We are pleased to announce that EDGE! A Leadership Story has been named a finalist for the National Best Books 2008 Awards in the category of Business/Motivational. We want to extend our thanks to each and every one of you who have ...READ»
It's a combination. The reality is that you do need to know people. That's why it takes ten to twenty years to build a successful writing career. Accept it and get busy on the marketing of your work so you can be seen. Writing is ...READ»
This one’s easy. Don’t SELL in your writing. Focus on providing valuable information. The goal of your writing is actually not to sell. It’s to demonstrate your validity as an expert in your field. Few people have the ...READ»
More years ago than I’d like to admit, I owned a small advertising and public relations business. When I say small, it was just a few freelancers and me, but that didn’t deter me from going after the big fish. Nope. And I ...READ»
Yes, Yes and Yes. The real answer to this question though lies not in just sending out releases. What most press releases lack is a good emotional hook…a reason for a journalist to want to call for more information and to run a ...READ»
I'll always edit up to three pages at no cost. It is important for the writer to see the style of the editor. We all work differently. I do a line edit and pages of notes. The notes are for overall issues and the line edit gives them ...READ»
In this day and age where everyone is making quick decisions based on what they find on the internet, how you communicate with your potential customer has tremendous relevancy to your bottom line. How many websites have you visited ...READ»
Hello, this blog is designed for entrepreneurs to share ideas on business strategy, operations and efficiency for greater success. I hope to hear from you and I look forward to advising you on your small business. READ»
Last weekend I moderated an author event at the Texas Book Festival. The author I presented, Travis Nichols, is also a musician and said something that caught my attention. A simple phrase that went un-noticed until I brought it up at ...READ»
In my experience, titles come from a lot of crappy brainstorming. Write lists of possible titles. Even if 100% of that list is garbage, the act of writing down possibilities engages the brain. Then you have to let your mind do its ...READ»
The key to generating PR is repetition. The media is very skeptical of what they read and so it takes time to generate buy-in. Buy-in is created by being consistent and submitting solid content to the same media players over and ...READ»
Personal connections with your customers can be one of the most positive ways to build business relationships and drive sales. While these connections are made throughout the year, the holiday season offers one of the best times to ...READ»
Locations in your book should be as well defined as characters because, in fact, they are characters. Locations are living and breathing. Like people with hearts and minds and souls, locations also have hearts (the community of ...READ»
If people find your writing offensive that is probably a good thing. If you’re not turning people off, you’re not turning people on. Think of your favorite actor or actress. I guarantee that as much as you adore them, there are ...READ»
Characters are just like people—completely unpredictable! At least they should be. Ask me what I think my wife will do in a given situation, and I’ll have an opinion. I won’t be right though, because inevitably, she always ...READ»
A character’s voice should be found from the inside out, not the outside in. Meaning that characters are created through a writer’s willingness to dive into doing their homework and truly bringing a character to life. You can ...READ»
Almost ALWAYS! Query letters are standard in the industry. That being said, what is most imperative is that you do your homework when approaching any agent. They each have a preferred method of submitting work to them. Most of ...READ»
I’m not in favor of pen names unless you are moving outside your brand and are afraid of confusing people. We all know what happened to Coke when they tried to redesign their image – it flopped. So if you are a mystery writer ...READ»
A great question. The answer to that lies in your goals. I typically work with people whose intention is to make a difference in the lives of their readers and to build an entire operation around their book. They are not always ...READ»
From www.moguletteblog.com
Yikes, what a mess! The havoc in the stock and financial markets made
it really challenging to stay focused on my work last week. I spent 14
years of my life at Lehman Bros., so it's not only the ...READ»
The gym I belong to has an inspirational message posted that changes weekly. Today there was a quote from Barbara Hall from her book A Summons to New Orleans that ended:
Look. Listen. Choose. Act.
And I thought, ...READ»
It is imperative that you have a process for pursuing an agent. The last thing you want to do is go into this blindly. Jeff Kleinman at Folio Lit, had a brilliant idea that he shared with our writers on a call last year. He ...READ»
This past weekend my wife and I were doing a lot of driving through the colored fall countryside of Wisconsin and we ended up listening to Dean Koontz’s Life Expectancy, the audiobook. We actually found ourselves, wanting to take ...READ»
In my experience a good novel takes about 12-16 months to write. When I approach the writing process, I do three months of character development, two months of plotting and then the remainder of time is spent building the ...READ»
