Beth Greenslade's Blog, page 46

How To Master The Art Of Self-Promotion

When it comes to self-promotion, many authors shudder. We are already crippled with fear and self-doubt; the idea of actually having to try and convince people our writing is worth reading makes us seriously cringe.

However, mastering the art of self-promotion can be liberating, confidence-boosting, and help ensure that your book is successful. Suppose you can succinctly, confidently, and passionately explain why you have written your book, why you think your intended audience will love it, and why a publisher should take it on. In that case, you will be more likely to convince people you have something worth reading. 

So what are some helpful tips for mastering the art of self-promotion? Let's take a look.

Consider your core messages

When it comes to promoting yourself, you need to be precise. That means understanding what your message is and getting that across in a concise, authentic, and engaging way. To do this, you need to understand your audience, or rather, understand the different audiences you will come into contact with. This could be anyone from a publisher or agent, a fellow writer, a potential reader, or a stranger at a dinner party. You aim is to get to a point where whoever you are speaking to in whatever circumstances and via any communication method, you can explain why you are writing your book. You should also be able to say why you are the right person to write it, what it is about, who will love it, why now is the right time to write it, and why people will buy it. Take the time to write down your answers and refine them until you feel confident your core messages come across well.

Take a public speaking class

A public speaking class can prepare you for many different situations and fill you with confidence when it comes to talking about your book. This is useful both for explaining your book to others and for promoting it afterward. When you come to do a reading or go on a book tour, being able to talk with confidence will ensure people sit up and pay attention to you. 

Log positive feedback so you can return to it

We all need a boost when our confidence is low, so make an effort to gather all your positive feedback together and read over it when you feel yourself wavering. Any positive comments, achievements, and even small wins - if you look over them all as a whole, you'll start to believe in yourself more. It is also useful to have all these in one place, so when you do need to promote yourself, you can refer back to these achievements and successes and won't get stumped for things to say. 

Learn how to network

Successful networking can help writers make important connections in the writing community and beyond. By taking the time to network regularly and having the ability to explain what you are working on in a way that leaves them interested and excited to know more, you will slowly build up a following. This could be very useful when it comes to releasing your next book. Successful networking is all about exchanging useful, valuable information, asking relevant questions, being interested in what others have to say, and listening intelligently.

Let go of perfection

Remember, your work doesn't have to be perfect to promote it, and neither do you. Striving for perfection can leave us feeling frustrated and overwhelmed. Instead, try to focus on the positives and the progress you are making while also acknowledging that you are flawed and imperfect, just like everyone else!

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadmancreates.com

The post How To Master The Art Of Self-Promotion appeared first on Writer's Life.org.

How To Juggle Writing More Than One Book At Once

For lots of us, the idea of writing just one book can feel slightly overwhelming, and indeed, many people who set out to complete a book never manage to make it to the end.

However, the most prolific writers among us know that writing consistently, getting lots of books finished, published, and made available to their hungry readers can not only ensure that they keep their writing going but will also make them more money and keep their fans clamoring for more. 

Writing more than one book at once, and still having time to tinker with short stories, create pitches, prepare promotional campaigns, and all the other things a writer has to do might seem daunting, but with a solid writing process, good organizational skills, and a robust plan in place, anything is possible. 

So how do you juggle a massive workload and still ensure that you are producing high-quality, publishable work that your readers will enjoy at the end of it? Here are some useful tips to ensure that you stay on top of everything. 

Calendar everything

It doesn’t matter whether it’s a brainstorming session, a meeting with a publisher, scheduling your social media posts, or going to the dentist. Make sure that you calendar absolutely everything that you intended to do with your day/week/month. If you don’t, there will inevitably be clashes; you’ll run out of time and feel like you have let yourself down because you haven’t achieved what you wanted to. Any task, deadline, or appointment needs to go on there, and then you can see precisely how busy you are, and how much time you have left. Make sure that when you are working on your schedule, you do leave time for social events, downtime, and time for yourself and your family. Otherwise, you will burnout and end up not enjoying the writing process as much because you don’t have the energy or motivation to keep going. 

Use task lists

At the start of each day, write down everything you need to do and then prioritize it. As a general rule, and where permissible, you should start working on the most challenging and time-intensive tasks first. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself putting them off. If you don’t want to do it, do it first.

