Words for Sale. Rev. ed.

Tony Barclay is a retired juvenile corrections probation officer and a
former public-health research associate at the University of Toronto.

This book is a very readable guide to entering the world of Canadian
magazine writing. Written by professionals, it has a no-nonsense
approach to the easily avoided problems of the trade.

Perhaps the most valuable thing about this book is its detailed
information about subjects vital to the would-be writer, yet not
particularly interesting. It describes what to look for when purchasing
a word-processing system, discusses standard agreement terms and such
things as copyright and ethics, and even explains some technical terms.

Although no book can teach you to have ideas, the authors do suggest
ways of looking for ideas and discuss how to market them. They also deal
with the tricky tasks of writing queries and outlines. And anyone
thinking of entering this field should read the chapter on motivation.

Finally, the book shows what the freelance system looks like from the
other side of the desk. Several well-known editors have contributed
their views to this section. These are the people who control the
market, and what they say is well worth reading.