Peter Bowerman

The book contains a wealth of information to those considering a transition into freelance writing. So many freelance books, classes, and websites over-promise success and under-provide resources. Bowerman uses real-life examples from multiple freelancers to support his approach. While I question the premise of self-sufficiency in six months, I see his advice and resources as positive steps toward getting your own freelancing business moving in the right direction. His brainstorming exercise show more to help you identify possible markets/opportunities is an eye-opener for those of us figuring out where to start.

Bowerman relies heavily on cold-calling. He attempts to provide reassurance to those of us reluctant to conduct cold calls, but for me, the attempt failed. Given the level of research, frequency of calls, and expectations for follow-up, the approach appears too time-consuming to meet the stated goal of self-sufficiency in six months or less. When would you actually have time to get work done?

While Bowerman provides some resources, many of the tools referenced are part of an online Tool Kit that costs additional money to access. Like many other freelancers, he does use his initial materials as a teaser to buy more of his products and services, but he is less invasive than many of his colleagues.

His book includes a large number of website references, including a page and a half of links to successful copywriting websites to refer to when building your own. A number of these links are dead, but there are still plenty of site links within the book that are helpful resources.

I expect to be referencing this book frequently as I am working on my own business, because its strengths far outweigh its few flaws. show less

This is the book for anyone even remotely interested in self-publishing. The author starts from the beginning in what can be a very daunting process and breaks each bit into manageable pieces. He gives great advice, case stories and tons of VERY valuable resource and contact information. I highly recommend this book!

Peter Bowerman is a successful freelance writer in the commercial market who rocketed to success with his first self-published book, "The Well-Fed Writer," followed that up with "The Well-Fed Writer: Back for Seconds," and has now packaged the keys to his success for other writers in "The Well-Fed Self-Publisher" (TWFSP). He chose to self-publish for several reasons: greater control of the process was certainly one of them, but he also felt he could do better by overseeing the process show more himself than by handing it over to a publisher. He believes that unless you're selling to a mainstream market, many of the marketing efforts of a publishing company will be ineffective compared to the highly-targeted efforts you can put together yourself. Besides, these days publishing companies expect you to do much of the marketing yourself anyway, so why not pocket more of the profits as well?

TWFSP is aimed at authors of niche market books--primarily non-fiction--who have written quality products and seriously wish to market and sell them to make a profit. If you want to self-publish a novel for the mainstream market or a family history just for friends and family you'll still find handy information in here, but the book isn't aimed at you and you'll find much of it irrelevant.

For folks who fit the book's intended audience, however, "The Well-Fed Self-Publisher" is a dragon's hoard of clear, well-presented information. Because of the tight focus, Bowerman is able to present highly targeted and relevant information that walks you through each step of the process. This makes the whole thing feel less overwhelming (although it's hardly simple!).

If you're a talented writer in a niche market who wants to write and sell her own book, "The Well-Fed Self-Publisher" provides an incredible amount of information as well as plenty of pointers to more. It's written in an accessible, friendly style full of information to absorb. It's encouraging in tone, yet never tries to soft-sell the amount of work involved.

Full review at ErrantDreams show less

Very helpful! Covering both the craft and the business of copywriting. I wish I had read it years ago.