THE WELL-FED E-PUB - December 2006

Welcome to THE WELL-FED E-PUB!

Serving up food for thought and tasty tips for the prospering writer. Come

on in, sit anywhere and bring your appetite!

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VOLUME 5, ISSUE 12 – DECEMBER 2006 – NEW BOOK RELEASE!!

HAVE A HAPPY AND WELL-FED HOLIDAY SEASON!!

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“THE WELL-FED SELF-PUBLISHER”: NOW AVAILABLE!

Hard copy and ebook versions PLUS killer companion ebook: www.wellfedsp.com

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ATTN, ST. LOUIS! “Well-Fed Self-Publisher” Mini-Seminar December 27!

Details: http://www.wellfedsp.com/TWFSPevents.html (& in Dessert)

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JANUARY 11 TELECLASS: “THRIVING AS A FREELANCE COPYWRITER”

Michael Stelzner (www.WritePaperSource.com) hosts with moi as guest; Details: http://www.whitepapersource.com/cmd.php?Clk=1698298 (& in Dessert)

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NEW WEB SITE FEATURE: THE WELL-FED KNOWLEDGEBASE!

Q&As I’ve received! Add your own! http://www.wellfedwriter.com/kb.shtml

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BIGGER Banquet eBook, EPUB Issues 1-39; Just $11.95! (BAD LINK FIXED!)

Check it out at http://www.wellfedwriter.com/thebiggerbanquet.shtml (& in Dessert)

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I. APPETIZER: NON-“WELL-FED” WRITING & THE FREE MARKET SYSTEM 101

Who’s to Blame for Low Writers’ Wages? NOT Clients!

II. CRISP “FIELD” GREENS: INDECISIVE CLIENT SHOULDN’T BE COSTLY CLIENT

Writer Who Didn’t Set the Rules Upfront is Paying the Price Now

III. MAIN COURSE: FROM MAGS TO COPYWRITING; THE STRAIGHT SCOOP

Former Magazine Writer Forced to Shift Direction, But Loves Her 10-Year Writing Biz!

IV. DESSERT: Sweet Success Stories and Tips

TIP: THE Best Way to Announce a Rate Hike to Clients (You’ll Be Relieved!)

Good Feedback from Ethics-oriented October issue

V. COFFEE, MINTS AND TOOTHPICKS

- Attn: St. Louis! “Well-Fed Self-Publisher” Mini-Seminar Coming December 27!

- 1/11/07 Teleclass: “Thriving as a Freelance Copywriter” – Don’t Miss It!

- NEW WEB FEATURE: The Well-Fed KnowledgeBase!

- BIGGER Banquet, EPUB Issues 1-39; Just $11.95! (BAD LINK FIXED!)

- AWAI Copywriting (& Other) Courses: Register Here, Get 2 Bonuses (no charge!)

- Well-Fed E-Pub Needs All Courses!

- How Can My Mentoring Service Serve You?

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I. APPETIZER: NON-“WELLFED” WRITING & THE FREE MARKET SYSTEM 101

Who’s to Blame for Low Writers’ Wages? NOT Clients!

Got an email recently from Amman, Jordan-based FLCW Patricia Skinner (skinner@wellwrittenwords.com, www.wellwrittenwords.com), asking if I’d be willing to give an EPUB plug to a new pet project called the Freelance Writer’s Manifesto. Its goal? To encourage writers to stop working for peanuts and get what they’re worth. Sure. My whole “well-fed” rap dovetails nicely into that sentiment.

Then I noticed this bit of copy on the page: “Together we aim to create a blacklist of employers who are scamming writers into working for a pittance, and to help and support freelance writers so that they demand to be paid what they’re worth.”

Uh-oh. That doesn’t work. I wrote her back with my objections, she was most gracious, realized she’d pushed it a bit too far, and the offending passage went bye-bye. Here’s what I wrote. If the above passage seemed okay to you, perhaps this will help you understand the economic paradigm involved:

Patricia, this is wrong-headed thinking. Employers don't scam anyone into working for a pittance. It would only be a scam if that employer promised X wage, and then when it came time to pay, paid less than the agreed-upon amount. What we're seeing is nothing more than the market system in action. That writer is agreeing to work for the low wage that employer is offering. It's a fair market transaction both sides entered into willingly and without coercion.

