Freelancer Bylines: What They Are, Why They Matter & How to Get Some
When I first started out in freelance writing, I was so naive it’s unreal. Younger me was just excited that anyone wanted me to write for them, I didn’t really think about any of the nitty-gritty like getting paid or whether my name would be on the article once it was published.
At the time, I wasn’t pitching for articles or reaching out to editors. I got asked to help write some blog content and then my list of ‘clients’ (I never ever thought of them that way but I guess that’s what they were!) grew and that’s when the penny dropped. I realized, not only was I enjoying what I was doing, but I was also pretty good at it. And better yet, I could probably earn some income while doing it. So, I started being proactive in looking for more writing gigs.
That’s when the term ‘byline’ hit my radar.
Real Quick - What is a Byline?
In those early days I kept hearing the term ‘byline’: what are your bylines? Where do you have bylines?
It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that byline, is exactly what it says on the tin: a ‘by’ line. It’s the little name under the title of the article indicating who wrote it, as in ‘by Elaine Mead’. Freelance writers use bylines with a curated selection of publications to showcase who they have written for, build their portfolio, and develop the niche(s) that they write about.
Why Do Bylines Matter
Many big platforms and publications will generally want to see a strong set of bylines with publications that align with their own style of content and target audience. It helps editors to build confidence in commissioning a pitch from you, knowing you’ve had work published elsewhere, with platforms they trust.
Bylines also help indicate to editors that you’ve worked with someone in their position so you understand the pressures they’re under, which means you don’t skip deadlines, you respond promptly and you edit/fact-check your own work meticulously before you submit it to them.
As mentioned above, bylines are also super helpful for your own professional portfolio and writer ‘branding’. As a general human being, I’m interested in and curious about a whole range of topics, but some more than others. I’ve tried as much as possible to keep the content writing I do focused on those topics and they’re split pretty evenly down the middle: on one side, I write about careers, organisational psychology, and purposeful living. On the other side, I write about literature, books and writing. When I managed to narrow my broader portfolio down to these two core areas, it allowed me to set about targeting the publications who publish work in those topics and start building a set of bylines that helps me when pitching for new work.
5 Ways to Build Your Bylines
Speaking from personal experience, it’s definitely easier to get pitches and articles accepted when you have the right set of bylines to back you up. One question I’ve been asked a lot by others just starting out is how they get their first bylines. While it can definitely take time, it’s not impossible.
Here are five tactics I’ve previously implemented:
Do a little backward planning
Who are your dream publications? The big ones you’d love to have your name with one day? Make a list and then for each of those publications think about who their competitors are - which publications would you say are ‘one step down’ from those big names?
Repeat the process, take it back one step more. You’ll probably need to do some research here but you should end up with a good list of potential places to start reaching out to. Working backwards a little allows you to build a list of publications that your dream platforms will be familiar with and get some work with them first. You’ll also get to hone your pitches and work your way up.
Join writer groups on social media
I guarantee you are not the only one seeking to get started and wondering how to build bylines. Writers groups online are treasure troves of positive encouragement, a place to share failures and rejections (and get heaps of welcome empathy) but also a place to find opportunities.
I live in Australia and am part of Young Australian Writers. It’s a huge group and a place where quite a few editors go to drop call-outs, article requests, and all kinds of other juicy writer things. I’ve secured a few gigs from there based on an editor dropping a call for pitches and building a relationship with them.
Do a quick search and you’ll find a few in your own country or state - they’re definitely worth being a part of.
Write for free (hear me out)
I know, I know. We ‘should get paid for our creative outputs’ and I 1000% agree. But sometimes, doing a little something for free gives you that gold byline that you can leverage for paid work elsewhere.
I’m on the staff writer list for a pretty huge American based lifestyle publication. I won’t sell them out, but they don’t pay their writers. I write for them infrequently but having bylines with them alone has helped me to secure some pretty lucrative work elsewhere.
I’m not saying write for free for all the time, but sometimes it does pay-off long term.
Offer to help small businesses and not-for-profits
Starting a small business is time-consuming and often, these guys have very limited resourcing. When I wanted to build some more bylines in a specific niche around some educational psychology topics so I could write for a dream platform, I reached out to a few local not-for-profit youth clinics to offer to write a blog or two for their website. I kept my pricing low and managed to build a nice little portfolio that I then took to the larger publication to pitch for work with them.
It completely paid off and now I have a nice set of clients I can reach out to and who reach out to me for ongoing work.
Promote your value
Above all when pitching to secure bylines, know your value. Why are you pitching the piece to this publication specifically? Why you and why now? What will you personally bring that will make it worth the editor commissioning you?
It could be perfectly aligned personally experience, industry connections, or a killer source you can tap into to bring your article to life. Make sure the editor knows that you are the right person to write this piece for them and why it matters for their publication.
My biggest piece of advice when it comes to building your bylines is to give it time.
Just for the record, I’ll have been freelance writing for a decade at the end of this year. Yup. That’s a long time, but it’s only in the past couple of years I’ve really started getting the bylines I’ve coveted for a while. That’s not to say I haven’t written for some great places along the way! But there is definitely something to be said for earning your stripes as a writer.
Pick a starting point and get stuck in.
