Probably many of us do not realize that incredibly over a billion books were sold during the past year. In the USA alone there are over 18, 000 magazines and approximately 45, 000 newspapers. Added to these publications is the multitude of information web sites. What is more noteworthy, as mentioned in The Writer’s Market Companion, authored by Joe Feiertag and Mary Carmen Cupito,is that “America’s love of reading is perhaps most evident when we look at book sales. In the years leading up to the new millennium, book sales in the U.S. (excluding textbooks) were up a healthy 38 percent.”

No doubt this is excellent news for the aspiring writer as well as the seasoned professional. There is a vast market for your books and articles. The key question is to how do you crack the market?

Feiertag and Cupito provide the reader with a detailed plan as to how to go about succeeding as a writer. Divided into seventeen chapters, the authors deal with such topics: resources, ideas, writing plan, finding leads, selling, legal aspects, self-promotion, business aspects, and workshops.

As examples of some of the excellent advice contained in the book, there is a chapter entitled “The People Chase” that explains how to conduct an effective interview. We are also provided with concrete interviewing tips and pertinent samples of questions to ask of the interviewee.

Another section deals with the topic of what to write about. It is within this section that we are provided with idea-generating exercises.

Finding leads and knowing how to research your topic can very often prove to be a stumbling block in the planning of a good article. The manual provides three chapters that detail how to resolve this dilemma. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised when I followed the advice of the authors and experimented with a suggested site called ProNet.com. As I was informed, this site is a subsidiary of the PR Newswire. It allows you to find an expert by typing in a topic, and to my surprise I was bombarded with replies to my query within one day.

The authors do not omit to delve into the business aspect of writing and there is an entire chapter dealing with the subject of pricing. Various pricing suggestions are presented pertaining to such occupations as ghost writing, film scripting, brochure writing, and many more.

My reading of this book was out of sheer curiosity. However I would have to admit that “The Writer’s Market Companion” should be placed on a must acquisition list.