Resources for Freelance Writers
If you have resources to suggest or if any of these links don't work, please e-mail me at suelick@charter.net
Books:
The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual, Perseus Books. This is the tool that most newspaper editors use to decide how to handle numbers, capitalization, hyphenation, abbreviations and other style matters. It is jammed with fascinating information, and it will help you avoid the little things that drive editors crazy. Look for more information on this at http://www.ap.org.
Clark, C. Hope. The Shy Writer. Phoenix: FundsforWriters, 2004. This book is advertised as a guide for shy people to succeed in the writing business, but it is really a treatise on marketing for all of us. We are all shy in some ways and certainly insecure. Clark, founder and director of FundsforWriters, tells how to deal with all sorts of issues, including book-signings, publicity, stage fright, portfolios, giveaways, online chats, telephone calls and more. Although this is an extremely useful book, for me its effectiveness is marred somewhat by frequent typographical glitches, grammar and spelling errors and awkward syntax, all symptoms of its origin as a self-published book in need of a proofreader. So, I can't offer a 100 percent recommendation, but many writers will find its information and Hope's sympathetic tone very helpful. I do heartily recommend her fundsforwriters.com site, which offers information on grants, markets, contests and other sources of money.
Clausen, John. Too Lazy to Work, Too Nervous to Steal: How to Have a Great Life as a Freelance Writer. Cincinnati: Writer's Digest Books, 2001. Beyond the delightful title, Clausen offers 207 pages of information and inspiration for freelance writers. He intertwines straight how-to with his own experiences and those of other successful writers who plunged into the business and flourished. One of the ways he pays the bills is by writing advertising, junk mail and press releases for various companies, and he tells us how to do it. For those of us who would rather not get involved in business writing, there's still plenty of good information on how to make it in magazines, newspapers and other media. This book is straightforward, optimistic, and very useful.
Cool, Lisa Collier, How to Write Irresistible Query Letters, Writer’s Digest Books.
Editor and Publisher International Year Book. This book costs several hundred dollars, and the CD-ROM version costs even more, so you'll want to look for it at the library, but it lists virtually every general-interest newspaper and some specialized newspapers in the United States and beyond. Contact names, deadlines and other information are provided. Look for more information at the E and P website.
Fletcher, Ralph, Poetry Matters: Writing a Poem from the Inside Out, HarperCollins, 2002. What a delicious book. Like chocolate for poets. Fletcher writes for and works with children, and this book is designed for young poets, but I found it extremely useful. Fletcher emphasizes content over form, although he gives a touch of form, too. For him, the "pillars of poetry" are emotion, image and music. In his chapters, he tells how one can use poetry as a vessel for feelings, how to take a snapshot of the world around us, and then how to put the rhythm and music into it by playing with sounds and words. Fletcher offers many wonderful poems as examples, some of them his, some by other published poets, and some by his students. He also includes interviews with several poets and a list of poetry books to read. A good writer reads more than he writes, Fletcher says. This book says nothing about marketing or publishers. Instead, Fletcher describes some informal ways to share poetry, including putting together one's own book, holding a BYOP--bring your own poem--party, giving poems as gifts, or memorizing them and keeping them close like a special treasure.
Forché, Carolyn and Philip Gerard. Writing Creative Nonfiction, Story Press, 2001. This is both a textbook and a reader for fans and writers of the slippery genre called creative nonfiction. Brenda Miller discusses braided essays; Alan Cheuse talks about "using the whole pig," or in plain English using every bit of your life in your writing; Philip Gerard talks about talking yourself out of the story, and Philip Lopate discusses the necessity of turning oneself into a character. There are articles on biography, humor, writing overseas, getting published, legal land mines and more. And there are wonderful essays, including Brenda Miller's "Basha Leah" about her grandmother, Richard Shelton's "Going Back to Bisbee" about the Arizona desert; and Annie Dillard's "Flying in the Middle of Art" about a stunt pilot and her experience doing barrel rolls in the air. For those grappling with what this genre is and whether they can fit into it, this is an important book to read.
