If you’re about to launch a “commercial” writing business (writing for companies, and the subject of TWFW), or are 1-2 years into one that’s plateaued, you need to check out this program. It’s solely focused on commercial writing, NOT magazine writing.

As I told Peter directly, I think he offers some of the best resources around for freelancers. His products and services are always top-notch, and judging from the testimonials from past series’ participants, this is no exception.

Details and testimonials can be found at http://wellfedwriter.com/groupcoaching.shtml. (Note: This is the first series he’s done since May of last year and he says he likely won’t have another for at least 6-8 months).

There aren’t many available spots, so sign up now before the coaching series fills up!

Below are ten questions (some from me, and others submitted by Jessie Haynes – #s 6, 7, and 8) about the latest version of The Well-Fed Writer. Feel free to discuss any or all of them in the comments below the post. And don’t forget to use the “subscribe to comments” feature so you don’t miss out on any other comments in the discussion.

I hope you loved this book as much as I did, and found some valuable take-aways to help you improve your freelance writing business!

1. Overall do you have a favorite piece of advice given in The Well-Fed Writer, and if so, what is it?
2. Was there anything in the book that you disagreed strongly with?
3. What did you think of the general style and tone of this book? Is it something you’re likely to keep going back to as a reference?
4. Peter Bowerman places a heavy emphasis on cold calling and other direct marketing efforts. What are your thoughts on this? Are you comfortable with it? Can you get comfortable with it? Would it apply as equally to other areas of freelance writing beyond commercial writing?
5. Are you actually a commercial writer, like those the book targets? Do you want to become one? Or did you read the book to pick up more general advice you could adapt to another freelance writing area?
6. Of the portfolio display options mentioned on page 67 of the book, which do you prefer and why?
7. Of the types of clients discussed in chapter 5 (end users or middle men) which do you work with most often, or which do you prefer to work with? Why? And how do you personally overcome the disadvantages of each?
8. Do you have any clients for which you are “waiting in the wings” a la page 124 and, if so, what is that situation like for you?
9. The subtitle of The Well-Fed Writer is Financial Self-Sufficiency as a Commercial Freelancer in Six Months or Less. If you’re a new freelancer, after reading the book do you think that six month goal is realistic for you? Why or why not? How will this book help you make it happen?
10. What are your thoughts on “aggravation fees” as mentioned in the book by Devon Ellington on page 179? Do you charge them? In what kinds of circumstances?

You don’t have to answer all of these questions. You can pick and choose if you prefer. Or, if you’d like to discuss something else specific from The Well-Fed Writer, please feel free to do that or pose your own questions for others to answer.

Tomorrow I’ll post three book choices for the next discussion so everyone has time to get a copy and read it. Remember, next month we’ll do a book on writing books, alternating each month between that and freelancing.

First Place

Mark Hopkins was our first prize winner, winning a hard copy version of The Well-Fed Writer. His submission in 5 words or less explaining why he deserved to win the book was:

“Writing dream, lost in corporate.”

Second Place

Our second prize winner, winning the e-book version of The Well-Fed Writer, was Amy Blades with:

“I’m skeptical. Prove me wrong.”

Congratulations to both of the winners! If you haven’t picked up your copy of The Well-Fed Writer, do it today! It’s a great book. :)  And if you haven’t signed up for the June book club discussion, be sure to do that too!

Not ready to run out and buy a copy just yet? Peter’s very generously offered to put one up as a prize for a contest. We’ll have two winners — one will win the hard copy version and one will win the e-book version.  So if you don’t have one yet, you can win one!

Here’s how:

• Send an email to me at jenn@allfreelancewriting.com (do not post your entry publicly in a comment please).
• In that email, tell us in 5 words or less why you should get a copy of the Well-Fed Writer book.
• Emails must be received by the end of the day on Wednesday, June 2nd!

Prizes:

• The 1st place winner will receive a hard copy of The Well-Fed Writer.
• A runner-up will win an e-book version of The Well-Fed Writer.

Here’s how the winner will be chosen:

• On Thursday, June 3rd, I’ll narrow down the top ten submissions (assuming we receive more than ten — the contest period is limited so hopefully the winner will have time to receive the book before the book club discussion).
• I’ll send those top ten submissions to Peter, and he’ll then choose the winners. Your email addresses will be forwarded to him if you make the top ten cut, so he can contact the winners.

Rules:

• If your submission is longer than FIVE WORDS, it will be automatically disqualified. No exceptions.
• If your submission isn’t received by 11:59pm eastern on Wednesday, June 2nd, it will not be eligible for the top ten list.
• Regular contributors of All Freelance Writing are not eligible, as with most of our contests. Sorry folks, but we don’t need anyone making accusations of having an unfair advantage.

