Adventures In Freelancing

I spent about two hours last night curled up in my big, comfy chair reading my latest copy of Writer's Digest mazine. I read it cover to cover. I've been a subscriber to Writer's Digest for well over a year now, but I have to confess that my last several copies have gone unread because of my focus on other things, like blogging, cleaning, and those three little munchkins that run around my house!

The May/June 2009 issue is packed full of great stuff. I went straight to the featured spotlight section on how to stand out to editors and agents, which was packed full of good stuff, starting with an insightful article on building your writer's platform by Christina Katz, author of Writer Mama: How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids . Her newest book is Get Known Before The Book Deal: Use Your Personal Strengths To Grow An Author Platform. A writer's platform consists of all the things I've mentioned that are necessary beyond the writing, like marketing yourself, networking, and blogging. Putting yourself out there and becoming visible is essential to selling yourself as a writer. Also in this spotlight were articles on the must-have online marketing plan and social networking for writers.

But all of this incredible information doesn't even touch the surface of what was in this issue. There were also articles on whether full time freelancing is right for you and an amazing list of the 101 best websites for writers. I also enjoyed the piece on writing op-eds, as this is an area I'd like to explore. Writer's Digest also offers a weatlh of information for fiction writers. This issue features an interview with Stephen King and Jerry B. Jenkins and a number of stories on aspects of characterization.

So are you ready to get your subscription yet? Go check out the website and take a look around. You'll find helpful feature articles and links, as well as blogs and online courses. Enter at your own risk and don't say I didn't warn you if you end up spending all afternoon there!