Step-by-step instructions on how writers can earn top dollar writing for magazines are provided in this book. Secrets are revealed about what the high-paying magazines really want, how to build relationships with editors, how to ascertain which sections of a magazine are open to freelancers, what kinds of stories are in demand, what to do if a deadbeat publisher doesn’t pay up, how to market reprints, and how to become an expert in one’s chosen writing field. Basic terms like query, clips, and source sheet are defined for beginning writers, and tips on everything from coming up with an idea to pitching a syndicated column are also included. Writers learn about the little-known sources top freelancers use to find new stories and experts. In addition, they learn how to get their first paying assignments even if they have no prior clips, how to negotiate for better pay, how to find high-paying magazines that aren’t swamped with queries, and how to worm their way into editors’ inboxes even if their e-mail addresses aren’t publicized.

The book is a good mix of the author's experience (what worked and what she learned from mistakes she made), and quotes from editors and other established writers.

Very helpful were the websites with additional helpful information, like a fax site where you can receive your faxes by e-mail at no cost (i.e. no need for a fax machine), websites for writers, websites for finding sources, etc.

Also helpful were sections on negotiating contracts, how to pitch a story, how to study the market for your work (and the importance in doing so), how fact checking works, and how to find story ideas (and spin them off into even more ideas).

If you're the type who does well with assignments, the book has assignments you can do like one on coming up with ideas.

The book is less how to write, than the mechanics behind getting assignments and following through on them. It takes the mystique out of the process. I ended up earmarking a bunch of pages to go back to, and have already used some of the information (mainly websites) to further my own writing.

36 of 37 found the following review helpful:


Sustain a Lucrative Career while Wearing Pajamas  Jun 08, 2004 By Maryanne Raphael
Book Review by Maryanne Raphael, Writers World

Sustain a Lucrative Career while Wearing Pajamas
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MAKE A REAL LIVING AS A FREELANCE WRITER explains how to be successful "in today's publishing climate where the Internet rules and stamps are nearly obsolete and the articles that earned front-page headlines last decade wouldn't even get short blurbs today." The book shows how to earn top dollars writing for magazines, how to write a marketable story, how to know what sections of a magazine welcome freelancers, how to market reprints, and how to become an expert in your chosen field.
Author Jenna Glatzer is the editor-in-chief of Absolute Write and author of Outwitting Writer's Block. She is a full time writer from NYC who has published 9 books and hundreds of articles. Her style makes reading fun with her quick wit, vast experience, knowledge of her subject and her use of meaningful quotes, relevant anecdotes and helpful resources.
She says, "You'll have to learn where to find writing markets and how to study them, write irresistible query letters, make editors fall in love with you, get regular assignments, negotiate, make deadbeats pay up and more." She helps discover your strengths and how to use them.,, shows you how to set goals, see writing as a business and get started.
"You must find something worth telling to a mass audience," she says, "and convince the `powers that be' that you're the right person to tell it."
She even tells how to make the most of rejection slips, how to network, write a column, interview, write for the Internet, have a Web Site, and make your article timely. She shows how to become your editor's favorite by being "reliable, accurate, nice, respectful of the editor's time and by proposing plenty of new ideas with regularity."
Author Glatzer helps readers learn from her mistakes as well as her achievements. After stating that big magazines do not want stories that have appeared elsewhere, she tells how she goofed once . "You shouldn't be a dummy like me and actually emphasize this as a selling point in your query."
The book tells everything you need to know about taxes once you start earning money from your writing. By the time you finish this book, according to the author, "You'll have the insider knowledge you need to figure out what sells to whom and how to build up and sustain a lucrative career while wearing pajamas." I'd recommend the book to anyone who wants to try freelance writing.

17 of 17 found the following review helpful:


Valuable Information in a Conversational Tone  Aug 04, 2005 By Sally DeLellis "Author of 5,000 Reasons to Smile...for Chicks"
You could easily finish this book in one sitting; Glatzer's tone is amicable and the information is very accessible. My favorite aspect is that there are many quotes from editors of the most popular magazines (Woman's Day, etc.), as well as lots of other tips specific to magazines that are in my chosen women's genre.

Glatzer uses a great method of coming up with story ideas; you take a very general concept - she used cats as her example, and then she suggests categories pertaining to cats (or whatever your general concept may be) that are a bit more specific. Fill out her chart completely and you'll arrive at 10+ different article topics. I've alread made a spreadsheet mimicing her chart and plan to use this once a week to brainstorm article ideas.

For the aspiring freelance magazine writer, this book is extremely useful!

23 of 25 found the following review helpful:


Somewhat outdated and only ideal for total beginners...  Dec 16, 2009 By Poetic Steph
Most books on writing should be "evergreen" and able to last throughout the ages. Well, unfortunately Jenna Glatzer's "Make A Real Living as a Freelance Writer" is not one of them. Here's my main peeves with this book, which promised a whole lot from previous reviews but just did not deliver much to me:

1) A number of the links are outdated, especially regarding writing classes.

2) A lot of what she says anyone who has ever owned a copy of the "Writer's Market" or read even one issue of a magazine such as "Writer's Digest" should already know.

This book may work for total beginners, but for anyone who has freelance experience, this book is a really serious disappointment. I wish I had not purchased this book, and I rarely say that about any work - let alone a writing book.

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