Should you pitch travel story ideas before or after you have a notebook full of notes? In theory, you can do it successfully either way. You could do a little research and pre-reporting, pitch, get an assignment, schedule your interviews and be confident out in the field knowing who you’re writing for and what your angle is. Or you could set off on the trip, be open to what’s around you, reflect on it, and pitch when you get home and then get your assignment. And let’s face it. You could also pi...
Sep 06, 2022•21 min•Ep. 195
So many professional writers have lost touch with the passion or purpose that brought them to this work in the first place. If you’ve achieved a lot but aren’t enjoying it, what’s the point? 🔗 Mentioned in this episode: WCP 1 What’s your writing problem? 🔥 Work with me 1:1 Private coaching is for the writer who wants a personalized agenda and transformative breakthroughs. You’ll experience new clarity about what’s been holding you back and choose new patterns of thinking and behavior to propel...
Sep 04, 2022•14 min
Linda Sivertsen is a New York Times bestselling co-author and midwife of 6- & 7-figure book deals. Her new book, Beautiful Writers, gives aspiring writers and seasoned literary veterans a look into the lives of iconic authors and answers the burning question, “How did they do it?!” Linda joined me on Publication Day of her latest book. We discussed: Celebrating a new book on Publication Day Organizing and structuring Beautiful Writers Co-collaborating with bestselling authors for the book and he...
Aug 30, 2022•23 min•Ep. 194
Pretty much every freelance writer can earn more money. Here are some specific things that writers DON’T do that keep them from earning more, and what they CAN DO to earn more. Listen in, notice your resistance, and choose one to work on applying to your freelance writing life. 🔗 Mentioned in this episode: WCP 193 Rates shaming 🔥 Work with me 1:1 Private coaching is for the writer who wants a personalized agenda and transformative breakthroughs. You’ll experience new clarity about what’s been ...
Aug 26, 2022•15 min
Have you ever been ashamed of the rate you accept for a freelance job? Ever talked to another freelance writer who felt that way? Have you ever heard someone who disapproves or criticizes a writer for their fees? Rates shaming is when somebody reprimands or reproves a writer for rates of which they should be ashamed. This can happen when the rate is perceived as too low OR too high. It can happen externally (e.g. somebody else in a writer group) OR internally (that voice in your head judging you...
Aug 23, 2022•28 min•Ep. 193
A single a-ha or breakthrough moment in your writing life can happen quickly. Creating lasting transformation usually takes reinforcement, especially when addressing long-held beliefs and behavior patterns. 🔗 Mentioned in this episode: 🔥 Work with me 1:1 Private coaching is for the writer who wants a personalized agenda and transformative breakthroughs. You’ll experience new clarity about what’s been holding you back and choose new patterns of thinking and behavior to propel you forward toward...
Aug 19, 2022•17 min
Let’s talk about working with and for nonprofits (and NGOs and associations): Why working for a reduced fee can be more problematic than premium rates or pro bono Choosing change not charity models Reshaping the narrative to bring more depth to your piece Recognizing guilt, resentment, and obligation Applying nonprofit lessons to for-profit clients 🔗 Mentioned in this episode: WCP 150 Archives: Company policies WCP 127 Favorite freelance writer resources WCP 52: Covering social justice for pass...
Aug 16, 2022•24 min•Ep. 192
This is a followup talk on applying the concepts introduced earlier this week in Episode 191, Time passing . Do you believe you have enough time to do the things that matter most in your writing life? 🔗 Mentioned in this episode: WCP 1: What’s your problem? WCP 191: Time passing 🎁 Download my free guide on how to pitch freelance article ideas , “5 Proven Steps to Writing Queries that Sell.” www.rebeccalweber.com/howtopitch ❤️ Follow me on Instagram and catch me live next time @FreelanceWriterB...
Aug 12, 2022•13 min
How you think about time—such as if you have enough, not enough, or plenty of it—impacts what you create in your writing life. Many writers credit time as necessary for their skills, clients, or assignment quality to improve. An overemphasis on time passing to become a better freelancer isn’t useful or accurate, and can be a disempowering framework. Time passing isn’t the important factor in if I learn or complete something; often time passes and we don’t learn or complete our writing. Ironicall...
Aug 09, 2022•17 min•Ep. 191
For me, getting ready for a coaching call or a writing session includes: Bringing nature into my workspace environment Planning time to transition and orient myself rather than crash landing into a call Getting intentional about arguing for things that are helpful for writing vs. those that sidetrack you 🔗 Mentioned in this episode: WCP 1: What’s your problem? WCP 174 Archives, Vol. XIII: 100 reasons not to pitch today 🎁 Download my free guide on how to pitch freelance article ideas , “5 Prove...