Work out your timings

Giving yourself tasks and goals and deadlines is one thing, but there is no way you’ll end up sticking to these unless you’ve bothered to do the math. Don’t use pick obituary deadlines and dates out of the air, or assume that if you make the deadline far away enough, you’ll definitely get it done. Instead, make calculations to help guide you. If you want to write an 80,000-word book in 6 months and have three 6 hour slots in your week that you can dedicate to writing, do the math and work out how many words you need to write each day. If the number you come up with seems doable, you can stick with your deadline. If it doesn’t, you need to think about how to free up more time to dedicate to your writing or give yourself more time to achieve your goal. 

When you have more than one novel on the go, you need to do that math repeatedly and continually reassess according to your progress. Your books don’t have to be released on the same day, so divide your time accordingly to help ensure you meet your respective deadlines to the best of your ability. 

Create excellent outlines

Taking the time to plot and outline each of your books thoroughly will help you when it comes to juggling more than one story at once. A clear outline gives you a clear direction, and you’ll find it so much easier to switch from one story to another if you have your outline there as a guide to keep you going. 

Using the tips above will help any author who is embarking on the impressive goal of writing more than one book at once. Stay focused, stay organized, and be kind to yourself! Good luck. 

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadmancreates.com

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10 Easy Tips To Start Writing Your Novel Today!

We all know that sometimes it is trying to begin something that is the biggest hurdle you need to overcome. While writing a novel can be daunting, if you don't start, you'll never know what could have been. So take a deep breath and get ready to take the plunge. You'll be so glad you did!

If you want to start writing your novel right now, follow these great tips to get you started. 

Set your goals and your deadlines

Before you begin writing, there is one thing you need to do that will shape everything. You need to decide when you want to finish your novel, set your deadline, and then work out all the things you need to do to make sure you achieve it. The majority of full-length novels are between 50,000 and 100,000 words, so you need to understand how much you can write each day (or hour) and how many days (or hours) you have spare in any given week to write. From here, you can make a calculation based on this. When setting goals, be realistic but challenge yourself and give yourself some leeway as we all know that life can get in the way from time to time. Once you have your deadline, that's it, though. You have to commit. There's no going back now. 

Fail to prepare and prepare to fail

If you don't get organized, then you are likely to burn out pretty quickly. Most writers find it helpful to do a bit of prep before they begin writing their first draft. The things you can do include writing a synopsis, doing some research, writing some character outlines, writing your chapter outlines, and creating mind maps. However, take care not to over plan at this stage; otherwise, your idea might get stuck in your head, or you'll overthink things and start to self-sabotage. 

Get to know your characters

The better you know your characters, the easier it will be to write them naturally and believable. Take time to get to know your characters, let them live a little in your head, and find you'll know what they'd say or do in any given situation.

Find the right tools

Test out some of the great tools and apps that are available to writers nowadays. A great tool can prove invaluable and help keep your work and research all in one place. 

Write freely

When you begin writing, try to let it flow out of you without being too self-critical. Many authors swear by writing their first draft as fast as possible to ensure their critical inner voice can't keep up. The sooner you get that first draft down, the sooner you can start to shape it into a novel that's worth reading. 

Accept there is no perfect time to write

If you've scheduled some writing time and don't feel like writing, you need to get on with things. There are days where you aren't going to feel much like writing, but, guess what? You're going to have to do it anyway. The sooner you accept this, the better. 

Speed is your friend

We've said it before, but it is worth emphasizing. The sooner you can finish that first draft, the better. So write fast and don't overthink it, and then you can shape and perfect it when you come to edit.

Find a writing crew

Make sure that you surround yourself with likeminded people who understand that the writing process can be a grueling one. Other writers can give you invaluable feedback on your work, friends, and relatives can be great to bounce ideas off, and online groups can be great forums to ask questions or share war stories!

Don't quit until you are finished

There will be many times that you feel like giving up on your writing, and you will undoubtedly face many obstacles. But just like the hero in every good story, it is through perseverance and overcoming these obstacles that you will finally succeed. So keep going, believe in yourself, and you will get there in the end.

Have fun

At the end of the day, if you aren't having fun, you need to find ways to get enjoyment out of your writing. We aren't saying that every minute of every day needs to be fun-filled, but if you aren't enjoying yourself, it's going to make the process a lot tougher. 

By following these ten tips, you can start writing and make sure that you get to the finish line. Good luck!

