I didn’t hit all of my goals as I had wanted. But I sure gave it a better chance than last year. Every year things improve more for me.

This year I wrote more words than last year. I don’t think I hit 100k last year, but this year I’m at over 179k. I also “won” National Novel Writing Month, something I hadn’t done in the last three years.

I have learned some things this year. I’ve learned to use my Passion Planner better than in 2015, and I’ve figured more ways to use it for next year.

Goal 1

I will have at least two freelancing jobs and will contact at least three clients a week.

At the end of July, I took part in a 60-day challenge to help me get started with freelancing. The young man in charge did a great job of teaching us how to cold pitch ideas.

And I did land one job that paid what I had asked. However, it wasn’t a long lasting one.

I did continue to pitch after the challenge was over, but I realized that wasn’t what I wanted to do. I want to pitch ideas to blogs and websites online.

One of my new goals for 2017 will be to focus on getting editing jobs. I enjoy that work much better.

Goal 2

I wrote a short story, or prequel, to my novels to give away on my author website.

Just like I said I would in July, I did write this short story during Camp NaNoWriMo. I have put it aside since then. However, I will edit and format it the first part of 2017.

Goal 3

I published my Rick Springfield memoir.

I did get more editing on this book done, but I won’t get it published by the end of the year.

I have decided to put as much as I can into it, and I would like to add some photos, too. I have the huge project of putting a box of memorabilia in order before I can continue any further.

I am pushing to get this published as soon as I can in 2017.

Goal 4

I marketed my writing and editing business every day for 20 minutes.

I haven’t done the marketing of my business on a consistent basis, but I have done it from time to time. I want to be more consistent with this in 2017.

Rachel Thompson has published a book called 30-Day Book Marketing Challenge: How to energize your book sales in a month on Amazon this past week. It’s already a hit among authors. Even though I went through her email challenge, I will purchase the book because social media changes every minute.

I look forward to seeing what the changes are in the book and working on marketing my book and business.

Looking back at 2016, I haven’t done too bad, but I could have achieved my goals if I had pushed myself a bit more. I am determined to hit more of my goals in 2017.

Did you achieve your 2016 goals? Why or why not?

The post The Good and the Bad of My 2016 Writing Goals appeared first on Beach Girl Publishing LLC.

Four. Four times. Four times I’ve started this book, and for the first time since I “won” my first National Novel Writing Month in 2012, I “won” this year.

I pat myself on the back. I am so proud.

And it’s not that I’m proud that I finished the 50,000 words of the NaNoWriMo challenge. It’s that I finally got a great start on this novel.

That’s what I’m most proud of.

Strike one

I started writing the third book of The Divorce Trilogy back after I published the first book in 2013. That was the first year I tried to write this book. I made it to almost 33,000 words.

I didn’t get started until a few days in, but I still did a pretty good job of getting that many words. I pushed myself a little bit at the end of the month to finish, but the words wouldn’t come.

By the end of November, I left one job for another better paying one so writing didn’t happen. Or not enough to get me caught up.

Strike two

In 2014, I made it to almost 19,000 words, just a little over one-third of the way. I liked the fact that I had a great hook for the readers, but the plot still wasn’t working for me.

That year wasn’t the greatest year for me as it was. I was struggling with some personal issues so I’m surprised I even got that many words. But, at least, it was a start.

My heart wasn’t into it, or as much into it as I would have liked. I had sunk into a depression. Ms. D was kicking my butt, and writing was the farthest thing from my mind.

All I wanted to do was keep my head above water financially, and that was my biggest struggle among other things.

Strike three

I put the novel aside while I worked on other things and tried again in 2015. Once again, I tried NaNoWriMo, but I didn’t even make it past 6,000 words that year.

I was working two part-time jobs — ten hours a day. By the time I got home, fixed supper, and did the necessary things, I was too exhausted to even think about writing.

But at least I had tried. It was 5,329 words I didn’t have before.

The best part about this version? I ended up revamping it to help me get started for this last time. It’s the beginning for my current version.

