Looking In/Looking Out – Taking Criticism

By Amanda Smyth Connor

Constructive criticism is equally as helpful as it can be hurtful. Being able to take criticism and apply it to your craft is one of the toughest lessons to learn, and for those who are new to the freelance business (or any business for that matter) taking criticism from an editor, boss or even a coworker can plant the seed of doubt in your mind and can create insecurity instead of fostering growth.

There are two ways to handle constructive criticism.

1. The Good Way: Let’s say your boss comes to you with a list of ways in which your writing needs work. Hopefully, you have a great editor who has tact and can approach the situation with a fair balance of what you do well coupled with what needs improving. The best way to approach this situation is with gratitude. If your editor didn’t care, they wouldn’t be passing along their assessment. … Continue Reading

Overselling/Underselling Yourself

By Amanda Connor

I have been caught in this web of imbalance before. It is as easy to oversell yourself as it is to undersell yourself to a prospective client.

On days when I’ve felt terribly confident in my abilities and perhaps caught a really inspirational Lifetime movie that hammered home the idea that “I can do ANYTHING I put my mind to,” I may have taken on a project that was clearly over my head, and later lived to regret doing so.  On other days, when I’ve felt overwhelmed or exhausted, I haven’t taken the time to really sell my abilities and I’ve missed out on some great writing opportunities.

The only answer to finding this perfect balance of appropriately selling your abilities is to take the time to really evaluate your own work and to give yourself room for introspection.

Questions to ask yourself to prevent overselling:

1. If this project sounds challenging, am I genuinely interested in the subject matter?

2. Do I have the energy and drive to put into taking on a project like this?

3. Will taking on a challenging project like this boost my knowledge/skill set for future projects? Will this increase my value as a writer?

4. What’s my motivation: the subject matter or the paycheck?

Questions to ask yourself to prevent underselling:

1. What other projects have I worked on that are most worth mentioning? Highlight these projects. Now is not the time to be modest.

2. If I’m not giving this pitch my all, why not? Fatigue? Burn out? Stress? Lack of interest in the project?

3. Am I being too timid about my abilities? Focus on the most difficult project you have taken on to date and ask yourself: Am I capable of producing even better/more challenging work?

Whether you suspect you are underselling your abilities, or you are coming down from the high of another great project and feel like you can take on the world, save yourself the frustration of a botched opportunity by remaining grounded in where you stand, as well as remaining focused on each new step in your writing career.

A Freelance Travel Writing Experiment

by Joe Wallace

I love travel, and I love travel writing. So why haven’t I done that much in 2010? Because I let myself get tied down to a freelance gig that required me to show up onsite several days a week or take meetings that tied me to the company’s secure site which was tricky to access even ONSITE.

So I wound up being tied to a desk. It was worth it financially–I built up my war chest and was able to finish the project, choose not to renew with that client and concentrate on my own work after the project was done.

And now I’m taking full advantage by doing some travel and travel blogging.

Specifically, I’m doing a cross country trek to blog about indie record stores between Chicago, Illinois and New York City. It’s called Vinyl Road Rage, and I’m taking a dozen days on the road, blogging the whole way for Turntabling.net.

But I’ll also be posting along the way for Freelance-Zone.com because the issues I’ll be facing on the road are travel writing issues. How do I connect on the road? How do I juggle my travel with my other clients–who I won’t be putting on hold during the trip? How will THAT work out? I will give reports along the way about the trials, tribulations, almost-busted deadlines and much more.

After all, the idea of being a freelancer is being FREE. If I’m true to the freelance ideal, I should be able to travel for nearly two weeks, make my freelance clients happy AND post about it all here…right? Let’s take this journey together and see what happens. My road trip begins today, Thursday August 12, 2010…time to hit the road!

–Joe Wallace

All About ME–Shameless Self Promotion and the Freelancer

I’ve been writing professionally in one form or another since 1987, and in all that time one of my biggest challenges has been getting comfortable with the idea of shameless self promotion.

