Customer Reviews

The Well-Fed Writer: Back for Seconds: A Second Helping of "How-To" for Any Writer Dreaming of Great Bucks and Exceptional Quality of Life

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Peter Bowerman's ongoing goal in The Well-Fed Writer: Back For Seconds is to help writers earn a living and "pay all your bills, buy a house, amply fund a retirement account and take a few nice vacations a year."

Back For Seconds is a companion volume (95% new content) to his first book, the award-winning Book-of-the-Month Club selection, The Well-Fed Writer - a how-to "standard" in the field of "commercial" freelancing - writing for businesses, large and small and for hourly rates of $50-125+.

He includes all the tools to make this happen. Included are success stories from writers of all descriptions with a commonality of making a living by writing and paying bills. Peter Bowerman takes the "scary" out of the cold calling and gives tips for sales and marketing. In addition, Peter includes information on how to start a writers group.

Right off the bat is a chapter on sales and marketing with eight tips for non-salespeople. Peter Bowerman says the key to sales is matching your skills to your client's needs, with a non-aggressive, natural manner. This is common knowledge but he tells you how to do this.

Next chapter covered is marketing to show benefits to the client rather than features and to talk about what's important to the client. You will find pertinent web sites sprinkled throughout the chapter. Need help in formulating your Unique selling Proposition (USP)? It's all in this chapter.

Chapter 3 discusses tips of good web site showcase samples. Also, you will find what kind of information to include in your online portfolio to enhance your professionalism. Two pluses are: "Top 10 List for Creating TWTW's Web Site," and, "Your Colleague's Sites."

"Let Me Clarify" answers 20 questions to: do I have what it takes to be a good freelance writer, what should I call my business, how to create a selling portfolio, and can I achieve "financial self-sufficiency in six months." These are but a few among very useful information.

The whole Chapter 5 is devoted to cold calling. You will receive specific great tips of what to expect when cold calling and face-to-face cold calling, with truths about cold calling. Included is a useful guideline for a cold calling script as a way of customizing your own script.

Next is email marketing campaign, direct mail and fax. You will find specifics from pros, complete with web sites and effective new ideas.

"Dining Off the Beaten Path" broadens the writing field of assignments from the corporate projects to the Not-For-Profits (NFPs) and less obvious corporate departments. These are mentioned with anecdotal experiences. Included is a chart of "Sixty Potential Writing Clients."

Chapter 8, "Eating Well in Smaller Markets," while the emphasis is on smaller markets, the tips given can be used in any size market. Readers will be treated with four stories "from the trenches."

How to transition from a full-time job/part-time writer to a full-time freelance writer is explored in Chapter 9, "Full-Time Dream, Part-Time Reality." Enjoy an interview with Chris Taylor, journalist who became a full-time freelance writer as well as other stories.

A necessary part of being a successful full-time freelance writer which is covered in Chapter 10, "The Well-Networked Writer." It is complete with tips and suggested further reading.

Chapters 11, 12, and 13 include potential and perception of writing, the craft of writing, valuable writers checklist, writing for the web, and finally taking the first step into a new writing world. Six valuable appendices include:

Appendix A - abridged edition of The Well-Fed Writer
Appendix B - stories of self-employed writers of all types
Appendix C - case study of meeting client's needs
Appendix D - business taxes, structures, insurance and retirement
Appendix E - web sites of writing and marketing books
Appendix F - self-publishing

Peter Bowerman, freelance commercial writer and columnist, has written over 250 articles and columns since 1993. He leads writing seminars and publishes a free monthly ezine called, "The Well-Fed E-Pub." Peter's corporate clients include: UPS, American Express, BellSouth, Mercedes-Benz, IBM, Cingular Wireless, and The Coco-cola Company.

His awards include:

**Second-place: ForeWord Magazine 2000 Book of the Year (Career category)
**Honorable Mention: 2000 Writers Digest National Self-Published Book Award
**Finalist: Publishers Marketing Association 2000 Ben Franklin Awards (Best First Book)
**Book-of-the-Month Club selection: Winter/Spring 2001
**Quality Paperback Book Club selection: Spring 2001
**Writer's Digest Book Club selection: July 2000 for second best-selling Featured Alternate in more than two years)

The Well-Fed Writer: Back For Seconds is beneficial to writers who want to become self-employed and write full-time with proven techniques that actually work. Peter Bowerman's tips are solid for becoming a full-time freelance writer. If you are floundering in the sales and marketing area, this book is for you.

Bowerman has not only written an excellent sequel with 95% new material, he has also qualified several things which may have been taken out of context or to extreme from his first book.

Bowerman's first book "The Well-Fed Writer" was sensational in that it went into great detail about the author's experience and how he made it as a freelancer and how you can make it too.

