Meagan and Toni aren’t updating the site at this time, but we wanted to leave the archives up because we feel there’s some useful stuff there that writers with kids might find useful.

Great News! We’ll be updating the site again with new content and information on upcoming classes for freelance writers with kids. Click the little orange RSS feed icon at the bottom of this page and updates will automatically come to you via your feed reader. Or, drop us an email and we’ll notify you with more news.

So today, after over eight years of work-at-home-mom-dom, I tried something new. I registered my two younger sons for part-time day care. This is a big deal for us, mostly because I’m a control freak, preferring the “mother’s helper” route, which allowed me to work, hover, and kiss boo-boos at home. 

Please know that I’m not here to diss moms who use day care; I know moms who use full time day care because they have to, and some because they want to. I know full time, stay-at-home moms, and just about every permutation of in between you can imagine. My philosophy is that whatever works for you and your family must be the right choice for you and your family. The point here is to illustrate how things can evolve over time as both children and businesses grow, marriages and financial situations change, or our own emotional needs shift.

With one child, especially a very young one, it was easy enough to work around his schedule. I wasn’t writing at the time, but I did work from home. As he matured, I was able to bound among nap time, early morning, and nights. Then came another son. And another. And along came a writing career, moving at a part-time pace to accommodate my family’s needs. I also had the benefit of two marvelous “mother’s helpers” and two equally marvelous (and marvelously local) grandmas, with a healthy dose of benign neglect (hello, television!) around deadline times thrown in for good measure. As the boys grew, so did my writing business.

Now my “baby” is three years old, and ready to enroll in preschool. When I learned that he and my 5-year-old would have opposing morning/afternoon half-day schedules, my heart sank. That’s a heckuva lotta juggling among six distinct drop-off and pick-up times (picture that in winter with snow suits, boots, mittens, and hats) and the punitive early school start times in our district. Every time I thought of fall, a sense of dread overcame me.

I started getting to the point where I needed to create more of a divide between work and family. I imagined myself closing my office door at the same time each day so I could enjoy the kids or sit with a cup of hot chai and reminisce about my day, but somehow I was seldom able to make that happen. I began to realize I’d grown so accustomed to shifting gears that I’d stripped them a few miles back and didn’t even realize it.

After a recent, much-needed 10 day break from work–which included a girlfriends’ only (that’s right: kid-free) retreat–I knew more than ever that I needed to carve more distinct spaces for the most important aspects of my life. My kids and husband needed my focus. My career needed my focus. I needed to focus, and I deserved some time to myself, too.

I learned that our school district offered on-site day care for kids in preschool and kindergarten, took a deep breath and called to inquire about rates. Not only could we afford them (about the cost of two front-of-book articles per month), but the hours closely matched my oldest son’s schedule. The (stubborn) “baby” (thankfully) doesn’t need to be potty trained to attend, skilled professionals would be on site to work with my middle son’s sensory integration issues, and I could send them from 3-5 days/week (I went for 3).

So, here we are, on a path that’s a little scary for this control freak, but anyone who’s scrambled down a dirt trail on a mountain bike or stuck their toe over the edge of the high dive knows that scary can be exhilarating. The boys are anxious to choose their lunch boxes and happy that Grandma scored them some way-cool back to school shoes. It’s hotter than a wet oven here during this Midwestern August, but already I can hear the crisp leaves crunching under our feet, the smell of change heavy in the air, and I know it’ll all work out for the best for our family.

–Toni

Feel free to share your own day care experiences and how it’s impacted your work and family lives, for better, for worse, and all things in between.

The blogging world is abuzz with posts about whether it’s right for writers to write (hey, aren’t I poetic!) for free and/or paltry pay. And though everybody has to start somewhere, we want to make sure new and new-ish writers understand that not all clips are created equal, and neither are all paychecks.

So you’re starting without a clip to your name, and you want to get some published work under your belt before you approach national magazines. What to do, what to do? With the explosion of sites out there that promise to publish your work–and sometimes, even pay you for it, if people click through or if you mention certain products in your posts–it might seem like a great place to get your start.

 But will editors take a clip from one of these sites seriously? I wouldn’t count on it.

