Customer Reviews

The Well-Fed Writer: Financial Self-Sufficiency As a Freelance Writer in Six Months or Less

5 star:		(95)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Think about it. Over the past several thousand years, how many writers have been well-fed? Relatively few. That's the bad news. The good news is that in the so-called Age of Information, there are more and better opportunities for writers than at any prior time in history. Bowerman's primary objective is correctly indicated in the book's subtitle: He suggests how to achieve financial self-sufficiency as a freelance writer in six months or less. After a well-written Introduction (which we would logically expect from an expert on writing), Bowerman organizes his material within 15 chapters which range from "An Enviable Lifestyle" to "The Home Stretch." He then provides three appendices, any one of which is worth much more than the price of the book. Appendix A consists of sales letters, a sample contract, a sample brochure, and a sample direct mail piece; Appendix B offers various writing samples; Appendix C is "For Women Only" and includes interviews with "At-Home Moms" writers.

Here in a single volume is about all the information and advice anyone would need who is thinking about or who has already embarked on freelance writing. Many years ago, a professional writer was asked about how he gets started: "I sit there and stare at a blank sheet of paper and wait until beads of blood begin to appear on my forehead." Today's writer probably stares at a computer screen. Point One: writing is easy but re-writing is VERY HARD WORK It requires great self-discipline. Point Two: Getting someone to pay for what has been written is also VERY HARD WORK. Self-promotional skills are at least as important as writing/re-writing skills. These are my two points of emphasis with which, presumably, Bowerman agrees. He fully understands the importance of both kinds of skills. His is not a writer's manual, per se. It's greatest value really is derived from his observations, strategies, and tactics with regard to achieving "financial self-sufficiency through freelance writing." Keep in mind, that may take more than six months.

Hemingway once explained that he wrote "to get it out." Almost all of the great authors of fiction wrote because they had to and most of them struggled to pay their bills. Few became (and then remained) solvent and even fewer became wealthy. Let's get it straight right now. Do you feel compelled to write? Why? Or would you merely "like to write"? I have yet to meet anyone (including homeless people) opposed to financial self-sufficiency. Let's all assume that it is desirable. Let's also assume that you feel compelled to write and are willing (preferably determined) to make and then sustain a commitment to rigorous preparation. Finally, let's assume that (with talent as well as compulsion and commitment) you produce work worthy of compensation. Now what? Bowerman thoroughly answers that question.

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Strunk and White's Elements of Style, King's On Writing (yes, that King), Zinnser's On Writing, any essays written by E.B. White and George Orwell, and finally, two other sources which may seem inappropriate but aren't: Foster's How to Get Ideas and Reiman's Thinking for a Living.

I've been a professional technology writer and editor for 15 years. Most of those years were spent as a full-time freelancer, and yes, I made the stated financial goals for most of those years, usually at the high end. Yet, with all these enthusiastic book reviews and people claiming how much they learned from The Well-Fed Writer, I thought it was worth my time to find out why this book is so highly regarded. My conclusion is that it has good information, but it also has a few faults which mar its value.

Let's address the good stuff, first. Bowerman does a good job of encouraging the timid wage slave into the land of working for oneself. If you've been wanting someone to talk you into this career, this book will undoubtedly do so. He also gives a pretty good overview of the different kinds of writing with which he's personally acquainted, which means writing marketing copy. Most readers will walk away with a reasonable sense of how the business side of writing works, and that's a good thing. He has a bright and encouraging writing style, so this is not a painful book to read.

However, I've been editor at several technology publications (as well as writing thousands of articles, a handful of books, product manuals, white papers, newsletters, and more). This has put me in front of a lot of writers who truly want to make a living as freelancers but -- despite the pumped-up "you can do it!" Right Attitude that Bowerman encourages -- simply aren't going to make it.

