I saw I.J. Schecter speak at the Writer's Digest conference last month in NYC, and the nuggets of wisdom I learned in under an hour prompted me to buy his book immediately after, and I'm so glad I did. If you are a freelance writer, this is just one of those books that should be on your bookshelf because it's going to prompt all sorts of brilliant ideas to help you propel your business and seek out new markets where you can sell your work. But I think just as importantly, this book encourages you to take ownership of your writing career. For example:
1. Don't work for free, for anyone.
2. Create a sales page, and from that, your spiel about what you do for a living.
3. Everything you write, write it so that you would be so proud of the piece, you'd hang it in your living room and frame it--my interpretation of being proud of your work :)
If you just follow these three things, you will be well on your way to a great career. But don't stop there. For concrete advice and ideas about markets (102 potential markets, to be exact), you have to get this book. And be prepared to take notes and have a highlighter handy. I took six pages of notes while I read it, and I feel like I've just scratched the surface of what I can do.
And a funny thing happened after I read this book. Schecter is sort of my freelance writing hero because he has written for so many different outlets and has made a solid career from it. He loves writing any and everything--really!--and has such a joy for the profession. His career is one I would be thrilled to mimic.
But in some ways, I also realized that while I would be willing and happy to write in any format, there are some target topics I want to put more energy into, and I have been focusing on those subjects intensely since reading the book. Now I know all the different ways that I can write about my favorite topics, and already have one new, potential steady gig thanks to this book. But I'm not stopping there.
How many of the 102 markets are you approaching? Where else could you be selling your work?
