The WellFed Writer: Financial SelfSufficiency As a Freelance Writer in Six Months or Less,Used

BooklistIn this era of entrepreneurialism, Atlanta freelancer Peter Bowerman shows those timid (but talented) souls how almost anyone can forge ahead as an independent writer. His advice is good, couched in brassy prose that is easy to read. He anticipates every conceivable question and issue, including typical charges, marketing oneself, types of available work, and dealing with deadbeats. There are great commonsense tips, too, in the psychology of handling clients who think theyre writers, those with limited budgets, and others demanding creativity. Personal anecdotes make the life of the freelancer real; the author includes samples of coldcalling scripts, thankyou notes, and a story or three about starting a writers group and partnering with other professionals.Book DescriptionDream of being a wellpaid freelance writer? Long to carve out an enviable lifestyle with plenty of freedom, flexibility AND healthy income? But wait a minute?arent the words "starving" and "writer" forever joined at the hip? Not anymore.How about a writing direction with plenty of work, strong and growing demand for good writers, hourly rates of $50100+ ($6075 average) and where all time is billed? No flat fees with vast, openended commitments of time. Translation? Less time working to pay bills and more time pursuing your writing passions.Were talking about freelance commercial writing writing for business entities, large and small the subject of The WellFed Writer, and quite possibly the answer for all aspiring writers who want to turn their love of writing into their living. The book was a triplebookclubselection (BookoftheMonth, Quality Paperback Book and Writers Digest) and earned several prestigious awards in 2001:1) Second place in the ForeWord magazine Book of the Year Awards (Career Category)2) Honorable Mention in the Writers Digest magazine National SelfPublished Book Awards3) Finalist in the Publishers Marketing Association Ben Franklin Awards (Best First Book).Why commercial writing? In the past decade, two huge trends have sculpted the corporate American landscape: downsizing and outsourcing. Corporations are doing more with less: fewer people, less resources and smaller budgets. The workload is growing especially with the exploding Internet and many organizations rely heavily on freelancers to help them handle it.Why do corporations hire freelancers? For good solid economic and creative reasons. With a freelancer, corporations dont have to pay salary, benefits, and vacation time. But they will pay a freelancer $6080 (average) for their time. In addition, they pay only what they need when they need it. And with a network of freelancers, they get a broad spectrum of fresh talent (hard to get with inhouse staff writers used to writing about the same topics day after day) which they can formfit to their specific writing needs.Whats "commercial writing"? Marketing brochures, ad copy, newsletters, direct mail campaigns, video/CDROM scripting, speeches, sales sheets, proposals, web content, and so much more.Veteran commercial freelancer Bob Bly, known as the freelance writing "guru" for his 35+ writing titles, says of commercial freelancing: "I know of no other arena of writing so lucrative yet so easy to get started in."The WellFed Writer will take you stepbydetailedstep through, indeed, everything you need to know to quickly get your share of this exciting and highly lucrative arena of freelancing.