Online | Publishing | Nonfiction | Seminar

4-Week Online Seminar: Freelance Basics for Writing Online

Ready to launch your freelance writing career online and have no idea where to start? The Internet is buzzing with tons of information but finding straightforward, applicable advice on how to freelance write online can be hard to come by. If you’re new to the world of publishing essays and reported pieces online for digital publications, start here: this course will break down the process of freelance writing online into digestible chunks.

Using tried and true methods, in this course we will discuss: building up a social media presence to make connections with other writers and editors to increase visibility and net more assignments, organizing your freelance writing life, and simplifying pitching to make it less intimidating. I’ve used all these methods in my own freelance career in which I’ve written for The Wall Street Journal, Food & Wine, The Washington Post, New York Magazine, National Geographic, and many more publications.

Our classes will take the lecture format, although not nearly as stuffy, definitely more laidback and for sure collaborative. I encourage you to chime in when you feel the need. Each week, I’ll give you homework—but the fun kind. Such as writing your bio, thinking about what niche of freelance writing you want to aim for, whether or not personal narratives or reported pieces are more your forte, making a list of targeted publications, goal setting in general. We’ll build towards a toolkit that at the end of our time together, you’ll be able to use to launch into your freelance writing career online. A toolkit that I wish I would’ve had when I started off on my freelance journey.

This class will meet over our video chat platform. You will need to use Google Chrome to join your class meetings.

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

- A freelance toolkit including short bio to run alongside pieces, as well crafty bios for social media, an online portfolio, and/or writer’s website

- Spreadsheet and pitching templates for managing pitches, invoices, and miscellaneous details

- Confidence that having a thriving career online is indeed possible

- Access to Catapult's list of writing opportunities and important submission deadlines, as well as a 10% discount on all future Catapult classes

COURSE SKELETON:

Week One: Creating an online presence: Start to cement your place in the world of digital media and publications with creating an online presence.

Week Two: Networking & building community: Getting assignments is often a matter of connecting with the right fellow writers and editors.

Week Three: Pitching 101: How to sell your ideas and demystify the pitching process with a simple formula.

Week Four: Getting organized: Being a freelance writer hinges on being organized to manage all the constantly shifting parts. 

Nneka Okona

Nneka M. Okona is a full-time freelance writer who writes about travel and food. She writes and reports from wherever city around the world as she travels. Nneka's work has published in The Wall Street Journal, Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, National Geographic, New York Magazine, and many more.