Workshop alert! Join me and Kaitlyn Arford of Freelance Opportunities on May 7 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern for an in-depth tutorial on how to use social media to find more freelance work and build a sustainable — and profitable! — business. There is SO much out there for those who know where to look, and Kaitlyn is the best in the biz at digging up those opportunities. Click here to register, and remember that paid subscribers get free access (for details on that, see the middle of this post). See you May 7!

Hello friends!

Today I want to give all of you a little gift: Below is a full video workshop on writing better personal essays. My guest is Matt Ortile, former executive editor of Catapult and one of the best editors — of personal essays or otherwise — I know. This is one of my absolute favorite conversations about writing I’ve ever had in a workshop.

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Workshop alert! Join me and Kaitlyn Arford of Freelance Opportunities on May 7 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern for an in-depth tutorial on how to use social media to find more freelance work and build a sustainable — and profitable! — business. There is SO much out there for those who know exactly how to look, and Kaitlyn is the best in the biz at digging up those opportunities. Click here to register, and remember that paid subscribers get free access (for details on that, see the middle of this post). See you May 7!

One of the most common questions I get during the writing workshops I host is this: “What can I do to improve the first draft of stories I file?”

We all want to know the secret to turning in pristine, error-free copy. Sure, you could have three different friends offer notes before you file, or rewrite your story 20 times. But the truth is, your first drafts are never going to be perfect. Whenever you’re self-editing, you reach a point where you’re no longer making improvements, you’re just making things different.

And that’s fine! That’s part of the process! Your editor doesn’t expect a first draft to be perfect, and that’s why we editors exist. This is true of a student journalist working toward their first byline, and of veterans who have been in the industry for decades. Even Taffy Brodesser-Akner, one of the greatest working writers IMO, can take up to nine drafts for a story. Iteration is built into the process.

All that said: There is something you can do to ensure you’re filing the best version of a first draft you can. And it’s much easier than you might think.

The secret? No surprises.

Yes, it’s that simple. The best thing you can do to improve your first drafts is to meet expectations and make sure your editor isn’t surprised by anything in your copy.

Here’s what I mean.

More May workshops! All registrants will get a full playback of the workshop, whether or not they attend live, and paid subscribers get 50% off tickets!

• May 14 @ 4:30 p.m. Eastern: How to start and grow a newsletter. Join me and Parker Molloy of The Present Age for a workshop on how to launch and grow a successful newsletter. We’ll cover the best platforms for publishing your newsletter, how to find your target audience, how to promote your work, the ins and outs of developing your niche, and so much more!

Click here to register

• May 21 @ 4:30 p.m. Eastern: The art of structuring a longform narrative. Join me for a workshop on how to structure and organize a longform narrative feature. I’ll lead a deconstruction exercise of a published longform narrative story and give you tips and advice on how to use those tools in your writing. It’ll be structured like a grad school-level class, with participation encouraged (but, of course, not required)!

Click here to register

Ideally, when you work with an editor — though, admittedly, not always — you’ve agreed, at least in big-picture terms, on the structure, organization, framing, sourcing, and tone of your story. To file a strong first draft, just follow through on what you and your editor agreed on for how the story should look and feel. Go through your notes and emails with your editor from when you first started talking about how to build this story, and do a quick check of whether you’ve delivered on what you’ve discussed. 

Is your story structured the way you agreed it should be? Does your sourcing look how you said it would? Did you organize it the way you said you would? Are you in the right word count range? Revisiting all of this will save you and your editor time by covering the basics of your story, because you’ve agreed on the baseline of what the story needs. Once you’ve satisfied all of that, your editor can offer you notes on how to make your story sing.

The “no surprises” rule is a bedrock principle of journalism when it comes to stories in general: The subjects of your story should not be surprised by what’s in it, broadly speaking. “Fairness also means adhering to the ‘no surprises’ rule when writing critically of someone: affording the source the opportunity to answer allegations or criticisms before publishing the work,” according to the N.Y.U. Journalism Handbook for Students. Applying that same rule to your relationship with your editor is going to save you so much time in the long run — and make your first drafts so much stronger. (So don’t be surprised when it gets you on an editor’s regulars roster.)