First of all, unless you’re hoping to make a career as an essayist (all articles written from your personal point of view instead of investigative or how-to articles, often called “service journalism”), magazine and newspaper writing and sometimes pro-blogging writing is about more than, well, just writing. You also have to have reporting skills, the ability to understand editing suggestions and a temperament that will allow you to work closely with an editor without flying off the handle if they cut out even your most precious phrases. If you’re trying to pitch a long, research-heavy feature to a major magazine, they probably aren’t going to be impressed by a clip on a “content provider” site (for more info about these sites and why they aren’t a good idea for writers, read this fabulous post) that’s never been vetted by an editor, was written entirely from your own point of view, cites no research and quotes no sources. Of course, you could produce a really well-written, intensively-reported article for one of these sites, but…why would you? If you’re willing to put in time and work for free or cheap in the hopes the article gets published, it would make more sense to pitch the idea to a small, but respected online publication–you know, one where you actually work with an editor and they care about the quality of the work–small local newspaper, or regional parenting magazine while you learn the ropes. This kind of market is often willing to take a chance on a new writer, but you have to leave your comfort zone long enough to put yourself out there–and face possible rejection, which can be a scary thing.

There’s nothing wrong with writing for any outlet as long as you get really clear about your eventual goals for your work. On this site, we focus on magazine/newspaper journalism, but there’s also professional blogging. But that requires a pro-active approach, too–you can’t just wait to be discovered. And some of the websites that newbie writers flock to because they see it as a chance to get published really aren’t doing them any favors. Yes, it’s possible an editor could be impressed by a really well-written blog post or article on a content-provider site. And certainly there are plenty of people who write solely for the love of it, and getting paid for it would just be gravy.  But if you want to make a living in freelancing, it just doesn’t make sense to linger long in the writing-for-pennies-or-less ghetto.  

So this Tuesday’s tip? Put one foot in front of the other. If you’re writing for no or low pay, aim higher. Research a writer you admire and reflect how they got to where they are. Is the kind of writing you’re doing now going to impress an editor enough to take you to the next level? And are those clips going to impress the next editor? And so on, until you land a great assignment with Much-Admired Market? If not, how can you get from here…to there?

 Know where you’re going and make a plan. Everybody has to start somewhere, but that doesn’t necessarily have to mean writing for peanuts or less. And even if you’ve chosen to do just that, you don’t have to stay there for long.

Happy writing!

–Meagan

If an editor you are dying to work with Googled your name right now, would you be proud of what they’d find?

Here’s something I didn’t give much thought when I was a newbie writer: where there are assignments, there will (usually) be edits.

 I was in for a rude awakening the first time I turned in a story to an editor, who was also a friend of mine, and she turned right back around and said (in so many words, and very nicely) “Yeah, umm, this has got some issues.”

 She was totally right, but it still stung. I’d worked hard on that article; every little phrase had seemed to flow. Now I was being told that not only was my prose imperfect, but so was my basic thesis. Oh, and my biases (everybody’s got ‘em) were showing in a too-major way, and compromising the helpfulness of the article.

 I was grateful that the first edits came from a friend, because I didn’t freak out and think “Oh no! She hates me, I suck!” I knew this editor liked me personally AND thought I was a good writer. It made it much easier the next time around, and the next, and the next, to face edits from other faceless editors on the other side of an internet connection somewhere, without taking them personally. Still, I didn’t exactly relish getting my story back all marked up, so to quell the dread I sometimes felt when facing a lot of suggestions and questions in CAPITALS or red type, I started going through a little edit ritual: first, I’d open the document, scan it quickly to get the jist of the suggestions, and deal with anything I thought seemed very easy to fix right off the bat. Then I’d close the file and give the meatier edits a little time to sink in. The next day, I’d re-open the file and work my way through the edits, point by point. If there were more interviews to be done or major changes to be made, I usually found I could face them much more easily when I’d given myself a bit of time and distance from that original read-through. I don’t need to do this every time anymore, but sometimes I still revert to this old tried-and-true technique for facing a big revision with confidence instead of dread.

Revisions still aren’t my favorite part of the job–in fact, both Toni and I are in the middle of edits that are making us tear our collective hair out–but the more I do them, the more they become just another part of the process, and not a big, hairy, “Why don’t they like my writing?” ordeal like it once was. All stories can benefit from a good editor, and it’s important to look at your relationship with your editor as just that–a partnership that will produce the best possible story, not them trying to throw their weight around, or a battle of you-against-the editor in a fight over which words actually make it to the page. On the other hand, sometimes magazines are well-known for putting writers through an editorial wringer due to too many cooks (editors) in the kitchen (passing the story around for their own shot at marking it up). The more stories you revise, the easier it becomes to tell the difference.