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadmancreates.com

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Want To Write A Compelling Story? Don’t Make It Easy For Your Characters

If you want to make your story compelling and engaging, you need to make sure that your characters don't always get what they want.

Making things too easy for your characters makes for a pretty boring story. If Frodo was able to glide right into Mordor and chuck that ring into the fires of Mount Doom without anyone trying to stop him, where would the tension, excitement or interest be?

If Romeo and Juliet met one another, liked one another, got married, and everyone was happy for them, what would be worth reading about that?

If your characters always get the girl, if they ever win the race if they consistently achieve their goals, readers will find it challenging to identify with them; they are also going to find the plot pretty tiresome. 

In reality, no one gets what they want all the time, so if your character does, it's going to seem unrealistic, and frankly a little irritating. Secondly, if you don't put obstacles in the way of your protagonist achieving their goal, you won't have enough material to make a book. 

So if you want to create a compelling story, it's time to start saying no to your characters. 

Creating opposition and obstacles needs to be done with care. First, you need to focus on what the character wants, what is their one big goal that drives the store forwards? Once you have this established, you can think of the potential obstacles that could get in the way. 

Say the protagonist's aim is to marry the girl. Perhaps her parents disapprove. Maybe she is already married. Maybe she is his childhood sweetheart who moved away many years ago, and now he doesn't know where to find her. These are all examples of obstacles that will create a problem for your protagonist and make the reader question whether they will end up with the girl - with a happy ending or course they will, but without casting doubt the ending is already obvious, and that makes it less likely that you readers will keep on turning those pages. 

Resistance can come in many forms - it can be people who get in the way, or things, situations, circumstances, etc. As soon as you start to say no, you create resistance, and with that resistance comes questions and flares up reader interest. If the parents disapprove, how will the protagonist convince them otherwise? If he doesn't know where the girl lives, how will he find her, and how does he know she'll be the same if he does? 

Of course, most novels end with the protagonist getting what they want, even if there have been many sacrifices along the way - so your story needs to work towards changing those no's to yes's in a way that's believable. You can't just have the parents change their mind and approve the weeding for no reason. There has to be a gradual change; perhaps the protagonist persistently tries to impress and then makes one grand gesture that resonates with the parents? Could the parents be reminded of their own unhappy, forced marriage as the story progresses and realize they don't want the same for their child? Maybe the protagonist and parents discover a common shared enemy or secret, which means they end up working together instead of against each other. 

Of course, no's don't just come from other characters. Situations could also create obstacles. Severe weather means a car breaks down and stops the protagonist from getting where he needs to be. A locked door creates a problem if the protagonist needs to get through it or discover what's behind it. All these no's through create tension, intrigue, and interest and will keep the reader wanting to find out more.

So if you want to make your story compelling from start to finish, it's time to stop making it so easy for your characters and start thinking about how to say no to them instead!

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadmancreates.com

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Simple Strategies To Drive Traffic To Your Blog

A successful author blog can make a huge difference when it comes to promotion and book sales. If you have an audience who already love reading your work, when you let them know you've got a new book coming out, they'll be eager to buy it.

Creating an author blog is an excellent platform for self-promotion and for increasing your fanbase - but getting people to read your blog can be more challenging than it looks.

So if you want to drive people to your blog, try these simple strategies to help boost your readership:

Write great content

Great content needs to be written with the reader in mind. Think about what people would find interesting, entertaining, and valuable and create a content plan that satisfies them. This is the number one thing you can do to create a successful blog, and the more great content you publish, the more readers will flock to your site.

Create catchy headlines

A catchy headline is what will capture the potential reader's attention and let them know whether your blog is worth reading. It's well worth taking the time to make your headlines as punchy as possible so you can make sure they appeal to a broad audience and make it irresistible not to click to find out more.

Be consistent

Make sure that you deliver consistent content at the same time regularly. Consistency is critical, and once you get into a pattern, people will visit your site when they know you've published new stuff. The more you get into the routine of posting regularly, the easier it will be and the better the results. 

Utilize guest posting

Guest posting can be a great way to gain exposure for your blog. By writing a kickass guest post, you will be connected to loads of potential new readers, and if they like what you've written, they'll visit your personal blog to find out more. 

Pay attention to your UX

A great user experience can make or break your site. Mank sure that you pay attention to the functionality of your site. Don't clutter it up with ads and ensure your page loads quickly, so readers don't get frustrated and leave before they've gotten to the good stuff!

