Writing supplemental materials for college textbooks has been my main freelance writing niche for over twenty years. I love the intellectual stimulation, plus I’ve made a decent income that has allowed me to live wherever I want, including three years on Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands.
This post shares two podcasts…
My Interview with the Text and Academic Authors Association
In this podcast, Kim Pawlak of the Text and Academic Authors Association conducts an in-depth interview with me. I give detailed answers to the following questions:
1. How did you get started writing supplements for college textbooks?
2. What do you enjoy most about writing textbook supplements?
3. What background does a freelance writer need in order to succeed?
4. What are the best ways to find clients?
5. What is the earning potential?
6. What are your favorite types of projects?
7. What are the important characteristics of a successful supplements writer?
8. What are the best ways to get assignments done quickly?
You can download the podcast by clicking here.
My Interview with Carol Tice
In this podcast, Carol Tice of the Freelance Writers Den asks me about my main niche. Afterward, we both answer questions from listeners both how to be a more productive writer.
You can download the podcast by clicking here.
Your Take
Your thoughts about the podcasts, or about this niche?
It’s like a gift to Carol Tice followers to get her podcast, follow her for the experiences she share on her Make A Living Writing blog..Thanks for this John 🙂
You’re welcome William. I really enjoyed helping create both the podcasts.
“You’ll spend a lot more time marketing to get work.”
Amen, John! You’ve nailed it once again. This point, wow. . .SO appreciate the reminder.
Many a freelancer — I once was one — believes that as long as you can find clients who pay a high hourly rate, you’re set! The problem, as you know, is that this is not the ‘true’ hourly rate when you take the time actually *finding clients* into account.
A couple of months ago, I met a B2B copywriter, and he boasted of a $175/hour rate. I asked him about how he goes about getting clients, and he said it takes typically 5-6 meetings with the marketing department, a couple of weeks of back-and-forth negotiation with the department lead, and multiple additions and revisions to proposals.
The amount of time he calculated this takes? Between 25 and 35 hours! This is *per client* mind you, and not always do they even say yes after all that!
I pressed the guy about investing so much time in clients up front and that he’s essentially giving away over half his weekly schedule.
That’s a tough one, ’cause his justification was that his high hourly rate made up for it.
So in that case, it seemed to me like his hourly rate is based on (a) the work for the project he just got and (b) the time and effort he put in trying to get his projects.
To me, this seems a bit unfair to the client, passing off time commitments to landing theirs and many other projects to these clients.
What thoughts do you have on the matter?