It’s the moment every freelance writer dreads: You email an editor with a query, and it bounces.

Surprise: Your editor contact has been fired. Or they’ve quit.

This used to be a disaster, a decade or so back.

Especially when it was an editor you had an ongoing relationship with, who could be relied on to feed you a steady stream of article assignments.

Suddenly, hundreds or even thousands a month in previously reliable monthly revenue just vaporized. And you were scrambling to find a new gig to replace it.

Before the Internet, when this happened, your editor went “poof” and disappeared.

The email and phone number you had for her were no longer good.

She just vanished. You didn’t know where she’d gone. And you had no way to stay in touch.

Often, that was the end of your relationship with that publication.

It happened to me more than once. But then, the Internet was born.

Turning editor loss into opportunity

More recently, I’ve learned how to turn unexpected editor departures into opportunities to double my income, or even more.

In one case, I added tens of thousands of dollars of additional annual income, thanks to an editor change!

How? Here’s the first step: Don’t freak out.

Keep a positive attitude. Feel confident that this situation can work in your favor.

Remember, this is not about you. Sometimes, it’s not even about your editor, but about changes in leadership or direction higher up at the organization.

If you’re heartbroken this editor relationship has ended, mourn in private.

Then, you’re ready to take steps to double down your income. Here’s how I dealt with multiple editor departures over the past few years:

1. Pitch the new editor

Keep your ears peeled for the announcement of the new editor at the publication where you’ve been writing. The minute you know who it is, swing into action.

Send her a LinkedIn connection invite and introduce yourself: “Hi! I’m a longtime writer for your magazine — looking forward to working together.”

Yes, get the subliminal suggestions rolling: You’re going to hit it off.

Follow this up by immediately pitching a few well-researched story ideas that show your value to the publication. New editors are always scrambling to put together that first issue under their watch. Show you’re a problem-solver she can rely on.

2. Do not discuss the past

If your new editor rings you up, do not stoop to gossip. Answer any attempts to pump you for info on the previous regime with, “I was just a freelancer, so I didn’t hear the details” or similar vague reply.

Do not bring up that you were the past editor’s favorite. Or that you’ve been writing here for years.

You don’t have tenure anywhere as a freelance writer. This editor owes you nothing.

Don’t spend a moment discussing the previous editor or your previous work. You don’t want this editor to associate you with the past regime any more than she already will.

Many new editors come in with a plan — sometimes even a mandate from the publisher — to “clean house” and bring in new writers. Your job is to show her that if this editor is looking to take the quality up a notch, you’re the writer who can deliver that.

You’re here, you’re up to speed, you know their topic like the top of your kid’s head, and you’re ready to help refresh this publication.

3. Snag an assignment ASAP

Often, in the chaos that follows editor turnover, there’s an opportunity to make a good impression on the new editor.

Keep your head down, keep pitching, and if you can get an assignment, crush it and turn it in on time.

Remember, you need to prove yourself all over again. Your past track record at the publication means little to an editor looking to make changes, and may even work against you.

Show her you could be a valued part of the new team, even if it means taking a short, front-of-the-book type assignment. Anything to start the relationship going with your new editor.

Meanwhile…

4. Find your previous editor

If you weren’t already connected on LinkedIn, send an invite to her the minute you hear she got the ax.

Be sympathetic and supportive, without asking any questions about why she’s left:

“Sorry to hear you’re leaving X Magazine. I’d like to stay in touch on here — hope we have a chance to work together again soon!”

Yes, once again, start the subliminal suggestion machine going: You’re going to work together again in the future.

For that to happen, your editor needs to find a new publication to edit. And that gives you a chance to do something that will make your former editor love you forever — and call you the minute she gets a new job.

5. Send your editor job leads

If you’re scanning writer job ads, you’ll often find a few editor gigs in there, too.

Find any that seem remotely appropriate for your out-of-work editor? Send them over.

“I spotted this opening, and it made me think of you!” I’d say.

Back in 2009 and 2010, when every editor seemed to be losing their job, I did this a lot.

