Most Helpful Customer Reviews
40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Excellent Book For Those Looking For It., January 23, 2007
This review is from: Starting Your Career As a Freelance Writer (Paperback)
Starting Your Career as a Freelance Writer will not teach you how to write. You need to do that yourself, with practice and feedback from people around you.
What this book will do is take you step by step through the trials of becoming a paid writer: everything from coming up with ideas to write about to structuring to the finished product, from querying editors for the first time to building a lasting relationship. The "rules" set down apply to multiple forms of writing, and not just for magazines, and references to other work are instructional and welcome.
There is also an excellent overview of how to manage your personal business as a freelancer, which for those of us "creative types," is certainly helpful.
The greatest part of this book, though, is its ability to lead the reader into types of writing for pay that many of us would never even consider. For instance, there is a chapter (written by a different author, suggesting the book's author knows her limits) on writing copy. Though I would never have thought to write copy, and almost skipped the chapter, following reading it and having been convinced that maybe this was a good way to suppliment income, I made some cold-calls as the book suggested, and a few days later, I already have a copy writing gig.
I would highly recommend this book to any competent writer that is looking to make a bit of money doing something that they love. If you can bring the work ethic, this book can bring the game plan.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A TERRIFIC guide on freelance writing, December 25, 2003
This review is from: Starting Your Career As a Freelance Writer (Paperback)
I am a fan of Moira Allen's incredibly resourceful website WRITING-WORLD (www.writing-world.com) and looked forward to reading her all-in-one guide on freelancing writing. As I expected, NO disappointments here - all you ever wanted to know about the basics of writing for magazines and going freelance is explained simply and expertly in this book. I normally don't take more than 3 days to read a non-fiction book, but Moira Allen's took me over a week! You can have an idea just how comprehensive and thorough the contents must be. Fromtime management to setting goals, from finding ideas to handling accounts, Moira helps you to become a successful freelance writer, with her words of wisdom (born out of a 20+ year-old writing career) and conversational-yet-pithy 'tone'. On the craft of writing, Moira teaches you how to face the first draft and write the perfect query to target the right market. There is a seperate division on rights and contacts and how to keep records and go full-time freelancing. You also have a special chapter by Peter Bowerman, the 'Guru' of Cold-Calling Strategy and the author of THE WELL-FED WRITER. It doesn't matter if you're a clueless layman, a budding freelancer or a veteran freelancer. This book serves both as an excellent introduction on the freelance writing biz for new writers and as a refresher for experienced ones. Don't miss it!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Way to Get Started, September 7, 2006
This review is from: Starting Your Career As a Freelance Writer (Paperback)
This book contains all of the essential information I needed to jump start my career as a freelance writer. Having some experience in the field in the distant past, I needed a refresher course and this book provided it. (It would be even more useful for someone without previous experience in the field.) Besides providing proper form for query letters and instruction on how to go about finding and approaching markets, it gives specific guidelines on the right way to pursue a freelance writing career, reasonable expectations and how to organize your work as a business.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
