"Making the Leap: How to Jump into Freelance Writing for Children" with Suzanne Lieurance

Mel: is Mel Boring, moderator of this chat with Suzanne Lieurance, and editor of the ICL web site.

Suzanne: is Suzanne Lieurance, a dedicated and successful freelance writer for both children and adults. Among Suzanne's freelance successes are many stories, articles, activities and essays widely published in New Moon, The Friend, Instructor Magazine, Visions, Focus, The Journal of Reading, Crafter's Digest and Wednesday Magazine, to name but a few. Suzanne Lieurance has also published books, including The PROHIBITION ERA, PENNIES, SHOELACES and A CHILD'S FIRST PET. Currently, Suzanne is at work on a series of Christmas books for children which will be published this month by Publications International. She is also a professional resume writer and teaches "Resume Writing Workshop" on America Online.

Green shows the usernames of the people who asked questions of Suzanne Lieurance.

Suzanne: Thanks, Mel. Hello, everyone! And thanks for coming tonight.

Mel: Suzanne, do you recall the first piece of writing you ever did, even maybe as a child?

Suzanne: Well, maybe not the very first piece. But I do recall some of the things I wrote as a child. In fact, I was just talking about that to another writer, Lisa Harkrader, about it the other day. I used to write plays when I was in the fifth grade and the students in my class would act them out for each other. Strange, huh?

Mel: Nope, not strange at all! Do you have any interest now in playwrighting?

Suzanne: Well, I'd like to write a screenplay someday. I have several of them started.

Mel: Did you begin writing for children when you first started in at this profession of writing? Or adults?

Suzanne: Actually, when I first got paid for writing I wrote for adults. But, I was always writing stories for kids, just not getting paid for it—or published—at first. I started selling my work when I was a classroom teacher and I submitted little stories about the classroom, tips for teachers, that kind of thing.

Mel: Your specialty is freelancing; did you consider yourself a freelancer right from the start of your writing career?

Suzanne: Well, to me freelancing means you make enough money to say you do this as a job, whether it's part time or fulltime. I wasn't making enough money at first. I was working full-time as a teacher. But then, once I started making more money writing, I quit teaching to freelance (writing).

Mel: Thank you for clarifying an important point! So not everyone who is a writer is a freelancer, right?

Suzanne: No. Many people work for newspapers (journalists) or have other full time jobs as writers.

barbara d: How long before your first story was published?

Suzanne: Well, my first story (fiction) was published about a year after I started writing seriously. In the meantime, I sold nonfiction. I didn't really know what I was doing at first as far as children's fiction went. I should have taken the ICL course. It would have saved me years of learning everything the hard way.

skigirl: How long did it take you to have steady freelance work?

Suzanne: Well, I didn't quit teaching until I had published one book and had some freelance work coming in on a regular basis. But, I have to say, I just sort of "took the leap" and figured I could find enough work to keep going. I really had to hustle, though, to find work. The summer I decided not to go back to school I found some great assignments for ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA. That work kept me going for a few months until I could line up other assignments. By that time, though, I had a contract for another book and I was writing columns for some newsletters and other publications.

gira: How long before your first NONfiction was sold?

Suzanne: It wasn't that hard to sell my first nonfiction. I think I sold my first article after a few months.

windy: where did you find the courage to send your first submission?

Suzanne: Windy, I don't think it was courage. I figured that sending things in the mail was the coolest part because I didn't really have to see the person who might reject me.

gira: What kind of freelance work did you do at first, besides ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA?

Suzanne: Gira, I saw an ad online someplace from a mass market publisher who was looking for someone to write adaptations of fairy tales and other popular stories for children. Actually, I was really too late to answer the ad, but I figured I'd send them my resume and some writing samples anyway, so they'd have them on file in case any other work came up, and it did, and they called me and I've done quite a lot of work for them ever since. However, I also keep looking at job ads, publishers' websites, etc., to try to find work.

skigirl: Was it hard to break in without any published clips?

Suzanne: Skigirl—that's a good question because everyone worries about that. I always tell them to start out by trying to find some small local publications—those tabloid-like things you find free at the library—and query the editor about a few article ideas. That's what I did and I ended up writing a monthly column for a local publication for crafters. Also, think back to all the kinds of things you've written—maybe for your church newsletter, your child's scout troop newsletter, etc.—and, at first, put those things on your resume. Chances are you've written things that have been published. You just have to think back to what you've done.

Mel: You've already started answering this, Suzanne, but could you enlarge on how I can get started with a freelance career if I don't have any publishing credits?

