The Angel Animals Network 2010 True Story Contest is now accepting submissions of true stories of animals helping children, parents, and families deal with difficult situations and circumstances. Animals featured can be dogs, cats, horses, gerbils, rabbits, ferrets, or any house pet or animal in nature. They can be family pets or therapy, assistance, or service animals.

The stories can be written by parents or guardians of children or by the children or teens themselves. Stories can also be written by adults who recall a special animal from childhood or teen years who helped them through a tough period.

This contest hopes to find real-life stories that demonstrate animals comforting and helping to heal children during everyday ups and downs or traumatic events such as divorce or other losses. The stories can depict how children and teens de-stress with animals while learning valuable life lessons.  The deadline is 15 September 2010. For more details visit Angel Animals.

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“I’m pretty much easy on subjects:  funny, light-hearted, twist-in-the-tale, thought provoking, crime, sci-fi, things along those lines. Nothing dark, heavy of graphically hideous! As for poets, as long as the poem fits on an A4 sheet, it should be fine,” says Vivienne. Unfortunately, they don’t accept writing for children at this time

There is a print and electronic version of the magazine which comes out bi-monthly. It’s published in the UK but accepts submissions from abroad. There is no payment for publication, but if you would like to showcase your writing, this may be an outlet for you.  Good luck!

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The next edition is due out in July and Zainab is looking for writers from around the world.  This is currently unpaid work, but if the magazine takes off, the publishers hope to start paying contributors. You don’t have to be Iraqi, but you do have to be supportive of Iraqi efforts to redefine themselves in the public eye. There is more to Iraq than that shown through the lens of the Western media. If you would like to chat to her more or find out what she is looking for, drop her a line at mail@iciraq.com.

If you would like some advice on how to write a feature article or how to write a proposal, check out The Crafty Writer’s free non-fiction writing course.

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There are a lot of different types of report a freelance writer might be called on to write, for a wide range of different audiences. They include

• annual reports for a company or charity;
• reports from meetings and conferences, including those looking at research areas or products;
• reviews of products or topics; and
• business intelligence and market research reports.

Like all freelance work, there is no simple one stop shop for finding all the work you need (but if you know of one, please let me know…). There are as many places to find work writing reports as there are types of reports.

Annual reports

PR companies are often responsible for producing annual reports for large companies, especially those listed on the stock market. Search on Google for PR companies in your area of expertise, or keep an eye out for PR job ads in the papers (the Guardian covers media and PR jobs on a Monday, or use its jobs website ), and contact them to see if they use freelancers. It’s also worth keeping an eye out for job ads for communications departments of companies that are in your field. PR freelance rates are generally quite good but writing annual reports is a competitive field to get into. Charities also produce annual reports – consider doing a couple for free to build up your portfolio.

Product and topic reports

PR and communications companies sometimes produce reports covering research on behalf of clients, perhaps showcasing the clients’ product and comparing it with other similar products. These can be based on published papers, or on presentations at a conference. Though often produced by staff writers, these reports can also be sent out to freelancers (and might get you a trip somewhere nice – or rather a trip to an airport and conference centre that might have a window that looks out over somewhere nice). Similar reports can review products in a market, or topics of interest such as ‘flu or green energy.

Business intelligence and market research reports

If you have an analytical brain and are good with numbers or markets, business intelligence and market research reports are a growing field – these are high-ticket reports used by companies to get background on new fields or new markets. Googling ‘business intelligence reports’ or ‘market research reports’ brings up a whole host of reports publishers, many of whom use freelance writers to produce the reports. Check out the ‘careers’ or ‘about us’ pages, which may include details of freelance requirements, or simply contact companies on spec.

Opportunities to write different types of reports also come up on PayingWriterJobs and Freelance Writing Jobs.

And finally …

Report writing requires organisation and an ability to meet deadlines, familiarity with the fields under scrutiny, comfort working with numbers and capacity to work alone and at a distance. But if you can do it, it’s an interesting market to tap into, and might even get you that view out of a hotel window!

Next week Suzanne will give us some tips on the nuts and bolts of report writing for when those commissions start rolling in …

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So what are you waiting for? Get writing! If you need some tips on writing from life, check out this session in our free non-fiction writing course.

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How to write for the Internet

Writing for the internet needs a subtly but importantly different set of skills to writing for print. According to Jakob Nielsen, a web usability consultant, most Internet users read web pages in a different way to print, by scanning the page and picking out words and phrases, rather than reading the text word for word. Reading on screen also takes about 25% longer than reading print. Because of this, when you write for the internet, you need to:

• highlight keywords, by using hypertext links, or changing the style or colour
• use clear and informative subheadings
• use bulleted lists
• include one idea per paragraph
• start with the conclusion
• be objective, rather than promotional
• use familiar words, rather than unusual or newly-coined ones
• keep it short (or at least shorter than a print equivalent).

Finding freelancing work

This is the hard bit and sometimes it is a real slog. It’s a bit like applying for jobs every week, but it has to be done if you want to pay the rent, and it gets a teeny weeny bit easier with practice.

Where to find the work

Sign up for mailing lists like PayingWriterJobs and Freelance Writing Jobs, and pitch ideas to all your favourite websites. If you want to make a living as a freelance writer for the web, be prepared to write about pretty much anything for pretty much anyone. I have been referred to as a writing tart, by a vicar no less, but the description has more than a grain of truth.

