Many of the aspiring nonfiction authors I meet want to write full time. They want their books, and activities related to those books, to earn enough money so they can quit their day jobs. Some want to create new businesses around their books or based upon their books and for these to become new careers. Yet, the majority of these…
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Once upon a time, I didn’t have any nonfiction book ideas. Or so I thought. Now, I have so many, I feel overwhelmed because I can’t figure out how I will ever get them all written. In fact, I’m in the process of revamping my business to make time to write more nonfiction books. When I work with aspiring nonfiction…
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Many of this month’s blog posts and all of the writing prompts have focused on developing article ideas and pitching them to publications. Whether you want to promote your nonfiction books or create a career as a freelance writer, writing articles is an essential skill for nonfiction writers. In additional to writing articles based on your knowledge or on expert…
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How do you go from an unknown writer to earning a full-time wage as a nonfiction author? Today, international bestselling author Tom Corson-Knowles (@JuiceTom) tells us what worked for him. December, 2012 was a big month for me. I had my first $10,000+ month from my nonfiction Kindle ebooks alone, and I was finally starting to feel like I had…
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I always wanted to be a writer and make my living by getting paid for my words. However, I didn’t set out to be an author. I set out to be a magazine journalist. I began my writing career with dreams of working in Manhattan for a glossy consumer magazine like Self or Glamour. I wanted to write, but my…
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If you plan to write an article for any type of publication, you must send in a query letter. This represents the first step to landing a paid writing assignment. A query letter introduces you and your idea to a magazine, or publication editor. In college, my magazine journalism professors all taught me the same thing: Don’t ever write a…
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When I began my nonfiction writing career, all I wanted to do was write. I imagined myself writing articles for glossy magazines produced in New York City. Later, I developed dreams of writing traditionally published books and then also self-published books. Nowhere in my visions did I see myself as a professional speaker, only as a professional nonfiction writer. I…
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I’ve written query letters and sent them to many magazines and other types of publications—some accepted, some not. In my past editorial positions for several regional magazines I had to read queries written by other writers and decide whether to accept them. In both roles, I’ve had a chance to see what works and what doesn’t. If you want to…
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“Evergreen” articles and posts are the staple of most magazines and blogs. If you can pitch them to a publication or blogger–especially with new angle–you’ll land yourself a writing gig almost every time. The key, however, lies in the unique angle. It’s easy enough to determine the evergreen topics. These are the ones the publications or blogs cover on a…
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