Suzanne: Sure. First, sit down and try to make a list of everything you've written for church, school, your regular job, etc. Then, take a field trip to the library or a local bookstore to try to find some of those local publications I just mentioned. Then, come up with some article ideas that might appeal to the editor of one of those publications. Then send the editor a query, or, if you're brave enough, just call the editor. Those small publications pay nothing or next to nothing, so editors are usually always on the lookout for additional writers, so they're a good way to get started and get some writing credits.

Mel: How do I get started finding freelance assignments?

Suzanne: Okay. You'll find freelance assignments in a variety of ways. You'll probably have to write all sorts of stuff, at least at first, if you want to make a living (or even a decent part-time income) at this. So, think of all the kinds of writing you could do—articles, stories, adaptations, if you're a teacher (or have taught) you can also write test questions or short paragraphs some publishers use as part of testing materials. If you enjoy crafts or cooking, or have some hobby, you might want to write about that. Does one of your local publications need a cooking column for kids? Or a crafts column for kids? Start getting some queries out there. Next, look for assignments at publishers' websites and on on-line job boards. The thing to remember is you can't expect jobs to come to you. You must always, always, always be out there looking for work.

Mel: Suzanne, are there particular websites you could recommend in our search for assignments?

Mel: Thanks, Suzanne, I just went to Google on another browser and searched "jobs for writers." MANY popped up right away!

judyf: You mentioned ICL, how did they get you going in the right direction?

Mel: I know what you mean, Suzanne, and have often wished that ICL had been around when I began, too!

lasmithm2000: Do you develop your own magazine article and story titles or are they assigned to you?

Suzanne: Right now, most of the fiction I write is for anthologies and it is assigned. I write articles about children's writing and those are also assigned. I've also been working on four nonfiction books for Enslow publishers this year. And, with my ICL students, I'm pretty busy, so I haven't been looking for much work lately. I have enough.

Suzanne: I don't get discouraged knowing I'm always looking for work because I really enjoy that part of freelancing. To me, it's fun to find something new all the time. The part that is discouraging is taking an assignment only to find another more interesting assignment later, but then not trying to get it because I know it will be too hard to do it all within the deadlines. Once you get going you'll probably overwork yourself until you figure out how to balance the work, money, hours, etc. And the only way to learn to balance is to work through some times when you're rushing like crazy to make deadlines. You learn not to schedule so much for yourself.

Mel: VERY interesting insight, Suzanne! We usually don't think about a freelancer having MORE assignments than they can handle.

Suzanne: Can I just point something out to everyone, Mel, before the next question?

Mel: YES!

Suzanne: I want to point out the fact that I don't know of ANY freelance children's writers who make a living JUST writing fiction for children's magazines. In fact, I don't know of ANY children's writers who make a living writing JUST for children's magazines—fiction and nonfiction. You'll have to find other assignments. Children's magazines don't pay very much. So don't think you can just decide to stay at home and send out your stories to Cricket or Highlights and you're going to one day make a living at that.

red2: I moved from the big city to a small town and was wondering if it would be acceptable to contact local newspapers about writing for them. It seems that a column or some regular feature could be included in some of these publications. Would it be acceptable for me to make those contacts?

Suzanne: red 2—I think it's always okay to contact a local publication to see about writing for them. Before you do, just make sure you're familiar with that publication—so that when you talk to (or write) the editor, you're presenting ideas for things he/she really needs.

clove: How do you get anthology stories assigned to you?

Suzanne: Clove—most of the anthologies are for the mass market publisher I mentioned earlier. But, again, look at publishers websites and also look in the bookstores for children's anthologies—see who publishes them and then try to find websites for those publishers. If you find websites, see if they have writer's guidelines. If not, then write the publisher and ask if they hire freelance writers for their anthologies. Chances are, they do.

peanut: I used to do a lot of technical writing in my work as an engineer (reports, equipment manuals, and so on). Would these be worth mentioning on a resume if I have no published articles yet?

Suzanne: Peanut—I think anything that you've written professionally shows you know the basics of grammar, sentence structure, etc. and have turned in professional work, so I'd list those things to get started. If you are an ICL student, though, that's probably going to be more important to a publisher who wants to know if you can write for kids. However, as an engineer, could you write about "engineer related" things in a way that would be easy for kids to understand? If so, you might find a lot of work out there.

zoie: What do YOU usually send for writing samples?

Suzanne: Zoie—When sending writing samples, it depends on what the publisher is looking for. If a publisher wants someone to write an economics dictionary for kids (which I did a few years ago—and I knew nothing about economics) then I would send a sample of something that showed I could take a complicated topic and break it down into easy-to- understand language for kids. If an editor wants someone to write fiction for kids 6-8 then I'd probably send a sample of one of the beginning readers I've written.

Mel: Suzanne, I need to tell everyone that I have a FEW pre-submitted questions. But my web mail has been down all day today. So if you sent questions for Suzanne today, I'm sorry I didn't get them. I do want to post a pre-submitted question here now.

