Ok, the holidays are over, so let’s return to our series on having a writing career.

So, you’re putting your work out there on the web (if not, see part 1 of this series FIRST!). It takes a while to build a following: sadly, people don’t immediately recognize your brilliance, and there are a lot of other brilliant writers out there, too. Be patient (yeah, I know…)

The next step to having a writing career is to GET PAID TO WRITE. Slaving away on your blog, or your drawer novel is great–for improving skills. What you need, however, is paying gigs. So, how do you get those?

Begin by taking whatever you can find that pays you in actual money, not in “copies” of the issue or for a “byline”. Now, don’t throw up your hands and say, “Yeah, well that’s hard!” Actually, it’s quite easy. There are thousands of sites looking for writers out there. Try Googling “writing gigs” or “jobs for writers” and you’ll see what I mean. The hardest part is doing the required application. Some sites want clips of previous work you’ve done (if you’re not published, send them unpublished clips!), others want you to write on spec (don’t do this unless the opportunity is HUGE–and frankly, the best opportunities will PAY YOU for your work). At first, you may have to grind out some stuff for other blogs (good) or content mills (not so good), but the object is to get some paid gigs. Getting just a few of these (don’t write for a mill for a YEAR) will give you clips, plus leverage to ask for a particular rate per hour or per job.

Carol Tice, at her website The Writer’s Den (http.freelancewritersden.com) offers not just terrific lists of paid writing gigs, but also tons of AWESOME advice on every topic writers could need. Check it out! Other great sites are writershelpingwriters.com and freedomwithwriting.com

The truth is, there is such HUGE demand for good writing that, if you are at all capable, good gigs will find YOU. Wave that writer flag!