Expert Advice for Writers: An Interview with Michelle L Devon

Hi Michelle. Before we begin, I'd like to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk to us so that we can all benefit from your experience as an online freelance writer.

Tell us a little about yourself.

[Michy] Well, I'm Michelle L. Devon, but most people online know me as Michy, which is pronounced like Mickey, not like Mitchy or Mishy, though I'll answer to just about anything. I'm a freelance writer, a novelist, a poet... but mostly, I'm a professional dreamer. I live my dream, doing what I love more than anything in the world and being paid for it. Oh, I'm also an editor. We'll call that my day job, self-employed through my company, Accentuate Services.

Q. What experience did you bring with you when you began your career writing online?

[Michy] Well, over the years, I've held about 40 different jobs, from accounting to criminal justice advocacy. The largest part of my 'work' career prior to writing was spent in non-profit executive management/advocacy work of some sort. I was not a professional writer in the workforce, but ever job I had entailed some type of writing, whether it be writing grants, managing a company newsletter, correspondence. In fact, I had a way with words in my jobs, so it seemed I was always called upon to do writing and correspondence for others.

When I quit my last job though, as a contract negotiator for a large corporation, I really had no professional writing experience. All I had was a desire to write, a passion for it, a compulsion if you will.

Q. What surprised you most about writing for an online audience?

[Michy] I guess what surprised me the most about writing for online audiences is how short the attention span of the reader really is, and how ugly people can sometimes be behind the safety of a computer screen when they comment on your writing. It's been clear to me that some people who comment on online works don't really take the time to read what you said. Seems print readers take more time to actually read what you write, and then they can't quickly or easily pop off a comment about it either.

Q. Do you think it's realistic for those who come to online writing with no writing experience to think they can make a living from writing online?

[Michy] Well, I did, and still do. I'm going six years strong as a freelance writer, and I've replaced and exceeded my corporate income doing so. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Do I think 'anyone' can do it? No, I don't. Not everyone is cut out to be self-employed, not everyone is cut out to do the business end of writing, and not everyone is cut out to actually be a writer.

That said, I do think anyone who is willing to take the time to read, learn, and invest a little bit of themselves into the profession of writing can make a decent living if they stick with it and handle it like the business that it is.

Q. What advice do you have for the new writer trying to break into the market and landing paying work?

[Michy] The hardest part of the freelance writing world is the beginning. You're going to submit a lot and query a lot, doing a lot of work upfront, with little or no pay coming in for three to six months. It will be tight. It will be very easy to give up. Don't. Keep submitting, keep sending those queries. Remember, even the best of freelance writers only sell about 60% of what they submit and only about 40% of what they query. The payoff will be there, just don't give up before you get it.

I've coached fledgling freelancers into new careers, and the hardest part of breaking in is getting them not to give up before the acceptances start happening and then the money starts coming in. The key to success with freelancing is being consistent, steady, and patient. The only way to land paying work is to keep submitting, consistently, to new markets, every day.

Q. What is the one thing you wish you had known before you began publishing online?

[Michy] That everything you put out there online stays out there online for the rest of your life, and it will follow you around. If you are putting out junk just to get by but are hoping to improve and find higher paying markets, you're going to hurt yourself in the end. Always, always, always put out your best work, because if it's going online, it's going to be there for a very long time, and a year from now, two years from now, you'll regret it.

Q. Michelle, I've noticed that you have several online blogs and maintain a presence on forums and boards. Why is it important for writers to participate in social communities and maintain a blog?

[Michy] It's actually not required, and I do know quite a few freelancers who don't post in blogs or on forums. I like to, because I like to network and interact with other writers. Writing can be a very lonely profession, and that might even appeal to some folks, but for most of us, we need the interaction of some sort, so forums and blogs give us writers that outlet. Not to mention that readers can often find us through our being active on social sites as well, and the more readers we have, the more money we can usually make.

However, even discounting the interaction and readership, there is networking. I have picked up many decent paying long-term gigs because someone I knew was overwhelmed with work and they asked me if I wanted one of their gigs. I myself have given assignment referrals to other writers when I was backed up and didn't have the time. Not only that, but other writers might have ideas, advice and leads you wouldn't find without networking.

So while I don't think social communities and blogs are necessary, I do think they can provide a powerful outlet and network for a freelance writer. Mostly, I just enjoy it!

Q. If you could only choose one thing, what would you like others to know about you as a writer, or as a person, that no one has asked?

[Michy] I'm a Taoist by philosophy (not religion) and as such, I live my life with the philosophy that you are what you help others become and that everything in the universe has a balance to it. Everything a person does has a ripple effect that affects the entire universe, in some way, small or large. I try to live in such a way that everything I put out there increases the prosperity and abundance of the universe, for me and those around me. I put this energy into my writing, my novels in particular, and in how I live my life. I don't always succeed, but I always try.

That's why I run the writers forum and edit and coach other writers as much as if not sometimes more than I focus on my own writing. Writers have a very powerful tool at their disposal - their words - and words are very passionate and very powerful tools, or weapons, depending on how used.

I believe anyone can live their dream, and if writing is a dream a person holds, I'll do everything I can to help them realize that dream, because - if you are what you help others become, success finds you when you help others become successful.

Keep writing!

Thanks for the interview. I truly enjoyed it!