Years ago, a client gave me the draft of the dedication of his book. His goal was to recognize and express his gratitude to a friend and colleague who had recently died. After several sentences of well-deserved praise, he ended with, “I was honored to call him my friend.” When you think about that, [...]
There’s a great new free Chrome plugin that any author who sells books on Amazon should check out: WriterWatch. It’s from the makers of Publisher Rocket (a tool I use and enthusiastically recommend) and Atticus. Here’s what WriterWatch can do: Daily price checks on your books, whether you changed the price or someone else [...]
What’s stopping you from getting that project written? Merriam-Webster defines writer’s block as: A psychological inhibition preventing a writer from proceeding with a piece. Dictionary.com’s definition is a little less intimidating: A usually temporary condition in which a writer finds it impossible to proceed with the writing of a novel, play, or other work. [...]
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that Gen Z (those born between the mid-1990s and mid-2010s) will make up about 30 percent of the U.S. civilian workforce by 2030, filling nearly 50 million jobs. That 30 percent estimate is likely to apply globally. Every generation uses slang unique to its time and place. [...]
This is one of those quirky grammar rules that can be confounding because the rule for speaking differs from the rule for writing. Ordinal numbers show order, or a position in a series: first (1st), second (2nd), third (3rd), and so on. Cardinal numbers show an amount: one (1), two (2), three (3), and [...]
Writing Tip for Opinion Essays Make Your Point and Stay on Point To persuade your readers, stay focused I enjoy reading opinion essays—and there’s no shortage of them these days. But whether you’re a nationally syndicated columnist or an amateur blogger, you need to do these two things to create an effective opinion piece: [...]
The primary responsibilities of ghostwriters are simple and clear. We are to produce the manuscripts our clients want under the terms of our contracts. But there are times when the process can get a little blurry and we need to go beyond just writing. President Joe Biden’s ghostwriter is currently taking a lot of [...]
When you think about the prodigals in your life, what comes to mind? Most of us are familiar with the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The story, told in Luke 15:11-32, is about a man with two sons whose younger son asked for his inheritance, moved away, and squandered all his money while the [...]
Recently I saw a meme that read: “Fact checkers” didn’t exist until the truth started getting out. That’s not accurate. Fact-checking has been a standard practice at many American publications for more than a century and even longer at some. TIME was a recognized leader in the practice when it began hiring researchers in [...]
Should you write a book about your business? This guest post by Savannah Cordova, a writer with Reedsy, will help you decide. One of the most oft-given pieces of advice for business owners is that they should write a book about their business. Such a book can serve many purposes: establishing or reinforcing one’s expertise [...]