Setting up employers as the scammers makes the writers out to be victims, and they're not. They're full partners in the transaction. And you KNOW that, as evidenced by your calling THEM (the writers) to task for working for peanuts. And that "calling-to-task" is fine. But, it's also their right to work for whatever wage they choose. You can certainly appeal to their more global concern for prevailing wages in the profession at large, but you can't make anyone do anything.

I'm going to go a step further here, and absolutely stick up for that employer paying the low wages. He has every right to, and as a responsible businessman, arguably, the responsibility to find the most economical services he can find to get the job he needs done. He has ZERO responsibility to pay some arbitrary rate just to preserve the "financial integrity" of our profession. THAT responsibility falls solely on our shoulders.

It's up to writers to put their feet down, and when enough do, then wages overall will rise. That should be your message. People should stop trying to get the low-payers to become high-payers, and simply do what they have to do to go out and FIND the high-payers (and they're out there). How do we do that? In addition to simply stepping up our marketing efforts, how about we become more marketable by developing a specialty in a particular project niche or industry, which can elevate us to a smaller, more elite group of writers, who, by definition, command higher rates?

Questions? NOW I can give that plug. If this resonates with you (and I’m guessing it would), check it out: http://www.wellwrittenwords.com/freelance-writers-manifesto.htm.

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II. CRISP “FIELD” GREENS: INDECISIVE CLIENT SHOULDN’T BE COSTLY CLIENT

Writer Who Didn’t Set the Rules Upfront is Paying the Price Now

Got a note some time back from a most frustrated writer. She wrote: “I’ve been working with this client for almost a year. Until recently, the relationship has been mutually cordial and productive, but lately, the owner has become ineffective at communicating his needs. Recently, we met about a project, SEVERAL times, and every time, he decided on a different direction. I’d begin writing, he’d change his mind, and the project would stall. This morning? Yet another slew of brand-new last-minute changes. Do I drop him? I'm pretty flexible and adaptable, but my sanity has been tested over the past month and a half! The amount they pay me just isn't worth it anymore.”

Okay class, what’s wrong with this picture? I don’t know about anyone else, but I LOVE clients that change their mind every day or two, whose “vision-du-jour” shifts with the winds. They’re my faves. Why? Because the way I set things up with clients, ALL direction changes mean I’m back on the clock, making more money. Obviously, our frazzled freelancer didn’t set things up thusly. Clearly, the client thinks he can keep changing his mind as much as he wants for the same price. Wouldn’t you, if you were in his shoes? Piggybacking on the Appetizer, it’s up to us to educate clients. He thinks that’s the way the freelancing world works because the writer didn’t tell him differently. Remember, all we have is our time. Make sure you’re carefully protecting yours.

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III. MAIN COURSE: FROM MAGS TO COPYWRITING; THE STRAIGHT SCOOP.

Former Magazine Writer Forced to Shift Direction, But Loves Her 10-Year Writing Biz!

Last month’s focus on magazine writers (www.wellfedwriter.com/ezine/nov2006.html) spawned this wonderful chronicle from Canandaigua, NY based writer Marci Diehl about her journey from magazines to commercial work. Tons of wisdom, lessons, and conviction in her words, especially her comment on writers getting what they’re worth, and apropos, again, of the Appetizer discussion. Enjoy.

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Peter: I especially enjoyed last month's PUB; the debate about writing for magazines versus commercial writing was right on. I've had a 26-year career as a (paid!) writer. I got my start writing freelance humor and essays for the Sunday Magazine in the Rochester NY Democrat & Chronicle. I'll never forget my first check: a whopping $125, a pretty nice sum for magazine work back in 1980. What was even more exciting was being asked for more. That started a 15-year career in magazine writing.