The problem--as expounded upon in this his second book-- was that there were some folks who read the first book, decided they were ready for freelancing, and jumped in with both feet even though they weren't prepared. They went whole hog when they were only half ready.

Bowerman addresses these issues yet moves beyond them in this book--adding new material while expertly covering some familiar ground from the first book making this a stand alone volume. Truly, Bowerman proves his place among "How-to" writers with this tome.

Accurate and to the point, the book pulls no punches. It tells it like it is--demonstrating that while freelancing is a game for adults, it is certainly attainable with reasonable effort.

Great book for beginner and seasoned pro alike. Highly recommended.

There are thousands of books out there on the craft of writing, but Bowerman's work is one of the best. Not only does he entertain you with his skillful wit and tale of success, he also introduces you to dozens of full-time working writers. And not a single one is starving.

BACK FOR SECONDS is truly interactive. You can (and should) read the classic works, like Strunk and White's THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE, Zinsser's ON WRITING WELL, and Lamott's BIRD BY BIRD, but this book is a springboard for pursuing writing as a career.

If you're a highly creative person, Bowerman's work will help you channel your creativity toward financially viable pursuits. Closet poets, for example, might be excellent at creating ad slogans, headlines, and web copy, while continuing to feed their souls through penning poetry.

I've read his book through twice and now keep it next to my computer alongside my other reference books. At the end of chapter 3, Peter writes, "I asked commercial writers across the world to share their Web sites for inclusion in the book...You'll see a wide array of creative visions -- things you like and things you won't. It's all about getting ideas."

This list is invaluable for researching what others are doing in the field. I've enjoyed signing up for several newsletters, particularly the one published by Lisa Sparks of Integrity Writing, as well as Marcia Yudkin's Marketing Minute. Of course, you have to sign up for the author's delightful e-pub delivered monthly to your in-box!

I think this book would make a worthwhile addition to university literature and writing programs. Very few people can actually make a full-time living as novelists or poets without a healthy supplement of teaching. BACK FOR SECONDS offers another avenue for those who love words and enjoy helping others (clients) succeed.

This is the perfect follow-on to the Well-Fed Writer. It's filled with up-to-date information that isn't regurgitated from the first book. The author not only discusses his experiences with real-life examples, but also draws from experiences, hints, and recommendations from professional writers nation-wide. He provides unprecedented in-depth coverage on portfoilios, what to charge, web-pages, and the most important aspect--getting clients. Both books have been invaluable for launching my successful business--and I was putting food on the table in 4 months! This is a must read if you want to be any sort of writer who works from home! ((Don't forget to read the first book too!))

I'm an aspiring actor looking for creative ways to maintain income while pursuing the craft. Other than the cliche waitor, bartender stuff. Here it is.........


Peter Bowerman serves up another non-sugar coated, revealing book on the topic of starting and maintaining your own free lance copy writing business. This volume is not at all a re-write (says so right on the cover) and it's a great, non-fluff, continuation of his first book The Well-Fed Writer: Financial Self-Sufficiency As a Freelance Writer in Six Months or Less.

Bowerman actually goes on to spoon feed you with resources on the topic of how to write good copy. Appendix E is alone, worth the price of admission here.

This book is the product of a succesful copy writer, unselfishly illustrating that it is more than just a possibility to do on your own. It's very obvious, in reading both books, that Mr. Bowerman dealt with the same issues of self doubt, and fear of failure that alot of his readers experience. He's been there, he's done that. What better resource to tap into is there? If you want to be succesful in a particular field, ask a person that IS succesful in that field.

My rant is over. This is THE place to start learning about this topic, and as Peter Bowerman will suggest in his books, checking out Robert Bly is also a must.

I only have one complaint about Peter Bowerman's new book, The Well-Fed Writer: Back for Seconds, and that is, where was it when I was freelancing full time?

Bowerman's book is a treasure trove on many levels. First is that it contains specific instructions and strategies on what to do as a freelance commercial writer (FLCW), and we're talking step-by-step. He breaks it down so that the dreaded marketing and sales, the bane of us writers, become quite doable. Insisting that the secret to success in this business is in the numbers, Bowerman even offers a script for the cold call (telephone), as well as advice on how to get to the copywriting decision maker.

The next treasure in this bountiful book is the myriad of resources Bowerman provides on everything from email addresses for consultants and experts, to web addresses that are a doorway to valuable information, to checklists scattered throughout. In fact, Bowerman has collected much of this information from FLCW'ers around the country. One great checklist is that provided by Lucy V. Parker, "Sixty Potential Writing Clients." This gem introduces sources for potential clients you've never even thought of.

