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mostly editing and ghostwriting for nonfiction books, and the promotional writing for the business itself. My team members have backgrounds and specialties that cover the other types of writing. For example, Joe is our copywriter. He does Web text, brochure text, biographies, and any marketing or sales copy our clients need. Al does book proposals, query letters, and nonfiction ghostwriting and editing like me. Taryn is our fiction expert; Barbara does editing only; Sarah does resumes and business writing as well as book reviews. Both Sarah and Barbara serve as podcast hosts for our weekly writing show.

4) What are the most common challenges that a freelance writer faces?

Waiting for the next check to arrive! LOL! Seriously, I suppose the greatest challenge for me is organizing my daily tasks for maximum productivity. By that, I not only mean family time versus work time, but also the time spent during my "office" hours: it was a challenge at first to not be a workaholic because my office is only a few steps from my living room. Now it's about balancing time spent marketing/networking versus time spent writing for clients.

5) Great so now that we have a good idea of what freelance work is like, lets discuss the life of an author. What do they face that is different from what a freelance writer faces?

Authors are like freelance writers in that they are also business owners. They may not recognize this role, but if you consider they have to manage their time and money, promote their product, generate sales, keep records, book their next speaking engagement. Authors are different than freelance writers because many still have their day jobs with the corporate benefits that get them through when books are not selling.Today's author must be a marketer, public speaker, and business person if they are going to be successful. Anyone can publish a book with the technologies now available, but only a few authors are actually making money; those are the ones who see their book as a product and take their role as a business owner seriously.Most writers think they can write a book and make a living from it without doing anything other than being accepted by a traditional publisher. That is a myth. Most books sell less than 100 copies.

6) What are some common misconceptions about the world of writing?

Most folks are not aware of the business side of writing. A lot of people can write, but selling what you have written is another venture altogether. You have to do both to be successful

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