I had quick success, which is NOT usually the case for a writer. I think I sent only two queries in all that time, and most of my work was on assignment. I ended up writing for local, regional and national magazines, including GOLF and Golf Digest, and the coup de grace: a cover story for SUCCESS on Jack Nicklaus (I was married to a PGA Tour player and made great contacts).

When life took me to Jacksonville, Florida, I wrote the editor of the city magazine, Jacksonville Today, and asked if they needed a writer. Her immediate response: they were always desperate for good writers who knew how to work. I was a contributing writer there for four years, with several cover stories. In the 90's, back in Rochester, I wrote business and tourism. But, you’re dead-on. If you want to support yourself full time in writing, magazines won't do it unless you're hooked into a national magazine/niche as a regular contributor. The only way I was able to do it at the time was because I was at home raising my four sons and my former husband made a great living.

Once divorce came along, I concentrated on making a good income. I ended up working as a recruiter with a staffing firm, and because I was a writer, I was asked to "take a look" at their advertising (as a side to my actual job). I ended up creating a new corporate identity along with over 50 ads, and moved into a position created for me. In 1996, I was downsized, and as I networked to find a new job, contacts began to ask if I ever considered working on my own. My former company became my first client, and I developed and wrote the company's quarterly newsletter for the next five years.

Today I am an independent creative director and the senior copywriter for my business, DoubleVision Creative (www.marcidiehl.com). I collaborate with other creative professionals on all sorts of commercial projects, from trade show graphics to events, scripts for DVDs and CDs, along with work in print, broadcast, and the web. I love what I do and I work from a home office.

Reading your newsletter and reading other commercial writers’ comments and ideas is part of my continuing education. Like many creative writers, I love writing longer pieces, I'm an essayist at heart, and I still chip away at writing fiction. But I also know that many "writers" have an elitist attitude when it comes to anything commercial. They don't like the "taint" of business. Fine. I wish all of us well who work with words.

But I've been able to support my boys and myself and live independently, because I treat writing as a passion AND a business. I'm blessed to be very versatile, and I can be fascinated by any subject--from industrial to burial sites. Thanks for letting me put my two cents in. It still steams me that magazines continue to treat writers like some kind of illegal migrant workers, working for pennies! (PB: careful, Marci) Mark Hoerner has the right attitude: if it's worth it, write it; if not, look for the perks. If there aren't any, forget it! (PB: that’s better) MAGAZINES NEED good writers, or they have no publication.

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IV. DESSERT: Sweet Success Stories and Tips

TIP: THE Best Way to Announce a Rate Hike to Clients (You’ll Be Relieved!)

Good Feedback from Ethics-oriented October issue

Wrestling with the best way to raise your rates? Well, the best I’ve heard is from marketing maven Marcia Yudkin, in her June 7, 2006 “Marketing Minute” (wonderful resource; to subscribe: http://www.yudkin.com/markmin.htm; it really DOES only take a minute to read!). I think you’ll be relieved at how “no-hassle” this can be. Enjoy.

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If I had snake-oil ambitions, I'd create a five-step process for successfully raising prices. First, work up elaborate reasons for the rise and sprinkle in heartfelt apologies. Express hope that clients will forgive you for this audacious step. Then, oh so gingerly, lay the foundation for your news, and so on. This report would sell.

I know that because when I tell clients who are teetering from unprofitability how actually to raise their fees, they do not want to believe me.

What's best: Make a simple, factual statement, like, “As of September 1, our fees will be $2,250 for Service A and $3,870 for Service B.” No explanation, no apology. Then go on to the next item of business. That’s it!

Unless you're a public utility, you don’t owe customers information about how you arrive at prices or why you run your business as you do. Apologies for prices position you

as subservient to clients, rather than equal. Apologies also invite opinions and objections rather than the acceptance that follows the factual announcement ninety-nine

times out of a hundred.

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I received nice feedback on the October issue, which delved into freelance success as a function of how we work, from both the ethics and reliability standpoints. Here’s a smattering. Check out the issue at http://www.wellfedwriter.com/ezine/oct2006.html.

