7 Reasons I Won't Read Your Blog

I was tagged by Misti Sandefur of Life of a Writer to offer seven little pearls of blogging wisdom on what not to do as a blogger if you want to keep your readers, subscribers, and fellow bloggers in your network happy. So here you go… seven reasons I won’t read your blog: 1. Your font choice makes my eyes bleed. I’m still a sweet

Weekly Writing Challenge: Mix it Up

It’s easy to get stuck in a certain way of working. Sometimes our methods can become stale and negatively affect our productivity as writers. So this week’s challenge is about scheduling, and how mixing it up once in a while can keep your work fresh. If you think you’re already working as productively as you possibly can, there’s no need to take part in this

How Can I Work With Clients Who Can Barely Speak English?

This week’s reader question comes from Mariella on the writing forums, regarding a request she recently received for copywriting services through a forum private message system: “I’m guessing someone referred him to me, I just can’t get it out of him because he barely speaks English. If I’d ever ask a question for your blog Jenn, it would be how to deal with such clients.”

Marketing Tip: Create a Marketing Calendar

While a marketing calendar can be an important tool in book marketing, it can also help writers of all kinds promote their work more efficiently. What is a Marketing Calendar? A marketing calendar is a calendar (you can choose whether to make it monthly, weekly, or daily), where you lay out your planned marketing activities based on events throughout the year. How to Create Your

Weekly Writing Challenge: Make Your Settings More Authentic

This week’s writing challenge is for fiction writers, and aimed to help you create more authentic settings for your stories, using a free and easily-accessible tool. My “guy” and I have been thinking about buying a house this coming Spring. Because of that, we’ve been keeping our eye on the market pretty closely. We’re also both interested in older houses with character as opposed to

Book Launch Press Release Template

Press releases can be an important component of a book publicity campaign. Here is a free sample press release template which you can use to announce the launch of a new book. Each section of the book launch press release template offers an explanation of the type of content or information you should include. Enjoy! FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Your Press Release Heading / Title Here

Marketing Tip: Forum Posting

Advertising your writing services on writing forums may seem like a natural marketing activity to bring in freelance writing clients, but it probably won’t be the most effective way to harness forum postings to bring in gigs. Here’s why: A forum for writers to network won’t necessarily be overflowing with clients looking to hire within your niche. A writing forum is going to very likely

Weekly Writing Challenge: Plan for Your Writing Future

It can be a common misconception that being a freelance writer is an “anyone can do it” kind of career. I’d imagine most of you reading this blog know that’s simply not true. A successful career as a writer means that you have to do a lot more than just dream about being a famous novelist or enjoying a “cushy” career in your pajamas writing

Marketing Tip: Article Marketing for Writers

If you’re a writer of any kind, it’s likely that you’re familiar with article marketing. But are you using it effectively? Here’s what article marketing can do for you if you go about it the right way: It can help you sell your book. It can bring in clients for custom work. It can attract readers to your blog or website where you then promote

Weekly Writing Challenge: Write a Letter to the Editor

Writing a letter to the editor of a publication (newspaper, magazine, or even online publication) can have several benefits: Direct exposure / publicity Helps build your reputation as an authority source or expert on a subject Provides a networking opportunity between you and editors This week’s writing challenge is to start using this often-neglected publicity tool by submitting at least one letter to the editor