One former editor got a steady stream of job leads from me. Eventually, she got another job — and assigned me dozens and dozens of articles, over the next several years. Many of them were at $1 a word.

Here’s the magic: I don’t even think the gig she got was from one of my leads. In the end, she found it on her own.

But that didn’t matter.

When you help your editor job-hunt, your relationship changes forever.

She learned you don’t just care about her when you can get money from her. You care about her. You’re friends.

Build personal friendships with editors, and you’ll never go hungry.

Meanwhile, what about the publication my editor left years ago? The editor staff has turned over several times since then…and I’m still writing there.

What do you do when an editor leaves? Leave a comment and tell us your approach.

Here’s something that happens to most freelance writers, early on in their career:

You’re out there, sending query letters or pitching companies your marketing writing help. And finally, one of them actually calls you back.

You meet. They want to work with you. They make you an offer, and you accept.

Ecstasy!

Then you go home and think about what just happened, and a terrible gnawing feeling of dread begins to form in the pit of your gut.

Soon, you’re freaking out.

You realize you have no clear idea how to do this assignment.

You’re not sure you can do it.

And now you’re terrified you’re going to flub this up and look stupid.

How to stop freaking out

The first thing to do in this scenario is realize that worse things have happened.

And that this has happened to many other writers before you.

Likely, no lives are at risk here.

Even if you mess this up totally, you will not die. And this one disaster will not destroy your chances of having a freelance writing career.

Now that you have a perspective on your situation, you’re ready to fix this and get your assignment done — and done right.

Here are seven tips for ending the panic and getting your assignment back on track:

1. Breathe. Don’t do anything in haste. Stop and analyze your situation. Do a calming activity until you can think rationally about the situation.
2. Find out why. What is the cause of your panic about this gig? Once you put your finger on it, you can start solving the problem.
3. Ask lots of questions. Now you can go back to your client to resolve your issue by asking for more information. Say, “How many sources would you like to see in this story?” or “Who is the core audience for this marketing piece?” or whatever you forgot to ask — or didn’t realize you needed to know until later. Get the knowledge you need to create a roadmap for writing this. Editors will not be put off by a request for more information. It shows you care about making this assignment the best it can be.
4. Break it down. Often, I find, the cause of freak-out is overwhelm. Make a list of all the tasks that need to happen related to this. Next, put them in priority order. Now, start at number one, and just focus on getting that done. Then, move on to the next step. See, don’t you feel better already?
5. Learn more. If you’re stuck midway through an assignment with a problem — like a source that’s flaked out on you — go back to your editor or marketing manager and ask them how you should proceed. Editors just hate surprises, so they’ll respect you for telling them early while there’s still time to fix it, rather than giving them an ugly surprise later when you turn in a mess. Or, if you feel like you don’t know enough about your topic, find another expert to interview. Do more online research. Fill in the holes.
6. Ask for more time. Often, there is wiggle room in deadlines. If you’re concerned you can’t get it done on time, ask if it would be a problem to take another day or week. Yes, it would be more pro to turn it in on time. But if you can’t turn in top-quality work on time, great work that’s a little late (and with the editor knowing it will be late) is better than crappy work on time.
7. Get an expert’s advice. Many new writers would love to bounce these dilemmas off a pro writer and get their advice, I’ve learned. I get so many questions from freelance writers who’re in a panic about their gigs and need answers right away that I created a community for writers looking to grow their income. Freelance Writers Den offers tons of ecourses, weekly live events, and supportive forums where your question gets answered by a pro within a day — and usually within a few hours.

What do you do when you’re in a panic about a freelance writing assignment? Leave a comment and add to my tips.

P.S.: The Den is closing to new members tomorrow. Won’t open again until summer. If you’re interested, join now.

Today, I bring you good news about freelance writing:

There has never, ever been a better time to be a writer.

I know what you’re going to say: Haven’t I noticed the daily-paper world is in collapse? Magazines have folded. Many online sites pay squat.

So how can I make this claim?