Mel: Very SOUND advice, Suzanne—thanks! Here's another pre-submitted question.

Jmarie: I am an ICL graduate and have been writing successfully for magazines for many moons now. I just completed 100 "original" recyclable crafts/projects for school kids 8-12 and want to know what should go in my query letter, since there are no chapters. It contains missions, pilgrims, Mayflower, holiday gifts, etc. There is an index or a table of contents broken down into parts: Energy Sources, Modes of Travel, People in History, etc. I've done "rough" sketches of each craft/project as some publishers use their own artists (such as Boys' Life). In the past, I've illustrated covers, cartoons, and other Illustrations for magazines. Would photos help?

Suzanne: Jmarie—is this 100 original recyclable crafts/projects a book proposal?

Mel: It sounds like it is, Suzanne.

Suzanne: Well, if you're wanting to send a query and a proposal for a book, I'd say, before you do this look at some publishers who would be good markets for this type of book. Then, look at some similar books they've published to see how they organized such books. Usually, publishers want some sort of specific order to books like this. So, I think you'd be more successful finding a publisher if you figured out a really great way to organize all your activities/crafts, etc. I did a similar book called SCHOOL PROJECTS FOR PENNIES and the publisher had the idea for the book, but wanted me to come up with a way of organizing it. So I figured it would make sense to organize it according to school subjects—and then we had crafts kids could do for each subject area. I think you need to find a way to tie all the crafts ideas together somehow, energy sources, modes of travel, people in history—sound too varied. Pull them together somehow. They're all recyclable activities, but I think you need something else to tie them together, too. Then I would come up with a table of contents or some way to show the editor how they would be organized.

Suzanne: Barbara D.—Usually I spend most of every weekday doing something that relates to writing. That doesn't mean I'm actually writing for eight hours each day. But, I'm usually doing something, research, outlining, first draft, revisions, etc., every single day between the hours of 8 to 5. Oh, and I also go to the Y and work out about 6 days a week—since the rest of the time is spent sitting. I don't want to turn into a complete blob.

zoie: How many children's BOOKS have you written?

Mel: Here are two questions I'll post both at once that are about the same topic, Suzanne:

Mel: Suzanne, here's a NICE reflection on you from izzy: J

Suzanne: Thanks, Izzy, for the plug!

marysmuse: Suzanne—Nice to see you again. (I took your Core of Three class a while back.) Do you have any tips for discovering what it is your Main Character NEEDS? I've got my MC's journey plotted out, I've been told I have good flow and dialogue, and a believable, sympathetic character. But when the reader reaches the end of chapter one, s/he doesn't know what the character wants.

Suzanne: Hi, Marysmuse. I remember you from my core of three workshop. I'm glad to hear that you've been writing. Yeah, sometimes it's hard to tell what a character needs or wants. You just have to keep asking the character. Have you interviewed your character or written up a character profile? I'd suggest doing that—or going back and asking your character more questions about himself/herself if you still don't know what he/she wants. Lisa Harkrader and I wrote an article for the yearbook—which you probably all bought from the Institute—about how to conduct character interviews and write profiles, if you've never done that before.

Suzanne: Rosalee—Yes, editors usually don't want you to send artwork in with the manuscript unless you are also an illustrator. I'd say get the story accepted first—so just submit the manuscript. Then, once you get an editor who likes it, tell the editor that your sister-in-law is an illustrator and you would like to submit some illustrations she has done for the manuscript. The only other thing is to self-publish the book. But, that would be expensive—probably TOO expensive for a color picture book.

Mel: Suzanne Lieurance, while we have a real expert on writing resumes here, here are a few questions about that.

Suzanne: skigirl—your earliest resume will be much different from what you eventually develop and send to publishers. I have an article about developing your first resume at my website—but briefly, I can tell you that you'll probably need to stress your skills and background and education more than your actual publication credits. Since I was a teacher, I think I emphasized that in my first resume for writing jobs.

gira: What kinds of writing samples are good to send with a resume?

Suzanne: Suzanne: Gira—the types of samples you submit depend on what kind of work you are trying to find, and also, what else you are sending with the resume. When I write to new publishers without a specific project in mind I usually send a cover letter, my resume, and a few samples of both fiction and nonfiction for the readership age that editor publishes for.

Suzanne: Wendyhaber—I think the main thing for Enslow is that you first just ask for guidelines and a list of titles they are currently assigning to writers. Once they send you a list of available titles and guidelines you will be asked to write a sample chapter and outline the entire book as sort of an "audition" to see if they want to offer you a contract. They'll look at that sample chapter and outline more than any other writing samples.

