Everything You Wanted to Know about Freelance Writing

Books & eBooks on copywriting, business writing, business of freelance writing and related topics

In 2006, I set out to write a book on the business of freelance writing. Seven years later, I find myself the author of 18 books and short reports. OK, that’s not quite true. I’m only half way through the 18th book. And one book is no longer in print. However, if you are looking for a book on copywriting, writing media releases, business writing, the freelance writing business or creative writing, and related topics, you’ve come to the right (or should I say write) place. Or at least you are close the right place. The right place to read in detail about my books, and to link to various retailers selling print, Kindle, ePub and PDF versions of the books, is here.

If you are wondering if I’ve simply dashed off the books, the answer is I have not. As the author, I’m biased, but I’d like to think that each one was meticulously crafted, the odd typo be darned. The proof? As far as I’m concerned, the proof is in the pudding, or at least in the fact that five of the books are being used in continuing education courses at the University of Toronto, Humber College, George Brown College and three other post-secondary educational institutions.

With that in mind, allow me to give you a brief synopsis of the books below. And if you want to know more about me, the author, feel free to visit my website where you can read about me and my business writing and business-writing training services. Now on to the books… Here are the titles, followed by a brief description, of each:

• How To Write A Non-Fiction Book in 60 Days – Ideal for those who want to write a non-fiction book. Available in Print, PDF, Kindle & ePub.
• Everything You Wanted to Know About Freelance Writing – Find, Price, Manage Corporate Writing Assignments & Develop Article Ideas and Sell Them to Newspapers and Magazines – Contains The Six-Figure Freelancer and The Business of Freelance Writing (see descriptions below). Available in Print, PDF, Kindle & ePub.
• The Six-Figure Freelancer: How to Find, Price and Manage Corporate Writing Assignments: Like the title says, this book is for freelance writers who what to find corporate writing (and editing) work. Available in Print, Kindle & PDF.
• The Business of Freelance Writing: How to Develop Article Ideas and Sell Them to Newspapers and Magazines: Fair enough to say that the title says it all? Available in Print, Kindle & PDF.
• Fundamentals of Writing: How to Write Articles, Media Releases, Case Studies, Blog Posts and Social Media Content: Sometimes the description of the book is self-evident in the title, no? Available in Print, Kindle & ePub.
• Unblock Writer’s Block: How to face it, deal with it and overcome it: If you are feeling blocked, this book, with over 70 writing exercises to get you started and keep you writing, is like a like in the seat of your writing pants. Available in Print, Kindle & ePub.
• (re)Discover the Joy of Creative Writing: Meant to get you writing and keep you going. The book has over 50 writing exercises, many of which are similar to Unblock Writer’s Block above. Available in print, Kindle & PDF.
• Harness the Business Writing Process: E-mail, Letters, Proposals, Reports, Media Releases, Web Content: If you are a struggling business writer, or if you want to be a more effective and efficient business writer, this book is for you. Available in Print, PDF & Kindle.
• Copywriting That Works: Bright ideas to Help You Inform, Persuade, Motivate and Sell!: Focused on print ads, but includes chapters on writing blogs and social media copy too. Available in Print, Kindle & PDF.
• How to Write Media Releases to Promote Your Business, Organization or Event: As the title says, this book will help you write media release to promote … Available in Print, PDF, Kindle & ePub.
• Are You Ready For Your Interview? How to Prepare for Media Interviews: And once you’ve issued your media release, you’ll want to prepare for interviews with print and broadcast reporters. Available in Print, PDF, ePub & Kindle.
• Do you Know Where Your Website Ranks? How to Optimize Your Website for the Best Possible Search Engine Results: If you want your website to rank up there in search results, you’ll want this book. Available in Print, PDF, Kindle & ePub.
• Build A Better Business Foundation: Create a Business Vision, Write a Business Plan, Produce a Marketing Plan: Available in Print or PDF
• Put Time on Your Side: This is a Time Management short report. Available in PDF.
• If you don’t know where you are going, how are you going to get there?: This is a how to establish your Business Vision short report, Available in PDF.
• How to Produce, Price and Promote Your Self-Published Fiction or Non-fiction Book and eBook: This book on self-publishing should be available by the end of July, 2013. It will be available in multiple formats.
• Rebel in the Back Seat and other short stories: OK, this one is just for fun… Available in Print, Kindle, ePub and PDF.