The best results

Do you see why I’m so proud of myself? This year I spent a little time outlining the book before NaNo started.

I didn’t feel very confident with the outline, but I know sometimes the ideas will come as I write. Having a rough outline gives me the guidance I need.

And the ideas flowed.

What I had outlined has now changed to something else. With those 50,000 words, I’ve made it two-thirds of the way through the book. I still need to finish writing it, but after hammering out 3,000-4,000 words some days to catch up, I needed a short break.

I’m excited about the story and what has developed with it. I haven’t felt like this about my previous two novels. I can’t wait to see where it goes and how it ends.

Other authors, who are making a good income from their books, say it takes at least five novels before an author’s name gets out there. This will be novel number three for me, and I sure hope things start turning around for me.

I’ve got more ideas for children’s and middle grade books that I can’t wait to start.

However, for now I will focus on this novel and the three nonfiction books in various stages.

If you participated in NaNoWriMo, how did you do? Did you hit your goal?

The post Did you get good results with NaNoWriMo? appeared first on Beach Girl Publishing LLC.

Thanksgiving is a holiday in which we should be thankful for the people and the things happening our lives. Of course, we should be thankful every day for even waking alive each day and being able to take a breath.

I know I am thankful for each new day, and I’m thankful for several people and things in my life.

Writer friends share what they are thankful for

This year I thought it would be fun to ask my fellow writers what they are thankful for. Some of them were more than willing to share.

“I’m thankful for all of the author friends I’ve made online who are generous with their time and knowledge, kind in their praise, and gentle with their criticism.” — Carolyn Astfalk

“I’m thankful for my family and how helpful and supportive they are with my writing. I’m quitting work(!) after Christmas to have more time for homeschooling and writing, and my husband and mother are in full support of it. I know I’m lucky.” — Quenby Olson Eisenacher

“I’m thankful for a supportive family that I can share my writing with.” — Rachelle M.N. Shaw

“I’m thankful for readers. Getting feedback reminds me that writing is only half the equation.” — Pam Humphrey

What am I thankful for?

I’m thankful for each new day. I’ve had a few rough days the last year and a rough couple of years, but this year things are looking up for me.

My motto at the beginning of the year was “I am determined.” And I have been. I was determined to change my job situation, and it happened.

I’m thankful for my Nerium family. They’ve given me the positivity I needed in my life, and they support me in whatever way I need to grow my business. All I have to do is ask or reach out.

I’m thankful for my writer friends. They always give me the encouragement and support I need for my writing life. I’m most thankful for the 10 Minute Novelists. I’ve met several new friends there.

I’m thankful for my friends — you know who you are — who support me in my personal life and my writing as well as my Nerium and Thirty-One businesses. That means a lot to me.

Of course, I’m thankful for my family — my son, my parents, my brother and his family, my fur babies, and my daughter. My son may be a typical teen at times now, but he made me cry and laugh as he grew up. And he still makes me do thise things now. I love and support him in all he does. My parents have been there through both the good and the bad for me. They have loved and supported me through my high school activities to my divorce and custody battle. I wouldn’t have made it through without them. 

My brother and his family have supported me as well. My nephew and nieces give me the laughs and hugs when I need them the most. My fur babies keep me sane when I need it the most and keep me company when I’m alone. My daughter may no longer want me in her life, but I am thankful for the eighteen years I did have with her. I will never forget the memories I have of her, and I hope she knows how much I love her.

What are you most thankful for on this Thanksgiving?

The post What are You Most Thankful for This Thanksgiving? appeared first on Beach Girl Publishing LLC.

I’m ready for this novel to be done. Sometimes I think I’m weird that I feel like this novel has to be done so I can move on to the next novel. But a writer friend told me I’m not weird for wanting to do that.

Starting over again

I’ve written a different beginning the other times, and even some of the story was different. I’m looking at the possibility of combining the best parts from the other versions and rewrite the first part. Hopefully, I can finish the novel so that I have a good first draft, which I’ve never had before.

When preparing for NaNoWriMo in previous years, I’ve never done a detailed outline. I’m not that kind of writer, but some place between pantser and plotter. But this time, I would like to have more of an outline.

