The Words' Worth database is a place for NASW members to report their own experiences with freelancing clients and find valuable information from other members about what they did, what they charged, and how it went — information that can help you improve your business.
Outlets
Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Daily News got his Kindle Single on the Occupy Wall Street movement out almost instantly. Here he talks to Robert Niles of the Online Journalism Review about the process. "One benefit of the Kindle Single is that it's a good format for experimentation; for example, I've long had an interest in other topics outside of politics, such as sports, and this might be the best way to take a risk with a new direction."
From the Columbia Journalism Review comes a thorough discussion of new outlets for work that's longer than a magazine article but shorter than a book. Selling their products through outlets like the Kindle and iPad, startups like the Atavist, Byliner and Kindle Singles are moving into this new niche, writer Alissa Quart says. "If these e-booklets have a genre antecedent, it might be the musical EP, a recording that’s longer than a single but too short for a full LP."
This series from the Online Journalism Review (part one, two, and three) is a primer for journalists on the mysteries of e-book publishing. Starting with selecting a subject and content, it walks through the process of assembling it for publication and selecting vendors. On the same subject, don't miss our marketing and publishing resource (NASW members only).
Can long-form journalism be adapted to the web? The Atavist is one such effort, just reviewed in the New York Times: "All the richness of the Web — links to more information, videos, casts of characters — is right there in an app displaying an article, but with a swipe of the finger, the presentation reverts to clean text." More here, here and here.
Freelancer Nancy Allison continues to explore top writer websites and blogs. This month, she talks with Ed Yong, British freelance writer and creator of the blog, Not Exactly Rocket Science.
You spent hours setting up your website, perfecting the design and uploading your clips. You toil weekly or even daily to add content to your blog. But is it all for naught? Is anyone paying attention? Does it do your business any good?
Freelance writer Nancy Allison today launches a regular feature for All About Freelancing that will explore these questions and highlight freelancer websites and blogs sites that rock.
Grant writing can boost your freelance income. Do you want to try your hand at it, but don't know how to get started? Jeanne Erdman tells all.
(This is Part 1 of a much-expanded version of an article that is scheduled to appear in the second edition of NASW's A Field Guide for Science Writers, edited by Deborah Blum, Mary Knudson, and Robin Marantz Henig, which Oxford University Press is scheduled to publish next year.)