 Anyway, feel free to steal my method for easing into edits, or if you have your own process or philosophy, we’d love to hear about it–so comment away!

–Meagan

While we’re on the topic of networking, check out Penelope Trunk’s ”5 ways to be better at self-promotion” on her blog, Brazen Careerist, one you should probably be reading every chance you get.

 Click here to read Trunk’s tips.

I wrote recently about three great writers’ conferences, and wanted to tie that in with the benefits of networking at these conferences. I’m a two-time One-on-One veteran, and just sold an idea to an editor of a national magazine I met back in 2005.

The moral of that story is twofold: (1) yes, it’s worth the money to attend these conferences and (2) absolutely use the contacts you make while you’re there.

Here at D2D, we realize–especially for those of you starting out–how hard it can be to toot one’s own horn. Women especially aren’t socialized to do so, and writers are tenderhearted about risking ideas they’ve slaved lovingly over the laptop to bring to editors, praying they make the steep climb out of the slushpile. Our advice? Get over it.

How? We’ll cover networking in more depth throughout the week, so stay tuned.

Do you have a question about how to network with colleagues and editors, or would you like to share your experiences attending a particular writers’ conference? Post it in the comments section!

Fun? Did I just call filing fun? Well, it can be if it’s pretty. Bear with me here.

Even though I’ve been freelancing at least part-time since 2003, this is the first year I feel I’ve developed a handle on tracking expenses and filing receipts. I really don’t enjoy keeping track of this sort of thing, so it tends to fall by the wayside in favor of chasing dust bunnies or returning phone calls–anything to avoid attending to numbers. Then spring rolls around and I pay dearly for my avoidance behavior when it comes time to meet with our accountant.

Here’s one very tiny, simple thing I’ve started doing this year. It’s no secret that I’m a slave to Target and its pretty, shiny offerings. One day I spotted one of those clear plastic envelope thingies with tabbed dividers you could label for each month. It’s a bit bigger than a checkbook and closes with a rubberband. And it’s purple. I labeled each tab by month, and every time I incur an expense or drive somewhere, I drop the receipt or (colorful, of course) Post-It note tracking mileage into the slot for that month. Like the receipt for buying the cool purple filing thingie. That was so January. Had I shopped now, I likely would’ve snagged one of these instead.

As for July, I think I’m going off in search of some of these to file market research and contracts. Or do you like these better? I’m betting Meagan would be all over these.

Share what works for you when tracking expenses. No method is too geeky, no storage space too purple.

Freelancing gives us the freedom to work from home in our PJs, a babe in arms, Cheerios and notes from school strewn about the office. While this freedom enables us to support our families while remaining close to home to raise those families, writing is ultimately a solitary endeavor. Sometimes it’s too easy to forget the value of meeting face to face with colleagues and editors.

Therefore, in honor of the Writers and Editors One-on-One conference in Chicago this weekend, we’d like to share three writers’ conferences worth jetting off to.

Yeah, yeah, we know; conferences are expensive, you can’t afford to travel, who will watch the kids, yadda yadda. We’ve both heard it all before and said some of the same things ourselves. But as your writing business grows or if it’s well established, consider investing in a writers’ conference. First off, it’s a tax writeoff. Second, landing even one feature article based on networking or meetings from a conference can cover the cost of attending. Third, two of the conferences listed below offer opportunities to meet face to face with magazine editors, a huge bonus for those of us residing outside of New York City. Finally, you never know what lasting professional connections you might make by attending a writer’s conference.

Here’s our Thursday Three–writers’ conferences worth attending:

1. One-on-One, held each July in Chicago. You must be an established writer with the clips to prove it in order to attend.

2. The annual conference hosted by the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) is held every April in New York City. Non-members are welcome to attend, but members gain access to all events, including the personal pitch sessions.

3. For those among us who write or want to write books, attending the Book Expo America/Writers Digest Books Writer’s Conference is a great way to learn from seasoned authors and hone writing and marketing skills.

Namely, WTF happened to Tuesday’s entry? Sadly, a confluence of a deadline and a dearth of child care meant–and will mean–an occasional hole in our weekday posting. Hopefully we’ll have a great WooHoo or two to share next week!

Check out this Fortune Small Business article on marketing your business online; it’s especially helpful if you have a specialty you’d like to market, like, say, green business, a humor column, or combining writing with raising kids.