Thanks for joining us, Freelance Writer! Please take a seat in the boardroom.

The Executive Editor is Ready To Spill His Guts.

• What's the deadliest mistake freelancers make when contacting an editor? Think you're immune from making it? Think again!


• What are the 27 Secrets guaranteed to make editors LOVE your headlines?


• What can you say during a pitch for a controversial article that will make an editor's eyes light up, magazine investors drool and get you hired fast?


• Are you creating Killer Queries or are your queries being killed? Do you know the key make-or-break elements to look for in your queries--things like the 3 S's to success--to find out?


• Are there really 8 Essential Differences between web writing and print? Yes, and you better know them if you're heading into cyberspace!


• What are the Top 5 Myths about contracts? Knowing the truth about these can help you avoid the sucker punches that break freelancers.


• What Secret Interview Techniques can you use to get interviewees to tell you all the stuff they haven't told everyone else?


• True or False? One of the most effective ways to increase your chances of securing a freelance gig is to let the editor know in very clear and emotional terms that you love her magazine.


• Why Are Editors Rude to freelancers? (Ever thought that maybe you're making them that way? Want to learn how to tame the beasts?)


• And tons more!

FAQs

• You've been on both sides of the desk: as an editor and as a freelance writer. Can you tell us what -- exactly -- an editor looks for in a query letter, and what are a couple of things that make an editor reject a query letter?


• Do you specialize as writer? If so, in what areas? Why do you specialize? Do you recommend writers pitch themselves as specialists or generalists?


• Your new book, THE FREELANCE SUCCESS BOOK, promises to teach freelance writers how to sell every word they write. How realistic is that?


• With so many books on freelance writing, what separates your new book from others?


• How have you used the Internetto sell yourself and garner assignments?


• What's the best advice you could give someone who wants to make a living as a freelance writer?


• How can beginning writers break into freelance writing if they've never been published before?


Those are just a few of the questions that are essential for any freelancer to answer. David's answers to them and many more will surprise you and, most importantly, open the doors for more assignments and more writing success.

David Taylor is a former executive editor at Rodale, Inc. During his nine years there, he trained 100s of freelance and staff writers for various magazines, including Prevention, Men's Health, Runner's World, Rodale's Scuba Diving and others. He also conducted in-house training seminars on magazine journalism, web programming and email marketing.

Currently, David can be seen as co-host of the Outdoor Life Network's TV series "Dive Today," which he writes and co-produces. His current TV and movie projects include a new international scuba diving series with producers Brian Sissleman and Dick Arlett, a TV series called "Kids Wanna Know," and a screenplay about the life of Jerrie Cobb, America's first female astronaut.

David earned his Doctor of Arts degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Mississippi, where he was an Andrew Carnegie Fellow. He taught for five years as an assistant professor of rhetoric at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, and 10 years as an associate professor of English and journalism at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he directed the college's writing program and writing center.

Taylor's non-fiction credits include over 50 academic articles and books in his specialty areas of dyslexia, peer tutoring, history of the English language, reading programs and modern literature. His co-authored book, Parent Programs in Reading (International Reading Association), has been translated into several languages.

As a freelance non-fiction writer, Taylor's features have appeared in such leading magazines as Men's Health, Outside, Men's Journal, Sci-Fi Channel magazine and others. While an editor and underwater photographer at Rodale, he wrote and edited more than 500 travel articles on Caribbean, South Atlantic, Western Pacific, and South American destinations. His many instructional articles for Rodale focus on health and fitness topics.

Taylor's five novels of dark fantasy include Destiny's Carnival, co-authored with Warren Murphy, creator of The Destroyer series. David has published more than 30 works of short fiction, including one story ("Lessons for Life") that won Honorable Mention in 1988's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards. His stories have also appeared in the popular Masques, Pulphouse and Scare Care series anthologies. He is a former contributing editor of the Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review with poet Tom O'Grady.