Formicelli, Linda and Diana Burrell, The Renegade Writer. Marion Street Press, 2005. What a great book! If you are trying to make a living as a freelancer article writer, buy this book. Easy to read, full of the real skinny, this book will move you out of the world of tiny checks and stalled careers and onto the road to the big time. Formicelli and Burrell write so well together even they can't tell who wrote which parts, but it doesn't matter. The book lists all the rules writers are taught and then explains why, how and when we should break them. Chapters include developing ideas, "no-fear querying," contracts, research, interviews, writing, getting paid, developing a renegade attitude and "Thriving, Not Just Surviving. Several appendices offer useful connections to help writers move on beyond the book. I've been in this business for a long time, but I learned a lot from this book, and it's going into the tiny place just above my computer so I can grab it without leaving my chair.
Gerard, Philip, Creative Nonfiction, Story Press. This is a great guide to researching and writing articles that go beyond the basics to really tell a story.
Glatzer, Jenna. Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer, Nomad Press, 2004. Glatzer cuts right through the BS to tell the real story of what it takes to succeed as a freelance writer. It isn’t always a pretty story. It requires guts, persistence, and the willingness to toss out the usual rules when all they do is hold you back. This book is full of useful information, honesty, truth, resources, and reality. Beginners will be scared away. I’m not even sure I want to do everything it takes to get to the top of the magazine-writing heap, but if one can write and follows Glatzer’s advice, one will succeed.
Harper, Timothy, editor. The ASJA Guide to Freelance Writing. St. Martin's Griffin, 2003. This book covers many of the same areas as other books about writing and selling nonfiction, but its chapters are written by pros who have cracked the biggest markets in the land. Most of them make a good full-time living with their writing, so their advice really counts. It's well-done and can serve as a marvelous resource for questions about everything from generating ideas to sending out invoices. Highly recommended if nonfiction is your game.
Herman, Jeff. Jeff Herman's Guide to Book Publishers, Editors & Literary Agents, 2005. Kalmbach Publishing Co., 2004. This book, revised annually, is a gold mine for any writer trying to publish a book. Herman, who is a literary agent himself, goes far beyond the listings in Writer's Market or Writer's Handbook. In great detail, he lists book publishers of all sorts, including the big corporations and the imprints they own, independent presses, religious presses, and university presses and explains very clearly what a writer needs to do to get in. The heart of the 900-page book is the agent listings. He offers extensive interviews which show us not only the types of books the agents are looking for and how they want them presented but gives us a clue to their personalities, their backgrounds, and what we can do to become their clients. And then, just when it appears we have seen all the good stuff, we find 200 pages of additional advice and information for book writers. There are sections on contracts, self-publishing, book doctors, scams, ghost writing, queries, proposals, how agents work, how publishers work, and more. In each case, Herman gives examples. Here is a query letter, here is a successful proposal, here is a sample contract. If you really want to publish a book, the $29.95 price is worth every penny.
Get Known Before the Book Deal by Christina Katz, Writer's Digest Books, 2008. These days if you want an agent or book publisher to buy your book, you've got to have a platform. What's that? It's an established presence in the world that makes people know who you are and creates a readymade audience for your book. Katz, self-promoter extraordinaire, tells us step by step how to create our own platforms. Chapters include Internet promotion, public speaking, giving classes, publishing articles, and lots more. She includes exercises and links, with the assurance that if we follow the steps in the book, we will have a platform on which to build our writing careers. This book offers much useful information, presented in a friendly, optimistic style.
Katz, Christina, Writer Mama: How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids, Writer's Digest Books, 2007. When Christina pitched her book at the 2005 Willamette Writers conference, the agents and editors jumped on it. The girl knows how to pitch a book. The result, Writer Mama, is a tad deceptive because it's really a guide to freelancing for all writers, not just mothers. One could delete every reference to motherhood and still follow the steps in this book to a successful career. I do wonder if one could follow all these steps with multiple children and if one can really produce serious prose scratching out a few words during naps and soccer practice. But all that aside, Writer Mama is a fun and easy read. Sidebars, helpful hints and exercises are sprinkled through its short chapters. The layout is colorful and snappy, and there's a lot of wisdom packed in here at a surprisingly reasonable price.
