28,000 subscribers

A fellow writer sent her manuscript for me to critique. I’d published over a dozen stories for a particular outlet, and she wanted to see if she could get her story published with the same publisher. So, of course, I agreed to look over her work. The outlet that she hoped to write for had a reputation for publishing lots of short stories and was a perfect outlet for new writers attempting their first break. But, the outlet required that the writer follow certain rules. In this case, the stories must be: 1) true; 2) told in first person; 3) limited to 1,200 words; 4) follow one incident or thought in a complete short story; 5) be upbeat. Other than the last two rules, the instructions clearly laid out the other three requirements. Yet, the story my friend gave me was a compilation of memories, 2,000 words long, and meandered from first to third person throughout the telling. While the last points are not laid out in the rules, a few minutes spent reading the published stories reveals a clear pattern to the kinds of stories this publisher accepts. When I pointed this out to my friend, she said, “But, More

Financial writing is a wide niche, and it’s worth learning the ropes. I’ve written many features about finance and becoming more money wise; however, if you write about credit, cash, or cryptocurrency financial writing turns into a whole different world. Suddenly, it’s not like copywriting in Kansas anymore.Here’s how to approach financial writing and enjoy it, with notes from my own work.What To AvoidFinancial writing is full of scams, quick money opportunities, and jobs that ask for content eerily similar to pyramid schemes. Know financial and consumer laws, so that you know what these jobs could look like. Show these potential clients the door, assuming you give the time of day to start with.The law stacks against pyramid schemes, bait-and-switch marketing, and deliberate customers misleading.I’ve remained above the law, but have seen headlines of copywriters (and their customers) who fell for schemes or scams.Companies who hire financial writers should have a history and appropriate licenses (if they are a financial institution). It takes five minutes to check your potential clients and avoid risks to you and your profession.Glossaries, Acronyms, and TermsInvestors and CEOs have their own language. Financial writers have to adapt. You’ll see a lot of acronyms and jargon flying More

I began my full-time writing career a few months before having my baby, and that new parental perspective helped provide the inspiration for many articles. I write nonfiction in the form of reported articles on everything from health to travel, but also more personal opinion pieces where I share my view on the world. As pregnancy, childbirth and new motherhood are intense experiences, they can add new layers to writing and inspire fresh ideas. Parenthood is a brand new life chapter which can alert you to themes or topics you hadn’t considered before. Even from early on in pregnancy, new idea avenues just pop up. But where does parenthood fall in terms of genre? Is it health, society, politics, general parenting, food (weaning tips), drink (non-alcoholic cocktails), travel, a photo essay, opinion, career, entertainment, environment or another lifestyle-based niche? I found I could relate almost anything back to parenting as it is a subject that permeates all aspects of life. The topic works across all types of publications and even has international appeal. Parenthood is also a niche within itself as not everyone is a parent, or has a baby or young child. It can be a less crowded field More

What is AI? AI is artificial intelligence which simulates human intelligence processes by the use of computers or machines. Some argue it has great value in writing the mundane, like blog posts, ad copy, and such. The computer is fed a collection of writing which it uses to create a document. I was recently in an online Zoom chat, and AI came up. Half the room argued that they use it like a thesaurus or a prompt or to get ideas on how to write better. They lean on it when they are at a loss for words. I get finding a word in a thesaurus, on occasion. I struggle with finding phrases, paragraphs, or more like anyone else. Bust I test myself to the nth degree to dig myself out of a hole before I seek assistance. I learn better and retain longer from those efforts. Here lately, I’ve received a lot of submissions, many from the other side of the world from the United States, and they sound vaguely robotic. What I used to call theoretical and too academic is fast becoming suspicious for being AI. Several topics are routinely pitched to me, and its amazing how similarly More

Being a writer isn’t easy. One of the most common challenges is “that” elusive source or interview: the one that you (or an editor) relies on to make a piece solid. It’s usually the most difficult one to find. “That” source can be famous or high-level, though can also be someone with outdated contact information. Sometimes, a source has faded into the background – or deliberately obscured their contact info. How do you get in touch with sources who can’t (or won’t) be found? Here’s what you do. Sometimes, You Just Ask Celebrities and public figures aren’t always completely hidden. The first places to visit are personal websites (and their Contact page). There’s no guaranteed response, but it should be your first avenue. When I interviewed Hollywood character actor Jim Hoffmaster, it took the search to his official social media page. Apartheid struggle stalwart and first South African state capture witness Vytjie Mentor was nice enough to allow an interview when I asked. If this doesn’t work, time for a different approach. Agents, Companies & Foundations Public figures (like politicians, celebrities, and investors) can have a barrier between them and incoming messages. You may need to send a request to More

