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Index Interviews: Tracy Fobes Mothers Who Write: Roxana Robinson Build-A-Song Part VIII: Finishing Touches Starving Writer No More The Online Freelance Goldmine: Write for Commercial Websites and Get Paid Upcoming Events Calendar Return to This Issue's Index Return to Homepage Subscribe
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Reviews of Writing BooksThe Complete Guide to Book Publicity by Jodee BlancoAllworth Press, April 2000.Paperback, 277 pages. ISBN: 1581150466 Ordering information: Amazon.com. | Amazon.co.uk 
This comprehensive reference about
book publicity provides a great deal
of information about promoting books
and the book industry itself. The
book covers a variety of promotion
topics, including types of book
campaigns, media research, pitching
the media, how to interview, author
tours, promotional budgets, hiring
outside publicists and general, helpful
information about how the media operates.
A very good chapter, entitled "How to
Write the Perfect Press Kit,"
helps authors and publicists create a knock-out
press kit, and provides helpful advice, tips and
sample materials. The book also includes sample
press releases, author
bios and cover letters.
The section on author tours is also excellent,
providing information on books that
shouldn't be toured, the costs of book
tours, how to locate
media escorts and how to book features.
A final, helpful chapter entitled, "Crisis Management,"
provides suggestions for how to turn things around
when something doesn't go as planned, such
as when media arrangements are bumped
by breaking news.
Author Jodee Blanco is a prominent book publicist and president of the public relations firm Blanco & Peace Enterprises, Ltd. She has managed book campaigns for over fifteen New York Times bestselling authors. This is a must-have for any serious novelist in today's market, where marketing opportunities must be carefully planned and seized. In addition, this is also a great reference for professional book publicists and anyone involved with book sales. The Penguin Dictionary of American English Usage and Style by Paul W. LovingerViking, July 2000.Hardcover, 491 pages. ISBN: 0670891665 Ordering information: Amazon.com. | Amazon.co.uk 
This handy English usage and style
guide is presented in dictionary form
and cross-referencing is provided to
help readers find information quickly.
Readers can look up words and phrases
such as latter, nevertheless, imply and
infer, regardless, loose and lose and
"could care less" to find out
where and how to use them properly, and to locate answers to
any grammar or usage problems commonly associated with these
terms. The book provides special help sections as well.
Look up punctuation in order to
alleviate any
confusion you have about
colons, commas, hyphens, exclamation
points, parentheses and question marks.
Look up confusing pairs and
you will find advice on using commonly
confused pairs such as arrant and errant,
precede and proceed, moral and morale
and disassemble and dissemble.
Other helpful sections discuss plurals and
singulars, pronouns, series errors,
tense and modifiers. One of the more
interesting, and often humorous,
aspect of the book is that it
frequently points out grammar and usage
mistakes from newspaper editorials,
speeches, ads and other writings. This book is
packed with advice, tips and definitions
to help writers chose the correct
word form in their writing, and would be a
great addition to your reference bookshelf.
The Well-Fed Writer by Peter BowermanFanove, August 2000.Trade Paperback, 282 pages. ISBN: 0967059844 Ordering information Amazon.com. | Amazon.co.uk 
As the clever title suggests, this book
offers suggestions, advice and examples
that can help freelancers make a good
living. The book focuses on writing
for corporations, which typically offer the biggest
paychecks. Some of these types of writing
include writing ad copy, newsletters,
business letters, event scripting,
video scripting, ghost writing,
trade articles, technical writing, speech writing,
website copy and writing
brochures for corporations.
So, how much can you make? According to
the guide's "How Much Do I Charge?"
chapter, creative writing such as marketing
work and ad copy can pay in the $50-$125/hour
range and video scripting can pay
$80-200 per-finished-minute (pfm). Good pay ranges
can be earned for the other types of corporate
writing, as well. Information and advice about
negotiations, written contracts,
bid letters, charging for revisions and kill fees
is also given in this informative chapter.
Another very helpful section in the book includes
sample business letters, marketing letters, direct
mail, brochures, and articles.
Peter Bowerman has only been a freelance commerical writer for six years, but in that six years he has done some amazing things and written a large amount of material for excellent pay. Bowerman has freelanced for a corporate client list that includes the Coca-Cola Company, MCI, Holiday Inn, Discover Channel and American Express. In addition to sharing his inspiring and practical tips and thoughts, Bowerman also offers insight into the lifestyle, the clients, self-employment and the technical gadgets and software needed to make a freelance career a success. You may be more interested in writing poetry or fiction, but Bowerman tells you it's better to pay the bills with commercial freelance writing first. "If you are trying to go the "purist" route -- writing only articles and books -- and you end up moonlighting to make ends meet, you might as well do something closer to your field that actually pays well. Then, with the bills paid, you've got the time and space to pursue that arena of writing which really lights you up -- that future Oscar, Pulitzer, Emmy or Tony award-winning screenplay, novel, TV series or Broadway play," suggests Bowerman. Bowerman can't do the work for you, but he does tell you everything you need to know about corporate freelancing in The Well-Fed Writer. Return to Book Reviews Index ** More information on writing-related books can be found in the Writer's Bookstore. |
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