Okay, so I know that at least Linda is still reading this blog. (Thanks, Linda, for giving me reason to keep blogging! And congratulations on writing 45,000 words of fiction and finishing your nonfiction proposal all in less than 30 days. You deserve more than just a gold star!) Linda has asked me to go back to the topic of…
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After-Turkey-Day-and-Travel, Pre-Big-Work-Week Blahs
Okay…I admit it. I don’t feel like blogging today. I don’t feel like writing today. I’ve been working on my new booklet, but it’s been slow going. I should have gotten a lot more done than I have. I’ve stuck with it for several hours, however, and at least I’ve gotten something done. Sometimes as a nonfiction writer you can…
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Interviewing Intensive: The Basics Every Nonfiction Writer Should Know About Conducting an Interview
My journalism training included just a little bit of information on how to conduct interviews. However, interviews represent an essential part of what I do as both a journalist and as an author. I use interviews every time I write an article for which I need expert sources to quote and every time I write a book or booklet for…
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Writing Booklets vs. Books
I’ve gotten quite infatuated with writing short booklets rather than books. I came upon this form of nonfiction writing when a friend of mine shared with me what she had learned in a class about speaking and promotion for writers. (Surprise, surprise. We’re back on that subject again, but only briefly.) The man who taught the class suggested that speakers…
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Nonfiction Writer Turned Speaker
Okay, so this blog isn’t really about nonfiction writing. It’s about speaking – speaking about what you write as a means of promoting yourself and your writing projects (books). I’m choosing this topic for one reason: I recently discovered that I didn’t know enough about it, and I had to go searching for information. So, I’d like to share that…
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Be Your Own Best Editor
I spend a lot of my time editing other people’s articles and books. However, I happen to think I work as a pretty decent editor for myself as well. However, most people don’t find it so easy to edit their own work. Here are a few tricks to help you be your own best editor as well. The first trick…
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The Dream of Landing an Literary Agent
Whether you write nonfiction or fiction writer, you’ve probably dreamt of finding a literary representation – landing an agent. I know I did. While I did approach some publishers with my book proposals, more often than not I sent those very same proposals out to agents. It took me many years of sporadically searching (six or eight), but last year…
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