Aug 05, 2022•14 min
Whether your articles are published online or in print, you need to make them readily available for potential clients to read online. Simply having a list of links isn’t sufficient. Sites reorganize and your links go bad; your piece gets pulled or the publication closes; and paywalls prohibit access. Clips that look great on paper need different treatment. In this episode, we look at practical tools that solve how to archive freelance articles published online and how to create digital copies of...
Aug 02, 2022•17 min•Ep. 190
Why I went to the library on Monday morning instead of my nature walk Time to check out your library’s updated remote resources Researching publications via the library 🔗 Mentioned in this episode: WCP 1: What’s your problem? WCP 44: Monday morning on the mountain with Mishka 🎁 Download my free guide on how to pitch freelance article ideas , “5 Proven Steps to Writing Queries that Sell.” www.rebeccalweber.com/howtopitch ❤️ Share the podcast with other writers via your social media accounts or ...
Jul 29, 2022•16 min
Some freelance projects spiral out beyond the original agreement. Let’s curtail your taking on more and more uncompensated work, or from seeing all your clients as creeps. Today we cover: What scope creep is and what it isn’t Handling the pressure to say yes when you don’t feel like you can say no The long-lasting nature of scope creep and how it impacts client relationships 🔗 Mentioned in this episode: WCP 1: What’s your problem? WCP 119 I want to, I want to not WCP 150 Archives: Company polic...
Jul 26, 2022•18 min•Ep. 189
When a client reaches out to you for the first time with a freelance assignment, we often call it a fluke. Often we really like it happening, and if it's a good gig we may wish all work happened this easily. The problem with telling ourselves that we played no part in getting the work is that it means we don't have the ability to recreate what happened. The same is true with repeat or ongoing work, referrals, even with projects where you're asked to do something that's new for you--any writing g...
Jul 19, 2022•23 min•Ep. 188
When you pitch a story idea, are you inviting the editor to consider working with you? Do you recognize the value of what you’re offering and tempt them? Or are you asking the editor to give you an assignment? Do you approach the pitch from a place of neediness? Give/get, push/pull, love/hate … which side do you want to be on? 🔗 Mentioned in this episode: WCP 127 Favorite freelance writer resources WCP 166 Archives, Vol. XI: Call for pitches WCP 74: Why you’re the one 🎁 Download my free guide ...
Jul 12, 2022•16 min•Ep. 187
Once you tap into the power of presenting a story idea (or just about any other writing related project) in a way that connects the dots for the recipient about how it will be relevant/helpful to them, you can bring that frame of mind with you to pitch almost anything. I’ve seen Freelance Writer Bootcamp alumni transition seamlessly into landing staff jobs, being accepted into grad school, and securing interviews with celeb guests by knowing how to pitch themselves. 🔥 Work with me 1:1 Private c...
Jul 05, 2022•19 min•Ep. 186
Six months into the year, let’s reflect on, and possibly revise, your annual goals. What you’re telling yourself about hitting—or not hitting—milestones impacts your ability to reach your goals. What are you working on believing about yourself? 🔗 Mentioned in this episode: WCP 160 Freelance writing goals: 5W1H goal setting WCP 2: Thinking thoughts and feelings feels WCP 1: What’s your problem? I will try by Mary Oliver 🔥 Work with me 1:1 Private coaching is for the writer who wants a personali...
Jun 28, 2022•16 min•Ep. 185
Sara Cincurova is a freelance human rights journalist from Slovakia, focusing on migration, conflict, human rights, humanitarian issues, and women's rights. She has written for The Guardian, BBC News, The New York Magazine, Al Jazeera English, Der Spiegel, Foreign Policy, The HuffPost, The New Humanitarian, Women's Media Center and many more. Sara extensively covered the conflict in eastern Ukraine since 2014 and reported from Kharkiv and other cities in Ukraine as of February 24, 2022. She has ...
Jun 21, 2022•44 min•Ep. 184
When a freelancer says that they feel like they’re going backwards, often they’re hyperfocusing on a small piece of data instead of larger trends (e.g. a couple of weeks/pitches vs. quarters/years); or they’ve changed an important variable (e.g. pitching more competitive publications for the first time vs. pitching less competitive pubs they’ve already written for); or they’re on the verge of a major breakthrough. As journalists, we always look out for our biases in our reporting. As a freelance...
Jun 14, 2022•25 min•Ep. 183
Are your emails annoying your editor? Are you sending too many followups? Too many story ideas? Are all your messages getting on their nerves? If your pitches are half baked, poorly written, and an overall bad fit for the publication, it really doesn’t matter how many you send. You can’t send lousy pitches and expect assignments as a reward for not sending them more often. Assuming your pitches are developed with the editor’s needs in mind, let’s look at the real situation. 🔗 Mentioned in this ...
