The Writing Coach Podcast with Rebecca L. Weber

When you’ve developed an evergreen story idea, it may be accurate to say that there’s no reason why the story needs to be told now.

But that’s only true when we look at your existing pitch. Your angl…

When an editor posts a call for pitches, freelancers sometimes respond the way they would to the siren’s call.

The writers retweet them, share them, subscribe to newsletters with them. After weeks of…

What do 1947, 1972, 1997, 2012, and 2021 all have in common?

They all have big anniversary years in 2022: 75, 50, 25, 10, 1. We like these kind of milestones to remind us of past events, and the impa…

Most women say they’ve never negotiated their salary. As freelancers, we have so many more opportunities than staff employees to practice negotiations and to get better and better over time.

When the…

Have you ever held back from turning your camera on Zoom?

Sent a pitch via an anonymous form (the modern day slush pile) instead of the assigning editor?

Imagined somebody saying that you were postin…

When we put ourselves out there, we take a risk. We risk not getting validation, assignments, contracts, money, Likes, comments, safety, etc. We risk approval internally and externally.  The idea of …

Two months ago I invited you to take a 90-day challenge to get paid on time. That episode includes the logistics of what to do to get paid promptly … and also addresses the resistance so many freelan…

The research and reporting rabbit holes are some of the most seductive and appealing parts of the freelance writing comfort zone. You start off doing good work: nailing down facts, seeking rich data,…

Neediness has been normalized in much of freelance culture, to our own detriment. Desperation compounds difficult situations by blocking our own resourcefulness. Even when desperation fuels our actio…

The fundamental 5W1H questions you use when reporting are just as handy for examining your freelance life. 

When it comes to setting writing goals, WHO will you become in the process of achieving you…

When it comes to making lasting changes in your freelance life, I’m more a fan of experiments than of resolutions. The latter tend not to work so well, often relying on willpower or self-shame as fue…

Freelance writers often conflate two very different kinds of urgency. Confusing them impacts pitching and following up.

First is the urgency of the story itself. This includes identifying why the sto…

Should you pitch during the holiday season?

Yes, if you want more assignments. No, if you want to take time off.

There are two valid approaches to taking time off as a freelancer:

1. Take time off du…

When I started freelancing, I was 100% DIY.

One of the tricky things about making a good living as a freelance writer is getting a feel for what to do yourself and where to spend–or invest–time and m…

When you’re interviewing a source for an article, you’d want to do some followup if they said: “I don’t know how a key part of my job works.” You’d ask the question again, or come at it from a differ…

Join me on Wednesday, December 8, for a live masterclass on breaking into your dream publications and achieving sustainable freelance writer success. We’ll focus on proven strategies to get consisten…

“Is my pitch too long?”

If you’re asking the question, the answer is probably yes. 

The question you really need answered is not how long your pitch should be, but why your pitch is too long:

1. You’ve…

This week is the start of the year-end holiday season in the United States, which is associated with a lot of personal and professional stress. This episode looks at meditation as a concentration pra…

Freelancers often ask: How do I get a client to pay an invoice that’s past due?

Instead of a how to on chasing payments, today we’re asking and answering a better question: How do you get clients to …

One of the best ways to start the new year strong is to finish this one strong as well. We want to make sure you're investing, rather than just spending time, money, and energy to get clients.

When y…