I’m back from my annual writing retreat in Maine where I help facilitate writers in their dreams to bring their work alive and get it published. All week I attend and assist in a class a day. The rest of the day, attendees are supposed to write. I’m on call around the clock to answer […]

Imagine waking up in a beautiful setting where meals are provided, and your only expectation is to create. Or maybe you dream of using your writing to connect with a community, leading a journaling workshop or introducing readers to a piece of artwork or historic happening. Or perhaps you have a special project that you’re […]

I follow a site/newsletter titled Plagiarism Today. Jonathan Bailey ( @plagiarismtoday \ @mastodon.world \ mastodon.world \ plagiarismtoday.com ) has managed this site for decades, and he knows his stuff about AI, copyright, and plagiarism. I receive many newsletters. His I read. Recently he composed a piece entitled How Can I Prove That I’m Human?  As we all […]

Earning a living from writing is not as easy to wrap your head around as opening a coffee shop or becoming a tax accountant. The work writers do is often mitigated by a publisher. Thinking of what “goods” or “services” you provide as a writer and who your “customers” are can feel intangible and vague. […]

Before I start, a few caveats. First, I really don’t know very much about AI. Also, I’m only really talking here about ChatGPT. And I’m only talking about the world of commercial content, not creative writing. I start with all that because pretty much everyone I know who is a creative type is violently against […]

A lot of people, particularly in person, tell me they “have this story” that they want to tell. They ask me how I write, then they ask how to publish. There is a mile in between, and I try to tell them what that mile consists of. Recently, a new author asked me why they […]

I was negotiating a small appearance for sometime downstream when something kept niggling at me about this one in particular. I have learned to listen to that feeling. The pay was average, and the expenses were fully covered. I could sell my books and retain 100 percent of proceeds. No bookstore there selling books, but […]

I was horrified when a client suggested using generative AI to “fill in” an article. I was appropriately aghast when another client switched their copywriting to cheaper ChatGPT. Generative AI has led to job losses and writing industry impact—it’s not just my story, but could be yours. Can writers stop or slow AI? Here’s how to […]

“If you build it, he (they) will come” is the famous line in the classic 1989 flick, “Field of Dreams,” spoken by character Iowa corn farmer Ray Kinsella (actor Kevin Costner). That’s fine when you’re talking about ghosts showing up on a baseball field, but what about book signings and appearances? When you are going […]

I am more in the line of Dean Koontz when it comes to making appearances. I make myself appear just enough, not totally comfortable with too many face-to-face events. I don’t do major conferences. I rarely leave the state anymore. Pre-COVID I was all over the place, and admittedly, the touring helped put my name […]

Writers talk a lot about coping with rejection. I used to get lots of messages from editors and agencies that said things like ‘we decided to go another way’ or ‘sorry, this one’s not for us’ or ‘we regret to inform you that on this occasion your application has been unsuccessful’. But I don’t receive […]

Every day I keep my writing career strong by logging in to social media. I often use Facebook Messenger to communicate with other writers, but chats alone are not enough. Your Profile Just as a website must make a writer or author stand out as an authority, so must a social media profile. For example, […]