“Loved this issue addressing work ethics; made me feel good to realize how mine stack up! Happy Fall!”; “This is the best issue of the E-PUB yet. Four words perfectly sum up all the detailed scenarios: Committment, Responsiblilty, and Grasping Opportunity.” And finally: “If I’ve learned nothing else from you and my fellow writers, it’s these two things: 1) give the clients your very, very best every time (and that includes no typos, etc.), and give it to them sooner than they expect it. It’s integrity in bold capital letters. My clients love it and have HIGHLY respected and appreciated me for it. Thanks again for inspiring me to get better and better.”

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V. COFFEE, MINTS AND TOOTHPICKS

- Attn: St. Louis! “Well-Fed Self-Publisher” Mini-Seminar Coming December 27!

- 1/11/07 Teleclass: “Thriving as a Freelance Copywriter” – Don’t Miss It!

- NEW WEB FEATURE: The Well-Fed KnowledgeBase!

- BIGGER Banquet, EPUB Issues 1-39; Just $11.95! (BAD LINK FIXED!)

- AWAI Copywriting (& Other) Courses: Register Here, Get 2 Bonuses (no charge)!

- Well-Fed E-Pub Needs All Courses!

- How Can My Mentoring Service Serve You?

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ATTN, ST. LOUIS! “Well-Fed Self-Publisher” Mini-Seminar December 27!

I head to St. Louis each Xmas to visit Sis, so when Bob Baker of The St. Louis Publisher’s Association contacted me, I connected the dots and we put together an event. Got a book in you? Or one already out? Wondering if self-publishing makes sense for you? Don’t miss it! Just $8 (or less!) http://www.wellfedsp.com/TWFSPevents.html

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JANUARY 11 TELECLASS: “THRIVING AS A FREELANCE COPYWRITER”

Michael Stelzner (www.WhitePaperSource.com), THE WP guru, and author of the GREAT new book, “Writing White Papers,” hosts, with yours truly as his guest. Subtitle: “Becoming Well-Fed with White Papers and Other Writing Projects.” Cost? A measly $29. Limited space. Details: http://www.whitepapersource.com/cmd.php?Clk=1698298

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NEW WEB FEATURE: THE WELL-FED KNOWLEDGEBASE!

Over the years, I’ve gotten a TON of questions, and I’ve saved a lot of the answers. Check out the result (AND add your own!): a growing source of information on all your commercial writing questions: http://www.wellfedwriter.com/kb.shtml

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BIGGER Banquet eBook, EPUB Issues 1-39; Just $11.95! (BAD LINK FIXED!)

New to the EPUB? Don’t miss ONE issue. Regular subscriber, but fallen behind? Catch up fast! 228 pages, chockfull of proven strategies, success stories, and tips from commercial writers around the world! We fixed a bad link that was redirecting, so check it out at http://www.wellfedwriter.com/thebiggerbanquet.shtml.

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AWAI COPYWRITING (& OTHER) COURSES: Register Here, Get 2 Extra Bonuses!

Six-Figure Copywriting, Graphic Design, Internet Writing, Fundraising, Health Market and more! TWO Bonus CDS: http://www.wellfedwriter.com/awai.shtml

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WELL-FED E-PUB Needs ALL COURSES!

“GREENS” (200-300 words), MAIN COURSES (400-500; query first), TIPS (150-200) and SUCCESS STORIES (200-300) to peter@wellfedwriter.com.

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HOW CAN MY MENTORING SERVICE SERVE YOU?

For details and testimonials, visit www.wellfedwriter.com/Mentoring.shtml.

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NEW Subscribe/Unsubscribe feature. To Subscribe (YAY!), Unsubscribe (boo!) and/or update your address for the E-PUB, visit: http://www.wellfedwriter.com/ezine.shtml.

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BIG THANKS!

THANKS again to Susan Cochran in Atlanta for her great editing/proofing prowess on the E-Pub. Need a good editor/proofreader? susan_cochran@mindspring.com, www.cochrancompany.com.