In the fall of 2001, The Well-Fed Writer was adopted as a text by Kennesaw State University outside of Atlanta, Georgia, as part of their MPW (Masters of Professional Writing) curriculum. And for the fall of 2002, the book was adopted for use in the Writing for PR course at the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY.

And, in September of 2017, I had an email exchange with a student in the MPW at University of Massachusetts (at Dartmouth) letting me know that TWFW was their primary text.

Yes, sporadic success, for sure (frankly, I just haven’t invested the time to seek more adoptions), but given the newly revised upcoming 2021 edition, AND the ongoing struggle so many writers endure trying to make a good living as writers, I believe the detailed “how-to” roadmap laid out in my book is one solution worth considering.

I’ve always felt there was a market for the book in the higher education arena and my early adoptions only affirmed that sentiment. The book is currently under consideration at several other universities, including SUNY Buffalo for their “Freelance Writing” course.

“Starving Writer” No More

Well-Fed is a thorough step-by-step “how-to” for quickly breaking into the lucrative and surprisingly accessible arena of freelance commercial writing – freelancing for corporations, academic institutions and creative agencies, large and small. As Corporate America has downsized, it has outsourced much of its creative needs, making this particular writing direction more viable and profitable than ever before – with hourly rates of $50-125+.

My Request…

I’d like you to consider the possibility of your institution adopting The Well-Fed Writer as a main or supplemental text in your graduate writing programs (MFA, MPW or wherever you feel it would best fit).

Filling a Key Need

At academic conferences over the years, I’ve found definite interest in my title among many stewards of graduate and undergraduate writing programs. They saw it addressing a crucial “blind spot,” especially in the post-graduate writing milieu. Indeed, most such conferences include sessions that address, in some form or fashion, the growing dilemma of the mushrooming number of MFA programs across the country in the face of the ongoing and well-chronicled dearth of well-paying job opportunities for graduates.

Books such as Well-Fed (on the field of commercial writing) can nicely round out a graduate program curriculum and in the process, inject a healthy, needed and welcome dose of realism into the curriculum. More importantly, it can help fulfill a responsibility many feel the institution has: to provide graduates with a broader palette of possible employment avenues once they leave the academic cocoon.

The Strengths of Well-Fed

Practical, detailed, nuts-and-bolts information. The book is not theoretical. It doesn’t deal in generalities. It’s based on my specific real-world experience in building and growing a freelance commercial writing business from scratch – with no previous paid writing experience, no professional writing background or training and no industry contacts. Following strategies outlined in detail in the book, I was paying all my bills and working the business full-time in less than four months.

The new edition represents the distillation of all my commercial-writing experience since I began my career in 1994.   

Grounded in a cornerstone philosophy of simple, repeatable systems, Well-Fed outlines everything an aspiring freelancer needs to know to establish themselves in this profitable field. It assumes nothing on the part of the reader other than this: you know how to write and you want to make a good living at it. Period.

A Brighter Future…

Students want solid, relevant “how-to” information that spells it all out and preferably in an engaging way (see below). They don’t want to guess. And if they’re graduating with an MFA, MPW or even an undergraduate English degree and don’t want to teach, they’d like to know that career possibilities exist to put their skills to work and make more than a subsistence living. Well-Fed showcases one such bona fide career direction.

Veteran commercial freelancer Bob Bly, known as the freelance writing industry “guru” for his 35+ writing titles (www.bly.com), concurs on the viability of commercial freelancing, saying: “I know of no other arena of writing so lucrative yet so easy to get started in.” His take on Well-Fed: “This book is the best information on how to make more money with corporate clients I have ever read. It answers everything you want to know. Highly recommended.”

Readable Too…

Yet, while substantive and comprehensive, the book delivers the goods in a light-hearted, conversational and highly readable style that entertains, engages, connects with readers and keeps them reading. It’s a rare attribute in any text (especially academic ones), yet always welcome.

I encourage you to explore this web site in more depth, especially the links for sample chapter, table of contents, testimonials and more.

Thanks very much for taking the time to investigate this possibility and I look forward to working with you. If you’d like to chat one-on-one, please feel free to call me at 770/438-7200.

Sincerely,

Peter Bowerman

peter@wellfedwriter.com

If you’d like a complimentary desk copy of The Well-Fed Writer, please…

Click the PDF file below to open, print out form on university letterhead, fill out, scan and email to me.
That’s it! I’ll confirm receipt of your request and get a book right out to you. Thanks again for your interest!

Desk Copy Request Form (PDF)