Starting Your Career as a Freelance Writer (Second Edition) [Paperback]

However, unfortunately, my free-lance writing days came to an abrupt end when no one else was interested in the topic. That is when I decided to devote all of my time and energies into practicing the legal profession. Perhaps, if I had at my disposal Moira Anderson Allen's book entitled Starting Your Career As A Freelance Writer, things would have been different. Remember, it was the 1960s, and at the time there were few writing guides pointing you in the right direction to a free -lance writing career.
I did not have Allen to show me how to start my articles, find the right markets, queries and submissions, rights and contracts, and how to expand my horizons.

It is these topics and many more where Starting Your Career As A Freelance Writer excels. The book is a splendid, in-depth analysis where even the more experienced writer can reap some benefits.

Divided into six parts, there is no shortage of vital and interesting information as to what goes on in the minds of an editor to how to interview, and from exploring and evaluating markets to writing for special interest publications and markets. The reader is also exposed to such topics as queries and submissions, legal technicalities pertaining to rights and contracts, as well as setting fees and keeping records. After all, without these essential tools, we will never get to first base with our budding writing career, no matter how talented we may be.

What is noteworthy about Allen's writing is her ability to cut away the fat from the meat. Furthermore, she never presumes that the reader should know certain fundamental concepts, and consequently Allen leaves nothing unturned.

Allen's writing credentials are impeccable, as proven by the hundreds of articles she has contributed to several publications over her twenty- year writing career. In addition, she has also being called upon to speak at writers' conferences and workshops, and to act as an instructor at many of these events. Commencing a career, as a free-lance writer, is a difficult task, and one in which a great deal of perseverance and patience is required. It is Allen's vast experience and her ability to effectively convey her knowledge from these experiences that is very much in evidence throughout book, and will surely prove to be invaluable to aspiring free- lance writers.

Norm Goldman Editor of Bookpleasures and Travel Writer

I normally don't take more than 3 days to read a non-fiction book, but Moira Allen's took me over a week! You can have an idea just how comprehensive and thorough the contents must be. Fromtime management to setting goals, from finding ideas to handling accounts, Moira helps you to become a successful freelance writer, with her words of wisdom (born out of a 20+ year-old writing career) and conversational-yet-pithy 'tone'.

On the craft of writing, Moira teaches you how to face the first draft and write the perfect query to target the right market. There is a seperate division on rights and contacts and how to keep records and go full-time freelancing. You also have a special chapter by Peter Bowerman, the 'Guru' of Cold-Calling Strategy and the author of THE WELL-FED WRITER.

It doesn't matter if you're a clueless layman, a budding freelancer or a veteran freelancer. This book serves both as an excellent introduction on the freelance writing biz for new writers and as a refresher for experienced ones. Don't miss it!