To read more about any of these books, click here.

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Benefits of, and how to write, white papers explained in “White Papers for Dummies”

White papers describe the benefits of a business to business (B2B) product or service, or highlight a better way to solve an industry problem in a way that helps business people understand the issue, solve the problem, or at least make an important business decision.

Nine out of 10 B2B companies in the U.S. now use content marketing to build influence and attract prospective buyers. And many agree that white papers are “the king of content” that can help any B2B vendor generate leads, nurture prospects, and cement sales, according to Gordon Graham, ThatWhitePaperGuy and author of the new book, White Papers For Dummies.

“When done correctly, no other type of content produces such powerful results,” says Graham. “A tweet is gone in an instant. But a white paper can continue to deliver results for several years running.”

Creating the right mix of factual journalism and persuasive copywriting for a white paper can be challenging. Too many white papers are nothing but sales pitches that disappoint readers looking for helpful information. To help B2B vendors do better, White Papers For Dummies (Wiley, 978-1-118-49692-3) clearly explains the theory and practice of using white papers in B2B content marketing.

The book starts with an overview of the huge opportunity white papers present to both marketers and copywriters. Further chapters answer all the most common questions, explaining the main types of these documents; when to use each one; what to include and what to leave out; how to research and build a compelling argument; how to express points in clear language; what to allow for a budget and schedule; and what’s ahead for white papers in coming years.

Graham provides dozens of tips and tricks to help any white paper project come together faster and easier. With 384 pages packed with advice and best practices, White Papers For Dummies is a comprehensive book on white papers. Anecdotes, sidebars, tables, and the trademark “For Dummies” humor keep the text lively and accessible.

For marketing managers eager to build a B2B business, the book describes the benefits of using white papers; how to pick the best format to meet any marketing challenge; a step-by-step process for managing these projects; and how to promote a finished white paper for maximum exposure to prospective customers.

For writers keen to offer white papers as a service to clients, White Papers For Dummies explains how to plan, research, write, price, manage and even design a compelling document that stands head-and-shoulders above most white papers circulating today.

White Papers For Dummies
By Gordon Graham, ThatWhitePaperGuy
Wiley / 978-1-118-49692-3 / April 2013
*Also available in e-book format
For more info, visit www.dummies.com

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Fundamentals of Writing – introduction

Introduction to Fundamentals of Writing

Welcome to Fundamentals of Writing: How to Write Articles, Media Releases, Case Studies, Blog Posts and Social Media Content, a book written specifically for those who want to improve their writing skills and apply them to writing articles (for newspapers, magazines, corporate and other publications), media releases, case studies, blog posts and social media content.

The book is based on several writing courses that I teach online for University of Toronto continuing education students and for private students and corporate clients.

Fundamentals of Writing is for you if you are looking to
• become a more effective writer;
• organize your thoughts before you write;
• write for a defined audience;
• make your points in a clear, concise, focused manner.

If you are like me, you fear the blank screen or blank page. You look at it and feel intimidated. You see it as an empty vessel you have to fill with words—only you are not quite sure which words to use, how to order them or how to use all those squiggles (known as punctuation marks).

Perhaps you are not like me. Perhaps you love the sight of a blank page. You view it as a blank canvas, an opportunity to create. However, you may feel your creations take too long to come to fruition. You start, you stop, you start again. Moving forward is a slow, painful journey, and you often feel you’ve missed your mark or destination, even if just by a tad, when you are done.

Welcome to the wonderful world of writing.

My hope is that this book will help you overcome that feeling of intimidation. And if you don’t feel intimidated by the blank page, that’s cool. My hope is that the book will simply help make you a stronger, more confident, writer. In both cases, the hope is that this book will help you write in a more focused and concise manner, and will help you effectively structure your written communication when writing articles, media releases, case studies, blog posts and social media content.