Participating in a chat

So, I’ve been following a weekly Sunday chat for a writing group using K.M. Weiland’s book, Outlining Your Novel. Weiland suggests using a notebook, but I’m more of a visual person. I’m trying to figure out how I can outline my novel so that I can see it — let it stare me in the face.

Back to Weiland’s book for a minute, this book is an awesome resource if you are a detailed plotter. She goes into every little detail you can ever think of for getting all of the details worked out. She makes you think of everything that could happen with each character and fills notebooks full of notes. While that is great, I don’t want to outline that much, as I’ve stated before.

Visualizing the outline

During one chat, the writer friend leading the chat gave us ideas on how we could outline using a white board. I don’t have a white board, but I’ve often thought about getting one.

In the meantime, I have a pink bulletin board that I’ve had since I was a kid. My room was the girly pink one so everything was pink, and I’ve kept it all this time. It’s always been useful.

Until this chat, I had been using it for one of my other businesses, but I decided it was time to use it for writing. I stripped it clean of the business stuff and put up the index cards I’ve filled out for the other versions of my novel. Making this change is definitely helping see my story visually, and I’m glad I went to that chat.

I could also use Scrivener as it has a great way to outline using the index cards within its software. But that’s harder for me to see. I can’t be as visual with it.

Getting back to the actual outlining, I will review the index cards staring at me and see what I can do to get the plot outlined the best I can. I do know I need a road map of some kind, or I won’t write and do well. I have to know where I’m going even if it’s brief.

Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this year? If so, what preparations do you do before the big event begins?

The post Why is Preparing for NaNoWriMo so Difficult? appeared first on Beach Girl Publishing LLC.

All writers need to be readers, too. After all, reading makes us better writers. We not only need to be better writers by learning grammar and punctuation, but how to structure our stories. Most importantly, we need to be the best communicator we can be.

Becoming a good writer takes time and practice. Reading books about writing help us learn our craft better. Like with any job, we don’t learn if we don’t take classes or read books to learn the skills.

I’ve created this list on the most helpful writing books I’ve seen over the years of being a writer. Several of them I’ve read and even have on my bookshelves. The others are on my wish list for books to be read in the near future.

1. On Writing by Stephen King

King’s On Writing is a classic writing book. It’s full of his own personal story of how he became a writer — from his childhood to his near-fatal accident in 1999. At the same time you learn how you can avoid the mistakes he made.

I’ve been a fan of King’s novels since high school. The first book I ever read written by King was Christine. I was hooked from then on.

I’ve read On Writing a couple of times, and each time I get a little more out of it. When I’ve seen the question about the best writing books posted in my writing groups, this book is always named over and over.

2. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

Lamott’s Bird by Bird is a book about inspiring writers. She inspires you by writing in a direct way. She doesn’t beat around the bush.

I read this book as part of a creative writing class as a sophomore in college. I remember how blunt Lamott was. This book was like no other book I had read at this point.

3. On Writing Well by William Zinsser

On Writing Well has sold over a million copies, making it one of those must-have writing books. This book will help you learn to write and, if you’re already writing, will help you write every day.

This books sits on my bookshelf. It was another required book for that creative writing class. I learned quite a bit from this book even though it wasn’t as inspiring as Lamott’s book was.

4. The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White

Published in 1918, The Elements of Style is a book every writer should have on their bookshelf. The book is thin and has nothing but rules of writing, a simple and easy-to-understand book.

I have owned this book for a long time — since I started writing. It’s right up there with King’s On Writing. I still use it as a reference from time to time.

5. The Writing Life by Annie Dillard

Annie Dillard has a great way of telling a story. The Writing Life is a must-read for beginning writers, but, of course, all writers could read it. It’s a short reflection about the writing craft.

I haven’t read this book by Dillard, but I did read An American Childhood for an English class in college. I loved this book because it was true stories I enjoyed.

6. Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg

If you’re looking for a writing book to inspire you, Writing Down the Bones is it. Goldberg’s book is a personal reflection about writing. She inspires writers and helps them push through writer’s blocks.

