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While assisting author Raven Digitalis to promote his new book, I noticed that his promotional emails were getting better responses than my own pitches for articles and new clients. More than 60% of our cold pitches for promoting Raven’s book (and requesting reviews) had worked, yet I was only getting pitch approvals once every other week. I realized then the difference a simple Call-to-Action (CTA) can make. The Call to Action A Call-to-Action (CTA) is a phrase or button that prompts the reader to do something. Webmasters and designers are well-taught in how to use these prompts, but authors (like myself) focus so much on editing their content that they might forget its use. After all, readers and editors are consumers. A simple question or button becomes the subtle, psychological “push” that makes someone act—or click. “Buy Here” and “Book Now” are two basic CTAs. “Contact us here” is another one. Without this, a website page doesn’t read the same and won’t prompt results. The brain inherently looks for prompts or cues, and a successful CTA provides one. Asking and Prompting When writing for the South African news, authors were encouraged to end articles or paragraphs with questions. Gangsterism in More

“Do what you feel in your heart to be right — for you’ll be criticized anyway.” — Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) Keep the above in mind as I opine here. I just read an editorial from someone who’d been attempting to traditionally publish for a handful of years. Dozens of queries. They got a nibble from a smaller traditional press but even that went silent. Total frustration. Not quite despair but disappointment woven in there for sure. So they were going to self-publish. When this happens, when you can’t land an agent or entice a publisher to look at you, take a serious look in the mirror. Without a doubt the competition is fierce, but other issues might be at play here. 1) It isn’t just about good writing. It has to be rather great. Hearing crickets after several dozen queries might merit a rewrite. 2) When that agent or publisher pulls up your name in Google, what will they find? Look up your own name and see. How professional do you look? 3) Are you opinionated online? If pulling up your name turns up rather strong religious or political comments, remarks, even rants, you might be sabotaging your chances. Unless More

We don’t see things as they are. We see them as we are.”  ~Anais Nin Readers want to read stories by people. They want to read how someone else sees the world, to compare that viewpoint with how they see the world. It doesn’t matter whether you’re talking nonfiction or fiction, mystery or scifi, short stories or poetry. When the message is written by AI, there is no comparison. That’s not to say that AI doesn’t write well, because it’s getting better all the time. But the words are written via a compilation of a zillion viewpoints, without personal experience. It’s everyone’s comparison jumbled into a story. Yes, AI will get stronger. Yes, the stories will get better. But when the reader reaches THE END, will they want to look up this author, learn about them, feel somewhat of a kindred spirit with them, and seek more work by that author? That human who somehow reached into readers minds and united with them? An author who dug deep into their psyche and created something that others really appreciated? Most readers don’t want to mind meld with technology. They like to think they have something in common with a human.

Many writers and authors, both aspiring and established, are turning to Substack as a way to grow audiences, showcase work and build a new hustle. Substack blends the intimacy you get from a blog with the professionalism of an email newsletter, with the possible bonus of paid subscriptions. But is it for you? Certainly, there are many examples of writers with successful Substacks. Elle Griffin, who writes about how the creator economy need to find new ways to monetise fiction, published her first novel Obscurity on Substack while earning through paid subscriptions. Historian Heather Cox Richardson has built a big following through her regular Letters from an American. Other writers whose Substacks I enjoy include Tom Cox, Toby Litt, Becky Tuch’s Lit Mag News and The Subtext. In essence, Substack is a platform you can use to send newsletters directly to your subscribers’ inboxes. It’s like a cross between an email newsletter and a blog – you write posts, publish them online, and get them emailed to signed-up readers automatically. You promote your Substack all the usual ways – from social media to your email signature. With permission, you can also import email addresses from platforms like Mailchimp. And the platform has lots of built in ways to More

Let me be clearer. When you sit down at your computer, to read about your favorite writer or catch up on literary news, which media do you prefer to read? 1) Facebook 2) Instagram 3) Substack 4) Website/blog 5) Email newsletter Over the years, now decades since people began incorporating electronics into their routines, email newsletters were used to communicate news. Then came blogs and social media. Social media exploded. But along with social media came emotional chaos. Email newsletters have survived all of this screen evolution. Let’s look at the pros and cons of choosing to communicate to your fan base via email newsletter. Algorithms stop a lot of people from seeing you. They choose what a reader sees. If a reader happens to show an interest in purses and fashion, and you write mystery, you get booted down the list as to what is in a reader’s feed. They may want to read you, but out of sight does mean out of mind. Purses consume them. They forget to read you. An email newsletter is a commitment, but readers appreciate a newsletter more than social media. They are in a sea of people on social media. An email More