Good luck out there!

Oh, a few other things …

• Got a question about freelancing or the wider world of journalism? Let’s hear it, and I may feature it in a future Q&A post! Drop any of your questions, comments, and thoughts about freelancing and journalism in general in a comment below, or email me at tim@freelancingwithtim.com.

Leave a comment

• Sell a pitch recently? I want to see it! If you had a story picked up not long ago, I’d love to feature you and your story in our ongoing series highlighting pitches that sold. Email me at tim@freelancingwithtim.com and put “Pitches that sold” in the subject line. Can’t wait to see ’em!

Email me

• I offer one-on-one coaching! Is your story falling apart and you need a second set of eyes on it? Want a seasoned perspective on a pitch you’re kicking around? Interested in talking about careers and/or building your freelance business? Maybe just want an edit on a story draft? I’ve got you covered! Click below to book a one-on-one coaching session to talk about pitches, story ideas and development, editing, careers, or anything else you might need help with! (Paid subscribers get 33% off — email me at tim@freelancingwithtim.com for details!)

Book a session

The job market is in shambles, and it has been for quite some time. Everyone knows this, it’s nothing new, and we’re all suffering for it. Whether you’re looking for full-time work or want to add more clients to your freelance roster, no one is escaping the pain of looking for work right now, even those lucky enough to have a job. There’s no way to sugarcoat it: Things suck.

But! This isn’t a downer, we’re-all-doomed newsletter! (Well, not totally, anyway.) Last fall I listed a job with FWT that, within two days, pulled in more than 700 applications. I thoroughly read every single one, and I noticed a few commonalities among the best ones — and the less great ones.

So today, I’m sharing six takeaways from my weeks spent reading through those hundreds of résumés. Things to do, things to avoid, and just things to be aware of. And, if you’ve been lucky enough to land work, either FT or freelance, leave a comment below and share with us what worked for you. We’re in this together, y’all!

It’s not you, it’s them

Really, truly, I am being so serious about this. There were dozens of unbelievably qualified candidates I would have been thrilled to hire, but through no fault of their own, they didn’t make the cut, even though I am 100% confident they could have done the job and excelled at it!

The truth is, every open position right now will have hundreds, if not thousands, of applicants, and many, many of those applicants will be deeply qualified. I know we all generally know this, but seeing it firsthand was gobsmacking. It’s a tough pill to swallow for us all, because it’s frustrating going through a full application process for a job we know we’re qualified for and could do, nailing every part of the process, only to get an unexplained rejection — or, even worse, to get ghosted. “Where did I go wrong? What did I screw up? Am I not actually as good as I think I am?” we ask ourselves.

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Here’s a lesson on reporting I learned years ago from an ace reporter at The Washington Post when I worked there: (Almost) every interview you do should end with the exact same three questions.

Yes, the same questions! No matter the subject or source, there’s a formula to follow every time. (Within reason — of course I do…

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Hello friends! This week I’m sharing with you a previously unreleased workshop that is all about selling and writing a nonfiction book, covering everything from writing your proposal to what contract negotiations can look like. Enjoy!

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Hi! Today we’re talking about SEO. Do you need to know it? Should you learn it? Also uhhh what even is it? To give us some insight, I’ve invited good friend of FWT Rae Witte to answer those questions and more. Take it away Rae!

***

Writers can use their skills in a variety of ways to make a living. While Tim’s newsletter is primarily about journalistic freelancing, having a career as a freelancer can include other streams of income that also leverage your skills as a writer. SEO can be one of them. 

Okay, so, what is SEO?

SEO is an acronym for Search Engine Optimization. It is a set of writing practices and techniques intended to improve the visibility of a website by achieving a higher ranking in search engine results. Yes, you read that correctly, it’s a set of practices with kind of arbitrarily measurable results, because the search engines are not working directly with the websites outside of buying ad space. There is not at all a tried and true, step-by-step process to be top ranked on Google. The ultimate goal of SEO is to increase the quantity and quality of organic (non-paid) traffic to the website from search engines.