Pitching for work

Preparation pays off. Have a stock of your best articles that you have had published (or if you don’t have a portfolio yet, create a set of sample pieces), with a recent copy of your CV (spell-checked and proofread) ready to email out, or create an online portfolio.

If you are answering an advert, make sure that your covering letter (most commonly an email) responds to all the points in the ad. If you are pitching ideas, make sure you are familiar with what the website covers – no point suggesting ideas about bacon recipes to a vegetarian organisation.

Check the email before you send it. I suspect I have lost a number of jobs because I’ve spotted a typo just as I’ve clicked send – especially embarrassing when the text says what a good eye for detail I have (obviously not) got.

Don’t forget to pitch for work even when you are busy – otherwise when you have finished your current project, you will be left twiddling your thumbs.

And finally, remember ‘you’re worth it’. So, watch out for how much things pay. It’s fine to work for low pay (or sometimes even nothing) when you are building up your portfolio or moving into a new market, but remember that this is your job now, and your time is valuable, and might be better spent looking for other work.

The freelancing life – joys and realities

Freelancing sounds like an ideal life, doesn’t it? Living in a stone cottage deep in the countryside, and working from home to your own hours at a desk that looks over a valley and a fast flowing river.

However, freelancing is scary – there’s no longer a salary appearing on the 25th of the month, and what you earn is dependent on your own efforts. There’s no sick pay or maternity pay. And you have to be your own payroll department (don’t forget tax and National Insurance), your own IT department, your own HR department and your own manager. And you don’t get an office party, unless you have taught your cats to pull crackers (mine hate wearing party hats).

But the upside is – well, the stone cottage and the knowledge that what I earn is mine (once I’ve filled in the tax return, that is). Terrifying, yes – but I could never do anything else!

Thanks Suzanne! I couldn’t agree more – once you’ve had that taste of freedom, you can never go back.

What Suzanne didn’t mention is that if you want to write for the internet, ideally you should have your own website or blog – she does. This is like a ’shop window’ where potential employers can check you out from a distance before coming inside. If you don’t already have your own site, why not check out Hippo Web Solutions who helped me establish The Crafty Writer – Rod does hosting, site development and admin, and blog consultancy.

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Reality check

So you love reading women’s magazines, and now you want to write for them. They’re a fun, easy read, so they must be fun and easy to write for. Well here’s the reality.

The rates for consumer magazines have barely gone up in the past 15 years, and the work required before you get a commission has rocketed. Yet there’s never been a better time to break into freelancing. So long as you’re savvy.

Three types of writers

I’ve noticed that there are three types of women who want to write for women’s magazines. The first camp has already worked in the media, but not as writers. Then there are the starry-eyed super-positive ones who see their names in the Mail On Sunday’s You magazine, or Sunday Times Style. And finally there are the insecure ones who have always wanted to do this, and wonder whether they’re up to it.

The first lot are already well prepared, and likely to succeed. Whether they’ve worked in PR or as makeup artists for magazines, they already know the territory: the importance of understanding the readership for each and every publication, as well its competition, how newspapers, the internet and magazines all relate to each other, and that it’s as much about knowing how to sell yourself, as the mechanics of putting a piece together.

If you’re a fresh 21 year old out of university, then embarking on a career with a naïve, starry-eyed approach works. But for the older woman, the brutal reality is, it doesn’t. However, if you’re thinking of writing having had one career, you’d like something flexible, and you’re not expecting to see your name in Sunday supplements and glossy titles immediately, then provided you put the time in to study the publications, and turn insecurity into willingness to learn, it’s a viable choice.

Do the research

Magazines depend on freelancers. But much of the work, especially finding case studies (the mainstay of women’s magazines), is labour intensive, and not cost effective. And before you get the go-ahead commission to write a piece, you’ll have to supply the research, packaged as an outline for the piece, complete with cover line, headline, and what’s known as a sell (two lines that sum up the piece in a snappy, compelling way).

If you start from the basis of what you know or need to know, whether that’s your IT knowledge or which eco nappies are best for your newborn, you won’t be wasting any time. If you have a huge network of mums, for example, then talking to mums and sourcing personal stories will be easy. But if you’re a single woman working for a bank, then finding interviews for a story on modern motherhood is going to be logistically difficult.

All that glitters

The easiest way to get into magazines, and for that matter newspapers, is to go for the least glamorous part of publications, not the big impressive features. Look for all those Me and My Holiday/Finances/Wardrobe, How To slots, and career/employment pages as a starting point. These are all written to a formula, and they are short – so you won’t have a nervous breakdown writing them.

From my experience of running courses, those bent on writing pieces about themselves for weekend supplements and top glossy titles, despite knowing that they are competing with top journalists for that work, give up.

Work your way up

But the women I’ve seen succeed in writing for women’s magazines are the ones who weren’t status hooked, and have been willing to start off with local papers, trade magazines (perhaps related to their own jobs), and lesser known consumer titles. That way they gather a track record and the confidence that gets them into bigger and better magazines. This is also the path most experienced journalists take anyway –from the bottom, moving up.

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