Have you ever visited a doctor’s office and seen informational booklets, pamphlets, or brochures for the taking? They might offer a few tips or basic background on issues customers or clients to that business face.
Did you ever then wonder, who writes these things? Can you do this work as a freelance commercial writer? That’s what one reader wanted to know in this Well-Fed Writer Mailbag entry.
How Can a Freelance Writer Land Gigs Writing Informational Booklets?
I’m trying to find some information about those free informational booklets you frequently see handed out at doctors’ offices, business fairs, nature centers, and other places. They’re often “public service” booklets that don’t “sell” any particular business directly, but provide relevant and useful information, e.g., “What Really Causes Clinical Depression?” or “20 Fire Safety Tips for Suburbanites.”
About the only thing I know for sure is that most of these are created and distributed by “publications” departments within organizations, or by specialty publishing agencies. I have no idea whether they often use freelance writers, how much they pay, whether topics are assigned, or how to contact the proper persons. And I’ve never seen any “how-to-write-for-money” article or book that even mentions this particular area. Can you help?
Peter Bowerman’s Advice on Informational Booklets
I don’t personally have much info on those, but it’d be easy to find out about them.
Just collect as many as you can and contact the publishers listed on them. And if they don’t have one, contact the entity you received it from – they’d certainly know.
Don’t be afraid to do some digging, and once you get someone on the phone, don’t be afraid to look ignorant, and ask away!
The info is there for the taking. I’m guessing in a few hours or less of hunting and calling, you’d know infinitely more than you do now.
Good luck!
Jenn Mattern on Writing “Booklets”
Here’s the thing… there is plenty of information out there about these kinds of projects, and there is a lot of freelance work available in this area.
The issue comes down to what you’re searching for, and “informational booklets” isn’t what these projects are more commonly called.
The reality is informational booklets aren’t even a single project type. That term could be used to describe several different things:
- short e-books or guides (think .pdf-style)
- informational white papers (not always solely marketing tools)
- short reports
- fact sheets
- informational brochures
- pamphlets
Those are just some of the project types that would fall under the “informational booklet” umbrella.
So figure out what type you prefer to write (how long, what type of subject matter, what end goal do they serve, etc.). Then seek out more info on potential clients, what they’ve published already, and come up with potential ideas to pitch.
This is a great project style to start writing for nonprofits if that’s of interest to you.
The examples mentioned would tend to fall within that realm. Even small local nonprofits can be good target clients (and service-oriented businesses — think vets, doctors, dentists, and even professional service providers like accountants wanting informational booklets prior to tax season).
While not always the case, many of these projects would be considered a type of PR writing. They’re about increasing awareness (such as about health issues or public safety like in the examples given).
So if you start anywhere, that’s what I’d suggest researching first. Learn how PR writing differs from things like sales copy. Then start small by offering one-page fact sheets or short informational brochures your clients can distribute efficiently.
After that, you can pitch them longer-form informational booklets with an even bigger PR impact.