Books don’t make much money, but they do open doors. Even on the best of days, you can’t make a living off a book. In today’s publishing world you promote yourself and your book, while still making an income in other ways. But, a book, whether self-published or published by a traditional publisher, can give you creds and provide other means for income. Like most writers, you probably have another job. Whether a teacher or a server, use this knowledge to your advantage. Say you work at a restaurant that sells great cheeses. Cheese could be your book. You begin by speaking to your employer. Where do they buy their cheeses from? How do they get them? How do they choose the best ones? What is the difference between cheeses? You’ve been trained to sell their cheeses, so you are already informed. Now delve deeper. Learn the industry, how cheese is made, the details of cheese, its workers, distributors, their histories. You have already amassed enough material for a book. Don’t just look at the book as your final product, though. Each step to writing your book provides you articles to publish in cheese journals, food magazines, health blogs – More

This week I was scrolling through social media, stalling before writing another chapter in my book, and ran across someone asking how in the world self-published people put out such bad covers. That launched a flurry of their people echoing in agreement. My response was: Who cares? Not my place to tell someone how to do their cover. A few more comments were made that they weren’t criticizing, just drawing conclusions about bad covers, maybe some about self-publishing. I wasn’t seeing the difference. A lot of hair-splitting explanation with the same end results: being critical. They would’ve been better off not speaking about the subject, frankly. This was an author making the comment. Now they are remembered by some, like me, for being critical of other authors who are struggling to write, publish, and market themselves like every other author out there. A bit of an elitist stance, IMHO. Imagine some silent writer, someone too timid to speak up, taking this in, wondering if their cover is bad, maybe scared to take that leap of publishing the book at all for fear of this sort of criticism. The point here is that an author should remain professional at all times. More

In my early forties, after working as a plumber for over twenty years, I changed careers and became a writer. I started out by writing what I knew – plumbing and home improvement articles. Before long I had established myself as a freelance writer, but I wasn’t satisfied with writing about only plumbing. I wanted to try something new. I never would have guessed that I would end up writing parenting articles. My older son’s high school graduation changed things for me, although I didn’t realize it right away. After all the emotion of the graduation ceremony, I went home and put everything I was feeling down on paper. I wrote about the pain of sitting on the old wooden bleachers of the gymnasium, and about the pride and optimism on the faces of the graduates. I wrote about my own high school years, and the dreams I had for myself as I headed out into the world. Before long I had written what I considered to be a funny and touching essay. When I began looking into parenting markets, I discovered that all the publications – at least the paying ones – were marketed toward and written by women. More

Not long ago I was on a Zoom meeting of writers. We spoke of recommended how-to books, how AI is impacting writing and whether or not we’ve used it, and then show-don’t-tell. When it came time to brag about our individual successes, one writer spoke of how she had talked of writing, read of writing, and attended events on writing, but not followed through to complete a project. She was up to 50,000 words on a book, and we all commended her. She’d been writing for years. She admitted that the delay in writing came solely from fear of failure. Zoom meetings, writers clubs, and social media conversations abound with people having reasons they have not published, are still working on a project after years of trying to figure it out. My guess is the grand majority of them don’t press forward due to fear of failure. 1) What if we spend all that time writing and nobody wants it? 2) What if we spend all that money self-publishing and it does not sell? 3) What if we set up signings and nobody shows? 4) What will friends and family think if we go through all this work and nothing happens? More

The day my agent sold my newest novel for middle school readers, I sat down with a giant piece of paper and my daughter’s colored markers. I created a bubble graph of the topics and themes in the story and how I might explore them in nonfiction articles for newspapers and magazines. Though having been a journalist and author for over two decades, I took almost that long to realize that if I didn’t put significant time and energy into publicizing my books, sales would tank. Writing and publishing short pieces related to my books has proven to be a brilliant way to build a fan base and earn paychecks. It’s a strategy any author can employ, to include for backlist books, as well. Here’s how I did it. Daisy Woodworm Changes the World tells the story of a 13-year-old amateur entomologist and track star who gets a school assignment to change the world. She decides to help her brother Sorrel—who has Down syndrome and adores Special Olympics and men’s fashion—to fulfill his dream of becoming a social media influencer. The trouble is that their overprotective parents, struggling with financial catastrophe, have forbidden Sorrel to appear on social media. Sorrel More