Discussion with Lily Canter: How to Build a Long Term Freelance Journalism Career

Dear Writers,

Here’s the recording of our discussion with Lily Canter. If you’re looking to build a long-term career as a freelance writer, this is chock full of valuable information.

We talked about quite a few topics, but the stand-out point, for me, was Lily’s advice for building long-term relationships with editors.

In fact, she shared one simple strategy that makes so much sense it’s surprising that so few writers do it. (This strategy alone is extremely valuable — and well worth learning!)

Here’s some of what we talked about:

• How to transition to freelance writing full time. Lily gave some very practical advice on making the transition to full time freelancing, based on her personal experience.
• How to get paid to go on fully-funded press trips. Lily just got back from a fully funded trip to Bermuda. She discusses exactly how to land these press trips. (And when you can expect to start getting them.)
• Should you actually specialize or generalize? The common advice to new freelancers is to choose a niche and stick with it. It turns out that’s not exactly true. (As proven by Lily’s experience.)
• How to build long-term relationships with editors. Most successful freelancers are able to have a sustainable career because of the relationships they’ve built with editors. Lily gives very practical advice for making these relationships happen.
• Managing Your Workflow. Lily shares the system she uses to keep her schedule under control — so she knows that enough money’s coming in, and whether to send more pitches, or focus on writing her next article.
• Writing for Publications Abroad. Many new freelancers wonder whether they can write for publications across the world. Lily shares exactly how this happened for her — and gives practical advice for those who want to follow this path.