The biggest reason is that *wanting* to write well doesn't mean you *do* write well. He glosses over the section on "have someone you trust evaluate your work," and I wish he gave more advice here. As just one fer-instance, *don't* ask "am I good enough?" advice from someone who cares about you and knows you well; they'll be positively disposed towards you, and an editor won't. Also, someone who knows you well will "hear" your voice in the words written down, even if it isn't there.

Plus, he assumes that any good writer can write well in any genre. It isn't true. I've worked with book authors who can't write an article, and vice versa. I've seen people who can write a how-to but can't write a product review. Personally, I find it so difficult and slow to write decent marketing copy that I soon realized that I couldn't make money at it (and I hated trying, even though "the money is so much better!").

Succeeding as a freelancer requires several attributes. Yes, you do need to know how to write well. You also need to know how to write for your audience, which is a skill that many lack (I know, as I'm the one who rejects their manuscripts). You also have to do so on deadline. And you have to be able to write well _fast_, to market yourself relentlessly (finding the balance between "persistent" and "pest"), and to remember to send invoices (a surprising weakness but one I encounter regularly).

Because Bowerman comes from a sales and marketing background, some of these skills come more naturally to him. Maybe they do to you, too, but I know how difficult it was for me to learn to drum up business. It took me a few years to learn and adjust to my own weak spots both as a writer and businessperson.

One thing that wasn't a problem for me (or apparently Bowerman) but is very real to others is learning to motivate oneself as a home-worker (which most freelancers are). He covers this last point, but since he's busy telling you that you'll succeed, you may not be aware that maybe you won't.

That sales background occasionally irritated me, because he's so busy reassuring you that you _can_ do this that he leaves out sections on "when to know if you've failed." (Mark Twain said, "Write without pay until somebody offers pay. If nobody offers within three years, the candidate may look upon this circumstance with the most implicit confidence as the sign that sawing wood is what he was intended for.") And I sure wish he warned readers that there will inevitably be a day where you're owed $20,000 from clients who are good for the money, but you don't have the cash to pay your bills today.

Whew. All that sounds as though I'm trying to talk you out of reading this book. I don't mean to do so; it's a good book. It's just not the only book you should read before you quit your day job and embark on this new career.

With more than 13 years experience as a Freelance Commercial Writer, I labored under the impression there was little I could learn about marketing my business. Shortly after starting Peter Bowerman's book I realized my mistake.

Experience taught me the key to longevity was marketing. Yet, starting with Chapter 5 I discovered a bevy of clever marketing tips. Even those marketing ideas I employed -- praised by clients as never seen prior -- were not only described but embellished with unanticipated levels of sophistication. I found myself scribbling notes in the margins and on the back cover so each nugget would not be lost.

Whether you are considering a freelance writing career or are a wizened veteran, this book details a system which can lead to freelance writing's motherlode.

This book deserves more than five stars for its ability to handle the subject well from a variety of necessary perspectives . . . to entertain, to inform, and to shed light on how to be more successful with any at-home business. From how to get your first job, to handling all types of writing assignments and clients, to getting paid, you will find everything you need here to avoid the most dangerous traps of an at-home professional.

I started my management consulting firm part-time at home in 1976, and it took me many years to learn all the lessons that are outlined in this excellent book. My only personal regret is that he did not write a book focused solely on being a well-fed business book author. In fairness to Mr. Bowerman, I should tell you that he does give good insights into how to get assignments writing business books as a ghost writer.

With the title of the book, Mr. Bowerman shows why he is in the right profession. He writes punchy, compelling copy. That style accentuates the messages from his clear, well-organized mind about seeing freelance commercial writing as a business.

He makes a good case for being able to earn $35-$85 an hour (depending on the type of work you do) for 20+ hours a week. If you want to earn more, you can. I found his claim of being able to get up to financial self-sufficiency in six months to be credible if you live in a reasonably large metropolitan area.

Many people thinking about becoming professional writers are nervous about their skills. Mr. Bowerman does an excellent job of pointing out that clients don't write as well as you do now. He also directs you to the types of assignments that are easiest for a new freelancer to handle such as brief product brochures for small companies.

