We help you tell and sell your story.
Want to be self employed as a full time writer, too?
A Professional Writer's Ladder to Success can show you the way!
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Being a writer really is a great life, but the image most people have in their minds is one of a writer who's already successful: a big, oceanfront house and a stylish pied à terre in Manhattan, a spiffy little roadster to drive between the two, a publisher eager to receive the manuscript for your next best-seller, and lots of free time in between writing assignments to fall in love, solve mysteries, travel, or host swanky parties. Before you get to that point, there's a lot of hard work to be done in climbing the ladder to success. What does it take to achieve success as a professional writer?

That's where Lynn's series of e-books, A Professional Writer's Ladder to Success, will help you. Each lesson covers another "rung" in the ladder to success as a writer and builds upon the knowledge gained in the rungs before it. Worksheets and exercises are included with each rung to help you build your own Ladder to Success Action Plan.

You won't find this level of detail for such a low price
in any other writer's training package on the market!
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Says one student: "You have really done your homework on these e-books. They are simple, easy to read. I particularly like that your e-books are not the end of the information you provide due to all of the websites you provide in each area. Your e-book is just the tip of the iceberg. You are very thorough."

Courses focusing on one single aspect of a writing career often cost hundreds of dollars, and leave you with unanswered questions about other aspects of the business. This series will cover it all.

​​You don't need any type of fancy e-book reader to view these e-books.
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Just read them from your own computer! Each package consists of a Zip file that includes a PDF version of the book that can be read with the free downloadable Adobe Acrobat Reader or any other software that reads PDF files, along with Excel spreadsheet files (which can also be opened in the free OpenOffice software if you don't have Excel) that go with that rung.

And there's no waiting to receive anything in the mail; just download your e-book as soon as you buy it! You can get started working on it right away.
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Want to print the book itself? Simply print it on your own printer. The pages are formatted for regular 8-1/2" x 11" letter-sized paper. The Excel worksheets are designed to be completed on your computer, then printed to add to your Ladder to Success Action Plan notebook for later reference, or filed electronically on your computer or in your cloud file storage. Don't have Excel? Open them in OpenOffice's free spreadsheet software.

And here's another big plus for writers, who tend not to enjoy dealing with numbers: if numbers are involved in the spreadsheets, they'll perform any necessary calculations for you automatically!

Rungs 1-8 of the series are now available, along with a couple of packages that combine rungs for your convenience. A total of 40 are planned to complete the series. They are outlined below; if you want to buy any of those now available, just click on the button and you'll be taken over to our retail subsidiary, OldMaidCatLady.com, in a new window to check out.

Get started climbing A Professional Writer's Ladder to Success today!
Rung 1: Planning for Self Employment
Building a writing business from the ground up
In this rung, you'll learn:
- How to define "success"​
- Fourteen characteristics of the self-employed​
- Resources to find out if self-employment suits you​
- Preparing for startup costs and business-building time​
- Aspects of running a one-person business​
- Pros and cons of working from home​
You'll also receive worksheets to help you define your vision of success and plan for business and personal expenses during your first year of business. This is specific, real-world information you can put to use immediately!
Rung 2: Learning the Writing Industry
Is it one you really want to join?
In this rung, you'll learn about:
- How the writing industry works
- Types of work you can do as a professional writer
- The value of writers' conferences
- What you can learn from book expos and fairs
- How to use trade shows to find business
- Printed and online resources to research the industry
- Factors impacting the pricing of writing services
- Your flow of income as a full-time professional writer
- Industry changes in recent years...and what's to come
Interviews with industry experts and a list of book fairs and expos around the world add to this rung's value. Don't skip it!
Writing Business Exploration Package
Not sure if a writing career is for you? This package will help you find out. It includes Rungs 1 and 2 of the series in one specially priced package. You'll be guided through defining your image of "success," determine your career preferences and personality traits, find out how much money it will take to start your writing business, and explore the writing industry to see if it's a good fit for you.

It's the perfect way to check out writing as a potential career path!
Rung 3: Polishing Your Writing Skills
Your writer's toolkit
This rung includes:
- A review of basic grammar​
- A rundown of different styles of writing you'll need for different purposes​
- Some direction on where you can go to improve your writing skills​
- Recommendatoins on reference material for both grammar and research​
- Suggestions on how you can get your feet wet while improving your skills​
- Over 200 exercises to help you develop your skills​
There's also a chapter just for fun, showing examples of clever writing you'll find amusing.
Rung 4: Writing a Business Plan
Your blueprint for success
This rung walks you through the process of writing a business plan. If you've worked through the first three, you'll already have done some of the work for it! You'll learn:
- Why you need a business plan
- Elements of the plan
- Where to find information and help
- Tips on putting your plan into action
Also included in the e-book are:
- a Customer Recruitment Sheet to help you identify potential clients
- Cost Gathering Sheets for your office necessities
- a sample plan for a hypothetical writing business
- a questionnaire to help you write your own business plan.
This book is an essential tool for any writer who's serious about making a living at this!
Rung 5: Establishing Your Writing Business
Preparing to open your doors
You've done your research and planning, and now it's time to actually establish your business entity! Rung 5 gives you a step-by-step guide for the decisions you need to make now and the steps you should take to properly set up your writing business as a legal entity. You'll learn about:
- Forms of business ownership
- Startup needs
- How to choose a name for your company and get it registered
- Licensing
- Setting up your business checking account
- Basic bookkeeping
- Professionals you will need
There are also more worksheets in this rung to add to your Ladder to Success Action Plan. It's an exciting time, albeit a little bit scary, and this e-book will hold your hand through it all!
Writing Business Startup Package
Get Rungs 1-5 of the series in this one specially priced package! The complete text and worksheets of all five e-books are all in this one package. Just to review, they are:
- Planning for Self Employment
- Learning the Writing Industry
- Polishing Your Writing Skills
- Writing a Business Plan
- Establishing Your Writing Business
Buy this downloadable e-book and you'll be on your way to becoming self employed as a professional writer!
Rung 6: A Writer's Professional Ethics
Keeping your integrity intact
Operating by a code of ethics has numerous benefits for professional writers. This brief-but-powerful book pulls information from many sources, adds to it, and puts the whole thing in one convenient reference guide. It covers:
- Why ethics are important
- Basic business ethics
- Specific ethics for writers
- Cyber ethics issues
You'll get more worksheets to help you make tough decisions and a list of online sources of additional ethics information. This is a rung you won't want to miss! It's a valuable reference guide for any writer, new or established.
Rung 7: Finding Your Niche
​How specialization can improve your bottom line
Did you ever think that you could make more money by actually excluding some types of clients from your potential market? You may be surprised how well some writers have done, by doing just that! This rung will teach you how. It covers:
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Types of writing in which you can specialize
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Ways of segmenting the market
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Exploring your options
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Determining your preference
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Defining your target market
You'll also get valuable tools like market segmentation and customer interview worksheets. Definitely worth exploring!
Rung 8: Virtual Partnerships
​Forging alliances with other creative professionals
You're probably figuring out by now that you're not going to be able to build a successful writing business by yourself. This rung will teach you how to form virtual partnerships with other writers, graphic designers, photographers, printers, and others who can help you all get business you couldn't otherwise handle on your own. You'll also learn about building a virtual support staff to help take pressure off you and free your time for revenue-producing activities! Chapters include:
- How you benefit from virtual partnerships
- With whom should you partner?
- Logistics of virtual teaming
- Co-marketing your services
- Legal considerations in partnering
- Getting started
Worksheets are included to help you assess potential team members, along with an expense voucher worksheet that will come in handy in many ways.
More Rungs Coming Soon:
