Q: I’ve just visited your website, The Well-Fed Writer. No offense, but a friend of mine has unequivocally declared your book to be a scam. However, I find myself intrigued. You haven’t promised to make me rich beyond my wildest dreams, which seems to be the hallmark of the scam artist, and I find that reassuring. And I have some questions…
First of all, I do not have any sort of a degree. It seems just a little unlikely that anyone would be willing to hand over a writing project to someone who is (let’s be brutally frank here) under educated by today’s standards. Second, I am currently serving in the US Navy. What happens if I do actually have a project on hand and my sub is unexpectedly deployed? Would that destroy my credibility? Or is there some way I could work around that, say by a referral to another freelancer?
A: As for your friend’s assessment of this opportunity as “an unequivocal scam,” well, believe me, I don’t take offense. I may have at one point, but now comments like that just amuse me and I try to just have fun with them! How exactly do people arrive at such conclusions? What exactly is scam-like about this? Does he not believe the field exists? Do he not believe the hourly rates are legitimate? Can he not fathom that corporate America would go outside their hallowed halls to get help?
As you point out, if I WAS a scam artist, I should be promising a lot more than I am, which is that it’s NOT a get-rich-quick scheme, that one should count on six-to-twelve months gear-up time, that you do have to be a decent writer, etc. VERY scammy. Hmmmm, maybe, I’m a scam artist with a conscience and I just can’t bring myself to make outrageous claims, so I tone them down somewhat. That could be it… 
Rest assured, it’s for real and there are tons of folks out there proving it every day (and who, incidentally, are profoundly indifferent to those out there who believe it ain’t legit…).
As for your questions… While one can never know what any given client is going to ask on any given day, I’ve NEVER been asked where I went to college or even if I DID go to college. It’s just not an issue. Sure, people may assume that you have, but the point is, it’s not germane to the issue at hand, which is: Are you a decent enough writer to handle the writing project for which I am considering hiring you? Frankly, that’s all they care about. If you have a decent gift for writing, and that comes from nurturing it and reading a lot, NOT higher education, that’s all that matters. That’s one of the nicest things about this field: it’s very democratic. You’re hired based on your performance, not your history (sure, if you’re writing in a technical field and you have that background, either through education or work experience, that WILL count for something).
As for your deployment scenario, how often would that come up? If it’s a few-times-a-year possibility, that in essence, would only impact a small number of clients (maybe just one) at any given instance, don’t even bring it up as a possibility. Cross that bridge when you get to it and yes, having another writer in the wings (and I’d have a few) to jump in and finish the job is a very feasible strategy. I assert that the key in the client’s eyes is not that it might or might not come up. It’s, “How do you handle it if it does?” And if you’re professional and diligent, that’s the key thing. They just want their project done.