I get emails and LinkedIn messages from random people all the time. They often purport to want to invest in my (one-person) business or offer me some kind of paid service for authors. Yeah, right. Those are pretty easy to see through. But sometimes they appear to want to hire me as an author coach,…
This is a followup on Tuesday’s post about a likely author scam called Hunt Down We Read. To be as fair as possible, I invited the person offering me this incredible community review service to respond publicly to the scammy elements I’d posted about, and I included a link to the blog post. They replied…
The difference between real writers and pretend “writers” who are just fooling themselves comes down to one thing: Concentration. If you have time to concentrate on the writing you create, you will get better and better. You will be able to think big enough to conceive and assemble a book. It also helps if you…
Newsletter 163. Why the most successful people crack wise and act wisely. Plus, Berrett-Koehler’s hybrid imprint, Anthropic indelibly marks its content, three people to follow and three books to read. Silly serious One principle explains all of my success and the fact that I’m still working and happy past normal retirement age. I’m seriously silly….
Is your plan to be a book ghostwriter realistic? It could be, if: Now one of the people in your network may be ready to hire you to write a book — or you may be ready to work with a ghostwriting agency that will bring you opportunities. Your first ghostwritten book make all the…
You have an intense book writing or editing job due on a deadline in the next few days. Which of the following will allow you to do the best possible job? Vote below: Every writer is different. But no one can be productive in short bursts. Writing and editing are most effective when you’re in…
Editors typically care more about quality than money. If you want to hire one, this should change your approach. Learn from how this guy tried (and failed) to hire an editor Earlier this week, I received an unsolicited private message in LinkedIn, proposing to hire me as an editor. The sender, let’s call him Mr….
There are two common ways to craft a substantial piece of writing (like a 1200-word essay or an 8000-word book chapter). No one taught me either of those techniques, and as a result, I developed my own method: Characteristics of sequential incremental revision I didn’t deliberately invent or refine this method, but having written perhaps…
You are a developmental editor. You suggest a new idea related to a chapter you’re editing for a client. The client immediately publishes the idea in a post on Substack. Which of the following is correct? I’ve been developing ideas for people my whole career. The correct answer is 1. Who owns a developmental editor’s…