Don’t get me wrong–today, I love it more than coffee. But in the early days of my writing career I wasn’t confident in my skills, and as a result I always felt like I was selling snake oil to people. The lack of confidence made me feel like I was getting away with something every time I landed a gig or got praise for something I worked on.

And that is a key issue in successful personal PR as a freelancer–believing in yourself enough to sell what you’re doing. I believe many people can detect that self-doubt even in the strongest of queries, sales pitches, etc. It’s almost as if they can smell the desperation coming through in the e-mails, the phone calls, and face-to-face meetings.

Is confidence in your own abilities what makes the sale?

I believe there’s no substitute for a well-written query, cover letter or resume…but I also think those are TOOLS, not the end itself. The query letter is just a sales pitch, after all. Ditto for the resume or proposal. What are these tools supposed to do? Sell YOU.

If confidence is the key, what does it take to get it? So many freelancers are afraid of making mistakes, of sending the wrong thing to the wrong people. I’ve been advising people to stop fussing so much over these issues and just get out there and DO IT. When I was a noob freelancer, I actually copied the format and presentation of successful query letters, not realizing that I would actually sell my ideas better in my own voice.

Today I’d rather shoot myself than copy someone else’s approach–but only because I’ve learned through trial and error that when I do things my own way, my confidence in my approach seems to be far more obvious. And I think in the end, that helps close the deal. … Continue Reading

#BlogHer10 – To All My LadyBloggers

By Amanda Connor

Fact: 50% of your time as a professional freelancer should be spent working. The other 50% of your professional time should be spent networking and keeping on top of new trends in the industry.

Networking can be painful – root canal painful. Having to chat up a crowd of strangers can be a miserable and awkward experience. However, BlogHer10 is not your standard networking schmoozefest/snoozefest. It is two days of intensive seminars, hands-on learning and meeting the top female bloggers helping to drive the blogging industry. (Did I mention that this will be an all-women conference?)

What is BlogHer.com? It’s an online community of female bloggers who host, post, dish and share.

BlogHer10: As I write this, hundreds of female bloggers are preparing to descend upon New York City for two days of lectures, meet-ups, round-table discussions and Q&A sessions. I’ve rarely seen this much excitement surrounding a networking event. The buzz is immense on Twitter and Facebook and it makes me wish I was going! This year marks the sixth annual BlogHer conference, and as it has every year before, this year’s event is completely sold out.

This mega-conference, hosted and run by BlogHer.com, will focus on bringing the BlogHer community together to meet, greet, eat and learn together. Lectures this year range from general topics like “Usability Basics for Newbies” to hyper-focused topics like “Fashion Blogging” and how to handle your own blog photography and images. Essentially, this is blogger bootcamp, designed to celebrate and foster growth within the female blogging community. Can I get a “heck yeah” from all the blogger ladies out there? Woot.

From newbies who need tips on working a Wordpress blog, to professional bloggers looking for better ways to utilize their metrics, this event has it all. Check out the agenda. It makes me salivate.

If you are lucky enough to be attending this year, you have LOADS of networking opps, educational opps and FREE SWAG to look forward to (my God…the swag….the beautiful, beautiful swag.) If you missed out this year, keep it in mind for next year. And if this isn’t up your alley (or if you are of the male gender…) you should be keeping tabs on the best networking events in your area. These events can be invaluable.

Feeling Listless?

by Mike O’Mary

Do you keep a “to do” list? I do. Don’t ask me why. I used to think I kept a list to help keep me organized. And I suppose that’s true, because making a list does helps me prioritize things. But more important to me was the belief that if I wrote it down, I wouldn’t have to worry about remembering it later. And if I didn’t have to worry about remembering anything, I could run around leading a happy-go-lucky, carefree existence.

But for some reason, it doesn’t seem to work that way. Instead, I walk around like Atlas, but instead of the weight of the world on my shoulders, it’s the weight of my little to-do list.

Every once in a while, I pull the list out and study it. Sometimes I even catch myself moving my lips as I read my list–sort of like saying my own little prayer or penance several times a day. Then I put the list away, confident that everything I need to worry about is there, tucked safely in my pocket.

