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Between an out-of-state move and the third trimester of pregnancy, I've given myself a work hiatus since October, but I've been a freelance writer since leaving my full-time position in August 2013. My previous job was in public relations. I only had three years of experience under my belt, but I had a strong relationship with my boss and colleagues, so they continued to send special projects my way and let me know about opportunities.

Specifically, I've written for a quarterly magazine (the editor is a former coworker), an internal weekly newsletter for my former company (over 50,000 employees), and some articles for affiliated charities (I worked for a nonprofit hospital organization). The bulk of my work has actually come from developing and preparing weekly reports to summarize their media coverage (number of hits, executive summaries on topical coverage, critical issues etc).

As a disclaimer, I probably only worked 10 hours each week on average. I'm not looking to make it a full-time gig at this point - I just want to keep my toe in the professional water and make some supplementary fun money. I don't have any child care, so I mostly worked nights and weekends. But I do know several freelance writers who work 40+ hours each week - it's definitely doable as a FT career! It can be a little hard to get started, but use your contacts, pitch editors of community magazines and that sort of thing, and maybe create an online portfolio featuring your best writing samples.

I am so, so much happier after making the choice to pursue freelancing. You have a lot more control over your schedule, your work, your rate, etc. Sometimes it's tough to find work, sometimes it's tough to get it done at odd hours, but overall it's wonderful. Let me know if you have any other questions!

I do freelance writing on the side – I started with gigs on elance and still take jobs on there, but also was able to get referrals and additional work from my own personal network, former employer networking and via through private work offered from some of the first elance jobs I had.

I had experience drafting RFP responses (both private sector and complying with the federal RFP guidelines and rules), and that was useful in getting my foot in the door for several larger projects that I networked via my former employer. That’s sort of specialized work though.

I’ve ended up with a lot of jobs in the real estate industry – writing prospectus portfolios for several luxury investment opportunities, home buyer/seller guides for a couple of realtors, blog articles, etc. I also create blog content for several other industries, sales and marketing materials, other social media content, and a bunch of jobs that just required good/extensive research.

The hardest part for me was figuring out a fair $ for a job while taking into account the tax implications. Once those 1099’s rolled around last year, I owed a bit more than I thought I would/had hoped.

I can’t see myself trying to freelance FT because I really love my current employer and job, and because I don’t foresee myself being able to recreate my salary + benefits via freelance work. So, it’s just side work for me; but I really like enjoy it. I love research and writing and it's fun to do totally weird and different things sometimes!