This is another book I read for that creative writing class. I haven’t read it in a long time, but I remember how inspired I was after reading it.

7. The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

Pressfield’s The War of Art is a book that teaches writers to get writing and stop procrastinating. He is direct in what he says. If you need help breaking through obstacles to writing, then this book is one you should read.

I’ve seen this book recommended by Jeff Goins. I haven’t read it yet, but it’s on my wish list.

8. The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

If you’re having trouble writing, then give The Artist’s Way a try. Cameron teaches you how to write morning pages, a free write you do each morning to get the creative juices flowing. This book offers other writing techniques to help you.

I hadn’t heard of this book until the last couple of years. I have a hard time writing in the mornings because I don’t always have the time, but I have journaled in the evenings at times.

9. Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maas

For beginning writers as well as those already published, Writing the Breakout Novel is a book all writers need to read. Maas teaches you all kinds of techniques to help your books stand out above all of the other books.

Again, like the previous book, I’ve heard of this one in the last few years.

10. Show Your Work by Austin Kleon

Show Your Work isn’t so much about writing, but it’s more about “stealing” from the creative community and becoming known. This book offers rules to help you do just that.

I learned about this book from the 10 Minute Novelists group. The leader of the group did a series of chats over this book. I found it to be an interesting book even though I hadn’t read it yet.

11. Structuring Your Novel by K.M. Weiland

If you’re struggling with the plot of your novel, then Weiland’s Structuring Your Novel will help you. She helps you strengthen your novel by looking at its structure, like the weak spots in the plot and the saggy middle.

I’ve been following Weiland for the last few years. Her website, Helping Writers Become Authors, is a great resource, too. I’ve read a third of this book and find it to be a great resource as is her outlining book.

12. Write a Novel in 10 Minutes a Day by Katharine Grubb

Grubb’s book will get you writing 10 minutes a day. Write a Novel in 10 Minutes a Day teaches you ways to find at least 10 minutes a day, if not off and on throughout the day, to write that novel you’ve always wanted to write.

A couple of years ago, I found a group on Facebook called 10 Minute Novelists. The leader of the group, Katharine Grubb, published this book in 2015, and, of course, I had to have a copy. I was working two jobs at the time and didn’t have much time to write.

I actually ended up with an autographed copy from the author herself! This book is full of helpful tips, and I’ve learned so much.

If you’re a new writer, I hope I’ve given you some resources for you to get started. And if you’ve been writing for a while, I hope I’ve given you a refresher of resources or maybe some new ones.

What other writing books would you suggest? I would love to hear about any that I’ve not mentioned!

The post The 12 Most Helpful Writing Books Every Writer Needs appeared first on Beach Girl Publishing LLC.

Back in June, Bamidele Onibalusi, a young blogger I’ve followed for a couple of years, asked us about doing a challenge. He would set it up, giving us the steps he used to build his website called Writers in Charge. He would show us how to cold pitch and get other freelance jobs. Many of us said yes so the challenge started July 25.

Bamidele called the challenge, Earn Your First $1,000 Freelance Writing. He started a Facebook group so we could support and cheer each other on. He could share the steps of the challenge.

Steps of the challenge

1. Writer website

When I started the challenge, I was a step ahead of many of the others. I already had a website for my freelance editing. However, the website didn’t have the writing because I hadn’t planned on making it a freelance writing website. With a few minor changes, Beach Girl Publishing was updated and ready to go.

2. Social proof

Over the past couple of years, I’ve done a bit of freelancing, but I haven’t written any articles for social proof. Bamidele suggested pitching the Huffington Post so that was my next step. I rewrote an article about 9/11 since the anniversary was approaching and published my first article on the HuffPo.

3. Social media

I have a Twitter account for my novels, but I opened an account for my freelancing. I’ve been told to separate the two as I have two different audiences.

I still need to do this for Facebook, but I wanted to get started with the challenge. I updated my LinkedIn profile and created an About.me page.

