The Freelance Success Book: Insider Secrets for Selling Every Word You Write (Write It, Sell It) [Paperback]

The chapter on queries and titles taught me how I have to pay more attention to actually selling my writing with right-between-the-eyes headlines. Taylor talks a lot about getting inside the editor's head and discovering the "reader benefits" that editor is trying to deliver. As he says, freelancers have to play that radio station: WRIT-FM or "What's Really In It-For Me," because without good reader benefits the piece is dead before it ever hits the editor's desk.

I guess all in all, reading books like this is necessary to learn new tips and keep motivated and fresh. This book did all that and more so that's why I rated it high.

The first thing a budding freelance writer should do is get a copy of a book like the yearly Writer's Market and read the submission guidelines for your intended target publication (books, short stories, magazine non-fiction, etc). If your target is a specific magazine, read and analyze several issues of that magazine. Know it better than its editors, and find a niche that no one else has filled.

To call yourself a writer, it's necessary to actually do some writing. The act of putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) is covered, along with what to do when the words just won't come out.

After your masterpiece is on paper, then comes dealing with editors. How do you write a query letter (or should you)? Mak sure you deal with the right editor, not just any editor. Some editors do business by phone, or fax or email; adjust your approach accordingly. Don't gush about how much you love the magazine; editors don't want fan clubs. Get right to the point. The biggest mistake a freelancer makes in dealing with an editor is laziness; not knowing the magazine backwards and forwards.

Writing for the internet is totally different than writing for print. Your average web surfer is not going to read the equivalent of a magazine article on a screen. It's best to break up the text as much as possible, with bullets, numbers, colored backgrounds, etc. Also provide lots of hyperlinks, so the web surfer can do more research on their own. The book also covers the legal end of things, including contracts, libel and ethics in general.

I learned a lot from this book. A copy of this book belongs right next to the dictionary on the bookshelf of every freelance writer, and every would-be freelance writer, in America. It is packed full of useful information, and is money very well spent. Hmmm, I hope this also works for book reviewers...

One such person is David Taylor, who spent nine years as executive editor at Rodale Press - he knows what editors and publishers want. Submit a story idea that suits a particular section of the magazine, is written in the publication's distinctive voice, follows the House Style Rules and is in some way controversial, and you're on your way to acceptance.

The book contains 300 pages of similar insider secrets for selling your writing. His step-by-step guide on how to break into the hidden freelance market offered by newspaper weeklies and dailies started bells ringing for me and has had me poring over my local publications and making lists of suitable non-local topics to write about.

Throughout the book there are a number of Writer's Toolboxes that contain both online and print resources. Resources such as newspaper directories (so you can search for suitable publications to approach with your ideas), manuscript submission services, places to check what your e-rights are, legal advice regarding copyright laws and contracts, how to self-publish and more. Then there are sample freelance contracts, agreements, release forms and invoices.

An excellent resource for any freelancer.