I opened my mailbox on a sunny September afternoon in 1962, unaware of how much a single envelope inside would dramatically alter the path of my life for more than half a century.

Actually, it wasn’t my mailbox, but my parents’. I had recently graduated from high school. A summer of brief celebrations and prolonged boredom led me to write and submit an article about my coin-collecting hobby to an obscure publication.

The response letter was brief, yet said everything I wanted to know: my article was accepted. I was accepted! Confirming the fact, a check for $5.00 and a contributor’s token coin were enclosed. I was officially a “professional writer” – or so I imagined. After months of wondering what I would be when I grew up, the answer fortuitously appeared in the mailbox: I didn’t have to grow up! I could be a writer!

Attempting to prolong my professional status, I submitted article ideas to any publication Writer’s Market said “pays on acceptance.” Simultaneously, I started and soon filled a folder titled “Rejections” with form letters from some of the finer publications of the next decade. Each letter civilly told me that I should not give up my day job.

In the six-plus decades after my first writing paycheck, I ultimately learned to write well, sometimes even very well. I learned and shared information and thoughts on hundreds of topics, from how to build a house to starting a home business.

To hone my storytelling skills, I studied and practiced fiction writing extensively. I earned a living as a part-time writer and then a full-time writer of books, articles, manuals, and other instructional documents. Half of my 60+ year career has been as a full-time freelance writer. My resume soon included authoring 104 published nonfiction and fiction books, hundreds of magazine articles, blog posts, and other creative documents. Writing has taken me across the U.S., Europe, and over the International Dateline. It gave me a rewarding career as a Working Writer.

A “Working Writer,” in my view, makes a good living and builds a meaningful life by developing and applying valuable communication skills to help others with their lives.

Along the way, I also learned many life lessons through writing. It’s been a fascinating journey – and, at age 81, I’m not done yet. In this book, I will share some essential writing tips and secrets that can help you in your life, no matter what you write about.

Maybe you’re in a job that somehow requires written communication. Most jobs do. But you’re not entirely comfortable expressing your ideas or opinions in written form. Most people aren’t. Or maybe you’re thinking, even dreaming, of the day you get paid for doing what you love as a Working Writer. I can offer some practical advice there, too.

Most importantly, I want to give back to you, the reader. Over the years, millions of readers like you have given me a profitable and meaningful life as a professional Working Writer. In my free ebook, Working Writer Tips, I share dozens of my best tips and secrets for writing anything better, faster, and easier. In Working Writer Secrets, I offer more than 100 little-known secrets can help you build a lifetime career as a fiction or nonfiction writer. My third book, Working Writer Profits, covers dozens of topics that can turn your writing into profit and shows you how to manage a successful writing business, no matter what you write or where you live.

As a bonus, I offer a substantial discount when you purchase Working Writer Secrets and Working Writer Profits as a bundle. (Remember, Working Writer Tips is my free gift to you.) Just follow this link to my Working Writer Bundle at a 60% discount!

Please join me as a Working Writer™!

—Dan Ramsey