Essential Resource for Freelance Writers! | The Well-Fed Writer: Financial Self-Sufficiency As a Freelance...

A fantastic book | The Well-Fed Writer: Financial Self-Sufficiency As a Freelance Writer in Six Months or Less | Peter Bowerman

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	• The Well-Fed Writer: Financial Self-Sufficiency As a Freelance Writer in Six Months or Less Peter Bowerman Fanove Publishing, 2000 - 282 pages average customer review:based on 130 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

voluminous guidance, tips, and techniques for the freelance writer

This is a companion handbook to Bowerman's previous The Well-Fed Self-Publisher. Its subtitle How to Turn One Book Into a Full-Time Living mirrors the subtitle of this book. Picking up where books on writing leave off--and usually leave the writer dangling--the concept of both books is earning money from writing. The self-publishing handbook goes into working with a book one has written; whereas this book goes into getting writing work from others. Bowerman is himself a prime example of what can be done in either enterprise. His Well-Fed Self-Publisher sold more than 50,000 copies bringing in enough income for him to support himself for seven years. Bowerman's enthusiasm and savvy as a motivational seminar leader and business coach carries into his books.

The author first lays out the terrain which he realizes is unfamiliar and thus somewhat forbidding to many writers. Marketing especially can be off-putting for writers used to working alone. In a full chapter titled Learning to Love S&M (Sales & Marketing), Bowerman gives guidance on developing a mindset for overcoming this. Early on, he also clarifies that his guidance and coaching are not aimed at having the writer "find your passion." Determined poets and novelists are not the target audience; though the handbook does contain material such writers could benefit from in getting their writing known to the public.

Bowerman thus focuses on practicalities, techniques, and tools. The tools are few--basically a computer and some promotional materials. It is what the commercial writer can do with these which generates work. A good website is a basic. Bowerman relates favorable design and optimum content for a website. The computer is also invaluable for promotion, communication with clients, management of tasks, and delivery of assignments.

The author gives not only psychological advise for feeling confident in making cold calls and other techniques for getting assignments, but also deals with practicalities of appropriate contacts in corporations and other businesses, proper research and preparation before approaching them, and focusing one's sales pitch to induce interest and at least leave an impression which may be beneficial in the future when not landing an assignment at the time.

Bowerman does not leave out anything of worth to the skilled writer wanting to get into the field of freelance commercial writing. Though as Bowerman advises, the writer wants to give quotes by a job, not hourly rates, hourly rates can range from about $60.00 to $125.00 or more for some specialized areas. The book's one weakness is that while it is systematic, it sometimes doesn't seem systematic with the author's enthusiastic desire to get in as much as possible to be as helpful as possible and the plain, simple formatting. Better use of graphics, including more imaginative use of type sizes and styles, would have made the book more reader-friendly. But this isn't really a drawback considering the patent relevance, usefulness, and guidance of this work of consummate interest to freelance writers in varied fields.

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Essential Resource for Freelance Writers!

"The Well-Fed Writer: Financial Self-Sufficiency as a Freelance Writer in Six Months or Less" by Peter Bowerman is an essential read for anyone considering or new to the world of freelance writing. Peter Bowerman makes the topic of owning your own business interesting and he offers a great deal of insight, having managed his own successful writing firm for many years.

It's hard to put this book down as each chapter gives lots of ideas and sound advice, often with a humorous tone, about the business of being a writer. This book has helped many writers launch their own writing businesses and be able to earn the kind of money to replace other less rewarding careers. I recommend this book to anyone who is considering leaving a corporate job to work as a freelance writer. It's a resource I turn to again and again, so will you!

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A fantastic book

If you've ever entertained the thought of being a freelance writer, or as Peter calls it, Freelance Commercial Writer (FLCW), this book will give you all of the information you need to start and run a freelance business. While most people think magazines when they hear "freelance writing," TWFW isn't about writing for magazines, but rather "commercial freelancing" - writing for businesses, large and small - a lesser-known and exceptionally well-paying freelancing specialty, where hourly rates can run $50-125 and more.

The bad news is that, like any business, if you don't do the work described in this book, you won't succeed. TWFW provides all the information necessary for creating a thriving freelance commercial writing business, but you must follow through. Should you purchase it? If you have ever thought of writing for a living like this reviewer has, yes.

