B. R. Martin is 27-years-old and works part-time
from home. He lives in the USA with his wife and three-year-old son.
Q: Do you work from home
part-time, full-time, just for extra cash or do you freelance?
A: For the past five years, I worked at
home almost exclusively as a full-time freelance magazine writer. I've
recently found myself working outside the home much more, but I still
write in my spare time every chance I get.
Q: What type of work do
you do?
A: I'm an article contributor for several
magazines and trade publications. One day in the future, I hope to become
a columnist for certain popular newspapers and magazines.
Q: How did you get started?
A: : I actually
began my writing career while I was working as a loss prevention manager
for a major chain of bookstores. At the time, I had every opportunity
in the world to read any book I so desired, and I eventually came across
some books by freelancer, Jenna Glatzer, and a few other authors who
published works on freelance writing. I had always been an avid writer
before this, but these authors helped me realize that it is possible
to get paid for the things I write. Once I managed to sell a few topical
articles to small-time publications, and was able to see my name in
print, I knew I'd never look back!
Q: Is this a difficult sector
to break into?
A: It certainly does take time, dedication,
and patience to break into the world of freelance writing. You will
have competition all across the board, regardless of the niche you decide
to start with. Best way, in my opinion, for a new writer to get started
is to target very specific markets that the writer is passionately knowledgeable
about. Don't go into an article with only surface knowledge of the topic,
because there's guaranteed to be other writers vying for a spot in the
same publication, and most of these writers are experts in their field.
Start small, with small publication pieces, and work your way up to
the big name publications. Once you've amassed some published works,
it'll become easier to proposition editors who have never heard of you
before.
Q: Why did you choose home
working?
A: Several reasons. One, I'm a new father,
and for the first year of my child's life, I was working 70+ hours per
week away from my home. I quickly realized that spending time with my
family was much more important than slaving away in an office all day,
every day. Two, I was working in a city that's roughly a two hour drive
from my home. And with the price of gas being what it is, I found myself
spending a small fortune each week just to get to and from work. Three,
I wanted to be my own boss. There's no better feeling than waking up
in the morning and knowing that I'm not going to have a walking cliché
of a boss hovering over my shoulder and eyeballing every aspect of my
work like a vulture circling its prey.
Q: How do you motivate yourself?
A: Staying in close contact with others
who've chosen this lifestyle. There's no better inspiration for aspiring
writers than to see a personal friend enjoy success in their field...
well, except when it's you that's enjoying the success! Also, it helps
to realize that although you're not working for a conventional boss
in a conventional work environment... you're still responsible for getting
results.
Q: What are the positive
aspects of home working?
A: Waking up whenever you want to. Having
the liberty to set your own work schedule, as opposed to having it set
for you by an upper-management hierarchy. Getting to spend more quality
time with your family and friends. Getting to choose when you want to
take a vacation or just a day away from the home office, and not having
to worry about using sick-days, vacation days, etc., to make up for
the difference. Having a five second commute from your bedroom to your
office. Getting to work in your pajamas if you're really just feeling
lazy that day!
Q: What are the negative
aspects of home working?
A: Maintaining motivation on rainy days,
or other days where you really just don't feel like working. Limited
interaction with other people throughout the day. Distracting phone
calls, visits from unexpected guests, and similar distractions. Many
friends and family assume that because you're home most of the time,
they are free to drop by and interrupt your any time they feel like
it and you shouldn't be aggravated. After all, you ARE home. This needs
to be addressed early on, or you'll have a tough time breaking the cycle
later on down the road.
Q: Would you say that the
type of work you are doing pays you a good wage?
A: It pays a reasonable wage now, but
this wasn't always the case. For nearly a year, I was basically just
writing to amass published clips. It's very difficult to break into
high paying markets without sufficient clips proving your expertise
and knowledge of the written word. Editors want writers with experience,
and many won't even take the chance on a writer who has no previously
published works. Again, start small. Get published in local newspapers,
magazines with smaller readerships, and the like, so that you're able
to build on a solid foundation of publication in general. Once you've
done that, editors with more renowned publications will be much more
willing to give you a chance to break into their market.
Q: How many hours do you
work a day?