Suzanne: It depends—writing samples can be whole stores if they are fairly short. Sometimes I just send a chapter or two from a book I've written, though. It depends on what kind of writing an editor wants me to do. I wouldn't send an editor who wants me to write a beginning reader a sample page from something I wrote for teenagers, for exmaple.

Suzanne: At first, you won't know how long assignments take, so always give yourself much more time than you think you'll need.

Mel: Here are two related pre-submitted questions, Suzanne:

SK: Do we need a business plan before we can launch our freelance business?

Suzanne: I don't think you HAVE to make a formal business plan. But, it's good to outline ways you plan to find work. Figure out how much money you want and need to make, and also figure out how you plan to use your time.

Suzanne: SK—A business is a little different from simply starting a freelance writing career. For one thing, if you already have a computer and internet service you won't have many expenses to start. I'd say just start out by writing for some local publications, continually look for new assignments online and through newsletters, by networking, etc., and keep your day job until you start getting enough freelancing work that you can no longer do your regular job and still keep up with your freelance work.

Suzanne: Rather than just subscribe to a magazine for writers, I'd join the Writer's Digest Book Club and order at least one book a month about writing—start out with all the books about writing for children, but you'll need to read books about writing in general, too, plotting, character development, etc. I read Writer's Digest and Children's Writer, and any other magazine I find that deals with writing. But, I am usually also reading a good book about writing, too. Also, if you want to write for kids, read as many children's books as you possibly can. If you want to write picture books, then read dozens of them each week.

Mel: What's the hardest part of having a freelance career?

Mel: What do you think is THE MOST important quality a writer needs in order to be a successful freelancer?

Suzanne: MOST important is that you have to love to write. You have to love to sit in a room all alone at the keyboard hour after hour as you write the same sentence 30 times before it sounds right. But then when you turn it in, your editor wants it changed again. So, you have to love to write when writing something decent seems to be the hardest thing in the world to do. Everyone loves to crank out a cute little story. But, freelancing is learning to follow guidelines, meet deadlines, and be professional. Sometimes I think if I didn't get to hang out in my pajamas all day it would be a whole lot easier just to go back to a regular job. But I know I just really love to write (and I really love my pjs J ), so all the agony is worth it.

Mel: You're giving us such EXCELLENT insights, Suzanne! How will I get paid as a freelance writer?

Suzanne: As a freelance writer you will usually have some sort of contract for the work you do. Often though, you will have to invoice the company you write for before they will pay you. You will also get paid a little differently for each project. Some work will pay an advance and royalties, some work will be done on a flat fee, work-for-hire basis.

Mel: Do I have to write nonfiction in order to freelance?

Suzanne: I think you have to write almost anything and everything (at least at first) in order to freelance. And, you'll have a much easier time making ends meet if you write nonfiction, since that's easier to sell and you will be able to find work for educational publishers that way (although you can write fiction for educational publishers, too).

Mel: Do I have to send out a lot of query letters in order to find work?

Suzanne: If you focus on writing for magazines you will need to send a lot of queries. If you focus on writing books and also write educational materials, or get your own column in a newspaper or some newsletters, etc. then you won't need to write so many queries. Initially, you'll make up a lot of "Packets" that contain a cover letter, your resume, some writing samples or clips. You'll send these packets out to all the publishers you can find who hire writers on a freelance or work-for-hire basis. You'll also write to publishers asking for guidelines and lists of titles they need writers for. You'll also spend at least a few minutes each day looking at on-line job ads. Then you'll send e-mails or regular letters out in response to any good ads you find.

Mel: Are writer's guidelines really that important? Why or why not?

Suzanne: Oh, my gosh. yes, yes, yes—guidelines are VERY important!!! If you can't follow a publisher's guidelines then you can forget about freelancing. Guidelines tell you how the publisher wants something written, what all needs to be included about this topic, and even how the manuscript should be formatted (and many times what font they expect you to use). An editor wants to be able to give you the guidelines and know that you will follow them. So many of my students start out telling me that they just write so much better when they don't have strict guidelines to follow—they can be more creative without them, etc. But I tell them that chances are, they'll actually become better writers once they've learned to follow strict guidelines. One of the publishers I write for has had me do everything from adapt a nearly 500-page book for adults into a 10-page story for kids, to writing a new story based on old pictures that were used years ago for another story (they recycle their artwork to save money) and all this has really helped me become a better writer.

Mel: Suzanne, how I wish we had another two hours, because I suspect you've only begun to share all your wisdom with us about freelancing for a living. You have spoken so well about both the pluses and minuses of a freelance career. We so appreciate your coming to chat with us this evening. I'm sure there are more than a few of us who would like to have you come back someday. Would you do that please, Suzanne?

Suzanne: Sure. This has been fun. But, man, it's a lot of typing.

Mel: Goodnight, everyone!