Unless, of course, I forget to put something on my list. This thought had me so worried for a while that I began writing things down on little scraps of paper and stuffing them in my pocket to be added to the master list at a later date. This, I usually did on Saturday morning, and I always took great pleasure in scratching “consolidate lists” off my to-do list.

But then I realized it was kind of ridiculous to keep a list of things to be added to your list. So now I’m back down to just one list.

Well, sort of. I mean I do have separate lists for work and for home. I also have a third list somewhere of longer-term, personal goals. I’m pretty sure one of my long-term goals was to stop keeping lists. Unfortunately, I don’t know where I put my list of long-term goals. Guess I’d better add “find list of long-term goals” to my to-do list for this week.

Mike O’Mary is founding dreamer of Dream of Things, a book publisher currently accepting creative nonfiction stories for anthologies on 15 topics, including an anthology titled Making Waves – Stories About Role Models Who Inspire and Motivate Us.

Follow Your Child’s Lead with a Summer Reading List

By Amanda Smyth Connor

I love reading. Growing up as an only child, I could often be found nose deep in a book. I owe my love of writing and words to this solid foundation in reading, and what better way to celebrate summer than by getting back to my roots.

I started by joining Goodreads.com to see what my friends were reading. I compiled a list of great recommendations, as well as tried and true heroes, and I’ll be spending my precious free time this season catching up on my sorely overlooked reading list.

Here’s what I’ll be reading (or re-reading) this summer:

1. The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde) – This beautifully written, dark tale is a classic story of narcissism, innocence lost, and man’s fall from grace. It’s also, on the most basic level, a haunting tale of temptation. It’s a GREAT read and you owe yourself at least one good period piece this summer.

2. Nine Stories (J.D. Salinger) – If you have never read Salinger, this is a wonderful starter book. To be honest, I really didn’t like Catcher in the Rye. I find Nine Stories to be a far superior read with vastly more interesting stories. Did you know that Salinger loved to play with stories about fate, destiny and psychic abilities? Now you know. Enjoy.

3. World of Pooh: The Complete Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner (A.A. Milne) – This one you can enjoy with your kids. While this may be classified as a children’s book, the stories of Pooh and his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood is timeless and Milne has such a refreshingly simplistic writing style. It’s like a breath of fresh air from the wordy blog posts I torture you with.

4. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Hunter S. Thompson) – Wild ride, man. Buckle up, sit back and enjoy the ride through the mind of Hunter S. as he embarks on a drug-addled, mind-bending, Gonzo-journalistic adventure through Las Vegas and back. This book is equal parts exhilarating and hilarious. You won’t regret this.

5. In Cold Blood (Truman Capote) – Classic journalistic style sets the framework for this true story about a family murdered and the detective efforts surrounding uncovering the killer and how this family died. Capote humanizes the characters in a seemingly effortless way. This is not only a piece of great literature, but a flawless example of journalistic story crafting.

I find inspiration in the great writing of others, and it’s nice to sit back and soak in the efforts of other great writer’s once in awhile. Rest, relax and rejuvenate this summer with some great books of your own. Got a great reading recommendation for me? Pass it along! I need more recommendations!

How To Start Freelancing Part 3: Where To Send Your Query or Content

by Joe Wallace

Once you’ve picked out a publication or two to submit articles or other content, you need to know how the process works when it comes to actually firing off those query letters and articles.

There’s no one right way to submit content to a mag, website, or publisher. There are some best practices, though.

First, do your homework. Research the magazine to find out who the editorial staff is and how you can contact them. Don’t waste time sending queries and articles to the editor-in-chief of a big publication, look for a departmental editor instead. On small publications the editor-in-chief may well be the right person. It all depends…

Sometimes all you have to do is call the magazine and ask who you should send a freelance article query to, but sometimes you might have to do some detective work if you can’t get the help you need by phone or by looking at the masthead of the publication or the About Us section of the website.

