The Wealthy Writer [Paperback]

Michael Meanwell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 10, 2004

The ultimate guide to running a freelance business and making money while doing it, The Wealthy Writer is an all-in-one resource that covers everything a novice or seasoned writer needs to know to be a successful freelancer. This helpful guide: Identifies profitable and receptive print and online freelance outlets, including the lucrative area of commercial writing; Includes chapters on technical writing, Web writing, speech writing, e-books, corporate communications, advertising, and direct mail; Shows writers how to work on their business while working in their business through strategies such as launching a home-based business and turning clients into advocates; What's more, The Wealthy Writer provides a spectrum of case studies, sample letters, and sample forms, so working writers can most fully personalize the contents of the book for their own usage.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael Meanwell's career includes working as a freelancer and staff journalist for various publications. He's also been a PR and marketing consultant for a variety of companies, including Kodak, Ford and Honda.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Writers Digest Books (July 10, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582973113
• ISBN-13: 978-1582973111
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #939,457 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The definitive guide to breaking into commercial writing, April 22, 2005

By 

Magdalena Ball "http://www.compulsivereader.c... - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wealthy Writer (Paperback)

I often get emails from people who are hoping to make millions with a first novel, generally, as yet, unwritten. Obviously there is a fairly common misconception that breaking into the world of fiction is easy and profitable. It couldn't be further from the truth. Superstar "names" like John Grisham and Dan Brown may be doing very well from their work (generally due to a powerful marketing team), but most fiction and poetry writers would be receiving a far better hourly rate working on the checkout of a local supermarket or pumping gas. Freelancers looking to make money from magazine articles and other forms of non-fiction fare slightly better, but it`s still a hard slog, with lots of querying, cold submissions and a long trail of rejections and apprenticeship before the relatively low paying acceptances begin coming in. It is rarely enough money to live on, especially with financial commitments like a family and mortgage. However, there is one branch of writing which is both lucrative, and relatively easy to break into: Commercial writing, or writing communications for business - eg sales letters, speeches, newsletters, brochures, advertisements, public relations material of all kinds, technical writing, and so on is a growing field where good writers are in short supply. Michael Meanwell's The Wealthy Writer is a comprehensive guide to creating, from scratch if need be, a lucrative commercial writing practice. While the book focuses almost solely on commercial writing, Meanwell clearly understands that writers will continue to want to produce creative works like novels and poetry for non-lucrative reasons, and stresses throughout the book that commercial writers will not only be honing their skills, but also creating enough free time to allow for other hobbies.

Meanwell is very open about the challenges inherent in becoming a commercial writer, and from the start, gets writers to ask themselves the hard questions about their working style, level of commitment, and even things like family situation and health. The book pulls no punches about the need for a serious business plan (and provides the tools to create one), the need to have a roadmap, putting in place systems and procedures, creating a home office, setting up a professional budget, and how to determine your worth to clients. All of this precedes the writing process and makes it clear how important it is to decide the parameters and capabilities of your business before touting for clients or writing a word of copy.

The rest of the book provides a serious guide to ensuring that your writing skills are honed and targeted specifically for the commercial market, and covers such things as how to write technical manuals well, how to produce good quality public relations (including using PR for your own advertising efforts), how to write "content" for the web (a rapidly growing field where need is beginning to seriously outstrip skill), speech writing, corporate communications, newsletter writing, copywriting and using direct mail. There are also chapters which go into the specifics of marketing your business, pitching for clients, maintaining a successful business where word of mouth is positive, using the flexibility of outsourcing to handle an increasing work load, how to deal with billing, contracts, bad debtors, time management, interviewing as a writing tool, dealing with writer's block, balancing work and life, and giving persuasive power speeches:

"You don't have to be a naturally funny person to identify and deliver humor, but it helps if you know where to look. The best humor, in my view, is that which you experience or perceive. It's personal, so you're more than likely to deliver it better than secondhand humor you have found elsewhere. Start by observing life. Take notes and record your observations
for future use. Another deep wellspring of humor resides in your own life. Think about past experiences-embarrassing situations, mistakes you made, and outdated perceptions you had. You've got enough material right there for several stand-up routines!"

