Online Business Writing Courses

Online Business Writing Courses at Accredited Schools

Penn Foster Career School is effective at equipping students via its business writing courses to be successful business writers, legal writing professors, copy editors, copywriters, etc. and connect them to future employers. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, at present there are 43,390 people employed as writers and authors alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $64,560. Public relations specialists make on average $59,370 per year and there are about 242,670 of them employed today.

Business Writing Organizations Business Writing Common Job Tasks
  • editing company letters
  • doing assignments
  • classifying good grammar and punctuation
Popular Journals & Magazines
 

Ranked by Excellence

[?] 95
Total Programs 66
Subject Areas 109


Business Writing Courses at Penn Foster Career School

Program Name: Freelance Writer
Instruction Set 1

Learning Strategies The advantages of learning at home; types of study materials; types of examinations; accessing and using the features of our website; determining what kind of learner you are; establishing a study schedule; using study tips; preparing for and taking examinations. The Freelance Life Explains the publishing industry; how to identify staff-written and freelance articles, market a freelance product, submit a professional manuscript, and work with agents and editors.

Instruction Set 2

The Writing Habit, Part 1 Explains how to discover ideas from other articles, identify types of freelance articles, recognize the difference between objective and subjective writing and the essential elements of all objective articles, how to recognize the most marketable types of fiction and keep a notebook or journal for writing projects. The Writing Habit, Part 2 Review basic grammar elements, learn how to distinguish connotation from denotation, increase your vocabulary, use language effectively, critique and revise your own writing, and write a short feature article. Supplement: Winning With Words

Instruction Set 3

The Business of Writing Explains how to generate ideas for articles, understand specialized markets, research markets for your article, write a query letter, understand the copyright laws, set up a home office, keep accurate records of correspondence with editors and publishers, and tax receipts. Reference Sources for Writers Learn how to use library resources, search the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature and other resources, recognize the available specialized periodical indices, use professional directories to locate expert sources, contact recognized experts for information and/or interviews, and understand the Internet’s resource potential. Supplement: Parts of Speech

Instruction Set 4

Reading for Writers (study guide) Learn to identify writing techniques and structural differences in fiction and nonfiction, trace the genesis of a piece of writing from initial concept to completed work, and how to critique others’ work for structure, focus, and market. Textbooks: • Pocketful of Prose, Volume II • Telling Stories / Taking Risks Supplement: Word Usage

Instruction Set 5

Using the Writer's Market (study guide) How to quickly find information in the Writer’s Market, understand the terms used in it, how to request writer’s guidelines from publications, locate suitable markets in the guide, and judge the marketability of your work. Textbook: Writer's Market Supplement: Sentence Skills

Instruction Set 6

Becoming a Professional Learn to assemble a writer’s resume, conduct a successful interview, get commissions and assignments from editors, present your manuscript to an editor in a professional manner, supply photographs to accompany articles, guard against accusations of libel, and maintain high ethical and professional standards. Becoming a Specialist Discover how to analyze your life and educational experiences, know the requirements of the writing trade and technical publications and house magazines. Learn how and when to specialize in more than one type of freelance writing, how to present editors with credentials qualifying you as an expert in your area, how to discuss your specialty with editors to obtain publication opportunities, and learn what it takes to maintain expertise in your specialty area. Supplement: The Elements of Style Once you’ve reached this point in your studies, you’ll be able to choose an area to specialize in and complete a graded assignment. The assignment will be a short article or story, a proposal, outline, or synopsis for a piece that you could send out for publication. These options are available: • Option 1: Literary Fiction The materials include an introduction to fiction, an overview of children’s literature and the short story, and instructions on planning a novel. • Option 2: Genre Fiction The materials include an introduction to the fiction genre, and an overview of the mystery, science fiction and fantasy, romance, and horror genres. • Option 3: Nonfiction The materials include an introduction to nonfiction, an overview of the essay, feature writing, writing for the media, and writing for business.

Program description: Learn the skills you need to begin a career as a Freelance Writer — at home, at your own pace, with Penn Foster Career School.

You need certain skills to begin a career in Freelance Writing. The Penn Foster Career School Freelance Writer Program helps you learn them quickly and conveniently.

You will learn about:

* The business of writing and getting in the writing habit
* Reference sources for writers, types of fiction
and nonfiction
* Using the Writer’s Market
* Submitting manuscripts and working
with agents and editors

Business Writing Courses by State & City

Top 20 US Business Writing Schools (campus and online)

Columbia University in the City of New York
Total Programs 192
Number of Subjects 141
Rank in USA 4th
Brown University
Total Programs 135
Number of Subjects 88
Rank in USA 9th
University of Southern California
Total Programs 251
Number of Subjects 166
Rank in USA 10th
Northwestern University
Total Programs 197
Number of Subjects 139
Rank in USA 11th
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Total Programs 67
Number of Subjects 67
Rank in USA 12th
New York University
Total Programs 204
Number of Subjects 146
Rank in USA 13th
Dartmouth College
Total Programs 88
Number of Subjects 68
Rank in USA 14th
University of Virginia-Main Campus
Total Programs 106
Number of Subjects 103
Rank in USA 16th
Vanderbilt University
Total Programs 144
Number of Subjects 81
Rank in USA 17th
The University of Texas at Austin
Total Programs 169
Number of Subjects 141
Rank in USA 18th
Johns Hopkins University
Total Programs 178
Number of Subjects 136
Rank in USA 19th
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Total Programs 215
Number of Subjects 164
Rank in USA 23rd
University of Washington-Seattle Campus
Total Programs 243
Number of Subjects 168
Rank in USA 26th
Emory University
Total Programs 112
Number of Subjects 89
Rank in USA 30th
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Total Programs 279
Number of Subjects 183
Rank in USA 31st
Boston University
Total Programs 6
Number of Subjects 124
Rank in USA 32nd
University of Georgia
Total Programs 197
Number of Subjects 156
Rank in USA 38th
Carnegie Mellon University
Total Programs 167
Number of Subjects 115
Rank in USA 44th
Michigan State University
Total Programs 220
Number of Subjects 164
Rank in USA 45th
University of California-Irvine
Total Programs 120
Number of Subjects 90
Rank in USA 49th