Kawa-Jump, Shirley, How to Publish Your Articles, Square One Publishers, 2002. This is the book I have chosen for my freelance article writing classes this year. She says it the way I would. It is clearly written, attractively laid out, up-to-date and full of information writers need to know.
Levoy, Gregg, This Business of Writing, Writer's Digest Books. This is a wonderful guide to engaging in a freelancing writing career as a business. Chapters include setting up an office, handling the money, dealing with the solitude and insecurity of writing at home, finding a niche in the market and more.
Lovell, Ronald P., Free-Lancing, Waveland Press, Inc. Lovell, a former Oregon State University journalism professor, offers a great overview of the freelance business. He includes historical information about magazines and newspapers, along with a very honest description of the pros and cons of freelance writing. Some of the market references are dated now, but a large portion of the book is devoted to the different types of articles, with examples of published stories and notations showing how the writer went about it.
Media Weavers, Writers Northwest Handbook, 7th edition. Portland: Media Weavers, LLC, 2003. Not to be confused with any of the previous editions, this book is an all-new compendium of advice, inspiration and useful information in an attractive, compact package. Don’t be put off by the typos that I wish weren’t there. Contents include: John Daniel’s inspiring dedication about the value of writing; Gordon Kirkland’s advice on writing humor; Dennis Held’s overview of literary magazines and how to get into them; Lisa Dale Norton’s explanation of literary nonfiction, and Doug Rennie’s renegade guide to freelance writing. There are revision tips, rate charters for writers, information on query letters and self-publishing, lists of resources for writers, and extensive listings of Northwest writing groups, conferences, publishers and periodicals. Writers who live in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana or Alaska need this book.
Mettee, Stephen Blake, The Portable Writers' Conference, Quill Driver Books, 1997. This is a great book, filled with useful information. Just the resources at the back of the book are worth the 20 bucks. Here in one place you can find standard manuscript format, proofreaders' markets, the facts on copyright and royalties, lists of organizations, web sites and books for writers, and samples of guidelines for books and magazines. In addition, as promised in the introduction, this anthology allows you to absorb presentations on more topics by more presenters of more workshops than you would ever be able to attend in person. Fiction, nonfiction, marketing, grammar, alternative presses, agents, research, the business of being a writer and more are all here. The only glitch, aside from a few typos, is that the Internet references are out of date. Ignore that and buy yourself a copy anyway. Keep it handy and read the parts that apply when you need them.
Raskin, Julie and Carolyn Males, How to Write and Sell a Column, Writer's Digest Books. The title says it all. If you want to write a column, this book tells how to write it and market it.
Rivers, William L., Free-lancer and Staff Writer, Wadsworth. This is a solid resource on freelance writing. It also includes information on how to move into a staff position.
Sedge, Michael, Successful Syndication: A Guide for Writers and Cartoonists, Allworth Press, 2000. This is not for the faint of heart. Sedge gives a very realistic view of syndication and what it takes to become a household name like Dave Barry. The first chapter, "Realistic Expectations," lays out the challenges for the would-be columnist, including the need to produce another column every day or week or month, no matter what; the difficulties of breaking into the market; and the need to spend at least half of one's time selling the column. He goes on to discuss how to approach syndicates, how to self-syndicate, and how to submit one's columns or cartoons. A large portion of the book is devoted to appendices and resources, including complete guidelines from five of the biggest agencies, a detailed analysis of a sample contract, examples of each element of a successful query package, promotion tips, and information on invoices, taxes, pricing and incorporation. Daunting? Yes. But this book is essential to anyone who seriously plans to sell a column or cartoon.
Michael Sedge, The Writer's and Photographer's Guide to Global Markets,Allworth Press, 1998. We Americans tend to forget that a whole world exists beyond our borders. As writers, that big world is also a huge market for our work. Thousands of English-language publications come out in other countries, and it's also possible to sell our work in translation. Photographs are universal. A writer can resell his work over and over again in different countries, even after all U.S. rights are used up. Sedge describes the international market and tells how to adapt and submit work worldwide. He gives lots of useful information, both about the writing and the business side (how many yen should you get per column inch?). The book has several appendices, including agencies, associations, reference materials and international e-mail addresses. Some of the references are out of date, but there's enough information to lead you to the current data.
