[stylist] Introducing myself and seeking ideas on freelancing

Fri Feb 10 01:18:59 UTC 2012

Chiming in my welcome and a resource here. Check 
out http://www.elance.com. There appears to be 
lower paying jobs, but not all from what I 
understand. It's meant to be a great place to get 
some jobs in the back pocket as well as some 
testimonies on jobs completed. I haven't been up 
there myself yet, but planning to soon.

Brad

On 2/9/2012  05:14 PM Donna Hill said...
>Gerardo,
>Welcome to the list. I want to add a bit to what Chris wrote. First of all,
>I am Donna Hill and I write for the online magazine Suite 101, which does
>revenue sharing with their writers -- you get paid based on the number of
>distinct page views your articles get. It's not much, but has the advantage
>of helping you develop an online presence or "platform" as it is sometimes
>called. I've had a few things published locally and in NFB and other
>blindness related magazines/newsletters, and I got a grant back in the '90s
>to publish a book called "Unopened Gifts: Tales out of School" about the
>inclusion of people with disabilities in church communities. I am currently
>trying to find a literary agent for my novel "The Heart of Applebutter
>Hill," which features a 14-year-old girl who is legally blind, along with
>several other characters with disabilities. I'll probably self-publish it at
>some point, but I'm giving the traditional route a try for now.
>
>There are several online mags that have revenue sharing. I think that Suite
>101 has a site in French and German, but not in Spanish. You do have to
>submit articles and be approved, and then your work is checked prior to
>publication by an editor for a while. Eventually, you just post your stuff,
>but they still have paid editors who review it.
>
>If you're not ready for that yet, there are other online article directories
>which you can write for with less oversight and fewer requirements. They
>don't pay anything, but you are still getting your work out there, getting
>experience and building a portfolio of writing you can use to approach
>paying sources.
>
>With a degree in psychology, you are in a position to comment as an
>authority on the subject. Perhaps, you have other experiences as an intern
>in college, summer job or studying abroad that you can point to as part of
>your resume. In terms of your local papers, write something, take it in and
>see what happens. Sometimes papers will buy articles on a limited basis.
>Even if it's an occasional thing, it adds to your resume and strengthens
>your qualifications as an expert. Our papers in the U.S. have been having
>trouble staying in business mostly due to the digital revolution, and I
>imagine that papers in Mexico are as well. It's tough out there, but as you
>say something is better than nothing, and if you really want to write and
>"have to" write, just keep plugging away at it.
>
>One thing I would advise, if you are willing to work in English, is that you
>get a free subscription to HARO (Help a Reporter Out) as a source. They send
>e-mails 3 times a day Monday through Friday containing queries from
>journalists looking for sources on all kinds of stories. Most of them won't
>apply, but when you find something in your area, you send a pitch to the
>journalist addressing their stated needs along with your qualifications. It
>takes a bit to get used to the format of the e-mail, but you can quickly
>read through the subject lines by using your screen reader's key for "next
>unvisited link." The full queries are below; the links often don't work for
>me and I have to just page down to the one I want (they're all numbered).
>
>These opportunities to be a source are few and far between for blindness
>issues, but with your background in psychology, your status as a bilingual
>person and perhaps other things in your life that you don't even think of as
>all that important, you can broaden your net a bit. If and when you are
>selected by someone to either comment for an article they're working on,
>appear on an internet radio show (this is done from your home phone, but
>usually costs you the fee for the long distance call) or submit a guest
>blog, those things now become part of your resume and qualifications.
>
>Perhaps there are similar things in Spanish. There is a lot online with
>regard to submitting to magazines. If you know a magazine you'd like to
>write for, Google "submission guidelines" and the name of the magazine.
>They're all looking for stuff to be presented in different ways, so you need
>to be sure you know what they want and how they want it. Reading previous
>articles to familiarize yourself with the styles of writing they seem to
>prefer is also helpful.
>
>The Writers' Division has a quarterly journal called "Slate & Style" that
>takes submissions for poetry, fiction and nonfiction. Bridgit is the editor
>and she posts the submission guidelines and deadlines here on this list, so
>look out for them. We recently passed the deadline for the next issue, but
>you can start thinking and writing now. It doesn't pay, but it still counts
>on your resume.
>
>I know that we have more opportunities in the U.S. than you do in Mexico,
>but I also know that many people who don't live here have an exaggerated
>notion of how much more opportunity there is. For instance, only 3 of every
>10 working-age blind Americans are employed, and many of those who are
>employed are underemployed. This was true before the recession, and it's
>probably worse than that at this point. This is just to say that many of us
>are out there struggling, and the field of writing is something that works
>out as full employment for only a very few. That said, many people on this
>list will help you with information and by critiquing your work, if you post
>it here. We're all working to help each other be as good as possible so we
>can compete in a very difficult field.
>
>As for professional blind journalists, I know of only two in the U.S.
>(Deborah Kendrick from the  Columbus Dispatch and Elizabeth Campbell in Fort
>Worth, Texas -- not sure of the name of her paper). You might try Googling
>them and reading their work. Elizabeth is a beat reporter covering local
>news, and Deborah does columns on disability issues -- a rare thing for any
>paper to offer. There is also a blind man from Pakistan named Sardar
>Pirzada, who has been working as a journalist and writer for many years.
>Best,
>Donna
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>Behalf Of Gerardo Corripio
>Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2012 1:10 PM
>To: stylist at nfbnet.org
>Subject: [stylist] Introducing myself and seeking ideas on freelancing
>
>HI listers: I'm Gerardo in Mexico, blind from birth and with a psychology
>major; I hope to gain lots of info on the list; I've always loved writing!
>
>My experiences in a country where the opportunities as a blind person aren't
>the same as in the US has given me a unique perspective on seeing the world,
>thus via my writing I'd like to share with everyone these experiences.
>
>I've got a blog in Spanish in which I write at
>
>http://mivozmimundo.wordpress.com
>
>also I comment on diverse social networks like Twitter and Facebook on my
>experiences, but I'd like to take this further: not only sharing as a hobby,
>but as a way of being able to work from home, especially where everywhere
>I've gone to apply for a job as a psychologist, I get the "It's very
>interesting; we'll call you" mantra. An asset is my English is, I believe,
>good enough to allow me to not only freelance here in Latinamerica but in
>other countries!
>
>Aside from already having my blog and social networks, an idea has been in
>my head of somehow going to the local newspaper or some sort of magazine
>that might have interests in my topics, but how would I go about starting?
>What other guidelines or ideas can you guys give to begin moving along and
>hopefully making freelance writing a job? Yes I'm aware it won't give much,
>but something is something don't you guys think?
>
>Thanks in advanced for any ideas, and again I really hope to gain a lot from
>the list!
>
>Gerardo
>
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Brad Dunsé

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