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Writing when you’re down Over the last two years I’ve experienced a series of setbacks that have taken quite a toll personally and professionally – bereavements, illness and accidents in the family, caring for ageing relatives, plus losing my job, ample pitch rejections, and all the rest. In recent months, unfortunately, this has led to […]

A beta reader is a reader who reviews a book before published to provide constructive feedback. There are lots of versions of beta readers, but they are good tools to have for any book-length manuscript, and even for those in freelance, nonfiction material. It’s another set of eyes on the near-finished product. What do they […]

You’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, “Have you ever thought about […]

A 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 build their stories will help […]

It 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 of content helps audiences to […]

“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. I found a simple solution […]

I 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 a great idea that ALSO […]

I 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 of Protecting Your Lightning. In […]

Writing 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 from memory or notes. As […]

In 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 that we aren’t being productive […]

I 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 sales. In this case, it […]

Many 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 goal-oriented or reward-oriented. We like […]