Thank you, Jane and Alan, for the great advice. I had a hunch that mere confidence was probably the biggest contributor to success, and you've reinforced that idea in my mind. I guess I have no excuses then--I'll have to just go for it!

I think you're right, Jane, about my English degree not being too much help. I love literature and creative writing, but many of the scholarly essays I have to read for school make me want to scream because I want to edit them so badly. A lot of academic writing is terribly long-winded. I can't stand wordy, pretensious writing and my own essays tend to end up much more casual sounding than academic, so I guess that means I might be suited to copywriting.

I think I have a fairly good grasp of marketing. My family will attest to the fact that I love to analyze tv commercials and magazine ads. The science of selling has always been interesting to me. But I fully intend to read up on the subject before I hang up my shingle. The self-taught path to education is often one of the most effective, and I plan on giving Amazon.ca a lot of business over the next little while.

Anyway thanks again for taking the time to answer my post. I really appreciate it.

I know now that I can do this business. The two main questions remaining on my mind are 1)What should I name my business? and 2)What should I charge? I have no idea about the latter. Are there any Canadian writers out there who might be able to enlighten me on the going rates? Thanks.