Writing Samples: Essential for Selling Your Writing

Writing samples are probably the most important tool to selling your writing services, online or elsewhere. Fortunately they are very easy to create and distribute to potential clients.

Here’s how.

1. Gather together any writing you have already done. If you are new to writing professionally, you may be surprised to realize how much writing you’ve already done. Perhaps you’ve written an interoffice memo, an article for your company or organization newsletter, etc.

2. Review your written materials. Do you have a particular interest or area of expertise? Perhaps you are a nurse with experience in hospice care or a computer programmer with expertise in video game design. Maybe you’ve always had an interest in pet care. Consider what subjects you know about or are interested in.

3. Consider what kind of writing you want to do. Do you want to write web articles, e-books, consumer reviews, blogs, etc.? Have you written them in the past? Does your style of writing match the type of writing you want to do?

4. If you have existing web-writing samples, read through them carefully and correct any errors (typos, factual errors etc.). Be sure you still hold the copyright on the articles you plan to use as samples. If you have sold the articles to someone else, you may no longer have the right to use them, even to gain new clients.

5. If you don’t have any existing samples, don’t despair, just start writing. For example, if you are a nurse and you want to write web articles about the care of the elderly, write a 500-word article about how to choose a nursing home. This is a common length for an article and, using 11 to 12 point type, you will find that 500 words equal about one page.

A good template for an article is to write a brief introduction, explaining what your article is about, three to four short paragraphs on different points of your article and a concluding paragraph. Top the article with a brief heading that clearly tells the reader about the article and you’re all set.

You will find that web-content articles in this template are easy to read and write because they prevent essential information without a lot of fluff. Web writing is not like writing fiction or a deep research article. Write to present essential information as briefly and clearly as possible.

6. Collect at least three brief writing samples on the subjects you are most interested in. Keep them in a writing samples file on your computer. Also post them on your web-site and blog. As keep on writing them and as you gain experience, post your most recent samples as well.

7. If you find a writing project that interests you but you don’t think you have writing samples that match it, you have two options. Send them existing samples that best match the project and explain in your cover letter (or email) why your skills and experience make you the perfect person to complete it. Or, write a writing sample on the spot, using your expertise in the subject. Which route your choose will of course, depend on the project and your ability to write to specifications on deadline.

The whole point of writing samples is to show potential clients what you can do for them. They want a writer who can follow directions and present ideas clearly and persuasively. To them, a writer provides a valuable service, allowing them to attend to other parts of their business. Convince a client that you will save him or her time and effort and you will soon have a very lucrative relationship.

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