Here’s a clue to finding the right editor. If you can’t get a specific name, pick an email address that IS available and write a quick e-mail asking for some help in the right direction. Usually e-mail addresses for people far lower on the the magazine’s staff are listed–use one of them but remember that you’re not sending your actual query or work to them–just requesting information.

Here’s my secret for getting the right names and e-mail addresses. You will often find more useful information in the ABOUT US section of a publication’s website. CONTACT US sections aren’t as useful in my experience. Go to ABOUT US first. Many list the editors, e-mail addresses and other crucial information. … Continue Reading

How to Start Freelancing Part 2

by Joe Wallace

In my first post on How To Start Freelancing (part one of 1,000,000) I discussed how to properly outfit yourself to do the work. From here we’ll assume you’ve got your tools and are ready to get started. What next?

Let me start by saying there are very few hard and fast rules about freelancing that apply to all comers. The first hard and fast rule you should take to heart is this:

The freelance journey is a personal one. It’s almost like spirituality–it NEVER works exactly the same for everybody. The sooner you accept the fact that you’ll be engaging in a unique journey that won’t go exactly as planned, the quicker you can recognize opportunities that come your way as legitimate ones. Even when they’re non-traditional, unusual, or otherwise not written about in the how-to-freelance books.

Now that we have THAT out of the way, here’s some specific advice on what to do next.

Evaluate the subject matter areas you know best and try to focus your earliest efforts on writing on these subjects. What magazines are you interested in within your specialized knowlege areas? Don’t discount ANY of your hobbies, either. Take stock of the websites and mags you read that cater to your passions and consider writing for these publications first.

Whatever you do, don’t just fire off a query letter at this stage–instead, look at the mags in question and ask yourself the most important question you can ask before going to an editor. “What is this mag NOT doing that I as a reader would not just like, but LOVE to read?”

Once you have an answer to that question you stand a fair chance of getting a GOOD response from the editor of that web page or magazine. Outline the article, write a first draft and see how you like it. We’ll go over next steps in the next post in this series.

One important note–as your career develops there’s a very good chance that you will NOT be writing the articles ahead of time and trying to pitch them later. But you have to get started somewhere and this is a very good way to clarify your thinking in the early days when you’re second-guessing yourself to death. We’ll cover how to stop doing that in a later post.

Joe Wallace is a full-time freelance editor, writer, and pro blogger. He has been writing professionally since 1991. His gigs include web editing for Motorola.com, social media and copy writing for FHA.com and VALoans.com, he ghost writes and runs the retro/vinyl junkie site Turntabling.net. Contact him at jwallace242 (at) gmail.com. … Continue Reading

Writer’s College: The Freelance-Zone.com Interview Part Two

We continue our conversation with Stephen Morrill, Director of Writer’s College. Morrill has some recommendations for potential students alike at Writer’s College; be sure and drop by the site to learn more about teaching and learning opportunities there. If you missed part one of the discussion, have a look to learn about the types of classes offered and the qualifications of WC instructors. 

Freelance-Zone.com: What are some of the most popular classes at WC?

Any new course usually gets some action. There are regulars who may have already taken all the courses we have that fit their needs but they stay in touch via our newsletter and then sign up for new courses. Among those most popular at the moment: Article Writing and Magazine Articles (two somewhat overlapping courses), Editing For Writers and the Grammar for Writers and Editors are valuable tools for any writer. The Essays and Personal Stories, Mystery Novel and Novel Writing courses have a big audience. Publish Your Writing, Stop Talking About It; Just Write, and Seniors Do Write are good motivational courses. And the Greeting Cards course is a perennial favorite.

Is there a class that you could recommend specifically for freelance writers who want to break into the field?

My own Nonfiction Freelance Writing Business course is a must-take. Article Writing and Magazine Article Writing, of course. How-To Articles, Newspaper Feature Articles, Promotional Writing, Speech Writing, and Technical Writing are all good ways to earn money in the nonfiction trade. Relatively few writers go the nonfiction route as it is less glamorous and you have to write to certain rules. But, if you know what you are doing, it can pay the bills. It’s been paying my bills for 25 years now.