4. Upwork alternatives

Signing up for Upwork alternatives was one of the items we could do. I did sign up for all but one of them. The writing test for that one was a bit crazy so I didn’t do as well I had thought. The pay on these alternatives looked better than Upwork.

5. Job boards

Before the challenge, I had a few job boards I checked every day or every other day. Bamidele suggested a couple of different ones so I added those to my bookmarks. I have used several job boards in the past and have gotten responses but only one job. Too many people are competing for those jobs.

6. Cold pitching

To prepare for cold pitching in my niches, I researched companies on the Inc. Top 5000 and Forbes Top 100. I will need many more companies than what I have, but for now this gave me a good start.

Breakdown of my results

When the challenge began, I had started a new job so I didn’t start pitching until the second week. Bamidele gave us spreadsheets to help us keep track of our progress.

In the middle of the challenge, I dealt with some health issues so I wasn’t pushing myself to do much more than what I needed to do. As a result, I didn’t pitch much for about two weeks.

Even though I didn’t pitch the 30-50 cold pitches or apply to 10-20 offers on the job boards every day as Bamidele suggested, I did what I could. Like I said, I work outside the home to pay the bills until the freelancing takes off so my hours are limited.

During seven of the eight weeks for the challenge, I sent 28 cold pitch emails and 43 emails for offers on job boards. I checked the Upwork alternative sites, but no jobs interested me. I was supposed to pitch publications that paid writers. While I did research the publications, I haven’t pitched ideas yet.

Out of the 28 cold pitches, I got the chance to do a trial run at blog posts. If I do well with the three the client asked me to do, we’ll sign a contract. I had one client say he would keep my name on file. Another client added me to the freelance pool, which I’m not sure when I’ll ever write for them.

I almost did a phone interview for a client, but he told me the job required me to be at their office part of the time. I can’t relocate to Dallas, but he will keep me on file if a remote job comes up.

Of the 43 offers on job boards, I had to do a couple of sample tests for editing jobs. I have the possibility of writing a middle grade short story if my outline is accepted. I’m hoping to hear back from the client in the next week. I applied for another short story through a website I found by accident and was invited to give it a try, which I will do.

Overall, I have done okay. I haven’t done as well as I had hoped, but if I hadn’t done this challenge, I ask myself, “Where would I be right now?” I wouldn’t have the client on a trial run and I might not have the short story possibilities. And I certainly wouldn’t be published on the Huffington Post.

Even though the challenge ended Sunday, I won’t stop pitching ideas or trying to get jobs. Full-time freelancing has been a dream of mine since high school. I can feel I’m on the brink of landing some great jobs as long as I continue pitching and trying to get jobs.

The best part about this challenge? I’ve gained new writer friends who have the same goal as me. They’re supportive and encourage me to keep trying. That makes this all worthwhile.

The post What I Learned From This Writing Challenge appeared first on Beach Girl Publishing LLC.

Of course, figuring out how to write the article may not be as fun, but it’s not as bad as you might think. If you want to be successful writing travel articles, then these tips will help you.

Research before you go

Before traveling to a destination, especially a place where you’ve never been, research the area. Find the hotel where you want to stay, one that suits your needs. Look for things to do. Usually most places have something for each person in the family.

Find restaurants that appeal to you. Depending upon the kinds of food you like, you can find something that you’ll enjoy. If you’re a history buff, destinations sometimes have historical places.

Every trip I’ve ever taken as an adult has been researched for at least a few hours, if not many. Since I travel with my dogs, I always research for hotels that take them. I won’t go any place without them. I also research for things to do and places to eat.

I’m not an adventurous person, but I do enjoy history so I seek those things out. I prefer not to eat at places where I can eat at home, but sometimes that can’t always be the reality.

Journal

While traveling, journal about your trip. Write down the things you see and describe them as much as you can. Write down your feelings about the things you see. Jotting down the details will help you remember every little thing about your trip.

I have journaled about several trips I’ve gone on since I was a teenager. I like remembering the details of the trip. Journaling these trips has helped me write about them later.