Because search engines like Google use complex algorithms to determine the relevance of web pages in response to a user's search, SEO involves optimizing various elements of a website, including its content, structure, and HTML code, to make it more appealing to the algorithms. This includes keyword research, on-page optimization, off-page optimization, technical SEO, and user experience optimization.

Search engines’ mission is to deliver the best information for users’ queries, and while they keep how they do that very close to the chest, SEO strategy is often a big priority for media and other businesses’ websites alike. 

SEO writing is largely focused on the content and keyword part of these strategies. Keyword research can start with a tool like Google Keyword Planner to find terms with high search volume and relevance. Consider what you’d enter in that little search box whenever you pull up Google and what you’re looking for. These are keywords.

If you like what you’re reading, please consider subscribing to the free or paid version of this newsletter. Paid subs get access to all past and future paid-only posts, the archive of recorded Zoom panels, a guide on how and when to follow up with editors, an exclusive workshop on selling and writing a book, tips for diversifying your freelance income, 50% off all Zoom workshops, and more.

Subscribe now

Once the keywords are identified, they should be incorporated not only into the fresh, trustworthy, well-written content on the website, but they need to be within headings, meta descriptions, URL tags and images tags and captions. 

While site owners can’t always pinpoint what strategies are working best, a tool like Google Analytics offers the ability to track key metrics such as organic traffic, bounce rate, and keyword rankings and make adjustments to the strategy. 

SEO is an ongoing strategy where it often feels like the goalposts are always moving, but it’s an awesome option for writing and using your brain in a slightly different way than journalism because the end goal is always traffic-attaining content that’s aligned with the brand or mission of the site. And, I think it can help broaden your view of how you execute your journalism writing. Traffic ultimately pays the bills. 

Hubspot and Google for Small Business are two dependable places to stay up to date on SEO practices, and The Washington Post has a really in depth resource.

Oh, a few other things …

• I offer one-on-one coaching! Need help developing an idea or sharpening one you already have? Or want to talk about careers and building your freelance business? I gotchu! Book a one-on-one coaching session to talk about pitch reviews, story development, editing, and anything else you might need help with.

• I’m going to start doing Q&A posts in the newsletter to answer all of your questions, comments, and thoughts about freelancing and journalism in general. Drop any and all questions in the comments section below this post or email me at tim@freelancingwithtim.com, and I may feature it in a future newsletter. Let’s hear it!

• Friend of the FWT Mandy Hofmockel offers one of my favorite journalism newsletters: Journalism jobs and a photo of my dog. It’s a wonderfully comprehensive — and hand-built — listing of journalism jobs all over the country. If you’re in the market and looking, read and subscribe here!

• Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram!

Bye ily!
Tim❤️

Hello friends, happy November! I hope you’re all having a productive beginning to end-of-year wrap-up stuff for your freelancing business. (Start tracking those expenses now if you haven’t already and get most of it out of the way!)

Today I want to get back to one of the basic, yet most essential, parts of putting together a story: the nut graf…

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In the 2018 guide to pitching I wrote for Harvard’s NiemanLab, I included the text of what I thought was a perfect pitch. It was a cold email from star freelancer Anna Goldfarb — someone I had never worked with before — and it was about moving in with your partner. It immediately caught my attention thanks to a snappy subject line and compelli…

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Hello friends! This week I’ve asked friend of FWT Kaitlyn Arford to share some strategies about finding freelance work on social media. Kaitlyn is one of the most adept freelancers at doing this, and she very frequently shares the fruits of her labor on Twitter — like, all day every day, seriously go follow her — so I wanted to get some insight into her process.

Also: Kaitlyn is joining me for a Zoom workshop today at 4 p.m. Eastern time to dive into even more detail about finding work on social media. Register to join us here.

Take it away, Kaitlyn!

Share that you’re looking for work

People lurk all the time on social media. You never know who’s paying attention to you! Seriously. After I tweeted that I had some availability, an editor I had never interacted with for a publication I had never heard of reached out. And now they’re a favorite client!

Share that you have room in your schedule for freelance assignments. Be specific about the type of work you do and how people can reach you. A quick post now could lead to paying work later.