Another feature we writers find particularly useful are the stories, testimonials, and advice of fellow FLCWers, which encourage a "well if he/she can do it, so can I" attitude. In fact, it almost feels like having a bunch of private, motivating conversations with colleagues and mentors. For example, there is the story of Jim Meadows who built a thriving FLCW business while working full time -- the chapter with his story tells you exactly how to go about doing that for yourself. And then there is the story of Lisa Sparks, who made her email newsletter THE centerpiece of her thriving commercial writing business in Florida and shares all the details of how she did it.

That's not all the good, juicy stuff in Bowerman's book. He does a superb job of debunking the myths around marketing, and breaks the process down into sizeable, palatable chunks that we writers can chew on, and actually swallow. A large part of the book is focused on marketing, and Bowerman himself has said that after writing his first book, The Well-Fed Writer, this was the topic about which he received the most comments and queries.

After looking at sales and marketing from every angle (even individuals who aren't in the FLCW business can benefit from his discussions on marketing), he discusses marketing in smaller towns, networking, and even how to write better! He also sprinkles in a measure of his own philosophy: "Stop getting attached to the outcomes of specific scenarios. It's about an energy and flow that get released when you reach out." (p. 84)

In addition to its 13 power-packed chapters, there are also six appendices including a synopsis of its predecessor, The Well-Fed Writer, template-like profiles of ten FLCWers, how to set up a small business, and more resource recommendations.

The verdict is in: if you are in the FLCW business, or any freelance business for that matter, buy this book! It will become a well worn and trusted friend that you will keep handy at all times!

by Mary Anne Donovan, a former full time freelancer who is now an adjunct English professor, teaching courses in writing and literature, and Chief Editor of Writer Online, an ezine devoted to writers and lovers of writing.

For writers who are serious about freelance business writing, this book is a MUST! Bowerman writes in a practical, hand-on way for anyone who wants to write commercially. He even has a case story on a stay-at-home mom with two small children who started her business with no writing experience in her portfolio. And with the age of the Internet, anyone can start crafting their marketing pitch with Peter's helpful hints. Bowerman also uses a lot of advice from other successful business folks who know how to take the sting out of marketing. Buy the book---you won't regret it!

If you've read many books about freelance commercial writing (copywriting), you find that most of them say the same things. In fact, I recently bought one that was little more than tired reruns of the writer's previous tips--just a blatant repackaging to make more money.

BACK FOR SECONDS is different. You'll get tons of new, useful information. Peter covers everything from insecurity about cold calling to what's important to make a go of it in a small market. Especially helpful are the articles by working, established writers, revealing their strategies. This approach harvests the best from several different sources, not just the person writing the book.

WFW-BFS may not answer ALL your questions, but it does an excellent job covering the critical ones. Peter Bowerman obviously put in a terrific amount of time and thought putting this together.

This is NOT the same old stuff. These fresh ideas, especially about the Web, are solid gold. You will definitely enjoy and benefit from this book.

I've earned my living as a writer in the commercial and nonprofit sectors for over 30 years, and I plan to follow this advice in my new freelancing career.

Pick the brains of the folks who do this every day and are financially successful at it. BACK FOR SECONDS has set a new standard for commercial freelance writing guides. Do your career a favor and get this book.

Anyone who has always thought about getting into commercial writing should pick up this book! It does more than act as a "companion" volume to Peter's first book; it encourages, motivates and supports those writers wondering if they've got what it takes to get into this field of writing. It covers everything from having limited resources to work with, living in a small town, having a limited "start-up" budget and it even discusses taxes. It will guide you through the process of being a copywriter thanks to the generous stories shared from writers from all over and, as with the first book, it provides samples of documents readers can use. The best thing I got from reading this book was his no-holds-barred talk on how aspiring commercial writers tend to "overplan" how they will do everything before they even try. It also gives an honest discussion on fears and doubts. After you read this book, you will no longer have either fear or doubt, but inspiration and motivation to get into the commercial writing game.

The market demanded this book so Bowerman put it out.

It's okay. It's mostly more of the same - it doesn't
much represent a leap from the first book so much as
it's like a 284 page appendix... useful material but much
of it would have been edited out or folded into the
first book if they were published as one volume.

Not particularly flawed - but like many business books
it's padded out with 3rd-party stories - enthusiastic
and informative vignettes from succeeding freelancers
who liked the first book and wrote in to Bowerman to
share their stories.

Major points - cold calling isn't so bad, marketing
isn't so bad if you think about it in a nice way,
professionalism matters, consistency pays off.

Fairly toothless, but inspirational. If you read the
first book and need a little more encouragement to
jump into the marketplace and do the business this
might be the push you need.

Worth reading but if you are already hustling work as
a freelancer you may find it redundant.