Making a living as a writer is extremely hard. From robot writers to “exposure” no pay websites, you can understand why so many former newspaper journalists are taking up coffee sales. Fortunately, writers are fighting back and exposing the likes of no pay Huffington Post. There is also the plethora of great writer resources. One of them is my pal, Kelly James-Enger, who recently started the publishing house Improvise Press. Kelly’s Dollars & Deadlines and Six-Figure Freelancing are two of the most-helpful writer business books ever written. So, I dusted off the cobwebs of Fred’s Friends and interviewed her. Like all editions, we start with booze.

What’s your drink? And why?

Well, confession: I’m not a spirits girl but more of a whine one. I tend to drink non-oaky chardonnay or sauvignon blanc, though I had a long standing affair with pinot gris for quite a while. When my kids are in bed (usually around 9:00 or so), I like to have a glass of very cold white wine in my favorite glass and enjoy the silence. 🙂

In your novel, White Bikini Panties, what did the main character, Trina Elder, drink? 

Trina isn’t a big drinker but she’s an opportunity drinker—meaning that she drinks whatever her friends are having—wine, beer, margaritas. She tends to drink what her boyfriend (or the guy she’s out with) drinks, too.

You’ve written a lot of books. How do you juggle the pitching, publicity and writing them?

Ha! That is the question. Early on, it was more challenging because I put so much time into marketing them. Today, I do several things differently. First, I do a lot of ghostwriting/coauthoring for clients which means that I don’t have to market/publicize the books—that’s my clients’ job, while I’m onto the next project. Second, I’ve been focusing on writing books in a particular subject area—in my case, freelancing and making money from writing—which helps cross-sell all of my books and makes it easier to sell more than one at a time. Finally, this year I launched my own small press, Improvise Press, to focus on books for “people who want to profit from their passions,” which continues to build on my platform as an author, and almost all of my publicity focuses on promoting those books.

When people come to me wanting to know how to freelance, I send them to your blogs and books. No kidding. Do you ever get letters from once broken freelancers who took your advice?

First, thank you! I do get a lot of emails from readers/fans, and I always appreciate that. I hear from a lot of writers (including experienced ones) who have found books, especially Six-Figure Freelancing particularly helpful. That’s one reason I decided to launch Improvise Press. Random House (the original publisher of the book) had let it go out of print and I wanted to update and expand the original book, which was published in 2005. The new edition (and an even better, more helpful book, in my opinion), Six-Figure Freelancing: The Writer’s Guide to Making More Money, second edition, came out earlier this year. That and IP’s other book, Dollars and Deadlines: Make Money Writing Articles for Print and Online Markets, are both available in any brick-and-mortar or online bookstore, or you can order directly through www.improvisepress.com. Use the discount code IMPROVISEPRESS (all caps, no breaks) for 20 percent off of your order.

Tell us about your Publishing House. What are you looking for?

I’m still in the start-up phase, but the business is going well. My plan is to publish two more books on freelancing this year and then in 2014 start acquiring titles from other writers. I’ll be looking for books to help people turn hobbies into cash, with plenty of practical advice from authors with sizable platforms in their subject areas.