Monika Mundell and Gobala Krishnan have just released a new ebook called Freelance Superstar: How To Quit Your Job And Make A Living From Freelance Writing.

While I hadn’t heard of Gobala before, I know that Monika has been making a living purely from freelance writing for quite a while now. I expected that she would have some solid information to share, and she certainly does.

This ebook is very professional and covers many different aspects of freelance writing, from finding a niche to setting rates to promoting yourself to working with clients to managing the many other aspects of your business. Anyone with basic competency in the English language who puts this information to use will be able to start making money very quickly, and with enough effort, making a living from it is possible.

What I find most useful about this ebook is the precise detail on how to find work. It gives an overview of 10 different job sites, along with pros and cons of each. It explains exactly how to apply for jobs, including email templates that you can use to make an effective pitch. And it includes detailed information on setting up a site for your portfolio, including 5 WordPress themes you can use.

My favorite part of Freelance Superstar: “Once you have grabbed the editor with a riveting intro, you can move in for the kill. The pitch is similar to a hunt; you grab hold of the animal with your teeth and refuse to let go until you taste blood or your prey is dead.”

Are you an aspiring freelance writer still looking for that first taste of blood? This ebook gives you everything you need to tear off the flesh of freelance success as it lays there bleeding to death, looking up at you with terror in its eyes and saying with its last breath of life, “You are now a freelance superstar.”

I had the weirdest dream last night.

Freelance writers James and Harry from Men with Pens had managed to escape from their psych ward cells, stumbling their way through the dark basement until they came to what appeared to be some kind of writer’s museum.

“Write For The Web: The Guide For Beginning Writers,” the sign read, “by JCM Enterprises.”

“JCM Enterprises?” James asked, as if it were strangely familiar. “I sense something, a presence I’ve not felt since…” He never finished that thought.

Harry didn’t like the stiff look of things. Even in the gift shop, he was afraid to touch anything because it looked too nice. “Who are these pretentious pricks?” he wondered. “I’ll bet they put caviar on their Corn Flakes, and make people call them ‘Esquire.’”

Still, Harry knew they had stumbled onto a gold mine. “You know James, we wasted a lot of time early in our writing careers. All this information really could have helped us shortcut our learning curve. There’s so much hype out there about how great freelance writing is, but it’s hard to know who’s really shooting straight with you.”

As if he had been waiting for a cheesy cue, James drew his gun and began a series of dramatic poses, flitting around the room and desperately looking for an excuse to squeeze the trigger.

“Put that thing away before you hurt someone!”

“Are you new here, Harry? This is what we do.”

“Yeah, but you don’t even know what you’re aiming at.”

True, James had to admit that he couldn’t really find anything worth shooting. He was really impressed with how diverse the museum’s collection was, covering many different kinds of web writing as well as many aspects of the business that new writers might not have even though of.

James began rattling off weak excuses to shoot. “I’m just not sure how useful this would be to experienced writers.”

“Yeah, but it says right here: ‘The Guide For Beginning Writers.’”

“Hmph. Well, it could really use an overhaul so it looks like it’s wearing a leather jacket and smoking, y’know?”

“True, that would definitely help. While the information is sound, it doesn’t exactly come across with much style. You’d never see us doing something like this. Not in a million years. But I think they can be forgiven. Besides, it looks like they’re under new ownership.”

“OK, well then what about all these resource links? They look good, but I haven’t actually gone and checked them out, have you?”

“Well, no, but you can’t blame the museum for us being short on time. These guys really know what they’re doing, and I’m sure they’ll only point us in the right direction.”

James was getting anxious. “But I’ve never come back from a job with a full clip yet, and I’m not going to start now!”

“Tell you what, James. Take my gun. You can do the shooting for both of us next time.”

###

In case a translation is needed, this is a review of Write For The Web: The Guide For Beginning Writers, a $19.99 ebook by Men with Pens. The review is done in the style of their brutal “drive-by shooting” blog reviews.

Their ebook has a lot of useful information for people looking into freelance writing, but it’s written in the corporate style they had back when they went by the name of JCM Enterprises. I hope they grace us with an updated version one of these days. In the meantime, this is solid information from people who learned everything the hard way, so you don’t have to.