Market your blog

Don't forget to market your blog on social media and other relevant platforms and sites. Also, pay attention to SEO to ensure that your blog appears in search results when people put particular search terms into Google.

These simple tips are just the beginning, but will help you start and increase your readership, which will hopefully translate into more book sales!

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadmancreates.com

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How Short Is A Short Story?

Short story writing can be excellent for those writers who want to try something a little different. Also, those who want to take a break from their novels haven't written for a long time and want to get back in the game. Practicing short story writing can help writers sharpen their skills and get back into the swing of things once more. 

Short stories are satisfying to write, particularly for writers who don't have much time on their hands as they can be completed in a much shorter time than a full-length novel, yet still require many of the same storytelling skills. 

If you are a writer looking to practice your skills (and we all should be), taking up short stories can be a fantastic way to learn how to develop characters, how to weave an exciting and engaging plot, and how to create unusual settings that draw the reader in.

A short story will have a cast of characters, a theme, and a beginning, middle, and an end. Even though a short story is a much smaller container, it is expected that readers would be able to enjoy a proper character and story arc. Readers should also be able to immerse fully in the fictional world through the writer's skillful use of strong imagery and arresting word choice. 

All successful stories have similar elements - these being:

Character

Setting

Plot

Conflict

Resolution

Without these elements, a story can become confused and feel incomplete. 

How short should a short story be?

The short story comes in many different forms, while we might typically think of the standard short stories, there are also flash fictions and microfictions that fall under this bracket which are a lot shorter. Conversely, there are also more extended versions of the short story, such as the novella and the novelette, which aren't long enough to be considered novels but are significantly longer than a typical short story would be. 

Let's break down each and look at typical lengths of them:

Novella

A novella can be anything from 15,000, and 50,000 words, so is quite a range. 

Some famous novellas include Breakfast at Tiffany's, A Christmas Carol, and Of Mice and Men.

The novellette

This is shorter and classed as any work of fiction between 7,000 and 15,000 words.

Surprisingly The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - a hugely famous story is classed as a novella being only 13,500 words.

Short story

A typical short story is any work of fiction under 10,000 words. However, a short story could also be much less than this, at around 1,000 words.

Some famous short stories include:

The Tell-Tale Heart  The Yellow Wallpaper and The Lottery.

Flash fiction

Works of flash fiction are stories with a length of between 300 and 1,000 words.

Microfiction

A microfiction is a story simply made up of a few sentences and typically wouldn't go over 100 words. 

All these types of shorter fiction come with their own set of unique challenges and make for excellent writing practice for any writer. 

So if you want to experiment with your writing, why not give them a go?

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadmancreates.com

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Common Freelance Writer Questions Answered

If you are new to freelance writing, you know that the path to success can feel uneven, confusing, and lonely. To become a successful freelance writer takes grit, determination, and a positive mindset. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions and answers that might give you some useful insight into what the life of a freelance writer is all about, and how to make the most of it. 

Is there a secret to becoming a successful freelance writer?

There are no hacks or magic tricks that can get you to the top of the freelance writing game. Instead, it's all about building a reputation, working hard, delivering projects on time, excellent communication, and learning and improving as you go. 

How do you keep up motivation?

We all have times were we feel demotivated, but the best way to overcome them is to keep writing through the pain! Take breaks, do exercise, and stay healthy and try to find writing jobs that genuinely interest you. But also accept that you probably won't feel a burning passion for writing every single day of your career, but just keep showing up anyway.

How do I pitch without being scared of rejection?

Every successful freelance writer has had their ideas rejected from time to time. It will likely happen to you too. But being rejected doesn't mean that you can't make it as a writer or that your idea was rubbish. You might need to tweak your pitch or try a different angle, but it might just be that your idea wasn't right for that particular publication at that specific time - try again, and you might have better luck next time. 

What if no one takes me seriously?

Take yourself seriously, make yourself proud, and others will do the same. Suppose you act professionally and see your freelance writing career as an important job that you are committed to excelling in. In that case, no one is going to mock you - rather, they will respond accordingly. 

Whats the best place to start?

While you may well have to work your way up, build up a portfolio, and take lower-paid jobs, then you'd like to start with, this isn't the path for every new freelance writer. Utilize your current knowledge, skills, passion, and experience to help land you projects that you love from the get-go. Don't be afraid to reach out to businesses, and to pitch your ideas. Build a good website, craft a great portfolio and you could find success a lot sooner then you expected. 