Search for freelance work

Listen: I think LinkedIn posts are a hidden goldmine of freelance work. Editors for both journalism and brands look for freelancers by posting that they need help. You can find them by searching keywords like “looking for freelancers” or “hiring freelance writers.” Then filter by posts published in the past week. They’re a pain to sort through, so I share a thread of freelance opportunities every Friday on Twitter.

You’ll mostly find journalism opportunities on Twitter. Search for “call for pitches,” “looking for pitches,” or “looking for freelance.” I suggest subscribing to Sonia Weiser’s newsletter, Opportunities of the Week, instead of scrolling Twitter for hours. It’s worth every penny!

Shoot your shot

If you see an editor you’d like to work with, reach out! Editors need writers and it’s not weird to reach out. [Ed. note from Tim: Can confirm!] Just tell them a little about your experience and that you would love to work with them. Ask if they’re looking for freelancers. 

If you see an editor actively looking for freelance help, comment with your experience, a link to your portfolio, and your email address. If you comment “I’m interested” you will never hear back. And follow their instructions!

Trust me, I know this can feel intimidating. But it’s a great way to land new opportunities, and you’ll get more confident the more you do it. I wouldn’t have half the work I do without recklessly shooting my shot, even when I didn’t think I had a chance.

Just be a normal human being

Here’s the absolute truth: People like to work with people they know and like. Genuinely connecting with people on social media can lead to paying work.

Someone on one of Tim’s panels — Anna Goldfarb — mentioned the importance of networking horizontally with your peers as opposed to vertically with people in leadership roles. She was right! Freelancers often get offered work they can’t take and refer it to other freelancers they know and trust. 

Connecting with other freelancers is important for pay transparency. I’ve DMed other writers to ask about what publications pay (and what working with them was like), and I wouldn’t have felt comfortable doing that outside of social media.

Share your work regularly

You never know who is following your work! And you never know when someone will need your services. You want people to know that you’re good at what you do. So share your bylines and creative work! Optimize your profiles with what you do (or what you want to do). I have the keywords “freelance writer” and “dog writer” in my profile because it’s what clients search for, and I want them to find me. Social media is a long-term strategy. You might not see results immediately. 

That said: do not give into the pressure to be on every platform all the time. You will burn out. And no one else cares. Choose the platform that has the clients you want.

Oh, a few other things …

• Student journalists! An incredibly kind donor is sponsoring a yearlong subscription to FWT here on Substack for one lucky student journalist. Email me at tim@freelancingwithtim.com to claim it — it will go to the first response, so act quick!

• I am offering one-on-one coaching and pitch reviews! Coaching sessions can include anything you need help with: writing and/or editing coaching, story development, story editing, social strategy, and anything else. And pitch reviews are exactly what you’d think: Let’s review a pitch of yours together! Book a timeslot for either session here.

• Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram!

Okay bye ily!

-Tim ❤️

SALE! From now through the end of May, get 25% off a yearly subscription to this newsletter! To mark the return of FWT, I’m offering a 25% discount on a yearly subscription, normally $60. With a paid sub, you’ll get a second, subscriber-only newsletter every week; invites to subscriber-only events; access to the full archive of Zoom panels; and a 50% discount to every paid FWT event. Click here to nab the deal!

Hello friends! This week I’ve asked friend of FWT Kaitlyn Arford to share some strategies about finding freelance work on social media. Kaitlyn is one of the most adept freelancers at doing this, and she very frequently shares the fruits of her labor on Twitter — like, all day every day, seriously go follow her — so I wanted to get some insight into her process.

Also: Kaitlyn is joining me for a Zoom workshop today at 4 p.m. Eastern time to dive into even more detail about finding work on social media. Register to join us here.

Take it away, Kaitlyn!

Share that you’re looking for work

People lurk all the time on social media. You never know who’s paying attention to you! Seriously. After I tweeted that I had some availability, an editor I had never interacted with for a publication I had never heard of reached out. And now they’re a favorite client!

Share that you have room in your schedule for freelance assignments. Be specific about the type of work you do and how people can reach you. A quick post now could lead to paying work later.

