Published on July 22, 2015
writing career advice

You know, there are all types of people out there. Sane (and not), stable (and not), polite (and not), professional (and not)…and then there are folks like the one below. I receive queries from writers every single day and I must, in turn, send rejections to writers every single day. I can’t possibly publish everyone. […]
Published on July 1, 2015
writing career advice
It happened again today. Inside the pile of mail I hauled to my kitchen to sort, I received an unsolicited book from an author who hoped I’d review it for my 250-plus newspaper and magazine clients…
Published on June 10, 2015
book marketing, self-publishing, traditional publishing, writing career advice

It happened again today. An author sent me a note, apologizing for taking so long to edit her book. She stopped the editing process a few weeks ago in order to concentrate on promoting her book…her UNFINISHED book.
Published on May 20, 2015
writing career advice

In 2006, I was spending my weekend sitting in a cubicle with four elderly women arguing about the proper step-by-step process every representative should be trained…
Published on May 6, 2015
writing career advice
Just as train tracks cross so can your interests intersect with those of many other “lines” in the publishing world. You must make the connection!
Published on May 6, 2015
writing career advice

Most of my life I’ve worked in high powered executive jobs. Power dressing, power speaking and power working – all of which came with a powerful lot of stress. I was in my mid thirties, sitting in another corporate office, beavering away for a six-figure salary I was never going to have the time to enjoy. I wanted freedom, freedom like I’d never had. Freedom from the grind of daily life, freedom from slaving away to pay the bills and, most of all, freedom to enjoy some of my time before I completely ran out of time to enjoy!
Published on March 25, 2015
writing career advice, writing scams
The recent Writers Weekly article, Great Writing Gig Or A Scam?, got me thinking about all the deadbeat editors I’ve met in my long freelancing career and how I’ve answered some of their “scams.”
Published on March 18, 2015
writing career advice

As writers, many of us feel the same things as we try to get the attention of the editors we believe would be a perfect fit for our submissions. As someone who’s been doing this for more than 20 years, and has also worked as an editor on occasion, I’d like to offer a little perspective…
Published on March 4, 2015
writing career advice
Niche never crossed my mind in the ICU waiting room. At the time, I could barely understand what had happened. Old people had strokes, not 49-year-old, otherwise healthy men, and certainly not my husband. Whatever had just happened, I told myself, it was a temporary thing. He would heal and we would go on with our lives.
Unfortunately, that’s not what happened…
Published on February 26, 2015
writing career advice
In my 40-plus year career as an income tax preparer, all too often I would find that clients who were trying to earn money as self-employed, or as freelancers, but were not successful did not realize that they could deduct their expenses (losses) against their other income…