I‘ve been a freelance writer for six years. In the beginning, I wrote for unknown websites or small, local and regional publications, but now I write for well-known outlets like CNN and Marie Claire. I make a living from this profession, and I get to live the dream…traveling around the world, working from home (wherever that may be!), being free from the corporate world, you get the idea. On an almost daily basis, someone asks me, “How do you do that?” or “How can I do what you do?” This wannabe freelancer usually takes me out for coffee and picks my brain about the ins and outs of writing for a living.
After a few years of this, Steve said, “Why don’t you write a book about how to become a freelance writer?” I immediately began naming reasons why I shouldn’t do that. “I haven’t reached all my freelancing goals!” “I feel like a fraud!” “Maybe when I am on a first name basis with the travel editor at The New York Times!” But the more I thought about the idea, the better it sounded. And so The Coffee Date Guides were born. I like to consider the e-books a virtual coffee date, so although we won’t actually be sitting together clutching steaming cappuccinos, I can still try to answer all the questions you have about getting started in the business.
There will be four e-books in the series: The Coffee Date Guide to Freelance Journalism will be released first, within the next two weeks. On December 1, The Coffee Date Guide to Travel Writing will become available. And the following two months will see The Coffee Date Guide to Blogging and The Coffee Date Guide to Copywriting. To share the love and hopefully garner a few reviews, I will offer the first book free for three days on Amazon—check back often to find out when.
Meanwhile, I’m wrangling up a mailing list, a blog, a Twitter following and a Facebook page, so if you’d like to receive more updates and info on the wide world of freelance writing, be sure to connect with me via your favorite.
The Chic Adventurer 