How would an experienced writer go about applying for a position teaching at WC?

Ask. We have a web page “Teach for Us” at our web site that explains the requirements. Essentially, we look for writers with experience in doing the thing they plan to teach and with published credentials in that. Academic background is secondary to in-the-trenches battle scars.

What is it that you get out of running WC and how does it impact your career?

Good question. I think the school actually earned a profit for several months once. But for the most part it barely pays for itself, if that. The prices are ‘way too low for the courses and I know that. But the thing I love as much as writing itself is talking about writing! Writing has been a great outlet for me over the years and I love to see others getting
that same satisfaction that I get out of it. And the school is merely an extension of that desire to communicate to others my own love of this wonderful job I have.

Are there any upcoming plans for WC that you can share with Freelance-Zone readers?

If the economy were any better I would double the course prices. But for now all I am doing is working on some new courses – stay in touch with our newsletter for news there. And it is time for a revise of the web site, not that it’s bad or anything, but I get bored with it every few years and make changes. But WritersCollege.com has been ticking along nicely since 1998 and I see no reason to do anything drastic to it.

Almost Famous

Freelance-Zone.com is proud to welcome Jake Poinier, founder/owner of Boomvang Creative Group. We’re excited to have Jake sharing his wisdom here at FZ. When you’re done reading Almost Famous, be sure to check out his advice at Dear Dr. Freelance, you’ll be glad you did.

When my son Nick was seven or eight years old, he asked, “Dad, are you a famous writer?”

Knowing that his frame of reference was JK Rowling, I confessed that, no, I’m not a famous writer. I explained that I get paid to write for businesses, millions of people have read my magazine articles (some of them interviews with famous people), used web sites I’ve provided content for, and listened to radio ads or watched videos I’ve scripted.

The answer seemed to satisfy him, and it’s a moment I think about a lot. There are a thousand reasons and ways to be a freelance writer/editor, and surely fame is a long shot, particularly if that’s not what you set out to achieve. Basically, I went full-time freelance in 1999 to escape a soul-crushing 7-to-7 publishing job.

Supporting a mortgage, a stay-at-home wife, two toddlers and a bear-sized black Lab, on my own terms and time, was a revelation. More than a decade later, my wife has a job, the kids are in middle school, and we’re now on Lab #2—and I love what I do more than ever.

Which brings me to this: I’m thrilled and honored to step up from regular commenter to regular contributor here at Freelance-Zone.com. In two weeks, I’ll dig into the numbers from my annual Freelance Forecast (free download here: http://deardrfreelance.com), which surveys hundreds of freelancers and their clients about money, relationships, what works and what doesn’t. Till then, take a minute to share what motivates you most: fame, fortune, or something else entirely.

Jake Poinier is the founder/owner of Boomvang Creative Group, the “man behind the mask” at the newly launched advice blog for freelancers, Dear Dr. Freelance, and a ruminator on assorted business topics at Jake’s Take.

Playing the Numbers Game at Work

by Mike O’Mary

I used to work at a company where people were very conscious of job levels. After a big meeting of top company managers, one of my coworkers approached me: “Hey, Mike,” he said. “I didn’t know you were a nine.” Before I could inform him that I was not a nine, he continued in a hushed tone: “A bunch of us nines are getting together after work for pizza and beer tomorrow. Don’t tell any sevens or eights.” Then he hurried off.

I suppose most companies have some internal method of ranking various job classifications. At that particular company, you climbed the ladder from level one to level two to three, on up. It was sort of like Donkey Kong. How high can you get?

I don’t know how far the numbering system went, but reaching level nine held special significance. They didn’t give you a key to the executive washroom or anything like that. (That would have been silly–especially since there was already an armed guard at the washroom entrance and you had to show two picture I.D.s to get in. I showed my library card and prom picture.) But being a level nine did have its advantages. For one thing, it meant you got to go to big meetings of top company managers. You also got an assigned parking space, a slightly larger cubicle and a free annual physical. I think being a nine also meant that you are allowed to use the two-ply toilet paper. And, of course, nines were allowed to punch sevens at will.

