Recently an advice columnist I read regularly suggested that a letter writer learn the practice of freudenfreude. It was the first time I’d seen the word. As best as I can determine, freudenfreude is a relatively new term combining two German words: freuden (of joy) and freude (joy). It means taking joy in the successes [...]
We send our Shareable Saturday emails to fulfill our mission to create, teach, and inspire, not to get responses. Still, Jerry and I love reading the emails we receive when our messages have touched people. We especially appreciate the creativity and wisdom behind Mark Goldstein’s comments. It’s been a while since I’ve shared any of [...]
Generative AI should excite and empower you. The headlines are full of dire warnings about AI and how it’s going to be the end of society. Even Elon Musk called it “dangerous technology.” There’s a lot about the development of AI that I don’t understand. I’m not a tech creator, I’m a tech user. I [...]
We’re never too old to learn from others. Recently I saw a version of this poem by Dorothy Law Nolte quoted in the Dear Abby advice column. Children Learn What They Live If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn. If children live with hostility, they learn to fight. If children live with ridicule, [...]
LinkedIn can be a great tool, but please don’t waste my time LinkedIn is a great business networking tool. I’ve found great resources through it, and some of my best clients discovered me on LinkedIn. But recently, in the span of less than two days, I had two people who offer book marketing services send [...]
The Frugal Editor: Do-It-Yourself Editing Secrets—From Your Query Letters to Final Manuscript to the Marketing of Your New Bestseller Carolyn Howard-Johnson Modern History Press If You Write Anything, You Need The Frugal Editor I’ve always appreciated the reality of gatekeepers—those people you must get past to get to the person you want to reach. Of [...]
It can help writers be more productive and efficient I’m not saying this because I’m a writer, but because it’s true: Artificial intelligence (AI) will never replace human writers, but it can be a great tool to help them be more productive and efficient. AI can also help people who are not writers but [...]
A common social engineering trick can make you a victim of fraud When someone tells you that you look familiar, how do you respond? Because we want to be friendly and helpful, most of us will volunteer personal information as we try to figure out the connection. Doing that may put us at risk of [...]
Not long ago, I published a post about why you should check a website’s About page before you trust the information on the site. The post was inspired by information in Tim Carter’s Ask the Builder newsletter. You can read it here. Another one of my favorite newsletters is from Joe Cannon. He writes about [...]
I just read another blog by someone who said she was embarrassed to tell people she was a writer because she hadn’t published a book. That’s absolute nonsense. Plenty of outstanding writers never write books. I had been writing professionally for about five years when I got my first book contract—and I wasn’t looking for [...]
