Misti Sandeful Shares Expertise in Writing for Profit

Freelance writer Misti Sandefur was scheduled to come to Southern Illinois Writers Guild last year when Mary Ann Sexton was our program chair. However, Misti had to cancel believing her flu was HINI, and we were grateful for her cancellation since no one wanted her flu experience. She promised to come this year, and Thursday night we were fortunate to hear the writing experiences of this rural Harrisburg writer.

Misti began writing on a manual typewriter when she was eight years old, and she has progressed to being enormously knowledgeable about the Internet and all its benefits to freelancers. Her knowledge allows her to write at home to supplement the family income—a family of seven now that her father is having health problems and living with her blended family. She only takes assignments on subjects she feels she is confident she has the experience to write about, and she takes her responsibility to her client and reader very seriously. Thus, she has many repeat assignments and good relationships with the CEOs and organizations she writes or blogs for.

She also has a passion for helping beginning writers and sharing information to benefit them. After starting as an ezine in May 2006, “Coffee Break for Writers—Your Guide for Writing for Profit” became a niche website in July 2009 to allow her more time for her own writing career. Full of helpful content and the opinion that writers should be paid what they are worth, the website is one I wish existed when I still hoped to make a profit from writing! You can check it out at http://coffeebreakforwriters.com. You also might want to subscribe to her blog “Life of a Writer” at http://mistisandefur.blogspot.com/.

Misti published two books in 2002 under her previous name Misti Jackson, and you can find these on Amazon. She is revising both—the novel Help from Above because she said it is like your first child, you can’t leave it behind. The second book On the Net: Research Guide for Writers is being revised to an e-book, which will surely help her keep information current. She obviously longs for more time to work on her own fiction writing, but she is determined not to do so at the expense of her clients and the successful business she has established.

Misti dropped out of high school at 16, and taught herself not only to type (60 wpm) but studied both writing and the Internet on her own and has achieved the career of her dreams. Her professionalism shines through all she does. She shared that she always begins her time at the keyboard with prayer that she might be helped to help others.