I didn’t get a chance to tell my coworker that I was not a nine. I was at the big meeting of top company managers because it was part of my job to report to other employees what happened at such meetings. I was on hand to listen and learn–and to change the light bulb in the slide projector if necessary.

Obviously, my coworker had taken my presence at the big meeting to mean that I, too, had a reserved parking place and an unchafed bum. Apparently, I could have passed myself off as a nine if I had really wanted to. At least nobody tried to hit me at the meeting. But I decided not to push my luck, so I skipped the pizza and beer that night. Besides, I had some fives to beat up.

Mike O’Mary is founding dreamer of Dream of Things, an independent book publisher currently accepting creative nonfiction stories for anthologies on 15 topics, including an anthology titled “Cubicle Stories: Life in the Modern Workplace.”

Delaying the Battle Against Procrastination

by Mike O’Mary

Like a lot of people, I tend to procrastinate:

• It took me five years to complete a two-year graduate program.
• When I first started working, the stock market was at 800. (Yes, I know…that was a long time ago.) I finally got in at around 8,000 — right before the dot.com crash earlier this decade. (Hmmm…maybe I rushed things there.)
• I’ve put off buying a new life insurance policy for over a year now because I know I’ll get a better rate as soon as I lose a little weight — which should happen pretty fast once I start exercising.
• And I’m on track to die with more unwritten novels than any other writer in history.

It’s easy to say, “I’ve got too much to do,” but there’s usually more to it than that. For some, it’s fear of failure. For others, fear of success. Sometimes it’s a control thing. Sometimes, we procrastinate because we’ve never really made up our minds on the big issues…things like “What I want to do with my life.”

Oprah Winfrey once interviewed the late Scott Peck, author of The Road Less Traveled and other books. She noted that he was a prolific writer, traveled all over the country giving lectures, maintained a psychotherapy practice, and still managed to spend time with his family.

“How do you find the time to do all of this?” Oprah asked.

“I spend two hours a day thinking about what is important in my life and what is not,” said Peck. “I tell people I am praying so they will not interrupt. I do not spend any time on activities that are not important to my life. And, I don’t watch your show.”

I like that answer so much, I think I’ll give it a try. But it will have to wait til tomorrow. I’ve got too much to do today.

Mike O’Mary is founding dreamer of Dream of Things, an independent book publisher currently accepting creative nonfiction stories for anthologies on 15 topics, including an anthology titled “Advice You’d Like to Pass on to Others.”

My Secret Freelance Business Resource

This post is sponsored by FiledBy – where authors can claim their free website and build their online marketing platform.

by Joe Wallace

An espresso machine as a business resource? Not directly, but yes. I can think of two recent examples of how sitting down with people over coffee has resulted in long-term value for my freelance work-even though those people have never paid me for my services. In fact, I did some work for at least one of my coffeeshop meetups for free just because they needed the help at a crucial time.

Let’s examine this idea in a different way–one that seems totally obvious to some, but will come as a revelation to others simply because it’s easy to lose sight of this stuff in the frenzy to get things done day-in and day out on the freelance front lines.

Everybody loves social media for freelance work. You can find jobs, make new connections, catch up with old friends and even old clients via Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, you name it. Social media is awesome.

But the key word in the phrase “social media” is the word SOCIAL.

With that in mind, my secret freelance business resources include the in-person meetup, the phone call followup to e-mail discussions about freelance projects, ad sales for FZ, planning for the future, you name it.

When I think about making connections with people, I try to find ways to use my tried-and-true social media resources in ways that bring me in actual personal contact with people. Facebook is great for this–the local writer’s group is an obvious resource for the freelance writer. But what about using Facebook Marketplace to advertise your services? Or your latest e-book? It’s currently an under-utilized tool for freelancers.

Twitter can be used to spur impromptu meetups in the local area if you’ve got a circle of followers in your zip code. What could be better than a freelance writing group that formed spontaneously through existing social media connections?