I heard a soul song created by AI today that made my chin drop, because it was that good. The time when AI will create music, literature, and visual art is just around the corner. All the more need for you to develop yourself as a brand. If your readers want to read human work versus AI, if they are going to avow to only support a human being, you to be quite evident online as flesh and blood. You need to not only prove you live and breathe but that you might be an interesting human at that. The days of just writing and not being seen are about gone. Get a website. Establish a social media presence. And write. Be proof that you are not a machine. As much as we can whine about this situation, it is there regardless. Put yourself up there and show readers that your stories were genuine and from your human core.

If there’s a single lesson I’ve learned in writing full-time, it’s that emergencies are inevitable. Food budgets run short, bills pile up, or there’s a medical situation or repair that needs urgent attention and grains time and money—often when the next publication date is far away, as is the payment for same. Here’s how to find writing jobs that might pay quicker. Connecting with Known Clients Start by connecting with your known and trusted clients. Ask if there’s any current work or writing project, and there might be an opportunity. A known customer relationship is an easier start for making money-in-a-pinch than finding a new editor who may take weeks to approve fresh copy. Great Bridge Links, Gifts for Mystics, and FundsforWriters have been supportive of my writing (and thankfully) for many years. I can query them, and they already know my writing quality and work ethic. These established markets are worth their weight in gold. Agency Overflow Create a list of content agencies and refer to these for overflow work. Contact these agencies and ask them to place you on a list of overflow, emergency copywriters. Most agencies keep a list of these for when their staff (or regulars) are unable to More

I personally had this question not long ago, with the advent of Hidden on Edisto, book 13 of The Edisto Island Mysteries. With the onset of Anthropic’s $1.5B lawsuit settlement, I realized just how important copyright could be. If I could afford to file for copyright, why not do it? So I shot off a copyright request for the manuscript of Hidden on Edisto, pre-publication. It was accepted and processed. There, the odds of my work being stolen were less. But then I wondered. . . how does someone like Anthropic, and the lawyers settling the lawsuit, find an unpublished manuscript? How do they know when it becomes published? Do you refile copyright again? Is there a preference on filing before or after publication? So I called the US Copyright Office and spoke to a specialist. She stated a copyright was like a chain of title on a piece of real estate. You still own the deed, so even if there are changes on the property, it’s still listed as yours. So if an unpublished manuscript has copyright, then becomes published, there is no need to file again. The Author’s Guild, however, suggested otherwise. You could get lost in the fray and be accidentally More

Once upon a time, there was a girl, and from an early age (10), she knew she wanted to be a writer.  She went to college to study writing.  After she was done with her schooling, she got her first full-time teaching job.  This was in 1990.  But she ran into some bad luck in 1991.  She was diagnosed with bipolar illness.  And this wasn’t the end of her experience with sickness.  Decades later, in 2011, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Yet, she wanted to look on the bright side, so she became a wedding speechwriter.  She got a dog to help her cope.  Her writing and her spirituality carried her through, and today, her bipolar disorder is managed, and she is cancer-free. So, how does a freelance writer publish more and, consequently, make more money?  By mining all of her personal interests. Write about (almost) everything you know.  I say “almost” because there are some things writers should keep unwritten.  We all have our secrets, and this is good, even in the writing world. Below are some of my interests (niches) and how I’ve turned them into publications and cash: Education – As a teacher for over 40 More

I have preached many times about being careful promoting your religious, political, and social opinions. Yes, you have the right. But also, others have the right to delete, cancel, and cease reading your work when they can’t put that off to the side when they see your work.   Stephen King expressed his opinion recently that hurt his sales. Some bookstores ceased carrying his books. Rumor has it he lost a movie deal. The argument is that he had the right to speak his mind. Yes, he did. And bookstores and readers had the right to not read, buy, and promote him anymore. Maybe he chose that route. Maybe he didn’t quite realize the ramifications. Maybe he’s made enough money not to care. Some say it was a mistake and others think he had the right. I agree with both sides. But the bigger picture is this. 1) He damaged a reputation he spent a lifetime creating. 2) A lot of people who have his books on their bookshelf regret the time and money they invested in him. 3) A lot of employees have lost money in the publishing, bookselling, and movie business because of him being cancelled. That last More