John Hewitt has some advice for me.
If you want to have a career as a freelance writer, you need to view it as a business.
Freelance writing involves making sales. Being a salesperson means risking rejection.
There will always be better writers than you, and there will always be writers who are worse than you but make more money. Concentrate on your own career.
There’s plenty more great stuff in the article. And after that one, Hewitt goes on to write another one, this time filled with handy business tips:
Always keep a calendar. It should include such things as a writing schedule, upcoming meetings, assignment deadlines, submission response dates (expected replies), upcoming payments, upcoming publication dates and tax deadlines.
Track all of your submissions and replies. You can use a program such as Microsoft Outlook or simply keep a notebook or planner. There are plenty of planning / scheduling books at any large bookstore. Look around until you find one that seems to suit you. Read a book about time management while you are there. Time management is crucial for professional writers.
Start a filing system. Keep copies of all of your manuscripts and publications. Keep research files on the topics you write about. Keep all of your receipts and invoices. Keep all of your tax records.