I’ve been writing professionally for over half a century. I’ve written articles, books and booklets, blog posts, columns, direct response copy, and web copy. Today, I coach people whose day job isn’t writing as they write their book. I learned a lot from my own experience and from my clients. Here five tips that » Read More
How to Write a Book that Will Make Money
13 Jul 2021
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According to Jane Friedman’s Electric Speed newsletter, 90 percent of books didn’t sell more than 5,000 copies during 2020. She says that’s true of most years, not just 2020. Sure, making those bestseller lists seems like a worthy goal. But there are lots of books, like those written by several of my clients, that » Read More
What are the odds of writing a bestseller?
06 Jul 2021
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“Can you help me write a bestseller?” Not every prospective client asks me that out loud. But anyone who writes a book wants it to be a bestseller. What are the odds? Not very good. Depending on who’s counting there are 600,000 to 1,000,000 books published in the US in a year. Only a vanishingly small fraction makes » Read More
Better Writing: The Longest Way ‘Round
29 Jun 2021
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One of my elementary school readers had a story titled “The Longest Way Around Is Sometimes the Shortest Way Home.” That story comes to mind when I read advice about how to write an article or report by a specific deadline. Most of the advice divides the work into two distinct blocks. The first block is preparation » Read More
Should You Write a Book?
22 Jun 2021
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I’m an author and book writing coach. When people at social events find out what I do, they often itch to tell me the great idea they have for a book. All they need is someone to write it for them. Other people have a simpler question: “Does everyone really have a book in them?” If you can read a book, you can » Read More