Although the book covers writing stronger sentences and more organized paragraphs in the last couple of chapters, it does not cover spelling or grammar or how to write advertising or promotional copy, business documents (email, letters and reports) or how to write for the web. (Visit www.paullima.com/books for books on most of those topics.)

When it comes to the fundamentals of writing, this book will get you grounded and focused—especially if you feel as if you’re often spinning your wheels when you write. Fundamentals of Writing focuses on the writing process to get you thinking about your audience, purpose and desired outcome before you start to write. Then it helps you effectively and efficiently write well-structured, focused documents in a clear, concise manner. You will come to understand the importance of following that process no matter what you are writing because, simply put, writing is a process. To improve your writing, you need to understand the process and apply it in a dedicated and disciplined manner. Exercises in this book will help you apply the process to the types of writing previously mentioned.

The book will also help you spark your writing creativity and exercise your writing muscles, to get them into shape before you start to plunge into writing projects. And, as mentioned, there are a couple of practical chapters toward the end of the book that will help you improve your sentence and paragraph structure, should you need some help with your writing at that level.

For more information on the book, and for links to e-versions and print versions of the book, click here.

Paul Lima
www.paullima.com

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“Beyond the Tripping Point”- a mysteriously good read

Sharon A. Crawford’s Beyond the Tripping Point is a solid read for anyone who likes mysteries. Four of the 13 short stories in the book feature the twin private investigators Dana Bowman and Bast Overture published and are lead-ins for a prequel novel that is in the works. The main characters all feel real as they battle with their personal demons, each other and the plots of the various stories in these gritty dark tales. While on occasion they feel a tad too grumpy, it’s kind of what you would expect from crime dram noir writing. And of course as various private eyes solve crimes and mysteries, the cops are always a step (or two!) behind, bumping up against the detectives but helping them along when it serves the purpose of the police.

Beyond the Tripping Point
Sharon A. Crawford
Blue Denim Press
Available in print and e-copy at
- Amazon.ca (print)
- Indigo Chapters (print & Kobo)
- Amazon.com (print)
- Amazon.com (Kindle)
- For more information about Sharon and links to Beyond the Tripping Point, go www.samcraw.com

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Five ways writers can land clients

Freelance writers can land new clients five ways:

- through referrals from previous clients
- through a well optimized website
- by email
- by mail
- by personal meetings

Through referrals from previous clients
If you have had clients and enjoyed working with them, and if they’ve paid their invoice, you are now in a position to ask them for referrals. They can send the names and contact information to you or send your name and contact information to others who might need your writing services. You want to ask for their help in a polite and professional manner, and if a client isn’t able to help you, simply move on.

Through a well optimized website*
About 70% of my new training and writing gigs come to me through my website. (The rest are from referrals or my marketing.) Let’s take a look at the anatomy of landing clients on the Web using a recent example:

In short, Search Engine Optimization* (SEO) + solid website writing = opportunity.

By email
Before you do any marketing, define what you want to do and who you want to do it for (the sectors you can do it for). Then you go looking for contacts (sales, marketing, communication managers) in the sectors you’ve identified. Once you find the contacts, you send them a sales email, ideally one that drives them to your website for more information. You can ask the person you are pitching to call you, but you can also request to meet with the person you are pitching (see below).

Yes, some people feel unsolicited email equals spam, so you want to make sure that you do not blind copy a sales email to a list of contacts. Instead personalize each one–make a connection between your experiences, the services you offer and the company that you are pitching.

By mail
If you don’t want to risk your sales pitch being treated as spam, send a sales letter. You would follow the same format as above, and close by asking the person you are pitching to call you; however, you can also request to meet with the person you are pitching (see below) by using a line that lets the person you are writing know that you will call to set up a meeting (see below).

By personal meetings
You can’t just show up at a prospect’s doorstep and hope to meet (well, you can, but you shouldn’t), but if you can set up a meeting, you want to be prepared to talk a bit about yourself and your experience, ask informed questions about the client, and show samples of your work. Also, it’s nice to leave behind a reminder, like cheap promotional products from Quality Logo Products, such as personalized pens. It’s a simple way to promote yourself as a freelance writer and it helps potential clients remember who you are.

