Copywriting?

Re: Copywriting?

Do you want to write ads or for a newspaper? Either way, I would contact ad agencies, tv and radio stations and newspapers. Generally, they'd like you to have a degree in History, English, Journalism or Communications. Public relations departments/firms also hire copywriters to write promotional materials.

Re: Copywriting?

I would love info on this too. I have a bachelors degree with a major in English, but have never worked in a writing field. Now that I am home with my daughter I would really like to start. Any tips or leads would be much appreciated.

Re: Copywriting?

As most of you know, I write for a publishing comany from home. It has been a good job and I have loved the money and the fact that I can write in my pajamas, late at night, basically at my convenience. But I am so tired of doing it. I love writing, but I am tired of writing FOR someone, to their standards. You have to be able to accept that sometimes you are going to write stuff that you KNOW is just plain BAD and even if you tell them it's bad, they are probably going to tell you, it's not your call, just write what we tell you to write. That was hard for me. The other thing is that it doesn't pay really, really well. I have made a lot of money writing for this company, but I have worked A LOT. What I make per assignment is not much, but I do enough assignments to make it worth it. For me, the work was good, and I enjoyed it, but it's really run its course. (Oh, and I have a degree, too. I have a Bachelor of Arts in Middle Grades Education--my major was Language Arts and my minor was Social Science.) I also know that you need to be selective about what kind of writing you do. If you start writing for a newspaper, then a lot of publishing companies don't want you and vice versa. It's a different style of writing, different environment, so think about what you want to do, and go from there. Also check out moneymakingmommy.com because they have writing jobs listed on there. Good luck!
As for the copywriting, I think it's a very competitive field. I have looked into this, and I also think it's like real estate was a few years back. Lots of people are taking copywriting courses and are trying to get into the field so the field is saturated with candidates. You should check out Peter Bowerman's website. I think it's The Well Fed Writer (if you google that or his name, you should find it). He is big into copywriting these days and is great about offering tips. I have emailed with him before, so I would think if you emailed him, he would write you back.

Re: Copywriting?

Thanks so much for the information Tammy! If you don't mind my asking, how did you originally get started with your job?


Kim