Jun 07, 2022•16 min•Ep. 182
Curiosity is a useful state of mind for freelance writers. Curiosity helps us identify great story ideas with unrecognized angles. Curiosity fuels our interest in improving our craft. Curiosity makes understanding the pitching process and other business of freelancing type processes fascinating. It opens up our imaginations to possibilities that we can’t find otherwise. How do you get curious? Listen in to today’s episode. 🔗 Mentioned in this episode: WCP 180 Learning mindset WCP 137 Asking bet...
May 31, 2022•23 min•Ep. 181
My first career in traditional education informed my work as a freelance journalist, and my work as a writer informs the coaching and teaching I do now online. This week I share a few of the mindset perspectives that have served me well through career shifts, and how building on prior career skills or subject matter makes us more robust as freelancers. 🔥 Work with me 1:1 Private coaching is for the writer who wants a personalized agenda and transformative breakthroughs. You’ll experience new cl...
May 24, 2022•32 min•Ep. 180
A lot of freelancers find it easier to maintain the status quo by keeping on clients that aren’t a good fit because they are so familiar. After you’ve worked with a client for a few assignments/months, you have far more insight into what they’re really like. If you knew then what you knew now, would you take them on in the first place? 🔗 Mentioned in this episode: WCP179 Pregnancy and parental leave 👶 I will be leading the breakout session on writer mindset at the Parenting Journalists Confere...
May 19, 2022•20 min
Today I’m sharing what it was like getting pregnant and having a baby during the pandemic. One of the things I got clear about early on was deciding what I thought I wanted my time off to look like (including how long, how “off” I wanted to be, and what the transition winding down and gearing up would be like), and also allowed myself to change my mind later on. This was so much cleaner than either not making a decision, or using this early decision against myself later on. I also share one of t...
May 17, 2022•23 min•Ep. 179
Have you interviewed somebody who wanted to review your copy before publication? This is a surprisingly high-tension issue for many journalists, even thought it seems like it could be nipped in the bud with a simple, “Sorry, that’s against the publication’s policy.” Today we cover: A simple method to reduce the number of times sources ask to review the copy Why they or you get so hot under the collar with a seemingly benign request How to use this conflict to build trust and better communication...
May 10, 2022•32 min•Ep. 178
Usually when I’ve left a news hook out of a pitch, it was because I couldn’t come up with one easily, and hoped for the best. After all, there are evergreen stories out there. I’ve read and sold a few myself. Maybe you have too. I’ve tried slapping on a thin hook, which sometimes does the trick. And I’ve had some evergreen ideas linger in my ideas folder for a long time, and eventually a news item would come up that was a good fit, making it salable. But I started to wonder about speeding up the...
May 03, 2022•19 min•Ep. 177
Showing up to do your work regardless of your mood is distinct from ignoring your emotions and telling yourself things are ok when you don’t think they are. Today I share with you one of my client’s stories about how she was trying to push away the feelings that emerged when she told herself she’s bombed a pitch, and how she reframed to open up to new possibilities for ongoing editorial relationships. Listen for one powerful question you can ask yourself to experience your writing life with more...
Apr 26, 2022•18 min•Ep. 176
Writing together can be a powerful experience in terms of connection, camaraderie, and support in the creative process. This week we look at ways to make the most of writing with others IRL and virtually. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE The Writers’ Hour SHARE THE WRITING COACH PODCAST #WRITINGCOMMUNITY Subscribe and write a review of the Writing Coach Podcast on Apple Podcasts. Share your podcast takeaways and tag Rebecca on Instagram: @freelancewriterbootcamp DOWNLOAD MY FREE GUIDE ON HOW TO PITCH w...
Apr 19, 2022•16 min•Ep. 175
A tweet led to a blog post about how quickly editors dismiss most queries, and here I’m examining this breakdown in the context of journalists pitching freelance article ideas. The vast majority of freelance pitches can be rejected well before the first paragraph. The ones that get assigned instantly show a different kind of understanding of the pub’s wants and needs, and each subsequent sentence and paragraph reinforces this. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE In the Blink of an Eye on the Brevity blog ...
Apr 15, 2022•18 min
Running out of reasons to avoid pitching? I’ve got you covered with 100 reasons why you shouldn’t pitch today. Many of these can be adapted to be reasons why you should not write anything else today, like the article you were assigned last week, or your book proposal, or your novel. You’ll probably recognize a few of these reasons as ones you already believe to be true. Those seem real, immutable. Pick another one that you’ve never used as a reason not to write a pitch. I want you to experience ...
Apr 12, 2022•15 min•Ep. 174