_____________
* As detailed in Do you Know Where Your Website Ranks? How to Optimize Your Website for the Best Possible Search Engine Results

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A writer dies and reaches the Golden Gates …

A writer dies and reaches the Golden Gates where God gives him a choice to either go to Heaven or Hell. He finds it difficult to make up his mind so he asks God if he can have a little tour of both places.

God agrees and they first go to Hell where the writer sees rows and rows of writers, chained to their desks in an overheated room, being whipped if they stopped writing for even a second by merciless editors and publishers. This really frightens the writer who then proceeds to Heaven hoping it’ll be better.

In Heaven too he sees rows of writers, chained to their desks in an over heated room, being whipped mercilessly.

So he turns to God and says, “But they’re both the same!”

To which God replies, “Oh no. Here in Heaven your work gets published!”

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Why Les Miserables falls flat

If Les Miserables was not a musical, Russell Crowe would have been perfect for the role of Javert, the military guy who hunts down Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman). BUT it IS a musical, and Crowe sucks the life out of the film every time he opens his mouth.

Sadly, although he can sing, Jackman brings no spark to his songs. Sadly, Sacha Baron Cohen (Thénardier) sucks the life out of Master of the House, the movies only upbeat, tap your feet number. (What were they thinking casting Crowe and Cohen.)

And sadly, there is Anne Hathaway (Fantine). I say sadly only be she is amazing, and dies like 20 minutes into the film! She comes back for a few haunting moments (her ghost does) to help Valjean pass ‘to the other side’ and to make us realize how much we missed her, and how much she outshone everyone else in the movie.

Then there is the directing: like a made for TV movie. The vista is grand, yet we get a lot of close ups of faces of people singing to the camera. Ah well, you can’t win them all.

Thoughts? Beg to differ? Do tell!

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Recommending Gone Girls, and only a few pages in!

I was only a few pages in to Gone Girls, the novel by Gillian Flynn, and I thought, I have to recommend this my blog readers. I’m enjoying the book, but the recommendation was based primarily on this passage:

“Writers (my kind of writers: aspiring novelists, ruminative thinkers, people whose brains don’t work quick enough to blog or link or tweet, basically old stubborn diehards) were through.”

The narrator loses his job as a journalist (blames the Internet for this) and goes back to his small hometown and buys a bar because, the world may not need newspapers anymore, but “the world will always want a drink.”

His girlfriend is a “writer” too, who has lost her job – she wrote “personality quizzes” and didn’t think other writers, real writers, would consider her a writer. (I wrote catalogue ad copy for several years and didn’t think other copywriters, real copywriters, would consider me a writer.

Like I said, I was only a few pages into it and I was hooked! I’m three chapters into it now, and I’m still recommending it. Even if the rest of it sucks, I’ve got my money’s worth! (But I suspect the rest won’t suck.)

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Meet 4 writers/authors on the Blog Hop

Welcome to my blog hop where you will learn a little more about me and three other writers and authors:

• Tracey Allen (Sustainable/Gluten-free/Passive Solar)
• Luigi Benetton (Technology/Business)
• Heather Grace Stewart (Poet/Screenwriter), and of course, yours truly,
• Paul Lima (Freelance Writer, Author)

Based in Toronto, Ontario, I have been a professional writer and writing instructor for over 25 years.

A qualified adult educator, I develop and teach business writing, email writing, report writing, copywriting, media release writing and media interview training seminars for corporate and non-profit clients. I have conducted business writing, copywriting and business of freelance writing courses for adult education students at the University of Toronto, Humber College and George Brown College.

An experienced freelance writer, I write case studies, web content, media releases, promotional brochures, ad copy and speeches for corporate and non-profit clients. I have written business profiles and articles for numerous publications, including: the Globe and Mail, National Post, Toronto Star and other print and online publications.

