When starting out as a writer, it can be difficult to find places to be published. After figuring out what you want to write, you have to figure out which outlet is the best fit for your work. Then you have to navigate the daunting world of pitching. As a freelancer, the standard goal is receiving 100 rejections a year. That means you pitch as often as CC Sabathia (baseball humor!). It also requires you to find evergreen and timely … Read More »

I once took a graduate seminar about the writing profession where I told a room full of Creative Writing MFAs that they didn’t necessarily have to get formal education to be a professional writer. “There are so many opportunities to get experience and learn the trade,” I said. Coming from a History background, I pointed out that MFA programs were only created after WWII when the federal government wanted accredited classes for the money they pumped into universities. “After all, … Read More »

The universe of software for writers is constantly expanding. I’ve looked into a few of the no-cost options. NaturalReader reads your document aloud to you. It’s a great way to find the little things a spell checker misses, like when you typed “if” but meant “it.” The speed can be adjusted. I like that it reads slowly enough that I can notice when a sentence ought to be farther up in the paragraph, or a section belongs in another part … Read More »

I love co-authoring books. For one thing, they’re so damn huge, it can be overwhelming. And if you’ve got a publisher’s deadline looming overhead, it can be comforting knowing that you have a partner you can blame when things go wrong to cut your workload in half. Two of my books had a four month completion window, each clocking in at 15 or 16 chapters. It would have been a full-time job for a single writer, but with two of … Read More »

There’s more to writing than craft. Successful authors know their business. Join us from the comfort of your home on September 22, 2018 at 11:00 am (ET) to learn the basics of how to run a writing business. Writers who treat their craft like a well-tooled company are far more successful than those who treat writing like a hobby. In this webinar, we will be talking about the basics you need to know to effectively run a writing business. Accounting, … Read More »