Mattie Said:

Freelance Journalism - has anyone done a course in this and is it worth it?

We Answered:

The courses are for Journalism, at least the genuine Bachelor's degree courses offered by reputable campuses are. A freelance journalist is someone who doesn't have a job with a media organisation. Most of those mail/online courses are rubbish. Ring your local newspaper or TV station, ask to speak to a senior editor and ask them.

Shelly Said:

Do I need any special skills (apart from the obvious) to become a freelance photo-journalist?

We Answered:

I am very envious! You certainly possess the skills and attributes required. Now all you need is the experience. There is a website called www.nowpublic.com which you should find interesting. It gives you the ability to create your own news stories and should be the perfect way to nurture your photo-journalistic skills as well as interact with people with the same interest. I havent had the time to post my own stories on this site, but I have had some of my pictures used on this website. I posted my pictures on www.flickr.com and have had emails asking for permission to use my pics on nowpublic.
Best of luck!

Jeremy Said:

freelance writer, any advice is welcome?

We Answered:

Well, it won't earn you money, but you can gain some experience in writing by writing for the college paper/newsletter/journal.

There are now many web sites that also pay you (some cater to college students too) to write articles, poems, short stories, and etc.

I know of a few...including Suite101.com, Helium.com, and HubPages.com...but there are a lot more out there. Look up Creative Byline and BizReef Freelance too. If you are looking more for experience than pay, BellaOnline.com is a site designed for women. They don't pay you, but you control your work (you would apply for an editing position, rather than writing, but this is simply because you are responsible...as with any work you do...for your own writing and editing). Not only will you gain exposure and experience, you can also use this as a reference for writing, or editing, should you choose.

Hope this helps! I wish you luck!

Bobby Said:

Recommended Short Copywriting course?

We Answered:

the best is
www.mavisbeacon.com
http://www.broderbund.com/jump.jsp?itemI…
http://www.broderbund.com/jump.jsp?&icmp…
the CD is only 20$ it is the best try it

Dwayne Said:

What is the best way to become a freelance writer?

We Answered:

Treat it as a business. Get the most recent Writer's Market and figure out what kind of writing you want to specialize in. There are all kinds of markets out there and you really can't chase after every single one. It's far better to be really good in one field than to be marginal in dozens. You can branch out once you have some good experience.

Lydia Said:

How much should I charge for freelance copy-editing services?

We Answered:

It depends on a lot of factors. Here are some basic rates:

Common rates reported to us by our members fall within the ranges indicated below. They should be used only as a rough guideline; rates vary considerably depending on the nature of the work, the time frame of the assignment, the degree of special expertise required, and other factors. The industry standard for a page is 250 words.
Type of Work Estimated Pace Range of Fees
Copyediting, basic 5–10 ms pages/hour $20–35/hour
Copyediting, heavy 2–5 ms pages/hour $25–50/hour
Layout | newsletters 1–4 pages/hour $30–40/printed page
Layout | books 6–10 pages/hour $35–65/hour
Developmental editing 1–5 pages/hour $32–60/hour
Indexing 5–10 book pages/hour $25–60/hour, $3.50–12/indexable book page
Project management not applicable $8.50–17.50/printed page, $40–65/hour
Proofreading 3–10 ms pages/hour $20–35/hour
Researching not applicable $25-50/hour
Translating 300–500 words/hour 10-20¢/word
Writing 1–3 ms pages/hour $40–125/hour, $50–110/book page
Transcribing undetermined $3 to $5/page

What you charge will depend on exactly what nature of editing you do and how good you are. If you catch and correct errors in grammar, syntax, and punctuation, that's probably basic copy editing or proofreading. If you make substantive changes, it goes slower and gets more expensive.

It also will depend on what the market will bear and on how regularly you work. Are your clients going to be wanna-be writers readying a manuscript for submission? Some can't afford the lowest of these rates, but there are many, many such writers. Or will you go over newsletters, ad copy, textbooks, academic journals, etc.?

Best of luck getting this up and running.