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Cambridge Dictionary defines “celebrity” as someone famous. Celebrity interviews can make for an easy sell of articles, too. “Accessible” celebrities are anyone reasonably within the author’s reach without the complication of press junkets or bodyguards. What’s not “accessible” Could you reach George Clooney or Brad Pitt in minutes? Probably not. Restricted access means they only give interviews for official press junkets or approved media conferences, and little else. These interviews are much harder to secure. An accessible celebrity is someone easily reachable, often directly. Pitch the idea to an editor first A detailed pitch containing suggested celebrity contacts made to an editor sells easier, particularly to editors you’ve worked with before. It’s not enough to tell an editor you’d like to interview three famous people – tell them who and why. With an editor’s approval in hand, you can more easily approach celebrities with a tangible idea: “I’m writing about ferns for Plants Weekly.” sounds better to busy celebrities than a general, “I’d like to interview you.” Spokesperson(s) and companies When interviewing Treasurer General of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), I went to the entity’s spokesperson first. A spokesperson (sometimes public relations officer or media representative) handles all media that More

Children’s television host, Mr. Rodgers, said that whenever he watched scary news as a child his mother would tell him to “Look for the helpers.” He said knowing people were helping was a great comfort. His words inspired me to write about my volunteer experiences. I’ve been a mentor to women in difficult marriages for several years. Last year, I pitched pieces on some of the wisdom I’d gleaned to Opinion (womanalive.co.uk) a Christian magazine in the UK. They accepted several pitches including I’m forever grateful to the woman who saved my marriage – I think we all need a mentor | Opinion | Woman Alive and I swapped my To-Do list for a Ta-Da list and now I see God’s presence in the everyday | Opinion | Woman Alive. The opinion section is open to female and male writers of all levels and seeks articles of 500-750 words connected to news ideas or relevant to faith. Payment is £50. My training with wives and PEN America, an organization that pairs incarcerated writers with mentors, gave me the confidence to offer my services to beginning non-fiction writers. I am currently on my 4th project, with my last client self-publishing her first memoir, Starseed to Jesus: Chasing 5D, finding More

I hear this over and over, people asking me what is the magic potion that made people buy my books. 1) I made appearances. 2) I published a weekly newsletter. 3) I answered every email, text, and message. 4) I freelanced every chance I could. 5) I guest blogged. 6) I kept writing. That sounds so simple in theory but is difficult to practice. . . consistently. Consistency and diligence are key to becoming known. Note that I left adverbs out of the above list. To be consistent and diligent you have to do things regularly, often, habitually, expectedly. The fact is, you have to show up to work. Whether writing or putting material out or telling people who you are, you have to do it. You have to do it to the point people go, “Hey, I’ve heard of you.” That doesn’t happen overnight. The trouble these days is that people think that marketing involves shouting, hyping, and hustling. It isn’t the loudest heard. It’s more about being frequently seen. And it isn’t talking about yourself. It’s about delivering to the reader what they want, when they want it, such that they tell their friends and family about the More

If you have a full-time writing job and want to write a book, you may wonder how you will accomplish both. You likely spend most of your time and energy on paid work. How do you complete a book AND maintain quality work for clients at the same time? I know this challenge well. I am a content writer and recently completed a 340-page book. Doing both was tough – at first. I nearly burned out halfway through. Thankfully, some hacks helped me maximize my productivity and maintain energy and focus. Best of all, the same hacks improved my professional writing. I achieved a 100% satisfaction rating and a top-rated writer badge on Upwork, which led to higher income. These tips will help you, too. Try Time Blocking Many successful people have used time blocking, including Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey (of Twitter fame), Steve Jobs, and Benjamin Franklin. By designating times for your work initiatives, you reduce mind clutter so that you can focus more intently on each task, completing it faster. You also notice initiatives that took too long and require refining. Maintain Firm Work Hours Take a close look at your daily routine, establish your work hours, and stick to More

As you might expect, I get deluged with books. From publishers, fans, wannabe writers, published-yet-still-struggling writers, my book club, and friends and family as gifts. My to-be-read stack is two columns of a dozen books each, and that doesn’t count my bookcase with books I still told myself I would read. Don’t even ask me what’s on my Kindle. I’ve long forgotten those. In my career as an author, I’ve heard so many schools of thought about what you should read. 1) Only read your genre, to improve what you intend to publish. 2) Read across the board of genres, to get introduced to variety and new thought. 3) Read bad books as well as new books, so you know what to write and what not to write. 4) Read whatever book you pick up, all the way to the end. 5) Read only when you are not writing, so you don’t accidentally plagiarize. 6) Read even more when you are writing, so you feel more motivated. Bottom line, read a book that makes you wish you had written it. You will absorb more of it and take it seriously. But to finish a book because you started it? Nope. More

