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It was never my dream to become a technical writer for government. However, government clients like the Department of Defense (DoD), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and Montana State University have taught me a valuable skillset and provided me with steady bread and butter for seven years, allowing time for personal writing projects. You don’t need an advanced degree or decades of experience. I graduated simply with a BA in Communication Studies. Working in marketing and communications for companies with tech-enabled products and services (think devices that require software or electronics components), I learned how to write content to appeal to a niche technical audience. I mostly focused on military and medical technology. These projects introduced me to TechLink, a DoD and VA partnership intermediary affiliated with my local university. Partnership intermediaries like TechLink help DoD and VA transfer their intellectual property to private companies that can then turn the ideas into tangible products. If your eyes are glazing over, grab a coffee. While it’s an acronym-heavy world, once you take advantage of these opportunities, you will never be a starving writer! With the knowledge I acquired, I started my own business to enable myself to accept contracts providing More

What should I know about author readings and book signings from the point of view of bookstores? Glad you asked. From my fifteen years working at Op Cit Bookstore in Taos, NM, I’ve learned quite a bit, being an author myself. Formerly called Moby Dickens, the locally-owned and independent shop has been in business almost four decades. In that time, we’ve hosted hundreds of author events, featuring writers of all stripes with publishers of all types: major imprints, mid-size and university presses, self-published, the works. But there’s a lot work involved. Here are some good things to know: How to contact Email is always a great first step. Introduce yourself, your book, and inquire about readings; include your website, if you have one, and any important links. Calling or visiting in person is fine, but don’t assume a staff member is able to give you their full attention. The store could be (happily) too busy. Tip: Be prepared to try a couple of times. Be patient for a response. Ask the store if they have written guidelines you can review; often these will answer most of your questions. Scheduling This is not always easy, since the availability of both store and author More

Based on a couple of inquiries, I wanted to share my response about tricks on ways to critique. Once I finished replying, I realized I’d written an editorial. Never waste words, I say, so with a few touch ups, here is my take on how to critique someone else’s work without stepping on toes. Realize that the right phrasing on criticism takes thought and manners. I do think, however, that first and foremost, the writer must request criticism before someone else gives it. Being in a class is such an example. So is submitting a book for review. Reading someone’s work then choosing out of the blue to correct it to the author, is not. Especially if you do not know them via some sort of relationship. When I am asked to critique, I definitely rely heavily on the Oreo Method of suggestive improvement encased before and after with substantive praise. The method is classic, opening the ears of the recipient to hear positive first. The method makes them more receptive. For example: “I liked this. This could be stronger. I really liked this.” Another way is to say, “While I was reading, I kept expecting (fill in the blank). Or More

Like most people who listen to interviews on TV channels or read them in print, I was diffident about interviewing people. However, studying a short and helpful module in a course called, “English for Journalism,” offered online by Pennsylvania University, equipped me with the needed skill and the confidence. The course made me realize I had it in me to go ahead. I had published a freewheeling discussion with India’s best-known cartoonist, RK Laxman in 2019, but had thought it was a fluke! Soon after I’d completed the course, I pitched an editor interview to Freedom with Writing (FWW), and he accepted it. I interviewed Margaret Guroff, a senior editor at a top lifestyle magazine in the USA. Jacob Jans, the editor of FWW, wrote back to say he’d like me to interview one editor every month, paying me $125 per interview. Since then, I’ve completed thirteen interviews. Magazines such as Marie Claire which asks for ‘buzzy’ interviews, Bitch Media wants writers to profile feminists who attempt to ‘remake’ culture, Dream of Travel Writing seeks interviews with celebrities, and profiles, and others who seek interviews with women achievers, feminists, celebrities, and profiles, and pay well. For example, Yes! Magazine had More

As some of you might be aware, back in June I was the writer-in-residence at a Maine writer’s retreat. I  had a ball there, no only helping others in their writing and promotion but also in having ample time to write for myself. Trust me, it’s a challenge to have all day to write. One evening’s exercise, however, was eye opening. The host gave us a setting: a hospital room. Included in that room were these items: a bed, a plastic chair, a plastic water pitcher and glass, a trash can with a liner, a window depicting mountains in the background, and a picture on the wall of a cow. At that point, each of us was instructed to take two characters we were already writing about in whatever work-in-progress we had, plant them in that setting, and write a scene. I saw, like, wowed. Which characters? How in the world would I take my beach and Carolina Lowcountry characters and put them in the mountains? For a minute or so, I was stymied. But then I did what I preach to so many, I just started writing, having chosen Slade and Wayne from my Carolina Slade Mystery Series as More

