Q: Peter, what led you to write The Well-Fed Writer?
My original thought was to do seminars and so I started collecting information about my field of “commercial freelancing” with that goal in mind (by the way, commercial freelancing is writing freelance for businesses, large and small, and for hourly rates of $50-125). But once I saw how much stuff I had, I thought, “Wow – I’ve got enough to write a book here.”
Another reason? I realized that I had a really great life, one with tons of freedom, flexibility AND a good income with which to enjoy those things, and I figured there were a lot of folks out there who’d love to know about this field and how they too could create such a life for themselves.
I never set out to create a popular book, but I guess I did a decent job on TWFW and it’s done well. With TWFW: Back For Seconds, I almost felt an obligation to write a follow-up to answer all those questions that I didn’t address in the first (and which I realized after getting thousands of questions from readers).
Q: I understand you send out an on-line newsletter. Could you tell more about that?
I started the Well-Fed E-PUB in May 2002 and have been publishing monthly since then. It’s focused narrowly and solely on the commercial writing field, and designed to help practitioners make more money. Period.
It’s exceptionally popular with my readers and fun to put together. I think what makes it work is that it’s basically all firsthand accounts from the trenches – success stories, tips, strategies, mistakes to avoid. And I don’t take advertising, so the only promo you see is for my own products, and that’s the quid pro quo: I provide good relevant content – content designed to help commercial writers boost their income – in return for having access to them with my products.
There’s no charge to subscribe. Anyone interested can subscribe and check out archived back issues. And also, while visiting, note the “Banquet” series, which are ebook compilations of past issues. In fact, I give away the “BIG Banquet” (26 issues) as a bonus when people purchase my book online.
Q: Do you feel it is possible in today's economy to succeed in commercial writing? Why?
Here are some excerpts from comments I wrote on my blog on this subject in October 2008. Bottom line, I absolutely feel you can make a living in this economy. And again, I’m talking about commercial freelancing. I think it’s liable to get even worse for straight magazine freelancers (and it wasn’t a day at the beach to begin with…). I’ll pose it as a question…
During tough times, will businesses stop marketing, stop communicating with employees (internal communications), stop trying to reach new customers (ads, direct mail case studies), stop building web sites or updating existing ones, and all crawl into holes and wait and hope for things to get better? The very idea is ludicrous. And incidentally, I’m busier than I’ve been in a long time…
Will some businesses cut back on outside resources and perhaps bring projects in-house? Yes. But many can’t because they don’t have the in-house resources to do them.
And if there will be some cutting back, does that mean that bigger companies who’ve been using pricey ad agencies, design/PR firms and marketing companies might be cutting back on them? Yes. At which point, might the idea of hiring a far more economical, but-just-as-if-not-more effective freelance writer/designer team sound much more attractive? You bet it will.
And how much effect does the economy truly have on ONE person’s quest for financial self-sufficiency and freelance success? Given that that ONE person needs to garner only a tiny sliver of the entire universe of possible lucrative commercial writing work out there? Not much. And don’t forget: there will be a certain chunk of your competition who will buy all the gloom and doom, will blink and run, opting for something they perceive will be more secure, and will leave you with less competition.
Q: Many new writers find it hard to set a price for their work. What advice would you give to them?
In the commercial field, which is all I can talk to, the low end is around $50 an hour in most major metros and goes on up to $125 and beyond. Depends on your experience and what your market will bear. Obviously, more talented writers will be able to command more than less gifted scribes, but again, in the commercial field, solid but UN-dazzling writing skills coupled with marketing savvy, and, perhaps, knowledge of a particular industry or subject, can help you command higher rates. Best way to determine what the going rate is in your area is to ask working commercial writers (or the graphic designers who often hire them).
Q. Anything else you would like to add?
Just that it IS possible to make a GOOD living as a writer, and even in a tough economy. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the words "starving" and "writer" are not eternally joined at the hip.
Kristie Davis - Kristie Davis Dean is a former public relations assistant for a regional medical center who now teaches writing. In addition to holding a ...
