For Those Who Want to Write for a Living

Here's an interesting tip from Nick Mamatas on how to freelance:

If you follow the conversational pattern I've laid out above, and actually manage to do the work on time (of utmost importance) and very well (of secondary importance -- complete, mediocre, and on time is better than perfect and late), you will start receiving more solicitations and become a good freelancer. Good enough to start turning down solicitations after the first couple dozen or so. If you do not follow the conversational pattern I've laid out above, but instead make one of the rhetorical errors I've discussed, you are telling the person at this crucial point one thing and one thing only:

"No thanks, I'd rather die in the gutter."

Read the whole post. It's great reading. And given that I'm now on the other side of hiring, it's so damn right.