Search for freelance work

Listen: I think LinkedIn posts are a hidden goldmine of freelance work. Editors for both journalism and brands look for freelancers by posting that they need help. You can find them by searching keywords like “looking for freelancers” or “hiring freelance writers.” Then filter by posts published in the past week. They’re a pain to sort through, so I share a thread of freelance opportunities every Friday on Twitter.

You’ll mostly find journalism opportunities on Twitter. Search for “call for pitches,” “looking for pitches,” or “looking for freelance.” I suggest subscribing to Sonia Weiser’s newsletter, Opportunities of the Week, instead of scrolling Twitter for hours. It’s worth every penny!

Shoot your shot

If you see an editor you’d like to work with, reach out! Editors need writers and it’s not weird to reach out. [Ed. note from Tim: Can confirm!] Just tell them a little about your experience and that you would love to work with them. Ask if they’re looking for freelancers. 

If you see an editor actively looking for freelance help, comment with your experience, a link to your portfolio, and your email address. If you comment “I’m interested” you will never hear back. And follow their instructions!

Trust me, I know this can feel intimidating. But it’s a great way to land new opportunities, and you’ll get more confident the more you do it. I wouldn’t have half the work I do without recklessly shooting my shot, even when I didn’t think I had a chance.

Just be a normal human being

Here’s the absolute truth: People like to work with people they know and like. Genuinely connecting with people on social media can lead to paying work.

Someone on one of Tim’s panels — Anna Goldfarb — mentioned the importance of networking horizontally with your peers as opposed to vertically with people in leadership roles. She was right! Freelancers often get offered work they can’t take and refer it to other freelancers they know and trust. 

Connecting with other freelancers is important for pay transparency. I’ve DMed other writers to ask about what publications pay (and what working with them was like), and I wouldn’t have felt comfortable doing that outside of social media.

Share your work regularly

You never know who is following your work! And you never know when someone will need your services. You want people to know that you’re good at what you do. So share your bylines and creative work! Optimize your profiles with what you do (or what you want to do). I have the keywords “freelance writer” and “dog writer” in my profile because it’s what clients search for, and I want them to find me. Social media is a long-term strategy. You might not see results immediately. 

That said: do not give into the pressure to be on every platform all the time. You will burn out. And no one else cares. Choose the platform that has the clients you want.

Oh, a few other things …

• *Graduating* student journalists! An incredibly kind donor is sponsoring a yearlong subscription to FWT here on Substack for one lucky student journalist who just graduated or is about to. Email me at tim@freelancingwithtim.com to claim it — it will go to the first response, so act quick!

• I am now offering one-on-one coaching and personal pitch reviews! Coaching sessions can include anything you need help with: writing and/or editing coaching, story development, story editing, social strategy, and anything else. And pitch reviews are exactly what you’d think: Let’s review a pitch of yours together! Book a timeslot for either session here.

• For paid subscribers: There are very few concrete, unbreakable rules in pitching. However … I wrote about the only four mandatory components that need to be in every pitch, regardless of the story. Read them all here.

If you’re not yet a paid subscriber, click here to see options for subscribing to get access to past paid-only posts, including the full archive of recorded Zoom panels; a round up of what a bunch of publications pay freelance writers; the dos and don’ts of writing the perfect pitch; and much more. (Subscribers also get a discount to every paid workshop, plus free access to any paid panel.)

• Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram!

Okay bye ily!

-Tim ❤️

In the 2018 guide to pitching I wrote for Harvard’s NiemanLab, I included the text of what I thought was a perfect pitch. It was a cold email I had gotten from someone I had never interacted with before, and it was about moving in with your partner. It immediately caught my attention thanks to a snappy subject line, and that story became the f…

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Welcome to Freelancing With Tim, a newsletter designed to help you better navigate the world of journalism — and get paid doing it. If you like what you’re reading, please consider a paid subscription. For $6/month or $60/year, you’ll get an extra newsletter every week, access to the full archive of Zoom panels and works…

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(Illustration by Matt Lubchansky)

Hello and welcome to Freelancing With Tim! This weekly newsletter is a resource for journalists that is full of tips, advice and guidance about making it in the industry. It covers everything from writing the perfect pitch and building a freelance business to crafting a longform narrative and generating story ideas.

If yo…

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