If you are like me, you will be most impressed with the business system parts of the book. How do you get clients? How much do you charge? How do you get paid? How do you follow up to get repeat business? How do you handle dry spells? How do handle having too much work? In each case, he has found a simple system that anyone could comfortably follow. To make things even easier, he has included samples of his marketing materials, his samples that he shares with prospective clients, and provided sources of lists. Since he is a male, he also took the time to interview some women freelancers who work at home in Appendix C.

The only limitation that I saw to his approach was that it will be easiest to pursue by someone living in or near a large city. He lives in Atlanta, for example. Many of the opportunities he describes will not exist in a small town with little local business. So the income opportunities will be much less. The book would have benefited from a section on how to do distance freelancing. The challenge there is in getting jobs, since the system described here depends a lot on face-to-face meetings.

If you are seriously interested in freelance commercial writing, part time or full time, I encourage you to read this book.

By the way, if you are interested hiring in a freelance commercial writer, you can easily assess if Mr. Bowerman is right for you by reading his book.

After you have finished The Well-Fed Writer, I also encourage you to think about how you could organize a similar system to handle the rest of your writing career. Most of the concepts would apply just as well there.

Write on!

This book is a fun and informative read, and I've recently started making money by following Bowerman's advice.

However, remember that Bowerman started his freelancing career during the economic boom of the 90s, and he had 15 years of marketing/sales experience already. There were greener pastures back then.

That said, his tips on self-promotion alone are worth the price of the book. By following his advice I immediately benefitted in my old job (which I still do part-time, for now), and thanks to his suggestions the freelance writing money is slowly trickling in. (It's been 9 months, instead of six months stated on the cover, and I'm not quite financially self-sufficient yet.)

If you're going to try this, make sure you do the groundwork, get your promotional packet and samples together, and get your "systems" in place (see chapter 8)before you quit your day job.

This book was very disappointing. Supposedly it's about making a living as a commercial writer, but after a couple chapters going on about how great the job is and how lucrative it will be (which began to sound like an infomercial), we get to the meat of it. What the book covers is freelance copywriting for ad and marketing agencies. That's fine if you're an advertising and marketing copywriter, but I'm not. I'm a technical writer, and I thought this would teach me how to work it into an independent gig. There is exactly ONE PAGE about technical writing, and it didn't give me any new information. I wound up resenting having to spend that much money for one page of retread info. The book should have been titled "How to be a Successful Marketing Copywriter." That might have been fair. But as far as I'm concerned, it was a waste of money. I'm exactly where I was before I bought the book.

In this world of instant gratification, is it any wonder there are those readers who would deride such a book as THE WELL-FED WRITER, by Peter Bowerman, as unrealistic, full of fluff, or even vacuous? Truth is, there are those unwilling to accept personal accountability. They are looking for some sort of magic potion in the form of a book. One that will transform their lives simply by turning its pages. For these unfortunate folks, the content or the author makes little difference. It can be Napoleon Hill's standard, Anthony Robbins' recipe of self improvement, or Tom Peters on selling, it makes no difference, they are still going to proclaim the work unrealistic, full of fluff and even vacuous. I believe THE WELL-FED WRITER is what you decide to make it. The choice is yours.

Anyone who writes with a modicum of talent will often find themselves recruited. Such has been my case. I've written a ton of stuff from a handful of short stories, campaign speeches and flyers, political commentary, training manuals and a host of other business related projects. However, I have never done so professionally. The older I get, the more I embrace the idea of doing what I want, when I want, so I decided some time back to begin to focus more on what I love, writing.

I finished reading this book on Wednesday, made some contact calls on Thursday and set some appointments and on Friday reached two agreements that will keep me busy for a while and get me off to a good start. One is for a moving company that wants to completely revamp their advertising. This will include restructuring their website, new print brochures, advertisements, and B2B sales letters. The second is a non-profit that asked me to take over as editor of their newsletter. I'm doing this one pro bono for a year just for the experience.

