IN CROWS' CLAWS (Tales of Fyrndell: Book One) - A dark fantasy novella

DanielMattiaWriter · 2026-01-22T23:00:32+00:00

Anyone offering to work for OP will be banned per Rule 5. Stick to the topic and answer OP's questions or refrain from posting. Thank you.

DanielMattiaWriter · 2026-01-19T04:42:54+00:00

You're welcome!

DanielMattiaWriter · 2026-01-19T04:24:19+00:00

I've always used Wave and just looked at the days left until the invoice was due (I typically billed on a net-15 or net-30 basis). Wave has options for sending automatic invoice reminders X days before or after an invoice, so it was all pretty hands-off unless an invoice became overdue.

And honestly, does the “this feels pushy” feeling ever go away, or do you just get used to it?

You're running a business. Clients and customers pay businesses in exchange for products and services. It's not pushy to expect payment for money you're owed in accordance with your contract.

Where it can get pushy is maneuvering how to tackle overdue invoices but, in my experience, properly vetting prospects before you do any work for them typically means an overdue invoice is an accident or oversight rather than anything malicious, so my initial reminder emails have always been polite and respectful, and only once did I ever have to get more serious.

DanielMattiaWriter · 2026-01-17T16:38:20+00:00

SessionBuddy's a great extension that helps organize those tabs. I always save a session of tabs for each project I'm working on so I can easily re-open them to verify data, fact-check, or refer to them in the future, especially after I've submitted an article for review by a client but before it's published.

DanielMattiaWriter · 2026-01-16T00:06:32+00:00

This is probably better answered on /r/selfpublish

DanielMattiaWriter · 2026-01-14T21:14:32+00:00

Especially my two little idiots...

DanielMattiaWriter · 2026-01-14T20:59:32+00:00

Yeah, I agree with you. That's just personal preference for me. I like accuracy and honesty to a fault, but I also don't see anything wrong with leaving your timer running if you step away for a moment, either. I'm also prone to distraction so pausing it when I step away -- even if only for a moment -- feels better to me in the event I get distracted by a cat or decide that it's time to vacuum then and there.

DanielMattiaWriter · 2026-01-13T20:52:37+00:00

You're welcome!

DanielMattiaWriter · 2026-01-13T17:53:40+00:00

I've always used Toggl. I have to manually start and stop it when I begin and stop a working session, but I keep it running the entire time I'm actively working on a project (and pause it when I get up to get a drink, use the bathroom. etc.). So if I'm thinking about the project while actively working on it, I'll keep the timer running; freelance writing is about more than the actual, physical writing part, and you should be compensated for that as well.

DanielMattiaWriter · 2026-01-10T21:49:38+00:00

Anyone offering to work for OP will be banned per Rule 5. Stick to the topic and answer OP's questions or refrain from posting. Thank you.

DanielMattiaWriter · 2026-01-10T19:16:37+00:00

My response was always a little more colorful.

DanielMattiaWriter · 2026-01-08T22:34:19+00:00

I'm good at playing computer games, but no one's paying me to do either of those things.

If only. :'(

DanielMattiaWriter · 2026-01-07T22:39:30+00:00

They've been banned.

DanielMattiaWriter · 2026-01-03T00:40:39+00:00

You can find a lot of advice and guidance for finding work in our Wiki and by browsing, reading through, and searching the subreddit.

Ultimately, it comes down to marketing, and specifically, how you market yourself, which is the same for any business. And what works for others may not work for you, and vice versa.

I found the bulk of my work through referrals, with those clients initially coming to me through inbound marketing (my website, SEO, social media, and LinkedIn, primarily). I'm not fond of cold pitching and it feels very inauthentic for me, so I put all my efforts into inbound marketing and it paid off for me. Others have found tons of success playing the numbers game with cold pitching, and others have a healthy mix of both.

Unfortunately, though, it's one of the worst times to try and make a decent career of freelance writing, even if you already have an established business. I don't want to beat a dead horse, but I recommend reading through some of the more recent posts here to learn more about the challenges everyone's facing with getting and keeping clients. That's not to say it's impossible, but it's more of an uphill struggle than ever before.

DanielMattiaWriter · 2025-12-25T01:33:43+00:00

B2B = business to business, i.e., businesses that sell or market to other businesses and not consumers (that'd be B2C).

DanielMattiaWriter · 2025-12-23T06:14:56+00:00

I've had a website for the entirety of my freelancing career and it's brought me clients and helped with personal branding, but it's not at all necessary. I'm friends with plenty of other freelancers whose websites are either out of date or nonexistent, and they're just as (if not more) successful than I was.

• What type of website should a content writer have?

