You Can Make Six Figures as a Freelancer
2:45 – 3:45 p.m. ET
Many writers hear that freelancers can make six figures. ASJA member Debbie Abrams Kaplan share insights on ways to achieve this potential goal and leads a conversation about what actions you can take to get there.
Debbie Abrams Kaplan has been a 6-figure freelancer since 2018 but freelancing for more than 20 years. She writes mostly about health/medical topics, supply chain and business for both journalism and content marketing clients. Clients range from startups to Fortune 100 companies, as well as trade journals.
Dan Gerstein is founder and CEO of Gotham Ghostwriters, the country’s premier ghostwriting agency. With a network of more than 3,000 experienced freelance editorial professionals, Gotham specializes in books, speeches, reports and other sophisticated long-form writing for authors, speakers, and thinkers who need expert help to tell and sell their stories. Gerstein has been writing and communicating professionally for more than 30 years, starting as a local sports and news reporter before spending more than a decade as a political speechwriter, communications, and presidential campaign strategist and advisor, and then working as a contributing columnist for Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, and Politico, and political analyst for Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, WNBC-TV, and NY1. He lives with his family in Manhattan.
Shauna Rae is the founder of Radar Media and the host and producer of the Clearing a New Path™ podcast. Clearing a New Path™ aims to build a more united, progressive, feminist, anti-racist rural Canada. She spent 10 years as a radio and TV journalist and 10 more as a newspaper and magazine columnist. She also spent a decade in communications, PR and community engagement. Shauna values integrity, authentic leadership, social enterprise, the sharing of information, empowering others and continuous learning.
Richard Eisenberg “unretired” from his job as Managing Editor and Money & Work channels editor of Next Avenue, the PBS site for people 50+, in January 2022. The former Executive Editor of Money magazine, he now freelances for outlets such as Next Avenue, Fortune and Wirecutter; writes the MarketWatch column “The View From Unretirement;” helps run the NYU Summer Publishing Institute as its Digital Media Strategies Director; mentors journalists through Columbia University’s Age Boom Academy and the Gerontological Society of America’s Journalists in Aging Fellows program and volunteers for the American Society of Journalists and Authors and Furniture Assist.
Carl Landau is currently hosts of the popular podcast I Used to be Somebody, inspiring 50-plus-year-olds how to build their (Un)Retirement good life, including, of course, a little bit about the virtues of the game he loves — pickleball. He’s also co-author of the Amazon best-selling book, Pickleball for Dummies. He has been an entrepreneur since the age of 26 and has started and sold three successful media companies. Most recently, he was the “Grand Poobah” of Niche Media.
Lisa Fields is a freelance healthcare content marketing writer who specializes in health, psychology, nutrition, fitness, sleep and elder-care content. She writes B2B and B2C content for hospitals, health systems, medical schools and other clients. Her background is in magazine journalism, and she occasionally writes for publications like Reader’s Digest, WebMD and AARP. Lisa lives in South Jersey, in the Philadelphia suburbs.
Renée Bacher is a journalist, content marketing writer and ghostwriter who has covered a wide range of topics from parenting and pets to medical tech, operations management and supply chain challenges. She has used “body doubling” to be more productive for decades without even knowing there was a term for it.
Deborah Lynn Blumberg is a freelance writer and content marketer specializing in business and finance and health and wellness. She got her start at The Wall Street Journal, reporting on financial markets during the height of the credit crisis. From there, she worked in marketing and communications at J.P. Morgan. Now, she tells the stories of the people and companies changing our world for the better. Clients and publications include: The Washington Post, The Houston Chronicle, The New York Times T Brand Studio, J.P. Morgan, Mastercard, Stanford University, AAA, and the American Heart Association. She’s working on her first novel, inspired by the true story of how her great grandparents saved a group of refugees from the Holocaust with the help of a world leader.
Michele “Wojo” Wojciechowski is a national award-winning writer, author, and humorist editor, speaker, and stand-up comedian. Her work has appeared in publications/websites including Esquire, Vanity Fair, Parade, Reader’s Digest, PBS’ Next Avenue, Discover, AARP, Family Circle, Baltimore Magazine, and many more. Since 2003, she’s written the humor column, “Wojo’s World,” and she’s also the author of the humor book “Next Time I Move, They’ll Carry Me Out in a Box.”
Merlisa Lawrence Corbett
ASJA member Karen Bannan explains how she, Iyna Caruso, and other ASJA members on Long Island, NY, started a literary salon. Karen and Iyna will be available to answer questions on how you can start a salon in your area and the benefits of doing this.
Iyna Bort Caruso
Jennifer Billock (she/her/hers) is an award-winning writer, bestselling author, and editor. She edits the Kitchen Witch Newsletter. She is currently dreaming of an around-the-world trip with her Boston terrier. Check out her website at 
Sharon Elaine Thompson, GG, FGA, BFA, has written for jewelry industry trade journals on a variety of gemological, manufacturing, mining, and business topics for more than 30 years. She has developed educational materials for the Gemological Institute of America and the Diamond Council of America as well as high school textbook materials for Glencoe McMillan McGraw-Hill. Sharon has written young adult science books, including Death Trap: the Story of the La Brea Tar Pits; and Built for Speed: the Extraordinary and Enigmatic Cheetah. She writes women’s fiction under the name of Liz Hartley and copyedits work for other writers.
Spencer Boos is currently serving as ASJAs Membership Associate. He has extensive association experience, as he interned with an association for aging American citizens, serving as both an Administrative Assistant as well as a Member Service Representative. Spencer graduated from Iona College in 2022 after receiving his BA in History and minoring in Political Science. Spencer was born in Islip, NY, where he resides.