In short, I don't know if I would have even taken this plunge without reading this book. Knowing me, I probably would have, but Bowerman's sage advice certainly gave me a good place to start. As I was talking to the perspective clients, I felt empowered.

I don't know where this path will take me, and I'm certainly not going to stop here. I have already ordered several more books on commercial writing, but I believe Bowerman's book was a terrific place to start. The writing is unstilted, makes perfect sense and has a well structured flow to it. I'm sure there is still a lot to learn and a lot of hard work ahead of me, but unlike some, I'm not looking for a magic potion, just a little shove in the right direction. If that is what you are looking for as well, don't pass on this well crafted work by Peter Bowerman.

I have read maybe 4 books on this subject, taken a class on freelancing, and this is the best written. That said, I would like to go on to my own experiences. After reading another book on this subject, and meeting a few freelancers, I followed the advice of one and did some pro bono work to get established.
In all my contacts, I stated my purpose, and that I wanted a byline for the articles that I wrote. I thought that since I was doing this for free, that the companies I wrote for would be at least marginally cooperative, not to mention appreciative, and grant me a copy of my article with byline. This proved not to be the case.
The editor and staff writer of one company went over my article, with me there in the office, referred to me as though I were not there, while discussing it, and made several changes to the article. The editor then told me I would receive a copy by mail. It was never sent. I went in person and got the copy. Another place had me do an article where I interviewed 30 people and wrote an article regarding their satisfaction as customers. I spent two weeks on this article, went over it with the editor, who was pleased with it, and it has yet to see print. Another client had me write a video script on soil erosion, requested that I spend 6 months on it, and was never there when I had questions, and never responded when I completed the aritcle. One company, however, was very cooperative to work with. I could go on, but I'm sure you get the picture. All of this was done pro bono!
Other corporate freelancers have told me that this business is indeed a roller-coaster ride.
In a class at the Open U on the subject of being a business freelancer, Scott Edelstein, who has written books on this subject, said that it takes around 6 years to get fully established as a freelancer who works full-time.
Also, a lot of this type of writing is rather mundane, which is probably why they hire freelancers to do it in the first place.
If you are interested in this business, read at least a few books on the subject, and talk to some freelancers, or look under writers in the yellow pages. This business is nowhere near as easy to get started in as this author makes it sound. And yes, you do have to be thick-skinned.

Bowerman's "The Well-Fed Writer" is, in a word, indispensable. This fellow knows his stuff -- and knows that freelancers or would-be freelancers need to know the behind-the-scenes, niggling little details that DO make a difference. I truly wish I'd had the author's insights some 14 years ago, when I ventured out into the freelance sea. Bowerman takes a refreshingly practical, often humorous approach, to his subject. He provides specifics, not mere generalities. And he actually indicates HOW to do certain things -- from covers letters to thank you follow-ups to how to craft a brochure that sells, not tells. Amazing stuff! I found myself almost announcing out loud, "Wow! This guy is validating SO much of what I've thought, felt, experienced and anguished over in this often crazy world of freelancing." I'm a journalist as well as a commercial or business writer. So I'm used to being objective. To challenging conventional wisdom. Yet, honestly? I can't find a single thing about "The Well-Fed Writer" I found even marginally sub-standard. To not read this book, if you're serious about feelance writing, is like claiming you're well-versed in Christianity without ever having read the Bible. I hope that last line doesn't embarrass the book's author. But, darn, it just happens to be true.

Paul Chimera Buffalo, New York

Having been involved in freelancing and publishing for a number of years, I found Bowerman's book refreshingly different from the rest of the writer's "how-to" genre. Bowerman's book was easily the best book I have ever read on the subject of commmercial freelancing. The book is extremely practical; Bowerman does an outstanding job of leading the reader from the basics of the industry, to getting started, and finally to managing the daily routines of running the business. If I had to refer an aspiring commercial writer to one source only, The Well-Fed Writer would be that source. It is by far the most valuable book in the field I have ever seen.