Working as a freelance writer

I have taken the plunge to write freelance. It is a tad intimidating after a lifetime of writing for publications or institutions but now seems like a good time to give this a try. I have worked freelance before but it was usually with multiple clients in place. For the last 5 years, I have been writing for 'the man' doing marketing, editing, press releases and things of that nature. It was fine as it was varied but the whole virus and self-isolation excitement has made me realise I want to try something new. Sadly, all the publications I used to write for are now out of print.

I have started writing for Medium, which is fun but starting tomorrow, I will be branching out. I have been going solo since the 31st March, so am taking a couple of days to chill out and read books. If you want to check out my Medium profile click on this. Please check it out and feel free to clap or follow or whatever takes your fancy. My most recent article is The Most Famous Ghost in Thailand.

This blogger account gets a surprising number of readers but nothing like my main two. The plan to start a website solely for showing writing samples. I will add the website address here once it is set up, in case someone stumbles on this and wants me to write or edit something. Alternatively, for now, most of my info is on my main website, www.thewordofward.co.uk.

Wish me luck and if anyone has anything they want to know or just wants to get in touch, I can be contacted via thewordofward@gmail.com. No spam or offers of exposure (in any sense!) please. Good luck and stay safe from the pernicious virus.

Writing for the Medium Platform

I have been a member of Medium  for a while now. Initially because it had some interesting articles but then it soon became obvious that it can, theoretically, be a nice little earner. I have been reticent until now because I previously tried out some other sites and the pay was awful compared to normal freelancing for magazines.

Medium seems different and I am completely aware that this sounds like some kind of sponsored post. It isn't though, I promise, and can prove it in three ways. One - I don't think Medium even has an affiliate program. Two - I have had millions of quite well paid offers to host a sponsored post on my websites (mostly gambling) and have always said no. The final and most convincing is that I have never read a sponsored post that said fuck.

The main issue is that I can never think of anything to write that would match what they seem to publish most. My expertise is basically writing and science fiction. There are a million posts already about writing and even writing for Medium and how to be more productive when writing for Medium and so on.

So my plan is to write a wide variety of things and see what sticks. If it starts to make a bit of cash then I will devote more time to it. I am currently writing a novel and working a full time writing job, so time is of the essence and I occasionally might want to not be in front of a laptop.

I will see how things go and will mention how it pans out when something has actually panned out. Fingers crossed.