2026 is your year to write a nonfiction book. George, Ed, Trevor, Blake, Mikhail, Alice, and Deborah have already pledged to get started (see yesterday’s post). Let’s see if I can help them, and you, to get off on the right foot. The biggest challenge new authors have is: Where do I start? What do…
One question: will you resolve to writing a nonfiction book in 2026? It’s pretty simple. If you do, go ahead and add your name in the comments on this post. You’re not alone. I’ll help. In fact, I’ll go further. I promise to answer all your questions about writing a book, getting it published, and…
Should AI-generated or AI-aided writing be eligible for writing awards? This is the challenge that SFWA — the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association — is navigating with its annual awards, the Nebula Awards. Briefly, there are two major sets of awards in the science fiction and fantasy community. The Hugo Awards are voted on…
A ghostwriting relationship often lasts a year or more. That’s a long time to be stuck in a terrible situation. Here’s a scorecard for your next potential nonfiction ghostwriting client. You’ll notice that there are more communications criteria than financial ones here, and that’s no coincidence: most ongoing painful ghostwriting problems are communications problems. Add…
Newsletter 129. Strategies for principled ghostwriters, Kindle enables AI queries, the polarization risk of closer social connections, plus three people to follow and three books to read. Who wins when a ghostwriter disagrees with a client? Sometimes ghostwriters and their clients have a serious disagreement. I’m not talking about the Oxford Comma (although as serious…
Newsletter 128. How thinking proponents and opponents of AI can come together. Plus, AI author scams catalogued, bookseller IPOs, three people to follow and three books to read. Creating peace between the AI factions If one result stood out from my recent study of AI and the Writing Profession (sponsored by Gotham Ghostwriters), it was…
“I quit.” These are words you should almost never utter as a ghostwriter. The reason is that busted ghostwriting relationships let clients down and will damage your reputation. Word will get around that you parachuted out and that will hurt you in the future. Writers who make their living exclusively on ghostwriting may be juggling…
To write and publish a business book is to say “The world is different from what you thought it was. Here’s what to do about it.” If you are undertaking a business book, you must decide what your manifesto is. Some prominent manifestos for your consideration It’s not a coincidence that it’s easy to write…
Newsletter 127. Balancing between your inspiration and your audience’s desires. Plus, is publishing in crisis, Google powers a publisher, three people to follow and three books to read. What do your readers want? Authors are often torn. On the one hand, they passionately want to tell their own story and share their own unique insights…