Here’s why the golden age for writers is now

There are three reasons why things have never been better for freelance writers. They’re all things the Internet has made possible:

1. It’s spawned huge numbers of new, paying markets and made existing magazines and companies need a strong online presence
2. It’s now possible for writers to get these gigs even if the client is based half a continent or half a world away
3. It’s handed writers the freedom to make money from their own blogs, websites, ebooks and print-on-demand physical books

Compare this with the supposedly wonderful days of last century. There were a fairly set number of major magazines, major newspapers, major corporations, and major book publishers that paid well. If you couldn’t crack some of these, you didn’t earn so great.

In the case of books, your novel often never saw the light of day, or if it did manage to get published, your royalty rate was usually pretty small. Now, you can self-publish and keep every dime of revenue over the modest cost of creating your product.

The Internet has introduced new business models that scads of startups are trying out. These online markets are attracting venture capital and in some cases real revenue…which is opening up many new opportunities to earn.

It used to be difficult to make connections with companies or magazines that weren’t in your town. Either you wrote awesome query letters and then waited two months or so for a mailed response, or you got on planes and went to trade shows in hopes of meeting editors. Now, Twitter, LinkedIn or just a simple email can instantly connect us to new editors wherever they are, and help us land gigs.

Here’s the amazing opportunity

But really, nothing is as life-changing for writers as the ability to have unlimited earnings by writing your own products and selling them online.

Let’s pause to fully appreciate the empowering moment we are living in right now. If you have an idea for a how-to book, or a novel, you can shop it to a traditional publisher if you like. OR…you can just write it, build an audience for it on your blog, and sell it to your readers. And keep selling it, over and over, for years to come. No gatekeeper can stop you from publishing now.

Instead of earning $100 from an article, or $1,000, you can earn from it indefinitely. You can repackage a blog post into an ebook, which gets bundled into a course, or gets you consulting work. The possibilities truly are endless.

Your earnings are limited now only by your imagination, and your willingness to dive in and master these new methods of making your writing pay.

But then there’s the tricky part

If everything is so fantastic, what is holding so many writers back from earning a good freelance living?

I believe it’s change.

Things have changed a lot for writers in the past decade or so. It can be pretty boggling. Many writers I’ve talked with are still in mourning for a writing ecosystem that is gone and never coming back — one where they didn’t even have to know how to write headlines, much less how to use blogging platforms and Twitter. Today, writers have to know how to market their writing more actively than before.

While there may be more opportunity today — boundless opportunity, really — two things have to happen for writers to take advantage of it.

The first one is a mindset change: Writers have to not only accept, but embrace the new reality of our lives. Throw off your black clothes and realize these are the good old days.

The second one involves learning: Writers who want to take full advantage of the opportunities online need to learn how to create a powerful blog.

Commit to constantly seeking more information about how you can improve your online presence. Take it from me, every small change you make will make a difference. Even if you aren’t getting many readers, comments, or subscribers now, you can learn how to grow your audience, improve engagement, and use your blog to get gigs and sell your work.

One problem with learning how to create a great blog is that it’s easy to spend a lot. I’ve seen coaching programs that cost $8,000, courses that cost $2,000, and I know writers who’ve spent thousands on designers for their blog.

But I don’t believe it’s really necessary to spend a fortune to succeed online. I certainly haven’t!

Sure, there’s a lot of information available for free, on this blog and many others. But at some point you need a successful blogger to break it down for you and show you specifically what pro bloggers are doing in the design, layout and content of their blogs that attracts an audience and makes readers want to come back again and again. Having started from nothing myself, I can tell you there are simple tricks you can learn that will improve your results right away.

I’m going to be teaching people dozens of those tricks on March 15 at the Webinar 30 Design & Content Secrets to Skyrocket Your Blog, which I’m presenting with my fellow Top 10 Blogs for Writers winner Judy Dunn of Cat’s Eye Writer. We’ll be looking at participants’ actual blogs and showing exactly how to make them better. You can ask us about your blog and get answers — live.

If you’re just getting ready to start your blog…here’s a chance to avoid many common mistakes of new bloggers. Learn exactly what needs to be on your blog — and what doesn’t.

Start your learning March 15, for less than the price of one decent dinner out. Just click the big button to register.