A reader asked several important questions about starting a freelance magazine writing career on my Ask a Question About Writing page. Since money and successful writing are two of my favorite topics, I turned my answer in to a post about making money as a freelance writer…
Here’s what she said:
“I recently left Corporate America to return to school [...]

I’ve been using an Excel spreadsheet to track my magazine article pitches and submissions for over two years. Here’s how and why it works like a charm – and a question for my fellow scribes!
“Work with yourself, not against yourself,” says Julie Hood of TheOrganizedWriter.com. “Understand your personality and what works for you.  Do what [...]

These habits of highly effective writers are based in part on 101 Habits of Highly Successful Novelists, which is a fab round-up of writing advice from published authors (a book I wish I’d written!). Some of these writing tips will give you something new to chew on…and others will make you cringe at how difficult writing [...]

To earn a living as a freelance writer, you need to keep winning article assignments! These tips for working with magazine editors will help ensure you’re always working on either a feature article, a research short, or even just a sidebar. Either way, you’ll be making money writing.
Before the tips, a quip:
“Almost anyone can be an author; the [...]

Selling the same article over and over - or different articles based on the same research – is what “selling your reprint articles” is all about. These tips for successful writers are based on info from freelance writer Gordon Burgett, author of Sell and Resell Your Magazine Articles.
Before the tips, a quip:
“To write what is worth publishing, to find honest [...]

This sample query letter includes several ways to improve it. It’s a pitch I sent to Child magazine two years ago; the editor didn’t assign the article, and here I explain why. These tips can be directly applied to your own query letters, to help you sell your freelance articles…
Before the tips, here’s a quip from two experienced freelance [...]

These tips for writing feature articles that sell are from one of my favorite writing books, The Portable Writer’s Conference: Your Guide to Getting Published. In it, there’s a great article by Donna Elizabeth Boetig – and she shares her secrets to great writing! 
Before the tips, here’s a writing quip:
“Fiction writing is lonely in a way most people [...]

If you want to be a successful freelance writer, you need to know how to write query letters for magazine articles. The following tips are from a great “Query Letter Clinic” from Writer’s Market 2009; I’ve also included a sample of a strong nonfiction magazine query letter.
Before the tips, a quip:
“Write while the heat is in you. [...]

While there’s no “winning formula” to writing excellent query letters, it is good to see how published freelance writers pitch their ideas! So, here’s a query letter I sent to MSN Health, which the editors accepted a couple days later.
“The most effective query letters get into the specifics from the very first line,” write the experts [...]

These magazine writing tips from freelancers will help you get your book or article published. These publishing and editing tips offer encouragement, practical advice, and hope for both newbie and professional scribes! 
Before the tips, here’s some magazine writing advice from a former executive editor of Working Mother: 
“What we need most are article ideas that are based on new research, [...]