About
An independent field guide for people who write for a living, one assignment at a time.
National Writers exists because the practical knowledge of freelancing lives mostly in private messages between writers who already know each other. We're putting it where anyone can find it.
What we do
Three jobs
Collect and vet
The library lists organizations, tools, and references that working writers use. Before anything is listed we check that it exists, does what it says, and that we can describe who it's for in one sentence. We note what's free, what requires membership, and what costs money.
Explain
The guides on getting hired, the craft, and rates and business are written to be read start to finish by someone in their first year, and to be returned to by someone in their tenth. They're opinionated. Where we state a fact about law or tax, we link to the primary source.
Build small tools
The rate calculator, pitch checklist, and draft analyzer run in your browser. They don't collect your data, and they don't require an account.
How we stay independent
The rules we hold ourselves to
No paid listings
Nothing in the library is sponsored, and no organization has paid to be described favorably. If that ever changes, it will be labeled on the listing itself.
No referral fees
Links out are plain links. We don't use affiliate codes and don't earn when you join, buy, or subscribe to anything we recommend.
No course upsell
We're not going to sell you a masterclass at the bottom of the page. The reading list is books from the library.
Primary sources for facts
Claims about law, tax, and rates link to the agency or organization that published them. Where we offer an opinion, it reads like one.
Corrections, prominently
If we get something wrong, tell us at hello@nationalwriters.org. We'll fix it and note the change on the page.
Relationship to other organizations
We are not a union, and we're glad there is one
National Writers is not affiliated with the National Writers Union, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Authors Guild, or any other organization listed in the library. We describe them because they do work we think freelance writers should know about, and we recommend that working writers join the one that fits.
What we add is the layer underneath: a free, public, plainly written reference that doesn't require a membership to read, built for the writer who hasn't yet decided which door to knock on.
Contact
Suggestions, corrections, and resource submissions: hello@nationalwriters.org. We read everything and reply to most of it.