Come Write With Us
A 6-week workshop on making money as a freelance writer
"Come Write With Us is THE BEST writing course I've taken. As an experienced freelancer who's taken many classes over the years, the course taught me how to take my writing to the next level."
- Dr. Juli Fraga, psychologist & freelance journalist
"Come Write With Us is the freelance writing course I wish I had in college."
– Ransom Patterson, full-time freelance writer
Want in next time we open? Get on our wait list.
Two Published Authors Teach You How to Make a Living as a Writer
It’s possible to make a full-time salary as a freelance writer. We’re living proof.
We are Kristin Wong (Lifehacker, the New York Times, The Cut, Glamour) and Alex Webb (National Geographic, the Financial Times Press). We're full-time writers, journalists, and authors who built this freelance writing course to help you break into the writing business — the smart way.
We've been through it all: Pitching editors and never hearing from them, writing "opportunities" that are just unpaid gigs, applying for full-time writing jobs and competing with a zillion other writers, ugh. The list goes on.
Here's what most writers do (and what we did, for years):
❌ Dream of becoming a writer but never take action because they're terrified of failure. Writing remains an unpaid hobby.
❌ Spend hours writing a blog post that no one will ever see. Hope that someday, the right person will stumble upon their blog.
❌ Send hundreds of random editors pitch after pitch, tell themselves it's a "numbers game" and eventually, someone will bite.
❌ Agree to work for free because hey, "exposure" is better than nothing.
Sound familiar? Most writers approach the freelance writing business in a really inefficient, formulaic way that's a complete waste of time. Six weeks from now, you could be doing the same thing: telling a friend you want to "break into" writing, then churning out a few words on your laptop before you close it and give up because you have no direction or strategy. But why keep doing the same thing over and over if it's not working?
Instead of that typical writer nonsense, imagine being able to:
✅ Write for quality, top-tier publications.
✅ Pitch irresistible story ideas that editors can't turn down.
✅ Build a platform that speaks for itself so it's possible to find work.
✅ Earn hundreds (or thousands!) of dollars for your writing. Regularly.
Each of the above goals is possible. But most writers never reach these milestones. Most writers believe all writers are broke, starving artists and that's just the way it is. The freelancing writing industry perpetuates this myth.
It doesn't have to be this way, though. If you want to conquer this stereotype, you have to change your entire approach to writing. You have to start treating it as not just a hobby, but also a business – and that's harder to learn. In this course, we expect you to do the work it takes to make money as a freelance writer, but we show you how to do it in a more strategic, workaround way.
"This course gave me the tools I needed to pitch with confidence. Four weeks later, I landed a contract at the rate I wanted with my first ever freelance writing client."
– Jaime Escuder, Attorney & freelance writer
Learn what the biggest, best publications are looking for
In Come Write With Us, you’ll learn the exact strategies and tools we've used to make money with our writing and also write for some of the most well-known publications in the world, like the New York Times and National Geographic.
This course is based on our experience of being freelancers for over a decade. It's not the kind of stuff you learn in school. It isn't going to give you the tired, old advice to write ten articles a day for pennies or send fifty cold pitches a week. Instead, we'll teach you how to strategically position yourself so that you can make the right pitch to the right outlets and set yourself up for success. In our 6-week course, you'll learn:
- How to take your writing from amateur to professional: We'll tell you what the best publications and outlets expect when it comes to writing. Even if you write for a startup or smaller publication, this lesson will set your writing apart to ensure you beat the competition and get the gig.
- Our formula for an irresistible pitch. No more pitching random editors random ideas. We help you brainstorm epic ideas and turn them into irresistible pitches. Even better, we give you REAL EXAMPLES of ideas we've pitched! You can also get one-on-one feedback from us so that your next pitch will be a YES.
- How to establish your credibility. We walk you through building a platform, step-by-step, to establish your credibility as a writer. We’ll show you how we've positioned ourselves so that publications like The New York Times and National Geographic take notice.
- How to set rates (and negotiate better ones): Calculate how much money you can charge for your writing, depending on the outlet. Yes, we give you numbers. We also share specific tactics and scripts we've used to negotiate higher rates, even with our current publications.
- How to step up your freelance game. Learn strategies for leveraging small copywriting gigs or corporate blogging gigs into bigger, better, higher-paying publications. We'll give you examples of what editors are looking for and what makes them COME TO YOU.
Real Support, Real Results
Meet Your Teachers. They've Written for the Best Publications
Hi! I'm Kristin Wong, a writer, author, and journalist who has written for the New York Times, Glamour magazine, and New York magazine's The Cut. In 2010, I won an award from the Society of Professional Journalists for my work at MSN. I've appeared on BuzzFeed's AM2DM, Fox Business, and NPR to discuss my writing. My first book, Get Money, was published in 2018 with Hachette Book Group.
