and write a viable pitch. It’s hard to nail all three elements, but it is essential practice. In 2013, I saw a listing for The Writer magazine. I had an idea and fleshed out a pitch. It was the 10-year anniversary of the Tony Hillerman Writers Conference in Santa Fe. The conference is run Jobs Job ads are gold mines because they reflect the state of changing times. Most ads are straightforward, but if a particular writing skill is listed and I have no idea what they’re talking about, I start researching. In this way, the job ads have helped me to keep my skills relevant. At the start of this year, I clicked on an ad and landed a part-time assignment as an SEO writer consulting with the web designers. If I hadn’t taken the time to learn how to broaden the foundation of good writing to these new standards, I would have lost out on this steady writing income. Ads The sponsored ads in this newsletter promote services and events, offer discounts, and sometimes include a testimonial from Hope. But wait, spend money to earn money? Yes. Not only have I earned writing income through this newsletter, but I have also used the advertised services to make valuable investments in my career. For example, I contacted Shaila Abdullah through her House of Design ad (see below). She helped me build a website that truly reflects my spirit and is not some cookie-cutter template. I keep the site up-to-date with recent clips and it is an essential part of my daily pitching routine. Time may not permit you to practice on all of these listings in a given week. But if you are new to a writing career, studying the listings and practicing your writing can help you figure out the type of writing you want to do. On the other hand, if you are a seasoned writer and know exactly what you want, then you have great leads. Yet for all writers, practice always precedes publication. Where there is â€Å"Hope,† there is opportunity.