The book is easy to read, and contains lots of point by point ("13 things to remember when drafting a press release"; "5 Steps to Building a Media Database...") summaries to make referencing simple, especially as your business diversifies and you need to come back and re-read some sections. If you take Meanwell's advice, this is very likely. Many examples and anecdotes from Meanwell's own experience are provided, with rich photographs, thought provoking case studies using big companies like Telstra and Kodak, and a slightly Escheresque but detailed analysis of the publication process and learnings from his own book The Enterprising Writer. This book contains a lot more meat than The Enterprising Writer which was already pretty hefty in information, and looks at the latest trends in web writing, communication tools, the use of the Internet as a marketing tool, with lots of links for more information, websites to use to obtain work, and a whole lot of templates, samples and even a phone script. There is enough material here to take a novice and turn him or her into a professional, well paid commercial writer. For more experienced writers, this book contains so much information from Meanwell's years of personal experience, that the small investment will very likely translate into more lucrative work.

Throughout the book, Meanwell is conscious of the writer's need to be creative, and includes tips on keeping your work fresh, and on how to save time for your passions:

"We can all develop this ability by using what's been termed
"possibility thinking." Daydream about what you'd like to achieve. See it in your mind's eye. Feel it, taste it, know that it is already part of your life and that it's within your power to tap into your talent and draw that success to
you. If you do this at the beginning of each day, you'll move closer to having the end result you want in your life. Again, this may be getting a little off base for some people. My point is simply that, in order to get the most out of your creative process, you need to cultivate it by thinking differently. If you want positive action in your life, you need to nourish your
mind with positive thought..."

Fiction is a wonderful medium to work in, but the chances of making real money from it are relatively slim, especially if you write, as you should, based on your own passions rather than the whims of the marketplace. If you want to earn a regular, reliable income from writing work, commercial writing has got to be your best bet. Meanwell's latest bumper guide is as thorough a one as you'll find for breaking into, and succeeding as a commercial writer, and his witty, down to earth style will ensure that you enjoy the book as much as you find yourself referencing it on a regular basis.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Smart Business of Writing, September 29, 2005

By 

doomsdayer520 (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Wealthy Writer (Paperback)

Of all the guides out there that try to offer advice on freelance writing as a business you could really make a living from, you're most likely to keep this one on your shelf and consult it regularly. You could use Meanwell's encyclopedic advice as a reference for years to come. In the real world, it would be a complete miracle if you wrote the great American novel then had it picked up by an agent. You can reach for those dreams in your free time while following Meanwell's methods of making regular money now, in the freelance commercial writing market. This guide runs the gamut from making your career decision to setting up your business to finding available work in the corporate sector, all with practical knowledge from Meanwell's own successful experience. At times this book delves into too much detail, such as when Meanwell starts describing how to write company newsletters or direct mail submissions. But on the other hand, it's amazing how many different topics he covers about freelance writing as a viable career. There are plenty of other books out there that try to teach you how to write, but this one is among the best for at least getting started on making a living by doing what you love, especially when it comes to running a legitimate business. [~doomsdayer520~]

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Wealthy Writer, September 28, 2004

By 

Pamela K. Bates "book lover" (Coeburn, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wealthy Writer (Paperback)

This is without doubt the most practical freelance writing book that I have ever read. Mr. Meanwell doesn't try to hook the reader with generic tips that have no "real-world" applications; instead, his book is full of specific ideas about how to branch out from the usual freelance jobs into the more unusual, but yet very needed, markets of today that are not as obvious. One thing that I particularly like about "The Wealthy Writer" is that each chapter not only explains the process for getting the deal, but it also elaborates on how to truly satisfy the customer by going beyond the ordinary. Mr. Meanwell provides unambiguous case studies with actual examples of his own work and explanations of how he succeeded in each example. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in starting (or maintaining) a freelance business. Mr. Meanwell has inspired me with this wonderful book, and I plan to refer to it often.