Jan 19Don’t miss out on loan forgiveness under the IDR reformThe Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness plan might have run up against a wall, but you might still be eligible for loan forgiveness under the Income Driven Repayment reforms that are being enacted this year. Among the reforms are rules to no longer allow student loan issuers to amortize unpaid…Student Loans3 min readStudent Loans3 min read
Mar 2, 2021Content Marketing and SEO: Why You Need It, and How to Do It WellI love content marketing. As someone who hates sales and marketing in general and who is also allergic to hustle culture, content marketing is not only the only form of marketing I tolerate well, but that I actually enjoy. If you have a business of any kind, reaching and engaging…Content Marketing8 min readContent Marketing8 min read
Feb 24, 2021Turn Your Ideas into Writing JobsYou have a great idea for an article. Now what? In freelance writing, a successful query letter starts with a great idea. Fortunately, if you followed the advice of my last article, you’ve got a list of potential article ideas to choose from. …Freelance Writing5 min readFreelance Writing5 min read
Feb 23, 2021How to Come Up with Fresh Ideas for ArticlesThey’re closer than you think. Why have I gone so far out of my way in my writing career to avoid pitching and querying? It’s not the inevitable rejections. Those aren’t fun, but they make the acceptances all that much sweeter. It’s not the amount of time and effort that…Writing For A Living5 min readWriting For A Living5 min read
Feb 22, 2021How to Find Writing Work: Pitching and Querying 101Pitching is not my favorite. I don’t know any writers who love the pitching process. Pitching is a lot of work — in fact, researching, crafting and sending out an effective pitch can take more time and effort than actually writing the article you’re trying to sell. Pitching also takes…Freelance Writing Tips9 min readFreelance Writing Tips9 min read
Feb 19, 2021A Career Road Map to Writing for a LivingIf you want to make a living writing, there are basically two business models you can follow: Get paid to write (services) Get people to buy things you’ve written (products) Let’s break these down. Get paid to write — this includes work-for-hire and contracting services like ghost writing, professional blogging…Freelance Writing5 min readFreelance Writing5 min read
Published inBlank Page·Feb 18, 2021How I Started Freelance Writing for a Living (and What I Wish I’d Done Differently)There’s no one right way to become a full-time writer, and many different ways you can get there. But there are definitely wrong ways, which is the path I took. “But Jean,” you might be asking, “how could it be wrong if it got you where you are?” Because it…Freelance Writing6 min readFreelance Writing6 min read
Mar 5, 202012 Ways to Build Your Freelance Writing Portfolio from ScratchDo you need clips to get clips? A modified version of this article first appeared in The Working Writer, a weekly newsletter for helping writers forge their own paths to sustainable and profitable writing careers. We can all recall the frustrating conundrum we faced when we first attempted to enter…Freelance Writing Tips7 min readFreelance Writing Tips7 min read
Jan 20, 2020Seasonal Rhythms: What Our Ancestors Can Teach Us about Productivity, Rest, and Finding BalanceWith a new year upon us, the conventional wisdom of our day is that it’s time to get to work getting after our goals. …Productivity8 min readProductivity8 min read
Apr 30, 2019Should You Write for Yourself, or Write to Market?It’s a great time to be an Indie Author, but it’s also sometimes a confusing time to be an Indie Author. Conflicting advice abounds. I was going to write today about the merits of keeping your day job, but then I saw this post from Dean Wesley Smith making the…Self Publishing4 min readSelf Publishing4 min read