Pick one moment

Choosing what to write about a trip can be hard. But the best thing to do is pick one moment. That trip has many possibilities for several different articles.

For every trip you take, you have several articles you can write. You can choose an angle for different things you’ve done, places you’ve eaten, or hotels you’ve stayed.

For instance, you could write a review about a restaurant or a hotel. You find a local person and write an article about what’s it like to live there year round. You could interview a person who works at a historical place.

Use vivid language

When you’re writing a travel article, make sure you use vivid language. You want the readers to feel like they are right there with you. Describe the restaurant, hotel, or historic place with your five senses.

I entered a travel piece for a contest on a website called We Said Go Travel. While I didn’t win the contest, the website published my travel article, and I shared it with my readers. One reader commented that she felt like she could hear the waves as she read it.

Hook the reader

Like a novel or a feature story, you must hook the readers. If you don’t, they won’t read any further than the first paragraph, and you’ve lost them to another article. Ask a question, tell a story, or write a fact that makes the reader want to finish the travel piece.

Personally, I use either a question or a story to hook my readers. Obviously, the story worked in the article I mentioned above because of the compliments I received.

If you’ve written a travel article, are these tips you follow? Do you have your own tips for writing a great travel article?

The post How to Write an Awesome Travel Article appeared first on Beach Girl Publishing LLC.

Along with the plot, you need a hook. Even if you have a plot, you need a hook to get your readers into the plot and keep them reading. Without a hook, you don’t need a plot. It won’t matter.

Telling people I’m a writer

When I tell people I’m a published author, I usually get the “Oh, you are” look. Sometimes they will even say it aloud. I’m not sure how to answer them when they do this, but I don’t know many published authors where I live.

Once we get past the disbelief, people will ask what kind of books I write. If women’s fiction and nonfiction interests them, they’ll ask where they can buy them.

People say how they think it’s neat I’ve published books. They might even say they’ve thought about writing a book, but their English isn’t that great. They might say that writing a book is hard and don’t think they could do it.

We can do anything we set our minds to do.

Writing a novel is hard

I’ve published three books — one nonfiction and two fiction. I know writing a book is hard. The nonfiction one took lots of research digging through old memorabilia. The two fiction books took some research of their own.

I had to think of the characters, the plot, the setting, and all the other things that go into a novel. I had to put many words down on paper or in Scrivener. I spent lots of time writing each book.

But if you have 10 minutes you can spare a day, writing a book is not hard at all. The 500 words I’m writing for this post take me about 15-20 minutes.

Getting published is easier now

I’ll be honest and say I used to think I couldn’t write a book either. When I started writing the nonfiction book in the mid 1990s, eBooks weren’t in our vocabulary.

Self-publishing was around with vanity presses like Vanity Press. While I thought about that kind of press, I decided against because of cost.

It was in the early 2000s when I saw an article in our local small town newspaper about Publish America. Another author had published that way so I gave it a try. That way was easy, but I know now it’s not the ideal way either.

And I can’t wait to get my nonfiction out of its contract so I have control of it like I do my fiction books.

Nowadays self-publishing the easiest way to get a novel published. I’ve published my two fiction books this way, and I love having control over them. This method makes it easy for anyone to write a book if they’re willing to put in the work.

Working hard to get published

While self-publishing is easy, getting the book written and ready is hard. The plot is the hardest part, as I stated above. For instance, I’ve tried three times to write the third book of the trilogy. The third time may have to be the one I use so I can move forward. But I’m a little weird in that I have to have a good beginning, or I can’t go on.

I want that great hook to get my readers into the story. I don’t want to lose them before they start reading the rest of the book.

Finding the perfect, or as close to it as you can get, beginning makes it hard to write the plot. Of course, there’s no pressure, right?

What is the hardest part about writing a novel for you?

The post What Is the Hardest Part of Writing a Novel? appeared first on Beach Girl Publishing LLC.

However, I’m discovering it’s not as easy as it looks. The job has its challenges. Some of which are easy to overcome if you work hard enough.

