The Writers’ Co-op

We're wrapping up season 3 with a chat about balancing your passion projects with work that pays the bill. Wudan digs in with freelancer Joshua Eaton. Joshua is an investigative reporter based in Washington DC. Prior to freelancing, he was on investigative teams at CQ Roll Call and Think Progress. His work has also appeared at NBC News, The Washington Post, ProPublica, The Boston Globe and els...

Burnout may be common for freelancers and small business owners, but you don't have to live with it. If you've listened to TWC episodes before, you know that Wudan and Jenni believe that time off, and the introspection required to combat burnout-related patterns, are key to running a sustainable business. And that's what Jenni is chatting about on this episode Katie Navarra , a freelan...

This week’s episode is sponsored by Lili . Lili is the first online bank account specifically designed for freelancers, where you can manage both your personal and business finances, all from the same place. With Lili, you can organize all your purchases the same way you organize your dating preferences, by swiping left for life and right for work. If you sign up using code thewriterscoop, they’ll...

For so many of us, marketing can feel like the trickiest part of being a freelancer. How do you sell your services in a way that feels authentic? How do you even get in touch with what is authentic? How can you make yourself stand out in a sea of people who are offering the same things? In this episode, we dive into those marketing questions with freelancer Emma Diehl.  After Jenni and Emma met fo...

Building a freelance career can feel directionless; there are no set rules about where to go. But Jenni and Wudan have both built their own careers (and helped other people craft theirs) by pivoting when they hit moments of confusion or frustration. We’re calling these moments inflection points. An inflection is a slight change in tone, and every person will encounter many inflection points in the...

Here's the thing: If you're only offering one service in your freelance business, you're probably on the train to burnout town. What's better? Offering a few (related) services, which helps you pivot when things get wild (hi, pandemic) and allows you to shift when you're feeling low-energy or craving something more vulnerable. This week's coaching session includes a convers...

If you’ve ever struggled with asking for more money or better terms from a client, this episode is for you. Jenni sits down with Jennifer Barton, a freelance writer, editor and copywriter from New York City. She currently lives in London and has contributed essays and features to a range of publications including The Telegraph magazines, The Independent, Stylist, HuffPost, Metro, Vogue Business, P...

If you've ever felt like an imposter or like you don't deserve to ask for a raise, this episode is for you. Our anonymous guest is a freelancer who identifies as a person of color and has over two decades of experience based in the Deep South. But she struggles with remembering how skilled she is and has a difficult time asking for higher pay.  She talks with Wudan about the big moves she wan...

Today’s episode -- the second of season 3 -- features a conversation with a freelancer named Hanna Merzbach . She’s new to the game; she graduated from college last year, and the pandemic threw all of her plans (which included teaching English in Japan) into chaos. She started freelancing as a way to dip her toe into journalism and she’s already found a lot of success with bylines and landing pitc...

Welcome to season three of The Writers’ Co-op: The Business Edit. Each episode of this season involves a coaching session with a freelancer just like you who struggles with issues common to freelancing like imposter syndrome, saying no, finding new clients, and beyond. But before we jump into all of that, we need to define what coaching is. That’s what this first episode is about: Defining the pra...

It's happening, y'all: Season 3 of The Writers' Co-op is headed your way in just a few weeks! We're calling this season The Business Edit; think of it like a KonMari session for your freelance business. We'll coach 9 freelance writers just like you and help them work through challenges like imposter syndrome, struggling to say no, creating and refining business plans, negotiating, money management...

If there's one topic we've been skeptical about this season, it's book publishing. Can you publish a book as a freelancer and still make a living? What do the finances look like? How does the process work? Our last regular-season episode of season 2 answers all of these questions. We searched long and hard for a guest who would be forthcoming about the book publishing process, and that person is C...

This week, we're talking about how to make investigative reporting work within a freelance career. So often we think of investigative reporting projects as money sucks that will wreck your sustainable business plan. You never know how much time or effort the reportage could take, and it can be tough to estimate time accurately because of that.  Wudan's conversation with investigative journali...

If you've ever wondered what it looks like to add ghostwriting to your mix of freelance writing services, this episode is for you! Jacy Topps joins Jenni to talk about the behind-the-scenes of ghostwriting: How to find those gigs, how much they pay, what you need to watch out for, and why writing under someone else's byline can be gratifying.  Jacy is an award-nominated journalist, essayis...

What does it look like to run a freelance business on the side while still holding down a full-time job? This week, we have social media expert Deepa Lakshmin on the show to talk about how she balances both. By day, Deepa works full-time leading content marketing for the Tribeca Film Festival, At night, she runs her freelance business. She’s reported for National Geographic, MTV News, and NYLON, a...

There's no better time to revisit your business than at the end of the year. Take a moment to think about where you want to go, what you want to accomplish, and what happened during the past year. Which clients did you love working with? Which gigs fit well with your interests, and which relationships didn't serve you? For the first time, we're pulling back the curtain on our businesses to do a fu...

For our mid-season episode, we're addressing Writers' Co-op members' questions! We dig into how to ask your anchor clients for a raise; project pricing versus hourly rates; how to take time off when you're sick; budgeting strategies; the perks of rotating stability; how we track assignments each month; networking during the pandemic; how to cancel work without ruining relationships; and managing f...

Grants are an incredible and often-underused way to fund ambitious creative projects, especially if you're pitching to a publication that may not be able to cover your travel or research expenses. This week, we're diving into the world of grants, including how to pick which grants and fellowships to apply to, and the best ways to craft a successful application. In service of this topic, we brought...

Freelance foreign reporting often gets a bad rap; it can be low-paid and exploitative. But that doesn't always have to be the case. This week, Aurora Almendral, an American freelance journalist based in Southeast Asia, joins us on the show to talk with Jenni about her freelance career path and how she makes foreign reporting work for her. Aurora has been a reporter since 2013, and she's currently...

If you want to talk about running a 6-figure freelance writing business, Matt Villano is the person to call. He has been a full-time freelancer for 25 years and during that time he’s written for publications such as The New York Times, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, and many others. He also specializes in copywriting, editing, and branding for a host of companies and nonprofits. Despite the pandemi...

We're back with season two of The Writers’ Co-op! This season, we’ll be interviewing other freelance writers to get a glimpse into how they run their businesses. Success takes on many shapes and sizes, so we want you to understand how others make it work. To kick off this season, we’re talking with Maya Kosoff . Maya is a writer and editor living in Brooklyn. You might know her from The Internet....

Season 2 is just around the corner, and this time we'll be interviewing other successful freelance writers about their business models. How do you get into copywriting? What's it like to make 6 figures as a freelance journalist? What's the best way to negotiate as an international reporter? Guests Maya Kosoff , Matt Villano and Aurora Almendral will kick off season 2 with answers to these question...

How do you plan a career trajectory when there are infinite options and no set paths? Freelancers can struggle with career building because there are no managers to give you raises, and no obvious career ladder. But there are some common ways to build skills and move up in the industry. In this episode, Jenni and Wudan talk about growing your writing career. They discuss applying for grants, the p...

Time spent away from work can be just as important as time spent at work, so this week on the podcast Jenni and Wudan discuss their strategies for getting out of the office and into the woods on a regular basis. Burnout is also a huge risk for freelancers, especially for writers telling stories about the human condition, and especially for those of us who struggle to turn work "off." Bur...

Saying no is just as critical to running a freelance business as saying yes. You can't say yes to the right opportunities if you're filling up your time with assignments that don't pay well, or where clients mistreat you. This week, Wudan and Jenni address reasons why you might say no to a freelance assignments (including if the pay rate is lower than you'd usually charge, if the p...