"Over a billion books were sold during the past year!"
Probably many of us do not realize that incredibly over a
billion books were sold during the past year.
In the USA alone there are over 18, 000 magazines and
approximately 45, 000 newspapers.
Added to these publications is the multitude of information
web sites. What is more noteworthy, as mentioned in The Writer's
Market Companion, authored by Joe Feiertag and Mary Carmen
Cupito, is that "America's love of reading is perhaps most
evident when we look at book sales. In the years leading up
to the new millennium, book sales in the U.S. (excluding
textbooks) were up a healthy 38 percent." No doubt this is excellent news for the aspiring writer as
well as the seasoned professional.
There is a vast market for your books and articles. The key
question is to how do you crack the market? Feiertag and Cupito provide the reader with a detailed plan
as to how to go about succeeding as a writer.
Divided into seventeen chapters, the authors deal with such
topics: resources, ideas, writing plan, finding leads,
selling, legal aspects, self-promotion, business aspects,
and workshops. As examples of some of the excellent advice contained in
the book, there is a chapter entitled "The People Chase"
that explains how to conduct an effective interview. We are
also provided with concrete interviewing tips and pertinent
samples of questions to ask of the interviewee. Another section deals with the topic of what to write
about. It is within this section that we are provided with
idea-generating exercises. Finding leads and knowing how to research your topic can
very often prove to be a stumbling block in the planning of
a good article.
The manual provides three chapters that detail how to
resolve this dilemma.
In fact, I was pleasantly surprised when I followed the
advice of the authors and experimented with a suggested
site called ProNet.com.
As I was informed, this site is a subsidiary of the PR
Newswire. It allows you to find an expert by typing in a
topic, and to my surprise I was bombarded with replies to
my query within one day. The authors do not omit to delve into the business aspect
of writing and there is an entire chapter dealing with the
subject of pricing. Various pricing suggestions are
presented pertaining to such occupations as ghost writing,
film scripting, brochure writing, and many more. My reading of this book was out of sheer curiosity. However
I would have to admit that "The Writer's Market Companion"
should be placed on a must acquisition list.
Reviewed by Norman Goldman
Posted September 16, 2002
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