1. Finding clients

Finding clients is the hardest challenge. If you can’t find clients, you won’t make money. If you don’t make money, you can’t pay the bills unless you have a spouse or significant other. Unfortunately, I’m the breadwinner for my family so I have to have clients.

You have to know where to look for clients. Some places I look include the following:

• Google — search in your niche and cold pitch
• Various job boards — like Problogger and BloggingPro
• Upwork alternatives — such as Cloudpeeps and Zerys

You can always look for blogs and publications and pitch ideas as well.

2. Time

Some of you may still work outside the home. If you don’t, then you might have other family members, like children and pets, that depend upon you. Then there’s the usual stuff — cooking meals, laundry, and cleaning.

Not only do you need time to do the work, but you have to balance your time as well.

3. Getting ideas

If you’re lucky enough, you’ll have clients who know what they want you to write. However, if you’re pitching ideas to blogs and publications, then you’ve must have ideas.

Ideas are all around you. Here are a few places you can look to get started:

• Topics that are trending
• Newspapers/TV/Magazines
• Personal experience
• Conversation

4. Distractions

Chances are you work from home so you do have household obligations, as I mentioned above, you can’t let them distract you from writing.

If you have clients, then you can’t miss deadlines, and you want to do a great job. When you’re first starting out, you want happy clients, ones you can use for testimonials.

5. Procrastination

Going along with #4, you must get the job done. You can’t wait until the last minute and write an article. If you have a deadline, then get the job done and turned in early if you can.

The editing jobs I’ve done I always try to get done before the deadline. And I usually do. Besides, if you get the work done early, then you can reward yourself when you get paid.

6. Lack of confidence

Starting out as a freelancer, you may not feel confident about the job you do. You may think you don’t have the right skills to do a job.

But you do. If you want to be a freelance writer, you must be positive and push forward.

7. Marketing

Like all businesses, you must work at your freelance business. You must build your brand by having a website and a social media presence.

Marketing takes time. The sooner you get started the better off you will be.

I try to spend a little time each day marketing my own business. I post on Twitter mostly, but I have a profile on LinkedIn as well for the freelancing.

8. Getting paid

Sometimes in the freelance world, you don’t get paid, or you don’t get paid in a timely manner. You need to think of ways to make sure you do get paid. For instance, you could have a contract spelling out exactly how the payments are supposed to work. This won’t guarantee that you get paid, but at least you have something in writing.

I have signed contracts from a couple of clients that I’ve worked with. But I have never had a real problem getting paid. I know other freelancers who shared horror stories about doing lots of work and not getting paid for it. I advise that you avoid scams and make sure you have that contract in place.

9. Loneliness

Being a freelancer means that you are in a lonely business. However, there are ways that you can avoid this loneliness. You can join groups on Facebook or Twitter. You can network with other freelancers. You can join business groups in your town or find writing groups where you can share ideas.

I belong to several groups on Facebook, and I have interacted with people in those groups. I’ve met writers from all over the world. I used to belong to a writing group here in my small town, but the group has no longer meets.

10. Lack of experience

Freelancing sometimes makes you feel like you have a lack of experience if you don’t have many samples to offer a client. This lack of confidence keeps you from going after what you really want, and that is to write. You need to gain your confidence, which will in turn help you gain clients or help you to work towards gaining the experience when you get jobs.

When I first started freelancing, I didn’t have many recent clips. I had clips from when I had written for a couple of local newspapers. However, I wanted new newer clips to show clients now.

I have now published or contributed to the Huffington Post as well as a website called We Said Go Travel. Both of these websites are good ones and have given me good clips for my portfolio.

11. Budgeting money

As a freelancer, you may have periods where you aren’t earning much money. If you’re the breadwinner in the family like I am, then you’ll have to budget your money for the months that you are earning money. Sometimes this is hard to do, though.

When you’re first starting out, you may have to get another job outside the home as a part-time worker. This would give you more steady income until you can get your freelance business off the ground.

As I continue building my own freelance business, I am still working outside the home for the school district. This gives me the opportunity to have school hours and be home with time to work my business as well as have vacations off to give me plenty of extra time.

