Any copywriters out there?

...is what Steven W. Johnson already mentioned in his last post: PAYING your contributors.

Experienced copywriters who already have clients simply don't work for free. (They may, on occasion, do pro bono work for some organization they support, but that's a different situation than this one.)

Most of them also view anyone who asks them to work for free in a less-than-complimentary way. After all, you expect to make money from the book in which their information appears, don't you?

As for "exposure/credibility," I'm afraid that contribution to your book will do little or nothing to provide either. I'll tell you why.

If these contributors are working copywriters with active client lists, they already have plenty of credibility in the form of work samples and references from actual, paying clients. And the only exposure your book could provide is to wannabe copywriters. Since they want to learn the business themselves, do you think they're going to be in the market to hire a copywriter?

I'm not trying to put your idea down in any way, Darren, but rather attempting to present how your call for contributors can be perceived. Asking an experienced writer not only to write but provide guidance for FREE is disrespectful at the very least. It demeans both the writer and the craft.

The producers of the "Chicken Soup" books that you mentioned in a previous post do pay for the stories they accept (last I heard, I think[/i] it was around $200). So you might just get some contributors -- and valuable content -- if you offer at least a nominal fee of $50-$100.

Good luck with moving forward with your project.

Eve § :)