My first editor worked with me on five revisions of my debut story in a major magazine. Decades later, when I wrote about him, I understood what had inspired his stamina: my trying and failing and trying again to express what I wanted to say. The piece wasn’t spectacular, but it launched my career and established my admiration for what editors can do for a writer’s development. He demanded clarity of thought and precision in language; I used them to pitch and write everything that came afterwards. I’ve worked with two kinds of editors, copy editors and developmental editors. A copy editor focuses on content and clarity once you have a complete manuscript draft. A developmental editor is a mentor and colleague in the earlier stages of a writing project. Their job is to elevate your work, making it more salable while preserving your voice and angle of vision. A developmental editor understands the scope of published writing in your genre and the narrative structures and language choices other authors have made. Whatever their background or expertise, and whether they are a writer or not, it is attention to the possibilities of language that draw people to this line of More

A week doesn’t go by without someone asking me for money to self-publish their book. Nine times out of ten, they are beginning authors. There are no grants for this. And there are lots of reasons why. I’ll try to toss most of them in here, in abbreviated form so this doesn’t turn into an epistle. 1) Writing grants are mostly for writing the book, not producing it. Making the book (i.e., self-publishing) isn’t writing; it’s business. 2) Most writing grants don’t go to first time authors because they have not proven their likelihood of success. 3) Writing grants don’t always go to those in financial trouble. 4) Writing grants don’t often favor the disabled, the elderly, or the retired. They are for writing, first and foremost. Any other measures run second or third to the importance of quality writing. 5) Unless you’ve a proven track record in successful self-published books, grants go more to the traditionally published. 6) It’s not what you are writing. It’s how closely what you are writing matches what they want. 7) Grants are not for those beginning to write. 8) Grants are not for those who need an editor to learn how to write More

What makes a screenplay successful? This question has haunted many a writer since the dawn of motion pictures. No single genre, subject or storyline has so dominated the box office as to be dubbed a surefire winner. If one had, that’s all Hollywood would make. We’ve seen hits and flops from every kind of film imaginable. For every Spartacus, there’s a Cleopatra. For every Godfather, there’s a Billy Bathgate. For every Lawrence of Arabia, there’s an Ishtar. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t key elements producers look for in a script as bellwethers of success, because most understand that while you can make a so-so movie from a great script, you can’t make a great movie from a so-so script. It all starts with the material. As such, here are seven things your script should have, regardless of the scope and storyline. Originality Producers may want your material to fit a certain formula, style or genre, but that doesn’t mean they want derivative. Everyone is looking for the next great concept. Some unique take or spin on an idea that we haven’t seen yet. If you think every idea has been done already, just look at films from Guillermo del More

Most of you reading this have published somewhere. In newsletter, magazines, or blogs. Maybe you’ve done podcasts or YouTube episodes. Or you’ve published in an anthology, or even published a book or two. Along this journey, you’ve met people in the business. Don’t forget these people. Some will be editors and others marketers. Some helped you design your cover, and others selected you for a book of anecdotes. Someone interviewed you live, or on a blog. You may even run into peers who praised you. Peers who have done well for themselves, or may have knowledge of people you don’t have connections to. The point is to use your connections. If you’ve worked with anyone who can speak to your writing, publishing, or editorial skills, then ask for a testimonial, or a referral to someone you don’t know but wish you did. Using your contacts doesn’t come natural to many writers, especially the introverted ones. However, the moment you are give a positive reaction to anything you’ve done, ask the following: 1) Can you refer me to your person? 2) Can you write a testimonial I can use? 3) Can you make an email introduction between your person and me? More

I no longer belong to a writer’s critique group. I used to belong to two at the same time. One in person and one online. The first was 25 miles away, and we met biweekly, with a limit of ten double-spaced pages. The second was online and international. It was understood to submit a chapter at a time. I belonged to both for a while. One for a decade and the other several years past. I left the first one after publishing two books. My contract required me to write faster than the group could critique. At best I could workshop 3/4 of a book per year. As time went on, I had to write faster than the group could accommodate. The other lost two members to deaths that gutted us. The remainders try to keep on, but personalities got into play, and it disbanded. This week, however, I revisited the first group, to see old friends. I am thoroughly enjoying reading their feedback on my Chapter One from Slade’s next book. But they only accept seven pages now (roughly 1800 words), so again, I cannot continue, but the group reminded me of why groups are important. Feedback is important. More