The good news, according to TWFW, is that if you follow and implement the principles laid out in its pages, you can create an income that will allow you to leave the cubicle world and work from home on your terms. Reading TWFW is the first step. The book is full of information from someone who's been there and done the work, and is helping others by writing this book.

Topics covered include: Why become freelance commercial writers (writing for businesses) in the first place? The traits and first steps to becoming successful; sales and marketing fundamentals; all about websites; where to find the work; cold-calling; what to charge and how to get paid; networking; working in small markets (for those in rural areas); resources, and more can all be found in this wonderful book. This great reference should have a prominent place in your home office. It is within reach on mine. Read it before you begin and you'll save yourself a lot of trial and error.

Reading the success stories will show you it works no matter where you live. This reviewer lives in a town with a population of 1,600. For anyone considering writing as a way to make an income, this reviewer recommends purchasing this book. Also, check out The Deluxe Well-Fed Tool Box & The Well-Fed Writer's Time Line (discussed in the book).

This reviewer recommends this book for those thinking about freelancing (five-star rating).

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Excellent resource, with two caveats

Bowerman's book is absolutely an excellent resource for newcomers to the freelance writing field and even for seasoned pros. However, the book has two flaws that should be addressed.

Ironically, the first flaw is the sub-par writing. There a great many errors of grammar, punctuation, and usage throughout the book, including the incorrect use of "that" and "which," incomplete sentence fragments, misplaced commas, and many others. It's perfectly acceptable to ease up on the rules of language for promo copy, but "The Well-Fed Writer" itself is obviously a book ABOUT writing copy and, while the chatty, breezy tone is a pleasure to read, the text should have been more carefully copy edited.

The second flaw is the lack of gender-neutral writing. Most of the time, Bowerman uses male pronouns, and the very occasional use of "he/she," (so clumsy), "her," and "she" does not mitigate the fact that men are dominant in this book. Creating gender-neutral sentences is so easy that there is simply no excuse for not doing so.

Criticisms aside, you will not find a more valuable book on the subject of freelance commercial writing.

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Out Of Date

It is easy to see this was a good book when released.

However, it feels out of date. The book essentially revolves around the idea of becoming dominate in your "local market" i.e. the city in which you live. Phone calls and personal meetings are hugely important in world this book was written. Emails, not so much. The point at which Bowerman strongly suggests getting connected to the Internet is the case in point. Today, no writer would seriously consider not being connected the Internet.

As a result, the book becomes one to skim, not read in detail. The basics are sound but the means of execution are out of date. I have no had the chance to read the "Second Helping" book that Bowerman wrote in 2004 - perhaps that has more up to date information.

I wouldn't recommend buying this book. Get it from the library. It is no longer the kind of book you'll be lining with notes and post-its, so a library copy would suffice.

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Booklist

In 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 common-sense tips, too, in the psychology of handling clients who think they?re writers, those with limited budgets, and others demanding creativity. Personal anecdotes make the life of the freelancer real; the author includes samples of cold-calling scripts, thank-you notes, and a story or three about starting a writers? group and partnering with other professionals.

Book Description

Dream of being a well-paid freelance writer? Long to carve out an enviable lifestyle with plenty of freedom, flexibility AND healthy income? But wait a minute?aren?t 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 $50-100+ ($60-75 average) and where all time is billed? No flat fees with vast, open-ended commitments of time. Translation? Less time working to pay bills and more time pursuing your writing passions.

We?re talking about freelance commercial writing ? writing for business entities, large and small ? the subject of The Well-Fed 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 triple-book-club-selection (Book-of-the-Month, Quality Paperback Book and Writer?s 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 Writer?s Digest magazine National Self-Published Book Awards

3) Finalist in the Publisher?s 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 don?t have to pay salary, benefits, and vacation time. But they will pay a freelancer $60-80 (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 in-house staff writers used to writing about the same topics day after day) which they can form-fit to their specific writing needs.

What?s "commercial writing"? Marketing brochures, ad copy, newsletters, direct mail campaigns, video/CD-ROM 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 Well-Fed Writer will take you step-by-detailed-step through, indeed, everything you need to know to quickly get your share of this exciting and highly lucrative arena of freelancing.

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