So often, authors waste time early in the process of creating a nonfiction book. It breaks my heart to see people writing extensive material that will almost certainly be useless, or trying to line up an agent without a solid idea. At best, such tasks are an inefficient way to make progress. At worst, they’ll…
When I make a referral, I don’t usually have to think about it very much. I know who does a good job and whom I can depend on. If you need a hybrid publisher, I’m going to send you to Amplify. They’re not the only good choice. I’ve worked with Wonderwell, Ideapress, and PageTwo and…
What would you do if you got laid off tomorrow? What would you do if your company offered you a promotion tomorrow? If a friend recommended you for a job in another company? If a former colleague asked to be your partner in a startup? If you were offered a consulting gig somewhere that you…
Writers often complain about the painful process of drafting substantial content, like reports, white papers, or book chapters. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Your could be creating great content rapidly and enjoying every moment of it. You just need two things: Planning. And writing time. Writing in flow versus endlessly struggling, typing,…
As I’ve written, the advantage that human writers have over AI is wit. Ergo, if you want to continue to make a career of writing, you must develop your wit. Is that even possible? Yes. I’ll explain. What is wit? Wit is the ability, not just to inform, but to delight readers with your writing….
Everyone knows that freelancers pitching for business need to make sure their sites and social media presence look sharp and professional. But have you considered that, as a potential client of a freelancer, you need to curate your own image, too? How I vet potential clients Two things: First, freelancers like me hate to waste…
Writing is easy. Planning is hard. Research is time-consuming. Ideation comes from experience. Those four thoughts, taken together, are the fundamental theorem of nonfiction writing. Imagine a book chapter. (It’s not very different if it’s an article or a blog post — the same thing applies.) Ideation can often happen quickly. One moment you don’t…
Sometimes your managers ask you to do something outside the range of what you’ve done before. Do it. Even if you’re afraid of failing. This has happened to me multiple times in my career, and it always paid off — although often not right away. Odd jobs I was a technical writer at my first…
This article was originally published in Ragan’s PR Daily. Will AI tools like ChatGPT write your copy and take your job? Or will they just make you more productive? I recently tapped social media to connect with some of the world’s most effective business writers: authors of successful business books. They shared tips on how…