Freelance Writing- Work at Home

A Home Business Article Contributed by Kaajal Tomar

An Excellent ' Work at Home 'career

Freelance writers have the privilege to work at home. Others can only dream of such an advantage. Freelance writers have the advantage of choosing their assignments, work at their own pace, and also have the liberty to choose how much to earn in a month; depending on the assignments undertaken. Assignments could be on a contract basis or freelance basis where they can work at home at their own pace. Writing is not an easy job. It takes times and real effort to put the idea on paper.

A good marketing skill is a must for freelance writers to sell their writings. There is no dearth of jobs in freelance writing market but scouting them and finally bagging the ones you like is a tough and a tedious task.

Money will not start flowing in the beginning but once your skills are developed and you understand the market well, you can earn a very good income from this profession.

Options Available

Freelance writing offers a lot of options to choose from. More than one type of writing can be taken up and it is possible to pursue all of these while you work at home.

The options are:

Article writing - Writers write on a number of topics. This is non-fiction work. It is a vast market. You can choose to specialize in a particular type of writing like Health, Travel, Entertainment etc. Travel writers are actually paid to visit new destinations and to write about them. sounds good? Well but it is very difficult to crack into this market.

Ghost writing - These writers provide the content on behalf of some one else. There may not be fame in this type of writing but there is lot of work available.

Fiction writing- It includes all works of fiction like short stories,novella, novels. Some specialize in writing about science fiction, some do only erotica. You can write books for children or contribute short stories to newspapers or magazines.

Content writing- Writing for websites is a good opportunity for freelance writers.

Screen wriitng- Some people make a handsome income writing for television. There is both fame and money in this genre.

Technical writing- Writing about new trends in technology and about latest products is a very popular option for freelance writers.

Organize Your Work Area at Home

Most people prefer to write directly on the computer but some still prefer the plain white paper to do their writing. Keep a good supply of the stationary you would use like sheets, pen , pencils, envelops, postage stamps etc.

A computer or a laptop and an internet connection are vital. They are the lifelines of writers who work at home. Keep your operating system updated. Microsoft word is the most popular software with both writers and editors. A printer will lessen your printing costs.

Business cards, a phone line, a website( after you have enough work in your kitty), letter heads etc are of course necessary expenditures.

The Right Process for This ' Work at Home ' Career

The publishing industry follows some standard rules. Every writer must adhere to these or else your work never might get published.

Check out the websites of all those publications you wish to contribute to. Most offer submission guidelines in a very clear manner. Once you have decided on a particular publication,follow their guidelines and write according to the feel of that particular magazine or newspaper. Most editors prefer to receive a query letter about the writer's article. A query letter states in details about the article to be submitted. If the editor likes, it you may receive a reply asking for your article. But this is not a guarantee of acceptance. Your piece still might get rejected.

Rejection is the part of the game. If you can take initial rejections in your stride, you might make a very good freelance writer. All writers whether they freelance or not have faced rejection in the beginning of their career. J.K.Rowling faced continuous rejections before an editor agreed to go ahead with Harry Potter and the rest is history. If this is some inspiration, go ahead and get set for a career in writing.