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Six-Figure Freelancing: The Writer's Guide to Making More Money
Is it possible to give up your nine to five job and make more money as a full-time freelancer? Absolutely. Six-Figure Freelancing shows writers how to make the most of the ballooning freelance industry by adopting a business-like approach to their craft, while offering insightful, first-hand advice to help maximize time and profit.
• Includes worksheets and templates to assess and establish the best possible business strategy
• Advice on time management and repurposing material for multiple markets, as well as how to gain a competitive edge in a growing market
• Includes worksheets and templates to assess and establish the best possible business strategy
• Advice on time management and repurposing material for multiple markets, as well as how to gain a competitive edge in a growing market
320 pages, Paperback
First published April 12, 2005
11 people are currently reading
223 people want to read
About the author
Kelly James-Enger
22 books16 followersI “escaped from the law” on January 1, 1997, leaving behind a legal career to become a fulltime freelance journalist. Since then I’ve published more than 700 articles in 50+ national magazines including Family Circle, Health, Parents, Redbook, Self, Runner’s World, Continental, and Woman’s Day. I’ve authored, coauthored, and ghostwritten twelve books, and specialize in health, wellness, nutrition, and fitness subjects. I’m an ACE-certified personal trainer and motivational speaker, and balance a busy work schedule with my most rewarding job of being a mom to two--as well as a wife to one and a dog-walker and treat-provider to one more.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 24, 2020
A lot of good info
As someone just diving into freelancing, this was a great, well rounded resource. I highly recommend this to anyone looking to start.
As someone just diving into freelancing, this was a great, well rounded resource. I highly recommend this to anyone looking to start.
January 22, 2015
There’s never been a better time to write a book about freelance writing, or freelancing. Although this book was published three years before the global economic crisis, “Six Figure Freelancing: The Writer’s Guide to Making More Money” by Kelly James-Enger (Random House; 2005) more and more people are working from their homes in order to keep their homes.
James-Enger used to be a full-time lawyer and part-time freelance writing. As her career as a lawyer progressed, she discovered that she hated it and was becoming more and more attracted to freelancing. She finally quit her job to freelance full time but not before doing some major research and putting away about a year’s salary in the bank. She is also quick to point out that a successful freelance writer is not just someone that can pull a six figure salary, but whether they love their job and can pay the bills.
The Good
James-Enger has an engaging, highly readable writing tone of voice. Reading this book makes you feel as if you were talking with a friend who happened to also be an excellent teacher. Throughout the book are helpful hints from everything to overall budgeting to attending writer’s conferences. James-Enger gets you excited about the prospect of being a full-time freelance writer.
The book is also well organized, has a great index, good bibliography and uses a large enough font that is easy on the eyes. She utilizes bullet points, subheadings and uses of different fonts in order to make finding information easier. This is helpful because this is a book a freelance writer will turn to again and again.
The Bad
Unfortunately, Kelly-Enger’s book is aimed at magazine freelance writers and book authors. It does touch on business writing near the end of the book. This book does not address web content freelance writers or paid online journalists, which are quickly making up the bulk of the freelance writing industry. The traditional print magazine industry has, for the most part, closed all contacts with writers outside of their in-house staff.
Quite a large section of the book is spent on hustling editors to get assignments through emails, cold calls and networking. This is impossible for many of today’s freelance writers who cannot travel and cannot afford to make long-distance cold calls. Perhaps someday an experienced freelancer can use these tips, but a raw beginner or an online web content writer cannot.
Although there are many general tips a freelancer can use in this fast-paced, highly caffeinated book, “Six Figure Freelancing” can be utterly baffling to a beginner in today’s economy and publishing reality.
James-Enger used to be a full-time lawyer and part-time freelance writing. As her career as a lawyer progressed, she discovered that she hated it and was becoming more and more attracted to freelancing. She finally quit her job to freelance full time but not before doing some major research and putting away about a year’s salary in the bank. She is also quick to point out that a successful freelance writer is not just someone that can pull a six figure salary, but whether they love their job and can pay the bills.
The Good
James-Enger has an engaging, highly readable writing tone of voice. Reading this book makes you feel as if you were talking with a friend who happened to also be an excellent teacher. Throughout the book are helpful hints from everything to overall budgeting to attending writer’s conferences. James-Enger gets you excited about the prospect of being a full-time freelance writer.
