How To Find The Best Paying Markets For Freelance Writers

If there is one question that all freelance writers who are just starting out should answer, it would be this: Are you more interested in earning enough per article to easily pay your bills, or are you okay with earning just enough to cover your breakfast at the local donut shop? Although the answer should be obvious to every writer, there are still a huge percentage who have some of the worst paying freelance jobs that can be found online.

In the beginning, marketing is the biggest percentage of what you will be doing. Query letters need to be written and you should spend time thinking up the greatest article ideas ever. If your aim is to have your work read on the world's most visited websites, you need to learn how to find these jobs and hold on to them. Here are some great tips to assist you in finding the best paying markets for freelance writers:

Know what your time and experience are worth

One of the benefits to working as a freelancer at home is that you can work on your own time dressed in your rattiest jogging pants. Just because you are able to do this doesn't mean that you are worth less than a writer who goes into the office from 9-5. Unless you have plenty of extra time on your hands, skip the jobs that work out to less than $1 per hour.

Get ahead of the crowd

Online sites for freelancers are a good place to get started. The drawback to these sites is that there are potentially thousands of other writers who feel the same way. Don't discount them right off the bat, however. Work that you do on these sites can be used to build an essential portfolio. Discover the best markets for you by doing a little bit of research. If you are an expert in DIY, look for magazines that accept submissions and query, query, query!

Invest in patience

In a perfect world it would take only moments to get an answer for a query that you have submitted. Since the world isn't perfect this is never going to happen. Anticipate waiting at least two weeks before receiving some kind of communication from the editor you sent your query to.

Harness the power of writer's forums

This will likely be the best place that you can go to find lucrative markets. Many of the writers you will find in forums are established and they discuss not only where the best paying jobs are, but they also share a variety of tips and tricks that can be invaluable for getting jobs.