12. Dealing with difficult clients

Just like with getting paid, freelancers do sometimes have to deal with difficult clients. These clients may ask you to do things that you were not supposed to do. Again, make sure you have that contract in place so you know exactly what you’re supposed to be doing.

I haven’t had the opportunity to work with a difficult client, but I’ve heard horror stories. I’ve heard about clients asking writers to redo things several times or nitpick about other things that they’ve written. All you can do is make sure that you’re clear what you’re supposed to write.

Do you have any other challenge that a freelancer must deal with? If so, please share!

The post 12 Challenges an Excellent Freelance Writer Has to Overcome appeared first on Beach Girl Publishing LLC.

A couple of years ago, I learned about Canva through the 10 Minute Novelists. A couple of the other writers used it to do their graphics for various things.

Now that I’m using it, I can’t stop. My designs have branched out to other things I’m doing.

If you haven’t started using Canva yet, I’ll share some of the great features about it. Maybe that will entice you to give it a try.

1. Graphics

The graphics you can make on Canva is endless. I started out making graphics for one of my blogs. When I added another blog, I did the graphics for it, too.

Since then, I’ve done several different kinds of graphics. Other graphic design platforms might exist, but Canva is the only one I’ll use unless someone can convince me another one is better.

• Marketing your books

The fact is graphics catch people’s eyes more than words when posting on social media. You can make your own graphics to help you market your books.

I have created a few for each of my books using quotes and an image. I schedule these at different times of the week and month. I actually get more people liking them than when I use only words.

• Making book covers

If you have a book you’re ready to publish, but don’t have the money to pay someone to do it, then Canva can be used to design a cover.

I usually have someone design my covers, but when I decided to do National Novel Writing Month last November, I designed a book cover so I could actually see something there instead of a blank space as it usually is. It made me feel like my profile was complete that time.

But I do know of writers who use the book covers they make for the published book.

• Creating business cards

Some writers carry business cards for networking. As an author, I not only carry some with me, but I put mine in the book when I sell a copy. Readers can join my Facebook and Twitter pages that way.

Again, Canva can help you create these business cards easily so all you have to do is print and buy from Vistaprint, Overnight Prints, or another similar website.

2. Tutorials

If you struggle with designing graphics, Canva offers free tutorials. I have a keen interest in doing graphics so I haven’t used the tutorial yet.

I have heard great things about the tutorials, though. So I checked them out.

These tutorials are short examples of what Canva is all about. When you go to the page, you click on whatever you wish to learn. Once you click on it, you can scroll through and see how to do something step-by-step.

One side of the page is “learn,” and the other side is “do.” How easy is that?

It’s pretty easy because I tried one. Again, you read the left side and look at what the example is. Then you do whatever it asks on the right side. If you get stuck, a small graphic at the bottom of the right side says, “Need a hint?” Click on that, and a short video pops up to help you.

As I look over the tutorials a bit more, I see a few things I’m interested in learning more so I’m sure there is room for learning. And I’m always up for learning more!

3. Upgrade

If you want more features, you can upgrade to Canva for Work. It offers branding ability for your business and easy resizing for your designs.

As opposed to the free version I discussed above, this version costs $12.95 per month or $9.95 if you pay annually. You can try it out for 30 days, which I haven’t done yet. I’m not sure I will until I see a real need.

4. App

When you’re not around your laptop and need a graphic, you can use an iPhone or iPad to create a design using the Canva app.

I haven’t had an iPhone in a couple of years so when I discovered this great program had an app, I downloaded it. The app isn’t as easy to use as on the computer, but if you need something quickly, you can do it.

Using an iPad might be better, but I don’t have one. Until I get an iPad, I’ll keep trying to use it on my phone as needed.

As you can see, Canva has some great features writers can definitely use to make their careers easier. Of course, Canva isn’t only for writers. You could use this for anything that needs a graphic or something visual to get people’s attention.

Have you used this awesome program? In what ways do you use it?

The post 4 Ways Canva Is Amazing for Writers appeared first on Beach Girl Publishing LLC.