The book is also well organized, has a great index, good bibliography and uses a large enough font that is easy on the eyes. She utilizes bullet points, subheadings and uses of different fonts in order to make finding information easier. This is helpful because this is a book a freelance writer will turn to again and again.
The Bad
Unfortunately, Kelly-Enger’s book is aimed at magazine freelance writers and book authors. It does touch on business writing near the end of the book. This book does not address web content freelance writers or paid online journalists, which are quickly making up the bulk of the freelance writing industry. The traditional print magazine industry has, for the most part, closed all contacts with writers outside of their in-house staff.
Quite a large section of the book is spent on hustling editors to get assignments through emails, cold calls and networking. This is impossible for many of today’s freelance writers who cannot travel and cannot afford to make long-distance cold calls. Perhaps someday an experienced freelancer can use these tips, but a raw beginner or an online web content writer cannot.
Although there are many general tips a freelancer can use in this fast-paced, highly caffeinated book, “Six Figure Freelancing” can be utterly baffling to a beginner in today’s economy and publishing reality.
June 3, 2020
Great ideas on starting and improving your writing career.
March 6, 2016
Fantastic resource! Even gives sample contracts and Letters of Introduction. Fast and entertaining read.
February 12, 2024
A great place to start
If you're new to the idea of freelancing, this book has a little bit of everything. It talks about writing a pitch, different kinds of freelance writing, filing taxes, and more. I took a lot of notes while writing.
There are a lot of anecdotes. It's probably half the book! I skipped a lot of them, but I do suggest marking them so you can go back and use them as reference later.
If you're new to the idea of freelancing, this book has a little bit of everything. It talks about writing a pitch, different kinds of freelance writing, filing taxes, and more. I took a lot of notes while writing.
There are a lot of anecdotes. It's probably half the book! I skipped a lot of them, but I do suggest marking them so you can go back and use them as reference later.
November 13, 2025
I loved this book. It was very informative and inspiring. This book helped me to look at more options with my writing. Great read!
May 10, 2014
Professional writing is a business. The author gave up a career as a lawyer to focus on writing for a living. I know the kind of hours lawyers work, and I know the incredible self-discipline it takes to become one and keep up. The author was clearly able to bring that rigour and self-discipline to her writing career.
Plenty of people don't have that self-discipline. Writing for them is some day-dreamy easy lifestyle. It isn't like that at all, even if you're a successful novelist. Most of the ones I know are struggling - even some big names are having difficulty supporting themselves. I was warned on my MA in Creative Writing that the last thing a novelist should do is to use journalism to support themselves. I would dispute that - look at John Green or James Altucher. These guys are constantly out there building their presence.
Aaaanyway, the author shows you how it's done: sheer determination, systems, discipline and sweat. She even gives you templates for query letters. That thoroughness is one of the reasons it gets that all-important fifth star. The other is that she's hugely inspirational. I need to read this again, get inspired, and get some content out there again.
If you're into a career as a writer, I'd also recommend The Well-Fed Writer: Financial Self-Sufficiency as a Freelance Writer in Six Months or Less, which gives you a slightly different angle.
Plenty of people don't have that self-discipline. Writing for them is some day-dreamy easy lifestyle. It isn't like that at all, even if you're a successful novelist. Most of the ones I know are struggling - even some big names are having difficulty supporting themselves. I was warned on my MA in Creative Writing that the last thing a novelist should do is to use journalism to support themselves. I would dispute that - look at John Green or James Altucher. These guys are constantly out there building their presence.
Aaaanyway, the author shows you how it's done: sheer determination, systems, discipline and sweat. She even gives you templates for query letters. That thoroughness is one of the reasons it gets that all-important fifth star. The other is that she's hugely inspirational. I need to read this again, get inspired, and get some content out there again.
If you're into a career as a writer, I'd also recommend The Well-Fed Writer: Financial Self-Sufficiency as a Freelance Writer in Six Months or Less, which gives you a slightly different angle.
April 15, 2008
Writing is often a labour of love and is not usually thought of as a good source of income. However, the book Six Figure Freelancing: The Writer's Guide to Making More Money states that writers can actually make a really comfortable living from their writing. The author serves an example of such success and she states that the key to her success is treating her writing as a business. In this way, the author uses her good business sense, negotiation skills, and management know-how to build up a repeat client list in order to reach her particular financial goals.