Can you really make good money?

Absolutely! You have to work hard and put yourself out there, but plenty of work and freelance writing can be tremendously well paid with very low overheads. 

Do I need qualifications to start

While some professional qualifications such as a Journalism or English degree can help impress potential clients and get your foot in the door, you don't need to come with a whole list of qualifications or take expensive courses to be freelance writers. Experience and a good portfolio make a more significant impact, so if you are a college dropout, don't let that put you off.

These frequently asked questions and answers give you some insight and information about what it is like to be a freelance writer - so if this sounds like the job for you, then there shouldn't be anything stopping you! Good luck!

bethanycadmancreates.co.uk

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Easy Marketing Tips For Writers

We all know that being a successful writer often involves a lot more than just writing. You need to become an expert in self-promotion if you want to enjoy consistent and continued success. While this doesn't feel natural for many writers, by familiarising yourself with at least some of the simplest and easiest ways to market yourself, you can get the basics right until you feel more comfortable doing so, and have an excellent foundation to build upon from the start.

So what are some useful marketing tips for writers that everyone can get the hang of? 

Create an author website and blog

Having an author website creates a professional space from which you can market your work—coupled with an author blog where you consistently post valuable and relevant content, and you can really make headway. You'll have somewhere to refer fans to, but also will make yourself, your brand and your work more visible, helping you build up an army of fans who'll go on to buy your book and support you throughout your career. 

Dedicate time and resources to developing an online presence

There are lots of different avenues you can experiment with to develop your online presence. You could guest post on popular websites to bring more attention to your work, your sites, or to try and boost your social media following. You could contribute to forums that relate to your book's topics and themes; you could also reach out to bloggers and other publications to see if they'll feature you in an interview or feature.

Make the most of social media

Social media platforms are a fantastic resource to help promote yourself and find readers who might be interested in your work. You can set up a page that's separate from your personal social media accounts on Twitter and Facebook and then do some research by following other authors to see what kinds of information they share. The more consistently you post and the more value you can offer, the more likely you are to gain followers. 

Research your genre

In your genre, there will be books that sell and books that flop. You can help learn the art of marketing by looking closely at the kinds of marketing each successful book did, and what it is about them that helps them sell. Look at titles, cover design, book descriptions, typography, and follow their authors' social media accounts. Read reviews of these books and note down any repetitive words or phrases used to describe them - you can use them in your book's metadata to help connect readers who are searching for that kind of thing to your work. 

Gather reviews

Social proof goes a long way, and the more positive reviews you can gather for your book, the more likely it is that new potential readers will trust your book is one that's worth purchasing. You can search for Amazon's top reviewers and see if they have reviewed any books similar to yours, you could also reach out to book bloggers and publications. You can promote your book via Goodreads through a giveaway too. It's best to contact lots of reviewers as, unfortunately, many won't respond, but it is well worth gathering as many as possible for the best result. 

Maximize your distribution channels

While Amazon unarguably holds dominant in terms of the market share when it comes to digital and print books, it's essential not to forget about other distribution channels. Make sure your work is available through as many channels as possible for maximum visibility. You can also use book discounting sites where you will have to offer your book at a discount of at least 50% for a limited period, but in exchange, your novel will be recommended to subscribers who have enjoyed books similar to yours. 

Creating a robust and thorough marketing plan and making use of all the various marketing tools available for book promotion is the best way to try and secure success for your book. While the process of self-promotion and marketing can be daunting at times, in doing so you are giving your novel the very best chance of selling well. 

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

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How To Escape The Content Mill Cycle

If you are a new freelance writer, it can be easy to get caught in what is known as the content mill. You worry that your inexperience means that no one will hire you, so you sell yourself short. You accept low paid jobs writing about topics that don't really interest you and put loads of hours and effort in, only to receive a rather measly monthly income to show for it all. This only further fuels your lack of confidence, which means, guess what? You continue to take on low paid jobs, you continue to feel unsuccessful, and you continue to struggle to make ends meet.

So what are the things you can do to break out of the cycle? Here are some helpful tips:

Get into the right mindset

You need to have a bit of self-belief and confidence if you ever hope to escape the content mill. It is a fact that there is interesting, well-paid work out there, and plenty of it too. You have absolutely nothing to lose by applying for those writing gigs that you fear are way out of your league. As soon as you start landing them and reaping the rewards, you'll never look back. Stop selling yourself short, raise your rates, know your worth, and you'll find that clients are much more likely to hire you. If you accept work for next to nothing or give ridiculously low quotes, you'll only get taken advantage of or miss out as clients will think you are 'too good to be true' and assume they'll be delivered shoddy quality work for that amount. 

Drop low-paying clients

If you are going to break out of the content mill, you need to free up your time to find and land much better writing gigs. This means it's time to ditch those low-paying clients in favor of new ones. It's always worth trying to negotiate with them first - tell them you are raising your rates. If they accept that - great. If they balk at the idea - fine, but they can find someone else to do the work as you are moving on to bigger and better things.

Search for the best writing jobs

Take the time to really think about who you want to work for in an ideal world. Once you understand where your interests lie, you can research the clients you'd like to write for. Make a bucket list and then start targeting them. Pitch to big companies who can afford to pay their freelance writers well. If you can find your passion and area of expertise, you'll be able to pitch your services confidently and break free of the content mill once and for all. 

Learn how to market yourself

It is, of course, going to feel scary to put yourself out there. But once you have learned how to do so correctly and start to win those jobs, it will become second nature. Research the name of the right person to contact, write an engaging and compelling letter of introduction, and remember that you need to consistently pitch and market yourself to get a consistent flow of work. You might find you get ignored at first, and you have to tweak your introduction until you start to get results. 

Add value and demonstrate what you are worth

When you start to land better-paying clients, you need to prove yourself. You can do this by producing fantastic work on time. However, if you want to cement this new relationship, make sure that you go over and above, keep lines of communication open, offer one or two rounds of amends and make sure you get the tone and delivery spot on. If you impress your clients, they'll hire you time and time again. 

Remember, clients who understand the value of good content will pay good money for it. Once you know your work's worth, you won't get a terrible case of imposter syndrome every time you charge them. 

So whether you are a newbie freelancer, or have been stuck in the content mill for ages, you now know it doesn't need to be this way forever. Follow the above steps and say goodbye to low paying clients and bring in new, exciting work that pays you what you are worth. 

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

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Writers! How To Make Sure Your Clients Pay Their Invoices

One of the most important qualities any freelance writer must have is the ability to stay organized. This covers all aspects of the work, from reaching out to new clients, keeping lines of communication open, hitting deadlines, and keeping on top of your finances too.

Of course, sometimes it doesn't matter how well organized you are. If the other party fails to match your expectations, you can find yourself having to chase for responses and for payment for your work, which can create more work for you and disrupt your systems' efficiency.

Getting clients to pay on time, and sometimes pay up at all can be tricky. However, making sure they do is so vital for your confidence and livelihood. 

So if you are struggling with getting clients to pay on time, or even at all, here are some useful tips to help you.

Put pay by dates on your invoices

Make sure your invoice includes a note such as 'pay all invoices within ten days.' So you have a date to work with, and if the client doesn't pay by, then you can cite this when you chase them.

Ask for an advance

Asking for a sum of money in advance of starting work can help secure payment and mean it is more likely the client will pay when the project is complete.

Start with a friendly reminder

If a client hasn't paid, starting with a friendly reminder is the best first step. They may have genuinely overlooked this, so don't rush in all guns blazing at this point. 

Make a call

It's much easier to ignore an email than a phone call. So your next step is to call the client and ask them directly what the hold up is. 

Go up the chain

You might need to escalate your issue with someone higher up in the businesses.

Add a late fee clause

Make sure you have a late fee clause in your contract so that you can bill your client extra if they don't pay up on time. 

Use social shaming

If you've given your client every opportunity to pay and are still refusing, you can use social shaming to either make them cough up or let others know that they are disreputable and warn them against working with them.

Cease working

Refuse to deliver any more work until you see some money in your bank account. 

Make your contract airtight

Make that your contract has all the right clauses to protect you in the first place. This will ensure that it is legitimate and can be used to refer back to if you feel like you need to take further action. 

By following the above, you can help ensure that your clients pay promptly, and make sure that you will get paid eventually for the work you have delivered. Freelance writing can be a fantastic career, but chasing payments and problematic clients is a downside. However, staying calm and pursuing those clients who are reluctant to pay for your service can ensure you always get what you deserve for the work you have done. 

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

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