February 10th, 2013
Freelance writers, this is your week
By David Sheets
This week, if you see a freelance writer, give ’em a hug.
Better still, give ’em a job.
The annual National Freelance Writers Appreciation Week starts today, and if you haven’t heard it’s a seven-day serenade to all the wordsmiths and keyboard-pounders who give shape and life to ideas on their own time, often on their own dime, so that others without the patience or aptitude to write still have a voice.
No proclamation made this week possible; no act of Congress, or act of God — just the goodwill and good sense of people who put a premium on well-rounded words and the diligent souls who smooth them into shape.
And there are many of these souls plying this heartfelt trade. Besides being responsible for the words you’re reading here, freelance writers create most of the grant applications, e-commerce strategies and advertising copy that shape our world. They break news and they build reputations; they churn out blogs and business plans, pastorals and poems. In fact, you probably can’t make it through the day without seeing a freelancer’s work in ink or digital print.
So, this week, show your appreciation by giving a freelancer more than just a smile. Become acquainted with and support such prime sites for freelancers as the Editorial Freelancers Association, Freelancers Union, and of course, become a regular reader of the Society of Professional Journalists’ own Independent Journalist blog.
SPJ also offers a Freelancer Directory, where one can shop for freelance help, as well as a Job Bank, where freelancers can shop in return. And there’s “On Your Own: A Guide to Freelance Journalism,” written and edited by SPJ-member freelancers and free of cost to SPJ members. However, a small donation for it is welcome from everyone, as the money goes to help support freelancers and their efforts.
David Sheets is a freelance editor, Region 7 director, and past-president of SPJ’s St. Louis Pro chapter. Reach him by e-mail at dksheets@gmail.com, on Twitter at @DKSheets, on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Tags: david sheets, editorial freelancers association., efa, freelance guide, freelancer directory, freelancers union, national freelance writers appreciation week, region 7, SPJ, st. louis
February 11th, 2013 at 11:48 pm
Love the idea of National Freelance Writers Appreciation Week – thanks for the reminder that it happens this year. I think I’ll use it to up my writing output for the week and thank my clients for their business, just to turn things around a bit.
Ruth T-C
February 12th, 2013 at 11:18 am
[...] just posted on Facebook that it’s National Freelance Writers Appreciation Week. This is a [...]
March 11th, 2013 at 9:02 pm
Hi
Thanks your argument was quite inspiring and I came to learn a lot from you two guys trying to win the toss. It is true that you can make a lot of mistakes specially with the way google goes about changing it algorithm all the time. It makes it quite confusing. But, the bottom line is that it all boils down to money, that is what you are out there for as well as the next person. The same can be true for Google, it main priority is to manipulate the search engine since it has a lion share so as to drive those that cannot get a part of the search engine traffic to resort to going for their search engine add campaign. It is a game played slowly where they have to wealth to play it where as starter ups, do not and need it badly.
William