Welcome to Spark an Idea Thursday. Each week we’ll share some great ideas for a topic of interest to our readers. We invite you to grab our image and carry the tradition to your blog! If you do, please link back to this post so we know where you were inspired!
This week’s “Spark an Idea [...]

Let’s admit it: freelancing can be scary.
There are so many things to worry about (especially if you’re a worrier to begin with). What if you don’t make enough money this month? What if your client hates your work? What if your quote is too high? What if this whole freelancing thing is a giant mistake? [...]

We are really pleased to welcome Traci Feit Love as the new Freelance Writing Author here at Sparkplugging’s Freelance Parent Blog. Traci is going to bring a fresh voice and a lot of great freelance business advice.  Please make her welcome!

Exactly 3 months ago, on April 1, 2009, I started my freelance writing, editing, and [...]

Photo by altemark
As freelance writers, we all know that there are advantages and disadvantages to being self employed. Some of the best things are obvious:

Setting your own schedule
No boss breathing down your neck
Working on projects you like
Working when and how you are most productive

Of course, there are disadvantages, too:

Setting your own schedule
No boss breathing down [...]

Photo by leah.jones
I just really like the idea of writers doing a Wordless Wednesday post. This picture makes me think about how important words really are to a writer’s soul.
Oops, better stop typing since it’s supposed to be wordless.

I know that many freelance writers have had great success marketing articles through various websites, but I just don’t know anything about it.  So, I asked Genesis Davies from At Home Mom Blog  if she’d be willing to teach us and our readers through a guest post.  After reading what she wrote, I’m a little embarrassed [...]

Marketing 101 tells us that it’s better to retain clients than to go seeking new ones. When you take into account all the things you do to market your services – keep up a blog, have a website, print materials, bid on jobs, go to networking functions, contact companies – it makes sense. These things [...]

We are continuing on with our series on how to get started freelancing. Today we’re talking about those ever-important freelance samples.
If you’re just getting started freelancing, then you will quickly discover that your potential clients are going to want to see some samples. It makes good sense, after all, to ensure that they’re [...]

One of my favorite books about writing is Betsy Lerner’s The Forest for the Trees: An Editor’s Advice to Writers. (My favorite is Stephen King’s On Writing, not that you asked.) Anyway, one of the reasons I like the book so well is because the author, who is an editor, totally “gets” how [...]

Last year, Tamara wrote a post here called “No Spec, No Problem” about clients who ask you to work “on spec.” For those of you new to the game, that means that the potential client will basically give you an assignment, and if he or she thinks it’s up to par, you will be [...]