If you’ve read an article anything like this before you’ve probably heard this already. In fact you’ve probably heard it so many times you mentally close your eyes, stick your fingers and your ears and start to hum every time you get close to hearing it again. But it’s true, so here you go; you have to write.

Well, no kidding, if you want to be a freelance writer then your probably love to write so why would that be a problem? The problem is that there’s a big difference between having a dozen unfinished pieces on your hard drive and sitting around waiting for someone to email you and request your services, and having a completed, polished portfolio showcasing your style and abilities. The latter will sell your work – the former won’t. Nobody will know you’re a good writer unless you put your stuff out there and make it worth reading. If you’re an unpublished writer with little experience in the writing game your portfolio will be the one thing you have to convince people to hire you.

The second most important step has to be market research. If you don’t know your market then you can continue to produce well-written, engaging copy until the cows come home; if it doesn’t suit a buyer and/or that buyer hasn’t seen it you’ll still be sitting on a pile of unpublished gems in five years time.

Think about what you want to write about and start reading the kind of publications you want to be published in. This is the best way to familiarise yourself with the style of the publication and you’ll unconsciously start to adopt a similar approach within your work. Once you know what sort of things a certainly magazine or newspaper likes to publish you’ll know which pieces you should send them and how to tailor each piece to appeal to particular publications.

Your next stop is to make contact. There are great resources out there for writers which list the relevant contacts within publications (Barry Turner’s “The Writer’s Handbook” is my own favourite) but in the absence of this a simple phone call is best. Ask for the name of the commissioning editor or the features editor or, if the receptionist is particularly helpful explain to them what you’re pitching and ask who would be the best person to send it to. Being friendly can take you a long way.

When you send a query to an editor you must remember that they probably receive hundreds of similar queries every day. Keep it short and to the point and they’ll be grateful. Your query letter should be carefully checked for spelling and grammatical errors which are unlikely to impress. The more interesting and well-written your query is, the more likely an editor is to take an interest, but even the most engaging of query letters should not run longer than a few paragraphs.

Finally you should remember to keep at it. Rejection is an inevitable part of the freelancer’s life. You will be rejected often and sometimes with little explanation. You may see your work picked apart and criticised, or find yourself simply unworthy of a simple response. These things hurt, but the clever freelancer learns from them. Never stop writing and never stop sending out your work. Perseverance is more important than ability; eventually you’ll get it right and when you do the experience of seeing your name in print makes everything that came before it worthwhile.

By Kate Emery, Freelance Writer