It’s probably a safe bet that every freelance writer in the world has a vision in mind of their name being listed on a bestseller list, in a magazine TOC, or even in the credits of a movie. But it can take years of hard work before the world knows your name, and in the meantime, there are bills to pay. So you freelance, picking up jobs that will bring you a paycheck while you’re slowly crafting the next great DaVinci Code on the side.

There are all kinds of jobs available for freelance writers and editors, and every one of them is different. When you’re first beginning, it may be tempting to think you’re the best writer who ever lived and therefore you try to hold out for jobs that pay well. But believe it or not, the freelance writer market is overwhelmingly flooded most of the time, and it just continues to get more and more packed. With competition that fierce, your primary goal as a beginning writer should be to make a name for yourself so you stand out from the crowd. You have to establish a reputation for yourself before you can start to command the big bucks for your work.

So how do you build a reputation? Well, for starters, you should concentrate on getting your name in print—getting something published. It doesn’t have to be an article in Time magazine or a short story in The New Yorker right off the bat; all you need is top-notch samples of your writing with your name at the top, and you’ll have the beginnings of attaining credibility as a marketable published writer.

There are lots of websites where writers can post articles about whatever interests them. Although many of those sites don’t pay for submissions, they still allow you to post your own original writing along with your byline, so you’ll instantly have a publishable sample of your work to send to prospective employers, either in printed form or as a URL. And if you come across a site that actually pays for articles, even better.

An employer—particularly a high-profile employer such as a brand-name magazine, newspaper, or publisher—will rarely hire a writer based solely on a resume or a well-written e-mail. Having a few samples of your work readily available to send to prospective employers will greatly increase your chances of being hired for top-paying jobs. Published samples are your ticket to credibility as a writer. Not only will they will help you build a solid foundation of experience for your freelance career, they will help you make a name for yourself—you’ll be able to send prospective employers writing samples that carry your name. And thanks to the Internet, getting published has never been easier.

Tags: beginning freelance writer, byline, getting published, making a name for yourself, writing samples

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