SweetGigs Newsletter: January 11, 2006
http://www.SweetGigs.com
A SweetGigs Publication

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SweetGigs- Your Ultimate Resource for finding Paying Work or Making Extra Cash without being stuck in the 9-to-5 grind!

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Letter from the Editor:

Happy New Year and Welcome to the second edition of SweetGigs Newsletter. We??™ve got some exciting things coming up this year here and on our website.

If you??™ve checked out the site in the last couple of weeks, you??™ve probably notice that we??™ve started accumulating some great articles on ways to make extra cash. Some of our site articles are basic overviews of things people have asked us about- like what exactly is ???moonlighting???. Other articles focus on ways to make money working with something you love, from ten ways to make money using your telephone to at-home jobs for pet lovers. Over the next few months, we??™ll be adding more great articles, so feel free to drop us a line if you have something specific in mind you??™d like us to write about.

Here in the newsletter, we??™re planning more articles focusing on a specific type of job, such as this week??™s focus on freelance writing, and giving a description of how you can get started doing it. Some of the upcoming topics in the pipeline include how to get started selling on eBay, affiliate marketing and making money playing video games.

We??™ll also continue to offer regular features each issue, including a book or product review, a contest of the week, tip of the week, and an article on how to improve your financial situation by either saving money or tweaking some aspect of how you do everyday activities.

We hope you enjoy the articles and features in the coming year and look forward to keeping you up to date on the latest ways to make money, win money and save money without a 9-5 job.

Your Editor,

Colleen Buckley

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Main Article: How to Be a Freelance Writer

The first step to becoming a freelance writer is determining what kind of writing you want to do. While it??™s always possible to tackle different kinds of writing jobs all at once, there are different requirements, standard practices and expectations of editors in different fields.

The largest difference is between fiction and nonfiction writing. The submission procedures are vastly different for these two types of writing and knowing the difference is an important first step to developing a writing career.

In general, fiction writing is submitted as a finished manuscript, whether it is a 5000 word short story submitted to a magazine or a 500 page book submitted to a publisher.

Nonfiction, on the other hand, is almost never submitted as a finished product. Instead, prospective writers submit a proposal (if for a book) or a query letter (for magazine articles). The editor will look over the proposed article or book idea and ask for more details or tell you to go ahead with the project if they like it.

Unfortunately, the likelihood is that your first responses won??™t be a go-ahead or an acceptance of your story. Before garnering those acceptances, most writers accumulate a pile of rejection letters. Just remember that these aren??™t personal. Most editors are so swamped with submissions that they have to pass up most of what they receive in the mail, especially submissions coming from new writers.

As you can guess, developing a relationship with editors is one of the best ways to get a foot in the door of any publication. You don??™t have to travel to New York to wine and dine editors, however. The best way to establish a relationship is by submitting to a particular magazine again and again until you start getting acceptances instead of rejection letters. Even if you??™ve never been published before, the fact that you keep submitting shows the editor that you??™re serious about writing and indicates that you will probably be a reliable writer who will turn things in on deadline. Many editors report that they start to root for writers who continually submit, specifically looking for that writer??™s manuscripts in their slush pile and hoping that the next submission by that writer might be just the thing they are looking for.

But submitting to one editor over and over isn??™t everything. Editors also want to know if other editors and publications have worked with you before and if you are reliable. Clips, copies of previously published work, are one way you can show this.

But if no editor will hire you without clips, how can you get clips in the first place? You start small.

There are plenty of smaller publications in every field and genre that offer opportunities to get published and start collecting those ever-important clips. A quick look in Writers Market or other market guides will help you identify publications that are open to new writers.

On the pay scale, most of these publications are quite low. My first article earned me $20, and my first short story only $10! Still, I was getting paid for something I loved to do. Plus, those two publications earned me my all-important first clips. Now I can command up to $1.00 a word for my writing, but I started small just like everyone else in the business.

If you??™re really serious about becoming a freelance writer, Writers Market is probably the best place to start. It comes out annually and lists thousands of publishers, what kind of stories or articles they want to see and how to submit to them. It also contains articles on important aspects of freelance writing, such as how to write a query letter and what editors at select magazines are looking for right now.

With a little bit of effort, you too can become a freelance writer and take advantage of this fun and easy SweetGig.

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Check out the newest diet craze- The Sonoma Diet- designed for people who love good food and wine.

For more details, go to:

The Sonoma Diet Website

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Book Review: 100 Best Careers for Artists and Writers by Shelly Field

100 Best Careers for Artists and Writers is a collection of short job profiles of different opportunities for creative types. The book is divided up into jobs within specific categories, such as writing jobs in radio, TV and film or art jobs in advertising.

The book leans heavily toward ???real jobs??? as opposed to short-term gigs, but it could spark ideas for where to direct your long-term goals.

Each job idea is followed by a short description, including the author??™s assessment of what is required to get the job, earning expectations and employment opportunities in the field. Unfortunately, sometimes the descriptions can be more discouraging than necessary, listing the requirement of a bachelor??™s degree for careers such as being a critic or reviewer. In reality, some of these jobs require less education than suggested, as long as the lack of education is made up for in other ways.

While this book isn??™t necessarily a ???must-buy??? for people trying to find short gigs or unconventional jobs, it serves as a decent resource for creatively-minded people who might be looking at potential careers in the arts and writing fields.

Buy the book from our bookstore:

http://sweetgigs.com/bookstore.htm

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Contact:  newsletter@sweetgigs.com for information on advertising your products or services in this newsletter.

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Tip of the Week

Don??™t try to start too many new moneymaking projects at once. It??™s often more effective to get one project up and running before moving on to something new. This doesn??™t mean you should stick with only one idea, however. It??™s actually a good idea to have multiple sources of income in the long run, since it protects you if one or two industries have a bad month or two.

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Improve Your Life/ Improve Yourself

Do you spend more money than you need to?
If you??™re paying full retail for anything, then you probably are!

With the Internet, its not necessary to pay full price for everyday items anymore. Sites like CrazyCoolDealz.com  and DealHunting.com make it their mission to let you know about the best deals available on everyday purchases.

These sites list Internet-only deals and sales so you can find out before you buy if you could get it cheaper.

CurrentCodes.com is another way to save money when shopping online. This site lists the special sale codes that different online stores use to reward customers.

If you??™re still not done shopping for deals, here are a few more sites that offer sale updates, coupon codes and more:

Flamingoworld.com

ECoupons.com

CouponMountain.com

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Contest of the Week

Enter the Old Bay Peel & Eat Classic: Write a short description (100-250 words), highlighting why you are America??™s biggest Old Bay fan, your favorite or most unusual uses for Old Bay, and why you love seafood and why you should be selected to compete in the Old Bay Peel & Eat Shrimp Classic  (Ends 3/10/06)

Enter the Contest at:

http://www.mccormick.com/content.cfm?id=11502

Also check out our other contest and sweepstakes listings at:

http://www.sweetgigs.com/sweepstakes.html

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