I was intrigued when I accepted a ghostwriting contract a couple of years ago, but instead of becoming Prince Harry’s secret scribe, I learned the reality is much less glamorous. Lack of variety Most clients hired a ghostwriter because they weren’t writers themselves or couldn’t devote enough time. I’ve also worked with some authors whose first language wasn’t English or who were differently abled physically or mentally, making it challenging to write a book on their own. However, the vast majority of clients were business owners who wanted to publish a book as a personal legacy or to boost their business. A book is the new business card and a way to establish or cement credibility. Book factory feel I’m a sucker for gorgeous, lyrical prose and accepted the ghostwriting contract mostly because I thought there’d be more emphasis on the craft of writing. I wanted to get away from snappy, SEO content and deeply technical (and sometimes yawn-inducing) writing. The small publisher I worked for charges clients to write, edit, design, publish, and market their books. After interviewing the author to collect content, I was expected to put together a full manuscript draft in 6 – 8 weeks. Depending on More

If you told any one in my family that I was funny, they’d laugh their heads off. I’m the one who cannot tell a joke, forgets punch lines, and has a delayed reaction to everyone else’s humor. I have been known to cross the line and pull off humor in my novels, and I’ve made audiences fill a room with laughter as a smart-aleck remark about my writing life. Don’t ask me how I do it, but sometimes it just leaks out. I know better than to count on it, though. If I think about how to present humor, it falls flat. However, there are humor writers out there, and since we rarely talk about it here, I felt I owed a few readers a list of those markets. Humor markets aren’t as common as they used to be, but there are a handful left that want your giggles and guffaws. CRACKED https://www.cracked.com/article_26097_write-cracked-get-paid-heres-how.html Pays $150 for first four articles, and $250 for every one after that. FUNNY TIMES https://funnytimes.com/about/submissions/ Pokes fun at politics, news, relationships, food, technology, pets, work, death, environmental issues, business, religion (yes, even religion) and the human condition in general. Not much is off limits. 500-700 words. More

An AI didn’t write this article, but a human did. Artificial intelligence is taking over the internet, and computers can create thousands of articles (in a single click). Let me reassure you: writers still have real jobs, and we’re all fine. Here’s why us human writers still maintain our grip on the industry. “No, Thanks.” I was surprised when a regular market hired artificial intelligence, and rejected an article of mine. A week later, another market reported that less jobs were coming in: artificial intelligence could write simple product descriptions faster. So I began pitching things that I knew artificial intelligence couldn’t write. An interview with author Dalene Matthee’s daughter, and a post about bridge’s rewritten history. These stories would need something AI wasn’t good at: human interaction. AI writes with patterns, keywords, and clickbait. Human writers are still much better. Why AI Seems Attractive I understood why artificial intelligence was attractive to the client. That markets’ budget, for personal reasons, changed overnight. The editor couldn’t devote their time or money, but wanted the site to keep running. Instead of paying writers less, they chose to pay artificial intelligence more. Cheap content created in an instant is what makes computer-writing More

Whenever I am interviewed in a podcast, phone interview, online for an article, or in person, invariably this question is asked: What advice do you have for new writers? I have several answers, and whichever pops into my head is the one I use. I’m not beiong sarcastic. I’m just saying there are so many, but my basic elementary list consists of: 1) Write every day.  I’ve seen arguments to this, and I disagree, but then, no two writers are alike. The truth is, however, that if you intend to take writing seriously, then show up to work. Delays and gaps in between only makes your writing atrophy. Then you have to warm up all over again, often rereading and rewriting material because you lost track. Also, writing daily ingrains a habit in you such that every time you sit in the chair your brain knows to start writing. And yes, it does become easier. Not that writing is easy, but getting back into it is easier when you do it daily. 2) Read ravenously. Choose books you wish you’d written. Some argue they cannot read while they are in the midst of serious writing. You cannot write all day. More

Whether you’re just beginning this journey toward publication or you’ve been on the road for what seems like forever, the last thing you want is yet another “don’t give up” speech. Maybe you’ve already grown weary of rejections and requests to revise, especially when those only result in yet another rejection. Only a few months into your writing career (or maybe longer), you don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. That’s why it’s time to give up. Everything you read tells you to keep going. In fact, all over the internet people tell you that this career is a marathon not a sprint and that giving up isn’t an option. But if you’re piling up rejections, it’s easy to wonder why you should keep going. I don’t have the answer to that, but I do know a few things I had to give up after I got my 100th rejection. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have continued writing. Giving up these things will help you keep your focus when you need it most. 1.    Give up your timetable. Many times I’ve heard “I thought I’d be published by now” or “why is it taking so long to get an agent”. More