Freelancers map on Journalism.co.uk
Going freelance can be a steep learning curve. There's no company handbook, no HR department and nobody to make sure you know everything you need to.
 
I ignored several warnings that I should have a spare computer, because I didn't want to make a big dent in profits I hadn't earned yet.

Then, three days into my new career, my ceiling collapsed on my laptop. I hadn't stopped to think that my computer wasn't going to politely wait until I wasn't on a deadline before it broke or got damaged.
 
When journalist and editor Sarah Drew Jones started freelancing, she didn't realise how valuable her experience and knowledge could be.

"I gave away too much consultation and strategy advice to commissioning editors just to be friendly," she says.

"I didn't fully flip the switch in my head from in-house editor to freelance journalist-for-hire. I'd been acting as an ad hoc editorial consultant and I could have made thousands if I'd been paid for my expertise.

"I am always happy to go the extra mile for a publisher with whom I have a good working relationship, but I try to make sure I'm recompensed fairly when I share my skills."
 
Journalist and media career coach Joanne Mallon says many new freelancers are so pleased to get commissioned that they don't even mention money.

"It can be quite a shock if you have written something for a magazine with a policy of payment on publication and then have to wait several months for your money," she says.
 
Mallon says it's important to remember that money on a spreadsheet isn't money in your pocket.

"I have been guilty of spending money that wasn't going to arrive for a month or two," she says.

"It took me a long time to learn the difference between mentally banking something and actually banking it. Once the funds did turn up, I'd think 'Hurrah!' and spend them again."
 
You'll need to save a proportion of your earnings towards your tax bill, and this will be higher in your first year. This is because HMRC asks for payment towards the next year's bill.

One freelancer, who asked not to be named, didn't find out about this until after she'd spent the money, despite hiring an accountant.
 
"I kept a quarter of my earnings back as tax money. My accountant did my return and told me how much I would owe. I had saved quite a bit more, and I spent the extra money," she says.

"When I received my tax bill, I found I owed the amount I had originally saved. I wish my accountant had told me exactly what I would owe, rather than just assuming I knew I had to pay extra."
 
And when you're not busy watching your finances, be sure to watch your mouth, says another anonymous freelancer, who wishes he'd also been incognito when he told the culture editor of a broadsheet that he hated working in offices and never wanted another job - comments that could come back to bite him if he ever applied to work there.

"I would jump at a job in the right office - and that paper would certainly be right for me," he laments.
 
Freelance education journalist Janet Murray recalls how she sold the same story to two rival publications: "Publication one didn't get back or answer follow-up emails so I offered it to a second publication who said yes. Then the first publication came back to say they wanted it."
 
Publication one went to print first - and the editor wasn't happy when the second piece appeared.

"I explained that I had changed the angle and used different experts and case studies, but she wasn't having any of it," says Murray. "With more experience under my belt I'd probably have made more of an effort to smooth things over."
 
Murray says this experience was an important part of the learning curve: "Looking back, I'm glad I made that mistake early on in my career. It made me stop and question lots of situations I subsequently found myself in as a freelance.
 
"Pitching and writing for rival publications takes on a particular significance if you're a specialist like me. I just wish I hadn't had to learn the hard way."
 
Anne Wollenberg is a freelance journalist specialising in film, TV, technology, work and careers. She has written for the Guardian, the Telegraph, the Independent and the Express; is a film and TV critic for several entertainment magazines; has undertaken casual production shifts for the Guardian and Sunday Times; and has also written and sub-edited for a number of trade and customer magazines.

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