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The ASJA Guide to Freelance Writing

A Professional Guide to the Business, for Nonfiction Writers of All Experience Levels

Edited by Timothy Harper; Foreword by Samuel G. Freedman

St. Martin's Griffin

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ISBN10: 0312318529
ISBN13: 9780312318529

Trade Paperback

336 Pages

$23.99

CA$26.99

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Whether you're just starting out, considering going full-time, or are already a successful freelance writer, you'll find the information and insights needed to take your work to the next level in this smart, thorough guide. Compiled by the prestigious American Society of Journalists and Authors, the book's twenty-six chapters cover the business from every angle, tackling the topics every freelancer needs to master in order to make it today. Chapters cover: planning a writing business, generating fresh ideas, the secrets of a successful magazine query, the latest research tools, writing for the Web, developing areas of specialization, promoting your work, op-eds, essays, and other ways to leverage your knowledge, contracts, taxes and deductions, working with editors, going full-time, and more.

Written by twenty-six of the top freelancers working today, this indispensable guide provides trade secrets, inspiration to take your work where you want it to go, and a revealing view into the minds and working habits of freelance writers at the top of their game.

Reviews

Praise for The ASJA Guide to Freelance Writing

"Chapter by chapter, the working writers who wrote this book share the concrete details of the writing life . . . What you read in these pages is what you would hear working writers talk about over coffee or cocktails."—Samuel G. Freedman, from the Foreword

"The ASJA Guide to Freelance Writing has been a valuable tool in my 'Freelance Writing for Mass Communication' class. Despite 30 years of freelance writing I learned as much from it as my students. I don't know how I could have taught the class without it."—Peter Jedick, Kent State University

"Freelance journalists come together to offer advice on their solitary business in this handbook for working, and aspiring, writers. Each of the 26 chapters is penned by a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and their subjects range from how to stock a home office and how to hire an assistant to how to brainstorm new ideas. Lisa Collier Cool's essay on writing a successful magazine query brims with smart suggestions, as does Richard A. Marini's contribution on contracts and protecting your rights as a writer . . . This advice-filled book successfully provides an enlightening guide to the field."—Publishers Weekly

Reviews from Goodreads

BOOK EXCERPTS

Read an Excerpt

The ASJA Guide to Freelance Writing

1
Freelance Writing Today--and Tomorrow
JIM MORRISON














People inevitably ask what it's like to be a freelance writer....

About the author

Edited by Timothy Harper; Foreword by Samuel G. Freedman

Timothy Harper, ASJA member and former Associated Press national writer, has been a full-time freelance writer since 1984. An adjunct faculty member at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and a writing coach and consultant, he has published stories in The Atlantic Monthly, Reader's Digest, Delta Sky, and elsewhere and is the author of eleven books. He lives in Ridgewood, New Jersey.