The Life of a Freelance Author

A few weeks ago a friend and I were talking about my sideline job as a freelance author. He had a few questions about what I actually do and I thought to myself that there might be a few other people out there wondering the same thing. So I decided that perhaps I should share a bit of what makes a freelance author tick. In doing so, I am going to interview myself and hope that perhaps other writers will be inspired to look into this lesser known field of self employment.

What is a Freelance Author?

Wikipedia takes its reference from the Oxford English Dictionary and describes an author as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and I really like that definition. It means I can take an idea and give it life. A freelance author does this without knowing if anyone is going to be interested in their work because they don't have a traditional publisher scheduled to buy up their work the moment it rolls onto the screen. I find this part of freelance work to be interesting because it requires a bit of a gamble on ones own ability. I find that being a freelance author tends to make me a bit more independent because I rely on myself to decide what is worth putting on the paper. This isn't to say I don't like getting paid. I do like the money but I also like being able to write what I want.

You mentioned getting paid... Do you make a lot of money as a freelance author?

Most freelance authors aren't going to get rich from their work. I work a day job to pay the bills and use my money from freelance work as a little extra spending cash. That doesn't mean that you can't make money at it. There are a few really great sites such as Associated Content.com that offer an excellent place for a freelance author to earn really good money and get credit for their work. With a bit of dedication and some skill as a writer, you could find yourself sitting on a very profitable hobby.