In addition to the contest, Peter agreed to stop by during the book club discussion. So a huge THANK YOU to Peter Bowerman for taking part and for contributing a book for the contest.

Are you signing up for the Well-Fed Writer book club discussion? If you haven’t yet, what are you waiting for. Just leave a comment on the official book club post today, and let us know you’re joining in.

June’s Featured Book

Peter Bowerman’s award-winning The Well-Fed Writer

* There are multiple versions of this book. We will be focusing on the more recent version (which is not only updated, but also a combination of the information from his first two WFW books). If you don’t have a copy yet, I recommend buying it directly from Peter’s site. You can also purchase it in e-book form if you prefer (order the e-book at the bottom of the page linked above).

Sign Up Information

If you’d like to let us know that you’re on board with the book club for June, leave a comment to let us know you’re committed to participating. Don’t forget to subscribe to the comments if you want a comment email reminder shortly before the discussion starts.

Additional Information

I’ve decided to stick with the blog format for simplicity’s sake. There is a book club category in our category list where you can access the posts. I might also put this link at the top of the site.

On the first day of the discussion period, I’ll kick it off by posting a list of 5-10 questions. Some of these questions will carry over from one month to the next, and others will be more specific to each title. You can suggest questions by emailing them to me at jenn@allfreelancewriting.com. I might not be able to use everything that comes in, but I’ll try to choose the best from any submissions (and you’ll be credited with the question when I post them).

We’ll then have an open discussion about the book in the comments on that post. You can answer all of the questions, or just a few if you prefer. You can respond to others’ feedback too (please just use the reply option on their comment so the conversations stay threaded, and I think it’ll work fine).

I think one week should be adequate for discussions from book club participants who actually read the book prior to the start date. If discussions still seem pretty active at that time, I’ll leave it open for an additional week. If not, further comments will be closed for that month’s book choice. The reason is this — I want this to be a focused monthly book discussion. I do not want people to say “well, I’ll just read it a few months later and leave my comments then.” That defeats some of the purpose of doing this as a group. So on these book club posts, comment times will be limited (although they’ll remain archived).

June Book Club Discussion Date

The Well-Fed Writer book club discussion will begin on Monday, June 21st. It’s scheduled to end Sunday, June 27th. As noted previously, if discussions are still active at that time, it may be extended for an additional week.

So get to it! If you have the book, start reading it. If you’ve already read it, refresh your memory. If you don’t have a copy yet, go out and get one.

I’ll announce July’s picks for voting at the start of our June discussion. The two books not chosen this month will be on the list, accompanied by one more targeted to the author / aspiring author segment of our book club target group.

Publishing a nonfiction book can be an excellent addition to your writer platform, whether or not that’s the reason you’ve written the book. Even if a published book doesn’t directly help prospective clients find you, it can make you a more attractive hire. Why? Because publishing a nonfiction book in your area of expertise makes you more credible than the competition.

Given that I still haven’t decided whether I’ll pursue traditional publishing avenues or self-publish The Query-Free Freelancer, I thought it might be fun to learn more about self-publishing. Today we’ll do that, and from the man to literally wrote the book on the subject–Peter Bowerman, author of The Well-Fed Writer and The Well-Fed Self Publisher. Here is our recent interview:

When did you first decide to self-publish, and which was your first self-published book?

I decided to self-publish my first book, The Well-Fed Writer (2000), after only half-hearted attempts to attract a publisher. Guess I’m a control freak at heart!

What convinced you to self-publish rather than seek traditional publishing outlets?

Not sure what gave me the sense that I could do it (since I had zero experience in publishing of any kind), but what I was sure of was that the “deal” being offered by conventional publishers was no box of chocolates: You give up the rights, give up control of the creative process, control of the timetable and almost all the profits. And then you’re still expected to do most of the marketing yourself. And if anything, that scenario has gotten worse for authors since then.

An author with a $20 retail book might make $1 a book through a publisher. Even on the low end (i.e., through the bookstores and Amazon, where you’re giving up 55% of your retail), I’ll still make 4-5 times that. Sales on my own site? I can net $14 or so. And that doesn’t even count the potential to market companion ebook products to web site buyers – that they’ll purchase along with the hard-copy book, and which represent pure profit – often $20-30 more, on top of the profit on the hard book.

I know you’re at least on your fourth book now (through the Well-Fed Writer series). How has the experience made the self-publishing process easier for you (or more challenging)? Do you feel more pressure now that you have an established series, or has the process become more comfortable?

Good question. Having just released my fourth book, the process is easier. I know what I’m doing, and what things need to happen when. Plus, I have an established group of people out there in my industry – call them the “key influencers” – who know me and my work, respect what I’m doing, know I put out quality products, and are happy to promote my work to their communities. So, that’s made it easier.

