June 2017 Update!

Peter Bowerman's Well-Fed Craft has re-opened to students looking to improve their commercial writing skills, tackle new types of freelance writing projects, and make more money. It now features easy online access, new bulleted summaries at the end of each module's .pdf download, and a limited time opportunity to get a bonus 30-minute one-on-one coaching session with Peter!

You may be familiar with Peter Bowerman from his Well-Fed Writer book or blog. For years his book has been my top recommended reading material for new freelance writers. So I was thrilled to hear he was launching a new course on freelance commercial writing called Well-Fed Craft.

When Peter asked me to review Well-Fed Craft, of course I said "yes."

Is Well-Fed Craft your ticket to a profitable commercial writing business?

I hope to help you find out. In addition to my review of Well-Fed Craft below, you'll also find:

• Some course background so you know what you'll get.
• A podcast clip between Peter and me where you can learn more about his course.
• And, in that show, we don't just try to sell you on the course -- we dig a bit deeper into one of the project types you'll learn about in it. (I promise, Peter's not one of those smarmy marketer types I rail against here, so the whole episode is chock full of good, useful, stuff.)

Let's get to it, shall we? I was excited to see something new from Peter, and I hope you'll love it.

Oh... but first, for the sake of full disclosure because here we all love transparency and honesty and all that good stuff -- Peter provided course access for the sake of my review. And there are affiliate links in this post. (Ewww, I know, but if you're concerned, you can read my "No Bullshit Affiliate Promotion Policy." In short, I value your trust more than making an easy buck here. Always have. Always will. Also, this review was originally published on December 28, 2016 before the initial limited-run release of this course. This post was updated on June 28, 2017 to reflect changes to the program for its wider release.)

Now that you have a bit of background about the Well-Fed Craft program, let's get to the review.

I followed the standard review format I use here at All Freelance Writing. You get a general impression, highlights (the best parts), suggestions or problems (the worst parts -- I don't believe in writing "glowy" reviews; I want you to have the full picture before buying anything), and then a final verdict as to whether or not the product or service gets my recommendation.

• Getting to see real-world examples of client-approved copy has to be the biggest benefit for new writers. Because so many of these project types are ghostwritten, it isn't often you get to see this from the writers behind the copy.
• I love that students are not only essentially given templates, but are also given some of the "why" behind projects -- understanding why clients need something is key to understanding how to sell them on hiring you.
• Another perk of this course is .pdf access to samples. It's great you have Peter walking you through them in the videos, but being able to refer back to them at your own pace when you need a refresher is quite handy.

When it comes to suggestions for Peter's Well-Fed Craft, I only have two:

1. In this instant gratification world, I think it would be nice to have a downloadable option available instead of only flash drive delivery. Large file sizes could be avoided by letting students download individual modules when they're ready. (Update: In the course's re-release Peter switched to a downloadable option. You'll now have access to a membership area on his website where you can the course or download course materials.)
2. As Peter and I discussed for the podcast, there's still a lot of room to grow here. I mentioned to Peter that I thought press releases would have been a good, and popular, project to cover as well. (Update: I know Peter's been putting some thought into this. I may even assist with a press release module down the road.)

Here's who I would recommend this course to:

• New freelance writers who are interested in commercial / business writing
• Journalists or content writers looking to move into freelancing for corporate or even small business clients
• Existing copywriters who want to expand their service offerings and want to learn about new project types or get a better grasp of the fundamentals

Long story short, if you want to launch or grow a freelance commercial writing business, this course is an excellent place to start, and Peter Bowerman is one of very few people I'd personally trust and recommend to you when it comes to this area of freelancing.