I have always been offended by over-the-top marketing verbiage. Saying something is a “good deal” is one thing but trying to tell me a product or service is going to “make my dreams come true” is insulting to an individual’s intelligence. I always wonder how people can fall for so much of the garbage being shoved our way by marketing executives these days…
When I walked away from my corporate career to become a writer, I not only walked away from a steady income, but I walked into a field I knew nothing about…
I can see the headline now: Struggling freelance writer catapulted into a deadly game of fraud and foreign assassins…
When I started writing, I read somewhere that if you wanted to be a successful writer you had to stick to one genre and develop your craft. But, I loved to write everything: poems, essays and short stories. I searched the classifieds in Poets and Writers Magazine, and found places to send my work. My poems were published first – in literary magazines that didn’t pay a dime. Poetry anthologies were next; no money came with those publications, either. At least now I had credits to list in cover letters when I submitted essays and short stories…
People ask me all the time how I became a travel writer. My answer is: travel…
How many people would ask a contractor to remodel their kitchen (a $20,000 job, or more), and expect the contractor to agree to be paid when you sold your home for a hefty price several years down the road? More significantly, how many contractors would take such an offer, knowing that the real estate market could tank, leaving the seller with less money than they anticipated and none left to pay your bill?
As the owner of WritersWeekly.com and BookLocker.com, writers and authors frequently add me to email notifications they send out when they update their website or blog. I’m happy to receive these and I often find interesting and intriguing tidbits in these individuals’ posts. Unfortunately, some of them have great blog posts or website articles but very boring email notifications so nobody opens them…
Technical writers come in two types: ones with scientific backgrounds and ones with writing backgrounds. Starting out, both types are at a disadvantage in delivering well-written technical materials…
Steady work is survival for a freelancer – it means paying your rent, keeping the lights on, and eating. So, when you snag a regular client you want to hang onto them…
I woke up one day and said, “I want to write humor.” When I sat down at the keyboard, the one-liners and witticisms flew from my fingers like lightning flashes. Now I make tons of money with my laugh-a-second writing.
And if you believe that, I have a boat I’d like to sell you…