Often writers assume that making a comfortable living as a writer is impossibility. Most writers bounce from one low paying gig to another or spend hours on perfecting queries to publications that aren't interested in their work. The author of Six Figure Freelancing: The Writer's Guide to Making More Money shows that any writer can make a very comfortable living as a writer simply by focusing their writing energies in better more efficient and higher paying avenues. Moreover, the tips giving in this book will likely reduce the amount of work needed, leaving the writer with more time to concentrate on his or her writing processes.
Often writers assume that making a comfortable living as a writer is impossibility. Most writers bounce from one low paying gig to another or spend hours on perfecting queries to publications that aren't interested in their work. The author of Six Figure Freelancing: The Writer's Guide to Making More Money shows that any writer can make a very comfortable living as a writer simply by focusing their writing energies in better more efficient and higher paying avenues. Moreover, the tips giving in this book will likely reduce the amount of work needed, leaving the writer with more time to concentrate on his or her writing processes.
January 2, 2014
When I want to learn about a topic, I turn to an expert. Kelly James-Enger is an expert writer / journalist. She is someone who has been in the trenches of the writing world and understands the insider ways to navigate the world and make money.
With SIX-FIGURE FREELANCING (SECOND EDITION), she has updated a classic writing book and made it even better. If you want to increase your income from your writing, then you need this book. Get it. Read it and mark it up with your yellow highlighter. More importantly, apply the information to your writing life. If you take action, you will thrust your writing career into the elite group that have achieved SIX-FIGURE FREELANCING. With this book, you open the world of possibilities.
With SIX-FIGURE FREELANCING (SECOND EDITION), she has updated a classic writing book and made it even better. If you want to increase your income from your writing, then you need this book. Get it. Read it and mark it up with your yellow highlighter. More importantly, apply the information to your writing life. If you take action, you will thrust your writing career into the elite group that have achieved SIX-FIGURE FREELANCING. With this book, you open the world of possibilities.
March 20, 2008
It sounds crazy to say that a book like this is a page-turner, but it really is. James-Enger's writing is intense and draws the reader into the subject with amazing efficiency. The book is full of usuable information from the first page to the last. In fact, I folded down the corners of the pages I wanted to return to, and now I can hardly close the book! Once I was finished reading, I emailed James-Enger with a question and, not only did I receive a personal response, we exchanged several emails after that. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in writing for a living.
June 8, 2010
Although this book was helpful in learning more about how to run my own freelancing business, I felt that the author geared the book more towards intermediate-level freelancers, or freelancers who have already been in "the game" for awhile. I can understand that, but what about for the beginner freelancer?
Kelly James-Enger's advice was thorough throughout the whole book, but it ended on an out-of-character note; instead of focusing on the six-figure idea so much throughout the book, maybe she should have emphasized the fact that freelancers should FIRST and FOREMOST enjoy what they're doing before they decide they want to make a lot of money freelancing.
Kelly James-Enger's advice was thorough throughout the whole book, but it ended on an out-of-character note; instead of focusing on the six-figure idea so much throughout the book, maybe she should have emphasized the fact that freelancers should FIRST and FOREMOST enjoy what they're doing before they decide they want to make a lot of money freelancing.
April 20, 2011
This book is a must read for every writer. Not just because it promises to give you something you may have thought to reside only in your dreams, but because Kelly is there to tell you that you can.
Stephen King has said this about talent: "If you wrote something for which someone sent you a check, if you cashed the check and it didn't bounce, and if you then paid the light bill with the money, I consider you talented."
Remember: it is great thing to write, but you need to sell to continue writing.
Stephen King has said this about talent: "If you wrote something for which someone sent you a check, if you cashed the check and it didn't bounce, and if you then paid the light bill with the money, I consider you talented."
Remember: it is great thing to write, but you need to sell to continue writing.
October 26, 2010
An excellent reference for anyone considering jumping into the world of freelance writing, as well as anyone already deeply mired in the glories and failures of freelancing. Great tips for beginners and old hats, on everything from organizational skills to interviewing tips and everything in between. Highly recommended, and next on my list is James-Enger's new book, Goodbye Byline, Hello Big Bucks!
October 4, 2007
I found a great deal of useful advice in this book. Definitely recommended.
November 23, 2013
Practical advice for work at home folks.
December 1, 2014
A staple for every free lance writer. I recommend all of Kelly's classes!
June 7, 2015
Best book about freelance writing I've ever read.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews