The Life and Times of a Freelance Writer

I don’t read a lot of business books. When someone asks me if I’ve read How to Win Friends & Influence People, my eyes glaze over. I’d much rather be reading the the new Isabel Allende (which is fabulous, by the way), a good history book about epidemic disease or man’s inhumanity to man, or even my Google Reader.

But that’s not to say that there aren’t some worthwhile business books out there, and as freelance writers, we’re not doing anything if we’re not running a business.

So my #1 tricky way to keep up with business books? Check out the weekly business book club over at DearReader.com.  (It’s toward the bottom. I can’t link directly to it because to join – and support your local library! – you need to to enter your zip code information.)  Every day from Monday-Friday Suzanne Beecher, the founder of Dear Reader, will send you few pages of a business book. By the end of the week you’ll have read 20-30 pages or so. That’s at least enough to figure out if the book is worth finding through other avenues.

Okay, so you’ve found a cool book. Let’s say its Instant Appeal: The 8 Primal Factors That Create Blockbuster Success. And yes, I chose this book because I personally found it very cool after reading the first 20 or so pages on Dear Reader. Kunkel writes about the anthropological and evolutionary factors that figure into our decision making. For example, I found out that the reason that people will bypass others in a crowd to ask me for directions is because I have a trustworthy, round face. You oval faces, watch out if you ever need to borrow $20. For some reason we’re ingrained to think that you won’t pay us back. Though it sometimes simplifies our human reactions to an almost uncomfortable level, this book is a must-read for copywriters looking to appeal to those primal urges.

But I digress. This book came out a couple of years ago. How did I get a hardback copy for about $3? (No, smartass, not the bargain bin.) I put it on my wishlist on PaperbackSwap.com.  This site allows you to list all of your old and unwanted books (hardbacks are fine, too) and then mail them out using an easy semi-automated system whenever anyone requests them. You earn credits which you can then spend on book from other PBS users. Because Kunkel’s book was new, I waited three or four months for it, but many books are available right now or after only a short wait.  And the only thing credits cost you is the $2-$3 book rate to ship your old books to waiting readers.

Or, if you find a must-have business book from DearReader.com and absolutely can’t wait, have you tried your local library’s website? Do it. Library websites are awesome now! While we all graduated from college and stopped having to do research papers, libraries quietly packed away the card catalog and entered the digital age. At the website for your local library system, you can now place holds on books and have them transferred to a library location nearer to you so you can pick them up on your whim.  You can also request interlibrary loans on books from anywhere.  The library is your friend.

Or you could just go to the bookstore. But where’s the creativity in that?