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I tremendously admire people who regularly journal, and those who have journaled since they were young amaze me most of all. I love journaling, but I do not do it. At lest not often. I think a lot depends on how you want to use journaling, or why you feel the need to journal. I, […]

Last year, as the pandemic zapped the joy out of the holidays, four author friends and I joined forces to pour our energy into a positive project and keep our writing flowing. What started as a small side venture has now become a big, beautiful book filled with five novellas meant to lift spirits this […]

A writer recently asked me to review her memoir. She’d been through an incredible journey in her life, and I had to admit the experience amazed me. She’d already tried self-publishing a few years ago and had gotten scammed by an editor before also learning that not all self-publishers are created equal. A mutual friend […]

Eight years ago, I started writing after a break of more than a decade. I had last worked as a features writer for a thriving mid-sized newspaper. But so much had changed! Slowly, I began finding my way through the confusing maze that is freelance writing. Today, I have recurring writing assignments at several local and regional […]

Just a week ago, I met a young woman attempting to complete a novel. She was in a writer’s group, but leery of who was reading her work, fearful of someone stealing her work . . . and her idea. I explained to her that very few people have the guts to steal someone’s work […]

Half the job of writing books is promoting them. There are many ways to promote a book, but book blogs have become increasingly influential to potential readers. One of the more visible and easier-to-break-into ways to promote a book with an influential book blogger is by guest posting on their site. And double score if […]

“We are born without choosing to, to parents we haven’t chosen, into bodies and borders we haven’t chosen, to exist in a region of spacetime we haven’t chosen for a duration we don’t choose. As physicists know, we don’t choose the particular atoms that constellate our particular selves or the neural configurations that fire our […]

As writers it is not enough to write well. It is just as important to sharpen your business and communication skills in preparation to conduct confident, intelligent, and unemotional conversations with potential clients. Especially when they counter you and disagree. As a Communications Specialist in a corporate role, I was supremely confident of my writing/editing […]

A market can get glutted with providers, especially authors, a complaint that’s been around for over a decade. However, there’s always room for the exceptional author. The exceptional author is exceptional in their pursuit of being exceptional. They dissect grammar, voraciously read and analyze the gifted writer, and aim for the best story. They do […]

Why is it that some self-published books sell quite well and others don’t? Marketing experts have studied this question for years, and many of them say the same thing: the professional quality of your book makes a difference, one that definitely affects sales. In other words, if you want your book to sell well, you […]

There’s a lady here in South Carolina who is a fan of my books. She’s bought and read them all. She’s attended book clubs to hear me and even sponsored one at a restaurant. She is a beautiful person, and she not long ago suddenly lost her husband. After a length of time, she started […]

Prove to me in 650 words that you are a memorable human being, worthy of acceptance. That’s pretty much the prompt students face when attempting the Personal Statement on college applications. It’s also the Everest I help them climb with Success Story, my business I built this past year. For students, this high-stakes writing task is […]