IN THIS ISSUE
- From the Editor’s Desk: How to multiply your freelance income
- On The Wordling: This is for multipassionate writers
- News & Views: The exponential growth of book clubs
FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
Happy Thursday, everyone,
I announced free strategy sessions in last Thursday’s newsletter and within three days, all my available slots were taken! Thanks to everyone who registered. I’m looking forward to speaking with you and helping you figure out your next steps.
I’ve had a few conversations this week, and it’s been super interesting to see where readers of this newsletter find themselves and what their biggest concerns are.
If I had to sum it up, the biggest problem, especially for mid-career writers, is growing an income in a way that’s predictable and sustainable.
The industry has changed. Both new and experienced freelancers are having to reimagine what a writing career can look like. Personally, I think it’s harder for people who’ve been in this business for a longer time because you’re used to doing things a certain way and the idea of learning a new skill or looking at the industry brings up fears of “starting from scratch” or feeling like you’re being left behind.
The truth is, most mid-career journalists, authors, and content creators have a huge advantage. If you’re smart, this is the time when you can multiply your income instead of worrying about losing it entirely.
But you will need a mindset shift. You need to be able to learn how to identify the current opportunities in the market, and you need to understand how to position yourself to take advantage of them.
I’ve scheduled three live masterclasses in Wordling Plus this month that will teach you how to do this.
- The 7 Paths to Freelancing Success will show you how to use your existing experience and expertise to position yourself in hot industries and areas right now.
- Fix That Pitch is a critique session, in which I’ll go through your LOI or pitch and tell you why it may not be working—and how to fix it.
- Master the Art of AI-Assisted Writing will teach you how to turn AI into the best writing assistant you’ve ever had. Using AI is not about outsourcing the writing. AI can only replace terrible writers, not good ones. But good writers can use it to become great—and I’ll show you how.
All these masterclasses come as part of the Wordling Plus membership, which also gives you access to 20+ outcome-focused courses and monthly group coaching. We’re still small, which means every member on a group coaching call gets 1:1 support from me each month. This won’t always be the case.
You can find our live masterclass schedule here.
And if you want to know more about the courses, the coaching, and the masterclasses available in Wordling Plus, here’s where you can learn all about it.
The market has changed, but the need for your skills hasn’t. Figure out what your clients need and offer it to them, and you won’t be out of work. Join Wordling Plus and I’ll show you how.
Enjoy the issue!
Natasha Khullar Relph
Editor, The Wordling
NEW ON THE WORDLING
Free Masterclass: The $100K Blueprint for Multipassionate Writers
In this 45-minute masterclass, I will show you…
- How to turn your multiple and unique passions into a superpower
- How to get to a six-figure income in less than a year
- A new way of thinking about your writing career, one that is profitable and expansive
UPCOMING LIVE EVENTS
THE 7 PATHS TO FREELANCING SUCCESS IN 2024 (April 10)
with Natasha Khullar Relph
Right now is probably one of the most difficult times to be a freelance writer. Yet, smart writers are making more money than ever before. How? They’ve figured out which clients are assigning and, most crucially, what type of content they’re looking for.
In this training, I will lay out the 7 paths to freelance riches that are working in 2024. These are the areas where you should be placing your focus, and how to ensure that you have work not just this month, but for the rest of the year.
FIX THAT PITCH (April 17)
with Natasha Khullar Relph
Been sending pitches only to get rejections, or worse, no responses in return?
Let’s fix that, shall we?
In this one-hour session, I will critique 5-7 pitches or LOIs, with detailed notes on how to make them more saleable. Previous sessions have led to students landing assignments from The Washington Post, Business Insider, National Geographic, and The Economist.
NEWS & VIEWS:
Why are book clubs so popular right now?
Attention authors! If you’re eager to boost your book sales, listen up—book clubs are currently all the rage. In 2023, event listings for book club meetups in the United States soared by 24%, according to Eventbrite. Meetup also saw a 10% uptick in book club listings. The Bookclubs app, designed to help organize these clubs, saw an incredible 240% surge in user numbers from 2020 to 2021 and has been doubling its user base every year since then, with just under one million accounts. Here’s what you need to know about book clubs.
The riches are in the niches
According to CNN, “Book club organizers and members are creating new gatherings to talk about books at dating events, breweries and on group runs. Social media is also helping lead younger readers to new genres and in-person communities built around reading.” The article points out that it’s in the niches that book clubs are really thriving. Queer book clubs saw an 82% increase in attendance in 2023 and silent book clubs—where members gather in public at bars, cafes, bookstores, and libraries to read—grew by 23%.
Tip: Figure out the themes of your book, match them to niche book clubs, and offer them discounts or author Q&As to talk about your book.
Make friends and influence people
“The act of reading is a solo experience, but book clubs are all about people. Cheaper to partake in than many other group-based activities, book clubs are becoming an antidote for young people feeling lonely across the world,” writes Tanyel Mustafa for Refinery29. “Book clubs offer a cheaper way into a regular group activity, which isn’t amiss at a time of high inflation, a cost of living crisis, and recession.”
Tip: These clubs love to hear from authors directly and if you can offer a unique experience to members, you’re golden.
Bringing back the old
While celebrity book clubs focus on the new, popular, and traditionally published, book clubs in general have no such limitations. So if you have multiple books, pitch them to multiple clubs!
Tip: Look through your backlist and see if there are overriding themes that stand out for you. Pitch directly to book clubs and, when possible, offer them an incentive for choosing your book (such as discounted copies or branded merch.)
ALSO SEE
Increasingly, Substack writers have seen subscriptions “plummeting” as the platform makes moves toward becoming more of a social media platform.
Is a trend toward romantasy pushing out younger YA readers?
Who will win the National Book Awards? The data can tell.
GLOBAL REPORT
ISRAEL: “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Monday to shutter the local office of Qatari satellite television network Al Jazeera while the war in Gaza continues. Hours after his party spokesperson said parliament would be convened to ratify the necessary law, the Knesset approved the bill allowing the temporary closure in Israel of foreign broadcasters considered to be a threat to national security.”
UK: “On Friday, a group of men stabbed Pouria Zeraati, an anchor on the UK-based Persian-language news network Iran International, outside his home in London. Iran International is formally banned inside Iran, where the ruling regime has branded it a “terrorist organization.” Iranian officials denied any involvement in the attack, but critics of the regime quickly suspected otherwise.”
PORTUGAL: “Portuguese journalism is going through a serious financial, labour and ethical crisis. Of the journalists interviewed in a recent Portuguese survey, 59% said that they have never received training from their employer, 48% have high levels of exhaustion, and for 52%, working conditions do not allow them to act with independence, integrity and security. As a Portuguese journalist said, “we have the perfect storm”: a crisis in the traditional financing model, difficulty in perceiving other financing possibilities, and a decreasing number of readers.”
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“When I sit down to write a book, I do not say to myself, ‘I am going to produce a work of art.’ I write it because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing.”
– George Orwell
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