But yes, there is some pressure to keep feeding the machine you’ve created. It’s like being on a train that’s already moving. It takes on a life of its own to a certain extent. As long as there are things you could be doing – new products, teleseminars, coaching programs, etc. – but aren’t yet, you’ll feel some pressure. But I guess it’s good pressure. Bottom line, it’s a nice feeling being in a place where you’ve established yourself, and know that whatever you create next, there will be people who’ll happily buy it.

What kind of an effect has self-publishing nonfiction books had on your writer platform, and your ability to attract clients?

Hard to gauge. I know I’m respected by clients who discover I write books as well, and I’m sure it’s translated to some work, but it’s not something I shove down people’s throats. Maybe I should more. But being an author doesn’t prove that I can write good copy for my clients, and that’s what they’re paying me to do. I certainly didn’t write my book mainly to enhance my platform for my copywriting business, but it hasn’t hurt.

If other freelance writers are considering self-publishing as a part of their writer platform, what do think their biggest challenge will be with the process?

Well, whether you’re self-publishing or conventionally publishing, everyone starts in the same place: coming up with a topic that’s marketable. Using my books as an example, I knew there was a market for a book (The Well-Fed Writer) offering a complete blueprint for starting your own lucrative writing business (as opposed to another simply straight “freelance writing” book – most of which discuss avenues of dubious financial potential).

Ditto with The Well-Fed Self-Publisher, a book offering a complete blueprint for profitably self-publishing your book. Not just telling you how to self-publish, but (as my subtitle – accurate, mind you – promises), how to indeed turn one book into a full-time living. And that’s the key – you have to make sure you separate yourself from the pack somehow.

And of course, for many writers, the biggest challenge will be “MARKETING.” The very word is enough to terrorize writers, but having come from that background, I have been able, in my books, to demystify those often-scary concepts so they’ll work for you not against you.

Do you have any favorite self-publishing resources that other writers may want to consider?

Well, the book that inspired me (and thousands of others), of course, is Dan Poynter’s, The Self-Publishing Manual. This guy is the godfather of self-publishing, started doing it back in 1977 (hard to imagine…), and has updated the book a zillion times since.

John Kremer’s, 1001 Ways to Market Your Book, is another classic. A ton of great ideas. But know that John will be the first to tell you that you can only do 4-5 really well!

Brian Jud – Beyond the Bookstore, for those books that have “special sale” potential (i.e., can be sold in large quantities to different entities).

Shel Horowitz’s Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers.

These are the ones that come to mind.

Peter just released his fourth book in The Well-Fed Writer series, which combines the information from his first two books. I asked him to share some information about his latest release:

I just released the updated edition of my original book, The Well-Fed Writer, which includes the heavily updated content of BOTH original WFW titles, the original and the 2004 companion volume, TWFW: Back For Seconds. The book is a comprehensive “how-to” guide to starting your own lucrative “commercial” freelancing practice – writing for businesses, and for hourly rates of $50-125+. The downsizing of the economy has created a lot of opportunities for talented, creative, strategic-thinking writers to execute projects for companies whose marketing departments are either gone or scaled, as well as for smaller companies who never had large communications departments, but instead, have relied for years on freelancers to pick up the slack. It’s not a cakewalk of a business, but compared to most “freelance writing” directions (i.e., magazine writing, short stories, newspaper freelancing, etc.), it’s a surprisingly accessible opportunity and one that pays far better than most other writing directions.

For more details, visit www.wellfedwriter.com, where you can subscribe, free of charge, to my critically acclaimed monthly ezine as well as my blog.

About Peter Bowerman

Peter Bowerman, a veteran commercial freelancer, speaker and business coach, is the author of the award-winning 2000 Book-of-the-Month Club selection, The Well-Fed Writer; its 2004 companion and triple-award-finalist, TWFW: Back For Seconds; and the 2009 updated compilation of both (under The Well-Fed Writer; www.wellfedwriter.com) – all self-published. His books have become how-to “standards” on lucrative commercial freelancing – writing for businesses and for rates of $50-125+ an hour (something he’s been doing successfully since 1994). He chronicled his self-publishing success (52,000 copies of his first two books in print and a full-time living for seven-plus years) in his third book, the award-winning 2007 release, The Well-Fed Self-Publisher: How to Turn One Book into a Full-Time Living. www.wellfedsp.com.

First, you can read my interview with Peter Bowerman (author of The Well-Fed Writer series, including the new release combining information from his first two books) over at QueryFreeFreelancer.com. We talked about self-publishing nonfiction books, which can be a valuable part of a freelance writer’s platform.

Then, if you’d like, you can read an interview Michelle Oxman conducted with me for Fuel Your Writing. There you’ll find out a bit about how I started out, some of my writing-related pet peeves, and more.