Hey, I'm Alex Webb. I'm a full-time free freelance writer and published author. I've authored, co-authored, and contributed to books published by National Geographic, the Financial Times Press, and Skyhorse. I'm also the founder of Take Risks Be Happy, an online magazine for creatives and entrepreneurs. I was shortlisted for the Bracken Bower Prize in both 2015 and 2016. I'm currently co-authoring a book for Oxford University Press.
We created this course partly out of frustration. For years, most of the traditional "break into the business" tactics we tried weren't working. So we started to try new things, then shared our best strategies with each other and with our fellow freelancers. We figured, why not share this with other writers, too?
Using the blueprint we share in this course, we've managed to:
✔️ Earn over $2,000 for a single article
✔️ Earn $100k a year from freelance writing
✔️ Land 5-figure book deals with major publishers
✔️ Write for the biggest publications, like National Geographic and the New York Times.
Don't get us wrong – the above accomplishments took time. But in accomplishing them, we learned critical lessons about how the freelance writing business works, not on paper, but in reality. These are the kind of lessons you won't learn anywhere else.
Here's What You'll Get...
6 Modules w/ Homework Assignments: Learn to build your writing habit, create a personal brand for your writing, and approach editors and publications. Complete with exercises & homework assignments.
Weekly Email Check-ins. Every week, you'll get a new email reminder with your assignments and course instructions. You'll have an opportunity to ask us questions or just get some feedback.
60-Minute Coaching Session. Get personalized guidance about your writing and your freelancing career. Ask us all the questions you want in a one-on-one Skype session or Google Hangout during the course. If you're shy, we can chat or answer your questions via email.
3 Live Group Q&A workshops. Meet your classmates and your teachers. Ask questions, get personalized help with your writing. You'll get access to recordings of the workshops, too.
Our Private Facebook Group, where you can get feedback on pitches and ask questions about prices, client issues, etc. We even post writing gigs.
3 Bonus Modules: Things you should know as you pursue your career: how to set rates, how to negotiate better ones, and how to protect yourself.
Real Writer Profiles: Candid interviews with working writers flourishing in their careers. Find out what they're doing to make it work.
You'll also get a stack of worksheets, schedules, and checklists to help you take action with what you learn. Download them or print them out.
Get started now!
The fact is, 85% of freelance writers barely make enough money to cover their living expenses. We’ll show you what the other 15% are doing.
We’re not the types who blindly promise that what works for us will work for everyone, but we know how to make money writing and have so much knowledge to share.
This Course Is For You If...
✔️ You've always wanted to be a professional writer but you don't know how. You like your 9 to 5 and all, but how cool would it be to finally pursue your longtime dream of writing?
✔️ You already make money writing, but you're ready to step up your game. The only writing gigs you get are "guest posts," copywriting gigs, or work that doesn't pay much (if anything at all). You want to know what it takes to get to the next level. We've been there, and we'll tell you what works.
✔️ You're ready to join a community of writers who know what they're doing and can help you figure it out, too!
Come Write With Us is everything we've learned about writing professionally, all in one convenient freelance writing course. Enroll and get all the tools, tricks, and info you need to go from "wannabe writer" to "gonnabe writer." Let's figure out what it takes to launch your professional writing career.
"I had so many questions as a new writer. This course breaks it down."
-Anna Weisend, Founder, ASerialLife.com
A preview of what you'll learn in each module
Week 1: Develop Your Writing Habit: Learn tips and tricks for making time to practice your writing and get better at it.
Week 2: Brainstorm Epic Ideas: Learn the strategies we use to come up with fresh ideas to write about. You'll brainstorm three solid ideas to get your writing noticed by editors, readers, and blogs.
Week 3: Write Like a Pro: Learn what the best publications in the world expect from their writers. Take your freelance writing to the next level. By the end of this lesson, you'll have one polished, professional writing clip to help jumpstart your career.
Week 4: Build Your Portfolio: A step-by-step guide to creating a platform and personal brand as a writer, which is a must if you want bylines. By the end of this lesson, you'll have an online writing portfolio that you can show editors and potential clients.
Week 5: Master the Art of the Pitch: Our tried-and-true formula for finding and pitching editors, media, and potential clients. We've used this formula to pitch the New York Times, National Geographic, and Glamour magazine. Get real examples of pitches that have worked.
Week 6: Build a Network: Build a network of writers and mentors to help supercharge your career. Learn how to reach out to established writers and influencers in an authentic, non-sleazy way.
Bonus: Find Gigs: Where to find work, beyond the obvious. A list of resources when you're just starting out and how to leverage small gigs into big publications when you're already established.
Bonus : Decide How Much to Charge: Learn how to set your rates. Learn our strategy for negotiating higher rates.
Bonus: Protect Yourself: Taxes, LLCs, media liability insurance...(oh my?)
Want in next time we open? Get on our wait list.