Stafford, Kim, The Muses Among Us, University of Georgia Press, 2003. If you are feeling overwhelmed by all the books about marketing and computers and manuscript formats, this book will take you back to why we write. Stafford draws his inspiration from the world around him and shows how you can do the same. He also makes you believe it doesn't matter whether you publish in the New Yorker or post your words on the bulletin board at the laundromat; it's all good.
Stegner, Wallace, On Teaching and Writing Fiction, Penguin Putnam, Inc., 2002. This skinny book contains all the wisdom a writer needs to know and much of what a teacher of writing needs. I'm tempted to underline every paragraph. It is full of gems like: "It begins in the senses, it is done with words, its end is communicated insight." Or: "One MacBeth on stage is worth a thousand essays on ambition." Or: "the people who are really going to be writers don't need urging to pay attention to their lives and experience. Experience strikes them . . . Any life will provide the material for writing, if it is attended to." And so many more. In addition to writing and publishing many novels and short stories, Stegner was the director of the Stanford Writing Program for many years. This book does not offer any help on getting published. But it gets to the heart and soul of writing in a way that every writer should read and keep next to his Bible.
Strunk, William Jr. and E.B. White, The Elements of Style, Longmen Publishers. This tiny book is a classic reference on grammar and word usage that should be in every writer's library.
Wooldridge, Susan Goldsmith, poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words, Three Rivers Press, 1996. Here's another tasty book about poetry. I don't think you have to BE a poet to play with poetry. Try it. It's fun. Wooldridge offers a delicious blend of personal experiences and exercises sure to get you scribbling. I got this book from the library, but I had to go buy my own copy because I think I'll be enjoying poemcrazy for years.
The Writer Books, Writer’s Handbook 2003. Full of markets, with wonderful articles on freelance writing.
Writer’s Digest, Making Money Freelance Writing, Writer’s Digest Books.This is a compilation of articles from Writer’s Digest magazine (including one of mine) about the financial aspects of a writing career, including taxes, contracts, home offices, and how to keep going when you’re broke.
Writer's Digest, Inc., Writer's Market. Published annually both in paperback and online. The online version costs a little less and is updated more often. This is the bible for freelance writers, with extensive listings for book publishers, magazines and newspapers, agents, contests and more. The articles included in the book apply to all types of freelance writing. Many libraries have Writer’s Market in their reference sections. Look for the most recent edition because things change quickly in the publishing business.
Marcia Yudkin, Freelance Writing for Magazines and Newspapers: Breaking In Without Selling Out, HarperCollins. Small but mighty, this book will help you get started at freelance writing and keep going. Yudkin also offers advice on the writing business on her web page.
Zinsser, William, On Writing Well, HarperResource. Teach your words to sing with this wonderful book on writing.
Online Resources:
Marketlist.com. This is exactly what it appears to be, a wonderful list of markets for writers, with an emphasis on genre fiction.
Writers Digest--markets, contests, story prompts, and other aids for writers.
Writerswrite.com. This is a great resource with articles, marketing tips, a newsletter and other good stuff.
The Free Dictionary. This is just what it says, a free online dictionary, which not only tells you how to spell and pronounce words, but offers synonyms, derivations and other helpful information. Try it!
Magazines:
Byline, P.O. Box 5240, Edmond, OK 73083-5240.
The Writer, 120 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02116-4615
Organizations:
Willamette Writers, 9045 SW Barbur Blvd., Ste. 5A, Portland, OR 97219-4027, 503/452-1592, wilwrite@willamettewriters.com.
California Writers Club With branches all over the state, this organization is a great place to network with other writers
National Writers Union, 113 University Pl., Sixth Floor, New York, NY 10003, 212/254-0279, Website: http://www.nwu.org.
Copyright 2008 Sue Fagalde Lick
