1. How to Write Stories People Will
Read
And pay you to write

2. Are your experiences
enough?

3. How I spent my morning isn’t
interesting?

4. Real Information
Where do you find that?
• The Internet, but …
• News releases, but ...
• Government websites, but ...
• Organization websites, but ...
• Experts, but …
• News websites, but …
Real reporting is a lot of work, but it makes the
difference between a story people will want to read
and just another throwaway piece on the Internet.

5. If your mother says she
loves you, check it out.

6. How to vet information
• Verify with multiple sources.
• Consider the source. Is he in
a position to know?
• Look for hard data. Analyze
the statistics.
• Call and talk to real people
on the telephone.
• Snopes.com

7. How to write with authority
Use details, drawn from both your experience
and from factual material. Compare:
• Home ownership is down since the recession
came.
• Home ownership has declined from a high of
69.2% in 2004 to 65% today and is expected to
fall to 64% in the next year.

8. Find the source
Use primary sources, not other blogs and other
media. Compare:
• According to USA Today, 90% of homes can
expect higher utility bills this winter.
• According to the U.S. Energy Department's
annual outlook for heating costs, 90% of
homes can expect higher utility bills this
winter.

9. You can’t just
paint some
writing on as
a veneer.
-- Roy Peter Clark,
writing coach
or some SEO

10. Who pays for good content?

11. Where can
you sell
your work?
•
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•
•
•
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Blogs
Websites
Corporations
Newspapers
Magazines
Individuals

12. How much can you earn?
0 to $100,000-plus a year

13. Where can you learn more?
• Freelance Success: Newsletter and forum for professional freelance
writers, $99 a year. http://freelancesuccess.com
• Media Bistro. Market reports, classified, some free and some paid.
http://mediabistro.com
• WordCount: Freelancing in the Digital Age blog.
http://www.michellerafter.com.
• “Six-Figure Freelancing” and other books
by Kelly James-Enger.
• Mridu Khuller Relph, International Freelance blog:
http://www.mridukhullar.com/2013/10/first-year-of-freelancing/
• “The Renegade Writer” by Linda Formichelli and Diana
Burrell. Book and blog, http://www.therenegadewriter.com/
• Local classes and writers’ groups

14. Questions?
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Teresa Mears
Living on the Cheap
http://livingonthecheap.com
tam801@gmail.com