Start-ups focus on getting freelance writers paid

Last week we told you about Contently, a company that matches freelancers with brands and publishers who need writers. One of their tools allows writers to collect their fee instantly, as soon as their work has been approved. We had a comment from a Story Board reader confirming that the system works. Instant payment. No waiting [...]

Posted on May 23, 2013 at 9:00 am by editor · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: , ,

The Born Freelancer on the Care & Ethical Treatment of Interviewees, Part 3

This series of posts by the Born Freelancer shares personal experiences and thoughts on issues relevant to freelancers. Have something to add to the conversation? Your input is welcome in the comments.   Over the last couple posts I have discussed the importance of a freelancer’s interviewees and some of the techniques I have learned to maximize results [...]

Posted on May 17, 2013 at 9:15 am by editor · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: , , ,

How I Freelance with a Day Job

  by Daniela DiStefano For more than three years I’ve been a happy part-time freelancer. What started as a way to exercise my passion for writing and build my portfolio in University developed into a steady and profitable part-time business that’s now a highly rewarding part of my career. I didn’t become a freelancer overnight. [...]

Posted on May 15, 2013 at 9:15 am by editor · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: , ,

Writers who do data journalism increasingly in demand

  By H.G. Watson Any freelance journalist has tools they rely on, whether it is a specific brand of pens or an addiction to Google News. But at the Ink + Beyond and Canadian Association of Journalists conference in Ottawa on May 2-4, Fred Vallance-Jones and David McKie encouraged writers to add a few new [...]

Posted on May 10, 2013 at 9:15 am by editor · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: ,

Contently and the Rise of Content Marketing

Prospects seem rather gloomy for freelance writers these days. With dying weeklies, draconian magazine contracts, and endless cutbacks at daily papers and the CBC, it’s sometimes hard to see how freelancing can possibly remain a viable career path. But amid all the journalistic despair there is one area of growth for freelance writers. It’s called [...]

Posted on May 2, 2013 at 9:15 am by editor · 2 Comments · Tagged with: , , , , ,

The Born Freelancer on the Care and Ethical Treatment of Interviewees, Part 2

This series of posts by the Born Freelancer shares personal experiences and thoughts on issues relevant to freelancers. Have something to add to the conversation? Your input is welcome in the comments.   In my last post, I wrote about caring for and ethically treating one of our most important freelance career assets, interviewees. In this post I [...]

Posted on April 26, 2013 at 9:13 am by editor · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: , , ,

The Freelancer’s Bible

  Freelancing has its challenges, but there’s more and more support out there these days for those of us who’ve chosen to hop on the freelance roller coaster. One of the latest freelancer resources comes from Sara Horowitz, founder of the U.S.-based Freelancers Union. Her new book The Freelancer’s Bible has something for every freelancer, offering advice [...]

Posted on April 16, 2013 at 9:10 am by editor · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: , , ,

The Born Freelancer on the Care & Ethical Treatment of Interviewees

They are among the most invaluable assets a professional freelancer can cultivate and yet their care and well-being is too often taken for granted and ignored. I’m talking about your list of “contacts” or sources or interview subjects. They are the life blood of any freelancer’s career. I’d like to share some thoughts with you [...]

Posted on April 5, 2013 at 9:05 am by editor · 2 Comments · Tagged with: , , ,

Freelancer tax tips

As soon as Christmas is over I start to feel it… the creeping dread of the approaching tax return deadline. I usually ignore it until around mid-March, when I dig out my file full of receipts and spread them all over the kitchen table where they make my life miserable for several consecutive evenings. If [...]

Posted on March 20, 2013 at 9:00 am by Rachel · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: , , , ,

The Born Freelancer on The Legacy of Max Ferguson

This series of posts by the Born Freelancer shares personal experiences and thoughts on issues relevant to freelancers. Have something to add to the conversation? Your input is welcome in the comments.   CBC Radio and TV personality, writer, world music lover, satirist, and fellow freelancer Max Ferguson died earlier this month (March 7th, 2013) at age 89. [...]

Posted on March 15, 2013 at 9:19 am by editor · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: , , , ,