Today’s guest is Katie Lewis. Katie has been freelancing as a writer, editor, and journalist since 2006. She is the author of Cheers, Somebody, which is a collection of short stories about Nashville and St. Louis. In this podcast you will learn:
How to build a freelance career in journalism and content marketing
How fiction writing can help move your career forward and improve your writing skills
How to create a safety net of work, guard against financial worries, and land on your feet after being laid off
Katie Lewis on freelancing:
Katie’s thoughts on being a published author and how it helps her career
Why Katie is embarrassed of the first version of her portfolio
How a small clause in a contract helped Katie get into freelance writing
Why freelancing was a plan B but due to luck she managed to fall on her feet and become a freelance success
Why it’s a struggle to write content in your own voice for self-promotion
Katie’s analysis of networking to get work online vs offline networking and which might suit you
How Katie is balancing marriage and family while running a freelance business
Katie’s analysis of Patagonia and why storytelling helps the brand shine and why vulnerability is essential for storytelling success
Why Katie dips back into full-time work every now and then
How a lay off powered Katie into freelance success
Listen to Katie’s advice to launch your career and building out your portfolio
“When freelancing gets tough, I ask myself ‘what am I going to do if I’m on my deathbed and I haven’t written anything or taken on projects that have excited me, and I only did the bidding of my bosses?’”
Katie Lewis on writing:
Why Katie sets a word goal target rather than allocated time to write
Why Katie’s writing hack is to have enough to drink
What Katie’s mornings looked like and how she gets started writing each day
How writing and creativity has evolved and changed in Katie’s life being a mother
Why and how Katie uses different word processors and writing techniques for different end points
What Katie’s ideal writing environment looks like
Katie’s opinion on writer’s block from both a fiction and nonfiction point of view
What life looks like as a published author and what’s next for Katie
“You have to make time for writing everyday, because your writing is just better for it.”
People, resources, tools:
Devin Bramhall’s episode and how she built her career on storytelling
Jessica Greene’s episode and how she rose early to produce freelance work when changing careers
Katie’s writing process involves around Google Docs
Books to become a better writer: bird by bird by Anne Lamott, Letters to a Young Writer by Colum McCann
About our guest, Katie Lewis
Katie Lewis is the author of Cheers, Somebody, which is a collection of short stories about Nashville and St. Louis. She’s been freelancing as a writer, editor, and journalist since 2006. Katie runs her own writing business where she coaches full-time and freelance writers to meet their writing goals and guides them through their creative work and marketing copy. She’s also a content marketer composing online and print materials. She’s worked at Emma, Buffer, and with many more local and national businesses.
Find Katie on:
Twitter @KathrynDLewis
About our host, Adam Rogers
Adam Rogers is the host and producer of the Boston Content Podcast. By day, he is a content marketer at Shopify, the ecommerce platform. By night, he is still Adam Rogers but it's nighttime. He loves writing, but he's sure it hates him. He's a lover of books, music, guitars, and his wife Lacey.
Find Adam on:
Twitter: @AdamRogersUK