A: That depends on the day. Sometimes,
my work day consists of playing phone-tag with an editor for an hour
or two, and making simple revisions here and there in an article. Other
days, I'll begin researching and writing at 7a.m., and keep plugging
away until Midnight, or even later sometimes. It also depends on whether
or not I'll need to leave my house to conduct interviews, visit the
post office, and do other work-related activities. I do, however, make
every attempt to keep the same working schedule as my wife, which is
9-5, Monday through Friday. Most days, I have little problem adhering
to this schedule. But, I'm willing to work a 15+ hour day if I need
to.
Q: Do
you find home distractions a problem when you're trying to work?
A: Of course. It would be a distraction
for friends and relatives to intermittently call and bug you while working
in an office environment, just the same as it would while working from
home. I also kept my toddler at home with me in order to save on day-care
expenses, and so I was naturally drawn away from my work to take care
of his needs, play with him, do "school time", etc. Best course
of action is to tell everyone that although you're working from home,
you are still working. Ask them to show their respect by saving phone
calls and visits until after your scheduled workday ends. If you have
small children, you might still want to think about keeping them in
a daycare. It was really difficult to keep my child preoccupied and
happy while I had my nose buried in my laptop.
Q: Would you recommend this
type of work to anyone?
A: Not everyone will be cut out for freelance
writing. It takes massive amounts of dedication and time just to get
your name recognized. Then, once you've become established, it takes
even more effort to live up to the reputation that you've set for yourself.
But, if you have a passion for writing and desire to see your name in
print, then I'd highly recommend at least trying. If it doesn't work
out, you can always go back to what you were doing previously.
Q: Do you need any skills
to carry out this kind of work?
A: You need a good understanding of grammar,
punctuation, and the English language, or whatever language you plan
to use for your writing. Editors do not like having to correct sloppy
work, and probably will not use you again if you make their job excessively
difficult on your first time writing for them. A good understanding
about the basics of journalism doesn't hurt, either. Articles need to
be written in a concise manner, need to be intriguing to the reader,
and need to be written in a logical way that's accommodating to your
target audience.
Q: Do you need any special
equipment or tools?
A: A good word processor, preferably one
that comes with all (or at least some) of the goodies found in MS Word,
i.e. - spellchecker, document formatting, and the like. A fast Internet
connection is ideal. A reliable email account, preferably one that has
a spam blocker is an excellent tool, especially in this day and age.
Also, a printer/scanner/fax machine is a godsend. You can make do with
less, but these basic tools will make your life MUCH easier.
Q: What advice would you
give to a newcomer in your field?
A: Start small, and work your way to bigger
and better paying gigs. Don't come into this profession expecting to
make the big-bucks right from the start. The most successful freelancers
have been working for years to get their names recognized, and it didn't
just happen overnight... even for the best of them. This field takes
dedication, long hours, and hard work. Even if you are the next Stephen
King, you'll need to establish yourself and your work before you can
expect fame and notoriety. Biggest piece of advice: NEVER give up! Even
when the outlook is grim. Your ideas will get rejected more than they'll
be accepted, so you'll have to develop a thick skin in order to survive
the onslaught of negative responses, or sometimes, NO responses. Also,
get used to writing article queries to the editors first, before spending
hours writing an article that may never see the light of print. That
was one of my biggest mistakes in my first year.
Q: Have you been doing this
for long?
A: I've been writing some form of poetry,
fiction, or non-fiction for most of my life. It's just always been a
passion of mine to do this in my spare time. I've been getting paid
for my work for roughly the past 5 years.
Q: Would you return to the
9-5 grind in the future:
A: Technically, I already have. But it
was entirely my decision to do so. I've enjoyed many writing successes,
and have no intentions of giving up my writing career. Nevertheless,
I'm also a private contractor, and it's difficult to pass up the opportunity
to make $90k+ annually by doing my contract work. I will not, however,
return to working the typical 9-5 in a conventional office environment.
I prefer to get paid for the amount of work I do, and the quality of
that work... NOT by how many hours I work per week. One day, I fully
intend to work from home full-time once again. I just choose not to
at the present time.
Q: Finally, would you recommend
working from home?
A: Absolutely! There are many ways to
make income from the comfort of your own home. You just have to find
them. It's not a road that's paved with gold and instant success. You
have to WORK for anything to be successful, and home-working is no different.
But if you have the desire to be your own boss, work your own hours
from the comfort of your home, and make a respectable living doing so,
it is certainly possible. It's not a "get rich quick" style
of working, and anyone who tells you otherwise is lying to you. It takes
as much dedication, if not more, than any conventional job you may run
across. But if it's truly your dream, then chase it!
You can visit B.R Martin's website at:
kineticrealm.com
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