One thing I’ve been meaning to do for some time now, but haven’t quite gotten it together to do? Take a stroll down the street in my neighborhood to the local Chamber of Commerce and introduce myself. As a business and finance writer (just one of my specialties) it makes perfect sense to get involved at the Chamber, even if it’s just to drop by and say hello every once in a while and see what events are coming up.

The idea of social media is wonderful, as long as there’s some social interaction to go along with the online discussions. Every time I leave the house to be social, without the media, I find it has lasting benefits–sometimes they’re financial, other times they’re about PR, and some are just about meeting good people…but they all have a positive effect on what I do for a living.

This post was sponsored by FiledBy – where authors can claim their free website and build their online marketing platform.

Peter Bowerman Interview

Peter Bowerman is the author of The Well-Fed Writer, a book we believe most freelancers–especially those at the beginning of their careers–should read. That’s not just because WE read it at the start of ours, but it’s definitely a volume we deem worthy of keeping in the library, even all these years later. Freelance-Zone caught up with Peter Bowerman to get a bit of history on the book and some advice for those who haven’t read it…yet.

–Joe Wallace

What’s your background in writing?

Peter Bowerman: When I started my commercial writing business in 1994, I had no writing background, no writing training, no paid writing experience and no industry contacts. And I was paying all my bills through writing inside of four months. I had taken exactly one journalism course in high school and one in college, and that was it. I came from a sales background, which many people point to to say, “Well, no wonder you were so successful.”

And while I’m not going to argue that it wasn’t helpful, I have to remind them that I had no WRITING experience, and certainly could have used that lack of experience as an excuse not to pursue the business, but I didn’t. So, my success, while perhaps due in part to a basic level of comfort with the marketing process, also points to the relative accessibility of this field for writers with good skills and a willingness to let the world know they’re out there.

How did you come up with the idea for The Well-Fed Writer? What’s the book about?

Before I wrote the original version in 2000, I had thought I’d like to do seminars, and was in the process of chronicling my experiences, and when I saw I’d collected 80+ pages worth of stuff, I realized I had enough to write a book. And at that point, I knew I had a pretty great life in terms of income and lifestyle benefits, and figured there were plenty of the others out there who’d want to know about this field, and who would be just as interested in carving out a similar life and lifestyle for themselves.

Who should be reading The Well-Fed Writer?

Anyone who knows they’re a good writer and would love to make a good living at it (i.e., $50-125+ an hour). Which incidentally, are the only two things I assume on the part of a reader. Any writer – whether aspiring or seasoned (but not making the kind of money they’d like to make – perhaps in magazines, newspapers or online content. The business world has constant needs and they pay far better than most other arenas of writing – hence the title of the book…;)

You also do mentoring for those interested in commercial writing….tell us a bit about that.

Sure. I offer both one-on-one and group coaching for those starting a writing business. I just started the group program last November and it’s been a big hit. I’m in the midst of my fourth series and have a fifth scheduled for June. It’s designed for those starting out (or very early on in their businesses), so everyone’s pretty much starting out on the same page, and as a result, have a lot of the same concerns.

The one-on-one version is for those wanting more personal, dedicated attention and that’s really for anyone, regardless of their experience level (or lack thereof), though I seem, again, to draw the newer startup folks. I invite people to check out both programs (where they’ll find details and testimonials) at www.wellfedwriter.com (see icons on left side of the home page).

Any thoughts you want to leave us with?

Just that the commercial writing field offers a bona fide opportunity to make a handsome living with your writing ability, and be well-respected in the process of being well-compensated.

All that said, I always make sure people understand it’s NOT a get-rich-quick proposition. You’re mother was right: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is! But if you work hard and stick to it, you may just get to a point where you have to pinch yourself to remind yourself that you are in fact, making a solid living doing something you love to do and doing it in your sweats, on your schedule and your terms. And it doesn’t get a whole lot better than that. And I invite people to subscribe to my e-zine and blog (no charge) at www.wellfedwriter.com, and check out the other great resources (some free, some fairly priced…) there as well.