June 2010 Book Club Discussion — The Well-Fed Writer

A few weeks ago you voted on our very first All Freelance Writing Virtual Book club pick-of-the-month — Peter Bowerman’s award-winning book, The Well-Fed Writer. Today we kick off that book club discussion. The comments will remain open on this post for a week, and extended for one additional week if they’re still fairly active at that point. Below are ten questions (some from me, and

SWOT Analysis Guide for Freelance Writers

Before you can think about marketing your freelance writing business, you need to know where you currently stand among your competition. Are you dealing with over-saturation in your specialty area? Are you lacking skills other freelance writers have, that clients want? Do you have something going for you that justifies charging higher rates than others? A SWOT analysis can help you figure those things out, and

One Page Business Plan Template

If you want to create a business plan for your freelance writing business, publishing business, or blogs, you might feel overwhelmed by traditional long-form business plans. If that sounds like you, you might enjoy this free one page business plan template I created as a part of my former Web Writers’ Guide e-book. You can use this one page business plan template (in .pdf format)

Free Keyword Density Analyzer for Freelance Writers

Today marks the release of another free tool for freelance writers — a free keyword density analyzer. Before you groan about the evils of SEO content though, check out the press release below for more details. It was made with writers in mind to help you not only improve keyword density based on client requests, but also improve readability! As with any press release, feel

Free Business Forms for Writers

With the new year fast-approaching, now is the perfect time to think about making your freelance writing business more “official.” Keeping better records will not only help you to work more productively, but it can help you protect your rights to your work and deal with difficult situations that may arise with clients. It’s always a good idea to get everything in writing, even if

Writers’ Resources: Press Release Writing

Today I’m going to tackle one of my own areas of expertise: press release writing (not sure why it took me so long). If you’re interested in PR writing (public relations writing), knowing how to write a press release is essential. Use these press release resources to help you learn how to write effective press releases for your clients (or yourself!) – please note, most

Writers' Resources: White Paper Writing

White papers can be a very lucrative field for freelance business writers. If it’s something you’re interested in pursuing, the following resources may help you learn a thing or two about writing white papers: Articles on Writing White Papers: How to Write a White Paper (my article on a client’s blog) Getting Off the Starting Block: Practical Tips to Starting a White Paper How to

Review of The Publishing Primer: A Blueprint for an Author’s Success

The following is a brief review of a new e-book, The Publishing Primer: A Blueprint for an Author’s Success, by Dee Power and Brian Hill (the authors of The Making of a Bestseller: Success Stories from Authors and the Editors, Agents, and Booksellers Behind Them, as well as several other nonfiction books and the novel, Over Time): When Dee first mentioned the title of this