Of course I am still in the early stages of the game.
receipt of cash by paper.
In making up
I have a great deal to learn,
my string of papers, I try to choose them and actual experience is the only real teacher. This much I have gathered— that writing for the trade journals, like 'any other writing, is not only a matter of getting material and selling it, but
so that my news will be interchangeable; in this way, at one interview, I get mater
getting it and selling it to the best ad
vantage. I am constantly finding out
new things, new timesavers, and better
markets, and always on the lookout for
new markets; at the best they are un
stable. Sometimes they want a- lot of material from your locality, and some times they don’t. Occasionally, I sell ad vertising; I don’t know anything about “salesmanship,” and rather more “take
orders” for it than sell it.
ial that will go to several places. It can readily be seen that all this requires quite a bit of experimenting and juggling with various publications.
Fans Luca Has Anvanraos Frank Farrington, in his book, “Writ
ing for the Trade Press,” says that it takes two years to make a good trade journal writer. As I have been at this work but a little over one year, I still have
a year to travel, in which to get my bear ings.
I have earned
good commissions in this way, without going out of my way. At present I have regular correspondence for about twelve publications that net an almost certain income of from $125 to $150 a' month. Wherever possible I send a feature story along with my regular correspondence.
The advantages of free-lancing, to
my mind, are: 1. You are your own boss. 2. You don’t have to worry about losing
your job. If one paper goes back on you there are still a lot more in the field. 3. You can start or quit whenever you like.
4. If you get a portable typewriter, you can take a lot of notes and go anywhere to
write them up. (N. B. I took two vm cations of two weeks each, between May
FILING Srsrmr Issramsn Recently I found myself in this predi
15 and July 30.)
cament: In my greed to cash in as much as possible, I overdid the thing, and work
ed too many hours a day, and under too heavy pressure. I decided to take a few days off, make a careful inventory of my
work, and see if an injection of efficiency would not help some. I installed an ef ficient filing system, efficient record sys tems, and arranged my schedule more sys tematically, and last of all engaged a
typist for all my copy work at piece work rates. I now find things working much more smoothly, but have not tried this out long enough to know whether or not it is going to increase my income. It ought to. My rates are at present a minimum of
1/;c a word to a maximum of 1c a3 word. Photos are paid for at the rate of from $1 to $3 each. Advertising com
missions from 20% to 25%, some payable upon receipt of order, and some after
payment has been received by the paper. Subscription commissions are 50% upon
As a last word in favor of free-lancing, I believe that it keeps your brain more active than a “steady job.” On top of all this, however, I frankly
admit that just the very minute I can get out of this. I want to do it. I want, of course, to do really fine things, and get as famous as Dean Collins, Anne Shan non Monroe, or some of our other well
known Oregon free-lancers, who are doing more artistic things than writing for the trade press. But now that I have “smelled” money, after having desperately known
the want of it, I wonder if I will be able to stop long enough to try something real? Then, too, am I the one to judge my own talents? Is it not quite possible that this is all I am fit for, that I couldn’t do any
thing artistic if I tried? All I can say is that some day I want to give myself a real chance, and then if I don’t make good, I’ll content myself with grinding out dope on fashions, boots, shoes, hats, coats and necklaces, for ever and ever.
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