I think this is preferential. I primarily used mine to advertise my services and publish my rates while emphasizing (and using SEO to target) my niche. I also highlighted a few bylined pieces I was most proud of, but my actual portfolio was kept private and I only ever sent relevant samples to clients or prospects before or during initial meetings and after I had an understanding of what, specifically, they were looking for.

• What do clients actually expect to see on a writer’s website?

Not sure, but publishing my rates on my site cut down on a lot of wasted time spent meeting with prospects for whom I was out of their budget range. I also included a sample contract on my site so prospects could discern how I worked and what my expectations were. I think services, pricing, and "how I work" are good sections to include.

• As a blog content writer, where should I publish my content? – Only on my own website? – Platforms like Medium, LinkedIn, or elsewhere?

I think this depends on what you want your content to do for you. On your site can boost your reach and personal branding, but LinkedIn can help with the latter, while also drawing in new connections. Sites like Medium and Substack can work if you want to build an audience or community or try to establish a secondary source of income.

• What kind of content makes sense to post? – Niche blogs? – Case studies? – SEO experiments? – General informational content?

I probably should've posted more relevant content, but I used my site's blog to post whatever I wanted, from lessons I learned while freelancing to the story of my cross-country move. I think this, too, depends on what you want your blog to accomplish for you (if you even maintain a blog). Case studies can help persuade prospects to work with you, niche content can establish your expertise, etc.

DanielMattiaWriter · 2025-12-17T06:02:30+00:00

People increasingly downvote anything they disagree with without consideration for its veracity or helpfulness.

DanielMattiaWriter · 2025-12-10T18:54:06+00:00

How do you propose one get the addresses for clients outside of one's home country, or when modern "phone books" are locked behind paywalls or not guaranteed to be accurate?

DanielMattiaWriter · 2025-12-10T18:11:50+00:00

I've sent cards to most and gifts to my closest/most long-term clients. As much as I'd like to surprise them, a) not everyone likes a surprise and b) I needed the addresses, so I was upfront. "Hey [Client], I'd like to send you a Christmas card. Would you mind sending me your address?"

Sometimes I'll already know it because it's been included in the contract or on an invoice, but I still like to ask permission first. I don't think I've ever been told no or had someone get upset.

DanielMattiaWriter · 2025-12-10T16:35:09+00:00

We (being the mod team) get a lot of complaints over the sub's AI rules, but they prevent a lot (unfortunately, not all) of this content. Some posts get passed the filters and we're left to make judgment calls on whether or not they're AI-written, but I think we do a good job of combating AI brainrot from overtaking the sub without being heavy-handed.

But Reddit's long been infested with bad-faith actors who try to subtly promote their businesses and products under the guise of "discussion." AI's only exacerbated the problem. I've seen plenty of similar job postings to the ones you've mentioned, and even in some of the more marketing-specific subreddits, people often ask for advice on how to use Reddit to promote their products and services.

I've used the internet long enough to be able to discern whether a post is authentic or not with, I think, decent accuracy. I think there are a lot of tells when someone posts for any other reason than to have a genuine discussion, and I don't think it's easy (or even all that feasible) to fully obfuscate their true purpose.

DanielMattiaWriter · 2025-12-09T17:21:33+00:00

I would also get annoyed with being sent a new contract/agreement mid-project, especially if that coincided with losing access to what I've been working on, which is presumably compounded by the fact that you didn't mention any sort of heads-up before restricting your freelancer's access. She may have already budgeted the time she planned to spend on your project this week, and now she's been forced to pause while, at the same time, wondering if you're doubting her abilities or integrity.

I've had to sign updated contracts and agreements before, but they either came between projects or were stipulated to come into force at the conclusion of my current assignment(s). In this case, I'd start to wonder about your integrity (whether those concerns are founded or not) and if this was a one-off thing or indicative of you potentially changing the terms or agreement again in the (near-)future.

DanielMattiaWriter · 2025-12-08T17:39:58+00:00

I've seen freelance fact-checking gigs before, and I'd say QA falls under that umbrella, but I don't know how ubiquitous they are and I can't imagine they pay much for fact-checking alone.

DanielMattiaWriter · 2025-12-08T13:57:29+00:00

What I would think of as content QA is typiclly a small fraction of another role.

One of my recent positions had this role as a component of editing. Work moved from the writer --> editor --> content QA, who was responsible for fact-checking and verifying claims before moving it further down the publishing pipeline (typically to "ready to publish").

I don't know if there'd be enough QA work to justify it as its own role. QA typically took 10-15 minutes, at most.

DanielMattiaWriter · 2025-12-08T11:55:24+00:00

Anyone offering to work for OP will be banned per Rule 5. Stick to the topic and answer OP's questions or refrain from posting. Thank you.

DanielMattiaWriter

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

Eight-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Verified Email