What is a Freelance Writing Business?

A freelance writing business is a business that is owned and/or run by an individual who writes content for a variety of outlets. The freelance writer often gets paid on a job-by-job basis, though some freelance writers sign contracts with particular businesses or websites to develop content on an ongoing basis. A freelance writing business can be set up in several ways to accommodate a particular writer's needs, though in most cases, the writer offers his or her services to several business entities to develop content, write specific documents, or perform other writing and editing tasks a business or other entity may require.

Often, only one person runs or owns a freelance writing business, though this is not always the case. A freelance business can employ other writers and have them work on large projects, or several writers can work for a freelance writing business and get assigned specific work according to their talents. Most commonly, however, a freelance writer owns his or her own business and works independently. The projects he or she chooses to take on can vary significantly according to the writer's talents and goals, though most end up developing content of some sort for print or web resources.

Other freelance work may include editing services, in which the freelance writing business takes on a client who needs a document proofread, edited, or otherwise revised. Some writers act as ghostwriters as well, in which the writer will develop content but will not receive writing credit for the work. Freelance writers may write product descriptions in catalogs, content pages for websites, articles and essays for magazines, news content for websites, newspapers, and television news stations, and a variety of other types of content.

Freelance writers are most often self-employed, which means they must work as independent contractors. An independent contractor will work for a set period of time and a predetermined cost for another company who needs content developed or other writing services done. The writer must often then submit an invoice to the company who has hired him or her, and the company will then pay out the set amount. In many cases, this payment is untaxed, which means the writer will need to pay those taxes quarterly or at the end of the year when he or she reports this income. If a writer signs a contract with a company for a long-term project, that company may consider the writer an employee and may take out taxes rather than pay the writer as an independent contractor.