“A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul, and that, I am sure, is why he does it.” – Roald Dahl

👋 Hi! I’m Tom, and this is the Best Writing Newsletter (Issue #9).

Every Thursday, I send great reads, tools, jobs, tips, and friendly encouragement to do your best writing. If someone shared this with you, subscribe here.

🤩 Quick announcement!

We started posting freelance writing jobs daily.

If you’re a member, it’s already included in your membership. Just join the Slack channel.

🤑 It’s a constant stream of well-paid, time-sensitive opportunities you can’t find elsewhere.

Here’s a preview of today’s gigs.

If you’re not a member yet, join now and start receiving daily job alerts and freelance gigs!

👉 Become a member

Inspiration plays a huge role in life and even more in writing.

Rachael Amesbury shares what influences her work the most.

Without sounding cheesy, the subject and research for me is the inspiration. Like an actor becoming a character in a movie, my role as a writer is to step into the shoes of a person or a business and tell their story.

I need to be inspired by the story, the product, or the vision to write a great piece of content.

That said, we all have to work to live, and work can often be dull. In these moments, I turn to music to help me!

As an ex-film student, I am obsessed with films and TV.

I get pretty excited when I find a show with a great script. The writers on Billions and Succession are out-of-this-world good; there are so many jaw-dropping one-liners.

I also enjoy watching old Friends episodes and analysing how they form the jokes. It’s more for comedy writing, but it’s good practice to seek out excellent writing.

🤓 Read the full interview with Rachael Amesbury

⭐️ Unlimited Books & Magazines

Scribd is considered “the Netflix of books.” One subscription gives you access to over 1 million eBooks, audiobooks, magazines, and documents. Available worldwide. Your first month costs zero.

👉 Read Unlimited Books for $0

Want to promote a product or service? Become a supporter.

Writing Tip of the Week

📂 Start your swipe file today. Neville Medhora shared the most useful free tool you’ve never heard of.

I bet 99% of you don't know about Google Keep.

It's a free "Pinterest-style" board where you can keep notes, pics, screenshots etc in categorized tabs.

You can make your own marketing "Swipe File" with it for free, and it natively runs through all of Google Suite.

Looking for a dedicated swipe file tool? Check out SwipeWell.

Best Writing Examples

Discover sharp copy, inspiring quotes, and powerful messaging from the best apps, websites, magazines, and books.

Whenever you’re trying to write a sales copy, tailor your message to your customer segments to better illustrate the value of using your product or service and add credibility from trusted sources. Here’s a great example from Ahrefs.

Use numbers to sell like Boomerangme here use in their subheadline.

Pretty self-explanatory and very powerful. Sorry, I mean compelling.

Best Reads

Favorite stories from Writer News.

💰 Lucrative Mental Health Writing. Here are 7 websites that pay $35-$1,000 to write about mental health and wellbeing.

🍀 The Luck Habit. Khe Hy shares a simple habit to let luck find you. All it takes is a 30 second email and poof. When executed correctly, it will unleash a torrent of job opportunities, business partnerships, and consulting work.

If two people should know each other – and I know them both – then it’s my fundamental duty to connect them.

When introducing two people who don’t know each other, ask each of them to opt-in to the introduction before making it.

📩 Email a Potential Sponsor. Here are 5 tips that can help you craft cold emails that will get the conversation started with advertisers and set you up for success.

We’ve found the key to be pitching your audience in the subject line. Think:
Reach 20K VC pros
Get [brand] in front of 100K pet parents
500K fitness enthusiasts who’d love [brand]

☺️ Feel Better About the News. If the headlines make you anxious, here’s what you can do.

✍️ Writer News is a new place for writers to share their work, get feedback, and discuss writing. It’s invite only. If you want one, respond to this email.

Cool Tools

Interesting apps and software for curious writers.

Typed. A collaborative document tool that optimizes teamwork by connecting your team’s scattered docs and workflows. Great if you’re using Google products.

Tribescaler. Write better hooks in seconds. Use this tool to make your tweets go viral.
Pollinate. Use this tool to capture newsletter readers on Twitter.

MateAI. Generate copy and design for your email campaigns faster.

Food for Thought

“Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again.” – Austin Kleon

Unlucky people tend to make commitments on the basis of first impressions. Lucky people go back for a second look.” – Max Gunther, The Luck Factor

“It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.” – Joseph Campbell

“If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.” – Maya Angelou

“A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it.” – Albert Einstein

“Beware the stories you read or tell; subtly, at night, beneath the waters of consciousness, they are altering your world.” – Ben Okri

📣 Shoutouts

Sean Edrington writes All-In and My First Million write-ups and runs The Swing Trading Club.

Jim OShaughnessy is offering 10 full-ride scholarships to the next cohort of David Perell’s Write of Passage program.

Tom Beem shared what to do when someone responds “not interested.”

Launching a startup? Save $5K+ with software deals.

Interested in sponsorship, shout-out or cross-promotion with Best Writing? Reply to this email and let’s chat.

Did You Know?

Not just a world-famous author, Vladimir Nabokov was also a serious lepidopterologist, or studier of butterflies. He was a Comparative Zoology research fellow at Harvard, where much of his butterfly collection remains today. 🦋

Best Writing Jobs

Find your next writing job, freelance gig, or side hustle.

1. Freelance Health and Wellness Writer at Tidelands Health (Remote)
2. Full-Time Medical Writer at BioMarin Pharmaceutical (Remote, US)
3. Full-Time BPO Proposal Writer at ContactPoint (Remote)
4. Part-Time SEO Content Writer at BruntWork (Remote)
5. Full-Time Campaigns Content Writer at Sketch (Remote)

💼 Check all open roles or become a member to get daily job alerts.

Hiring writers? Use the code “FIRSTJOB” at checkout to get $100 off your first job post.

What’s New at Best Writing?

📚 We published some new content on our blog:

• What Is Narrative Writing
• How To Create an Invoice for Freelance Work
• Scientific Advertising Summary (Review & Book Notes)

🙋‍♂️ We posted 30+ new jobs and added new members to the writer’s directory (here’s how to get listed if you’re a writer).

Did You Like the Newsletter?

😉 Please share it with a friend. Send them this link.

🤝 Want to get featured or collaborate? Send me your ideas, and I’ll respond. Yes, it’s me, a real person writing these emails.

☕️ Feeling generous? Tip $5. We’ll spend it on coffee.

💬 Want to become a supporter? Let’s talk.

Until next week,

Tomas Laurinavicius (your binge-watching friend)

Co-founder, Best Writing (formerly Content Writing Jobs)

P.S. you’re ducking welcome.