Latest posts
The Pros and Cons of Adapting Your Own Novel
/ 2026-03-27You’re a proven novelist with one or more published books to your name. You clearly know story, plot, conflict and character. You’re riding high on accolades from readers who are eagerly anticipating your next literary masterpiece, but you’re also hungry to try something new. That’s when a friend casually says,... Read More
The Truth About Writing Groups
/ 2026-03-27A reader asked, "Can you or one of your authors give new writers guidelines for how to find a writers' group? I'm interested in finding a group where I can get feedback from experienced writers and have an opportunity to read and comment on their works in progress. (Learning how they... Read More
Unsexy but Lucrative: Making Money from Thought Leadership Content
/ 2026-03-27It sounds like a terrible bit of business jargon, but ‘thought leadership’ is basically just expert-based content that educates or informs potential clients, rather than selling at them. Where a company has a complicated or very technical service to offer and/or the purchasing process involves lots of decision-makers, this kind... Read More
Reach Your Writing Goals with Your Personal Writing Calendar
/ 2026-03-14"How did it get so late so soon? It's night before it's afternoon . . . My goodness how the time has flewn." (Dr. Seuss). For years, this was my reaction after realizing that I have missed – again! – the pitching deadlines for seasonal and thematic articles. But not anymore.... Read More
Edit Now or Later?
/ 2026-03-14I have been asked a few times of late about whether a writer should hire an editor before pitching to an editor or agent. After all, if those gatekeepers love the idea, won't they provide an editor to clean it up? 1) Editors cost money. If they receive a manuscript with... Read More
Integration vs Gravitation
/ 2026-03-14I read the best essay about writing today from a writer named Angela Yuriko Smith who manages the Substack page and newsletter called Authortunities. She's pretty cool and has some great ideas. We don't agree on everything, but I love how she justifies her thoughts. She's smart and she loves helping writers. Today she spoke... Read More
Protect your Words and Income With Back Up Storage
/ 2026-03-06Writing is a primary source of income that should be stored in more than one location. When you don’t do this and your hardware crashes, you risk missed deadlines, kill fees, and strained client relationships. In addition, you feel frustrated and angry as you try to duplicate what was lost... Read More
Self-Love
/ 2026-03-06In a recent chatroom, someone asked if there was any hope left for struggling writers with so many other writers taking shortcuts with AI. My response was that if fear of AI knocks you off your game, maybe you aren't playing the right game. Many of us live in fear... Read More
Define Opportunity
/ 2026-03-06I declined a speaking opportunity this week. One in a very reasonable distance from me, as a matter of fact. This time of year often fills my calendar with such requests, which thrills me. I love doing events. But they must be worth my investment of time, travel, and book... Read More
Practical Ways to Keep Your Query Pipeline Full
/ 2026-03-06Many freelancers struggle with consistency, especially with pitching and idea generation. We all know we should keep a pitch tracker so we’ll know when we’ve sent something out and when we can expect a response. But if that’s all we’re doing, it’s easy to lose focus. Most of us are... Read More
