John Taylor “Ike” Williams was my agent and publishing lawyer. He died on December 26, 2024 at the age of 86. Ike was a commanding presence at his literary agency, Kneerim & Williams, and law firm, Sennott & Williams. Six-foot-six and good-looking, he had a unique combination of unshakable Boston Brahmin confidence and good humor….
Newsletter 77. Toxic growth, journal editors resign, business novellas, three people to follow and three books to read. Bigger’s not better, for companies or countries Companies pursue size. If Donald Trump has his way, so will the United States of America. Observe what happens when companies get bigger and there are some relevant lessons. The…
Two of my clients gave me unsolicited bonuses in 2024. Should I feel good about myself and my work? Or should I rethink how I work and how much I charge? Fundamental (and wrong) truths about freelancing Here’s what everyone tells freelancers: I reject all of that. Every bit of it. I don’t want to…
There may come a point in your life when you have an epiphany. You look at yourself and your own behavior and realize you’ve misjudged or mistreated people for decades. I’m talking about generally shitty behavior. But I’m also talking about casual race prejudice, homophobia, fatphobia, sexism, piggish behavior, elitism, and preconceptions about people with…
You might be skinny, fat, male, female, old, young, gay, straight, Black, white, Asian, a senior vice president, an entrepreneur, a new college graduate, a person with a Ph.D., somebody who never graduated, a cancer survivor, a person in a wheelchair, or an olympic athlete. When you write, it doesn’t matter. If you can write…
I had to learn to be good at all these things: None of these skills are useful now, nor are they likely to be in the future. However . . . The eagerness to learn new skills and the joy of learning remain. And that is always going to be useful. Keep a supple and…
Newsletter 75: Resolving to make better New Year’s resolutions, Melania’s stickiness, new agents and publishers, plus three people to follow and three books to read. High resolution Have you made a New Year’s Resolution? You will fail, you know. But if you want to fail successfully — and eventually succeed — here are some questions…
As I’ve explained here previously, there are two types of writers: planners and pantsers. Planners create detailed outlines and break the work down into planned chapters. Pantsers just keep writing to get their ideas out, and deal with the organization later. While I unequivocally believe that planning is better, I acknowledge that many writers can’t…
For those considering making a living writing, ghostwriting, and editing, I thought you might enjoy a peek at what my 2024 looked like. I won’t share dollar numbers, but the total revenue was north of $100K, with me working about half of my time on client activities. The last time I reviewed my business like…