New Economy Offers Writers the Chance to Swap “Starving” for “Well-Fed”

Atlanta, GA — The downsizing of Corporate America – from small firms to Fortune 100 behemoths – continues. Unemployment swells. But one writer and author says that’s good news for freelance writers looking to move from starving to “well-fed.”

According to Peter Bowerman, veteran “commercial” freelance writer and author of the 2010 edition of The Well-Fed Writer,  “In a downturn, often the first departments of a company to get pared down or eliminated altogether are marketing and communications. Yet, the work still has to get done, and smart, strategic, creative freelancers can help pick up the slack.”

In the last downturn, according to Bowerman, companies learned the benefits of the freelancer model – benefits that are even more attractive and compelling today. Bowerman notes: “Many companies are asking themselves, ‘Why pay salaries and benefits when freelancers – offering a range of talent and fresh ‘outsider’ perspectives – give us only what we need, and only when we need it.’ While the economy may take away full-time jobs, it often gives back freelance work to the entrepreneurially-minded.”

Indeed, as many have discovered, entrepreneurship is on the rise, as those long out of work and seeing the job market only get tighter realize they need to get creative to pay the bills. And launching their own business can be a better bet than waiting for “things to turn around.” As Bowerman points out, “There are countless folks out there who’ve always dreamed of being writers, and here’s a bona fide path to not only a writing career but a profitable one.”

The Well-Fed Writer (2010), is the updated compilation of Bowerman’s two original WFW titles: the 2000 award-winning Book-of-the-Month Club selection of the same name, and the 2005 triple-award-finalist companion volume, TWFW: Back For Seconds. Bowerman bills the book as, “a detailed how-to guide to help writers start a lucrative commercial freelancing practice: writing for businesses and creative agencies, and for hourly rates of $50-125+.”

With a nod to the fear and loathing many writers have for “sales” and “marketing,” Bowerman includes an entire chapter in his new book to demystifying what he refers to as “The Panic Pair.” As Bowerman observes, “Sales and marketing, once dissected, simply aren’t anywhere near as terrifying as many build them up to be. Those who can get comfortable with a few cornerstone concepts can position themselves nicely to both be a valuable partner to business entities and make an exceptionally handsome living as a writer.”

Drawing a contrast to magazine writing (what many think of as “freelance writing”), which, as an industry, has experienced its own dramatic bloodletting of late, Bowerman says, “Why spend 20-25+ hours slaving over an article that might pay a flat $300 and then fight for your money, when you could do a marketing brochure, case study, direct-mail campaign or more, in a fraction of the time, bill all your hours at an average $75-$125/hour and get paid in 30 days?”