I am the author of 15 books on business and promotional writing, the business of freelance writing, creative writing, writing non-fiction books and several other topics. You can read more about my books online.

My greatest success in writing, beyond my 20+ year freelance career, has been writing has been writing all my books, a solid first draft of each one, in under 60 days.

People sometimes ask me who has been my greatest writing influence. And I have to be honest, that’s a tough question to answer. I sometimes feel as if I am standing on the shoulders of every writer — non-fiction and fiction – that has come before me.

New authors often ask me for advice, and I quote what Margaret Atwood said at a conference when asked what advice she’d give new and aspiring writers: “Read,” she said. You want to read analytically to see what and how all those who have come before you have written their books. And then you want to apply what you’ve learned in a dedicated and disciplined manner. That doesn’t mean you have to write every day, although that doesn’t hurt. But at minimum you should pick a project you want to produce and schedule time to write it.

Once you’ve written it and published it – through a publisher or using self-publishing – you have to promote it. Even if a publisher publishes your book, a lot of the promotion effort falls on your shoulders. Social media (Facebook, Twitter, a blog) is one way to promote your book. Another way is public readings. If fiction, can you set up a reading at libraries and bookstores in your community. If non-fiction, who would be most interested in your book? Where do you find these people? Do they belong to an association or other organizations? Can you arrange readings through those groups?

All the best with your writing. If you have any questions, post them here or email paullima.com@gmail.com.

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Introduction to Unblock Writer’s Block

Unblock Writer’s Block is currently available in print or as a Kindle and ePub.

“Paul Lima’s exercises for overcoming writer’s block are excellent. I recommend this book to any writer. Don’t sit down at the typewriter (or computer) without it!” – Tony Levelle, freelance writer (LinkedIn)

Here’s the introduction from the book:

There is no such thing as writer’s block. How do I know? I know that there is no such thing as writer’s block because I have a dog.

If you are feeling a tad quizzical right now, please stick with me.

As a writer, I live a sedentary life. I don’t jog, lift weights or workout. Basically, I don’t exercise. I do try to walk thirty minutes a day. Notice the word try. I am a fair weather walker. I walk when the weather is pleasant, not when it rains, sleets, hails or snows, or when it’s too hot or too cold. If the weather is not fair, I have what might be described as walker’s block.

Then my wife got a dog, a Giant Schnauzer named Kohl. We don’t have a fenced in backyard and Kohl has to be walked twice a day. My wife walks him in the morning; I walk him in the afternoon. No matter the weather, I’ve walked my dog every afternoon for the last twelve years. In short, we have a dog and I no longer have walker’s block.

The same principle applies to writer’s block. You might think you have writer’s block. What you lack is a dog, or the writer’s equivalent of a dog.

I am not playing down what one feels when one wants to write and can’t write. In addition, I am not dismissing severe bouts of depression or anxiety that may inflict some writers (or anyone pursuing any art, craft or profession). But in the vast majority of cases, most of us who want to write are able to write—if we have a dog, or the writer’s equivalent. This book is filled with dogs—over 70 writing exercises that will get you started and keep you writing.

With that in mind, welcome to Unblock Writer’s Block. I hope the book helps you kick-start your writing and overcome whatever it is that may be keeping you feeling blocked.

Unblock Writer’s Block Table of Contents:

- Introduction
- Yes, you can write
- Why writing exercises?
- How the exercises work
- Getting Emotional
- Face the Blank Page: Freefall
- Face the Blank Page: Directed Freefall
- Clustering (Word Association)
- Why Change?
- Journey through Childhood I
- Journey through Childhood II
- What if?
- Modelling to Write
- Look Who’s Talking
- Characters of Fiction
- Show Versus Tell
- Critiquing and Editing
- Leading Up to Something
- Chunking, or Create an Outline
- Bonus Exercises

Note: Unblock Writer’s Block is currently available in print and as a Kindle and ePub. You can ‘look inside’ the Kindle on Amazon.com. It’s also available as a Kindle at Amazon.ca and as an ePub at Lulu.com (for Kobo, Sony Reader, and Apple e-readers).

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