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A popular Stephen King quote is: “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write.” While I wholeheartedly agree, I also recognize the difficulty in sitting down to read when you need funds for food and rent. Reading improves your writing, yet, too often, feels like a luxury. But you can earn money by reading books and writing reviews. You won’t get rich publishing book reviews, though. Payment is typically modest (expect $15 to $75 per review, unless you break into top-tier publications). That being said, this market pays you to read while serving as an excellent opportunity to break in to freelancing writing while building a portfolio. Don’t forget that reading and critiquing books also improves your writing and revision skills. By sharpening your ability to identify good (or bad) writing, you become a better writer. Review Writing Basics Editors expect three key elements in a book review, regardless of word count. Summary:  Lead with a brie...

Recently I was advising a political Facebook group, and one key factor I could not get some of the candidates to understand was “define the voter’s need then fill it.” The candidates only wanted to say how good they are. That’s like saying a new drink product is good, when the best ads for drink products show them slaking a thirst by someone exhausted and dripping with sweat, or curled up on a sofa in front of a fire with a warm cup in their hands. It doesn’t matter how good a product is if the consumer doesn’t feel the need for it. So when you are selling your writing, you have to prove that it fills a need. To the magazine or blog editor, you have to demonstrate their need for the topic you want to write about. . . while strategically showing they need your style and quality. When selling your novel, you prove the story is one that is strong, worthy, and worth the investment of the reader. When selling your nonfiction, demonstrate how the reader will walk away stronger and more en...

Amid all the euphoria of getting published for the first time, and all the good wishes from friends and family, it’s easy to forget that your book is now out there in the world, alone and unprotected, and must sink or swim on its merits. Soon enough, all that positivity will be challenged by your first negative review. It stings, of course, especially as it’s your first. But what happens next is up to you. Here are a few ideas. Feel what you feel. It’s perfectly natural to be upset by a first bad review, and to feel hurt or even angry about it. Don’t try and stifle the feelings, or they could become toxic or disproportionate. Just process them fast so they don’t take over your head space. Go for a walk or a swim, smash a few balls around, cry on the shoulder of a pal, whatever works for you. Then move on. Congratulate yourself. Why not? Getting published is a massive achievement, and only a fraction of those who claim that their ultimate ambition is to write a book ever manage to ...

Editors juggle a lot of balls in finding literary material for publications. They have multiple deadlines for multiple editions and all the administrative nuts and bolts that come with putting a publication together. When finally obtaining the ear of an editor, keep your moment(s) brief, because others just like you are vying for that editor’s attention, too. A few words of advice. Although we are a small-time publication and only online, FundsforWriters’ editorial issues apply to most editors of any type of publication. 1. Send one version of your submission.  An editor receives so many emails that say, “use this version” or “I forgot something so use this instead,” adds to an already hectic day. For all you know, the editor has already edited the original submission to their satisfaction. These subsequent versions also show you don’t proof properly. 2. Include all requested information with the submission.  Sending one email with the article, then another with the bio m...

Since becoming a New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author, I’ve learned a trick or two about improving my productivity. With a constant stream of freelance assignments, editorial deadlines, emails, and speaking events, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and distracted. My writer friends and I face two main challenges in our careers: ·       Staying on task when the to-do list never ends ·       Spending too much time at the desk in order to get the job done If you’re like us, you may face these same struggles. While many solutions exist in the form of productivity apps or task managers, most of them charge a fee. But with these quick tips, you won’t have to break the bank to improve your time management and productivity. 1. Run Sprints:  Find an accountability partner and commit to checking in on each other after a 25-minute “word sprint.” Aim for 500 or 1,000 words and send pictures of your before-and-after wordcounts to prove you’re moving ...

How much better is silence; the coffee cup, the table. How much better to sit by myself like the solitary sea-bird that opens its wings on the stake. Let me sit here for ever with bare things, this coffee cup, this knife, this fork, things in themselves, myself being myself.   ~Virginia Woolf I’m an advocate of alone time, and nothing soothes me more than walking in nature or sitting at the keyboard composing a story. An extrovert I am not, and solitude energizes me. But when my grandson started kindergarten at a school three miles from my house, and my husband quickly volunteered the two of us to pick him up everyday, I wondered if I could afford to lose that time in my already packed schedule. Sure, we could switch off days, but still, that school line of cars meant a solid hour or more out of my day. . . with nothing productive to show for it. The first week I arrived 45 minutes ahead of schedule, parked in line, and tackled editing a manuscript that was already on a tight d...

As a writer of children’s nonfiction, I’ve enjoyed a fairly steady flow of work over the years. The usual pattern is that publishers come up with ideas for new books, then approach me to write them. Occasionally though, when work is thin on the ground, I’ve had to adopt a more proactive approach by going out and selling myself as a writer for hire. I’ve found the best way of doing this is to come bearing gifts in the form of juicy new ideas for books. 1. First approach It’s important to avoid giving the impression that you’re desperate for work. A common formulation, when writing to a publisher, might be: ‘Dear X, I hope all is well with you. Just to let you know, I’m coming to the end of a big project and should be free to take on new commissions from [insert month after current one].’ You might then go on mention that you’ve got a few ideas, and suggest a meeting to discuss them.  2. Ideas? What ideas? If you don’t actually have any ideas at this stage, now would be a good ti...

Whether it’s a masterclass on finding a literary agent, a seminar on improving your social media skills, or a workshop on self-publishing, investing in some training can give your writing career a massive boost – so long as it’s the right training. I’ve been running training courses in copywriting for 20 years and have attended many courses for my own development, too. There are lots of things you can do to make sure that the course you’re considering is right for your needs, assuring that you receive the maximum bang for your buck. You can address a lot of my points by contacting the provider with a few questions beforehand. The way they respond will tell you a lot about whether they’re a good fit for you. Look hard at the track record of the trainer Is your trainer being an admirable practitioner of what they teach? If they’re teaching creative writing, what have they actually published themselves? If they’re offering a marketing course, what do their own promotional materials l...

It wasn’t long after  Coupon Crazy: The Science, the Savings, and the Stories Behind America’s Extreme Obsession  was published that I realized how much I hated sitting behind a table, attempting to catch the eye of a hurried passerby. When I confided my dilemma to a well-established author of more than 100 books, he replied he never did book-signings anymore for the same reason, always offering to do a reading or workshop instead. I’d already been conducting couponing workshops at community colleges as a strategy to establish myself as an expert in couponing and build up my platform, so the idea of doing the same thing in lieu of traditional book-signings appealed to me. I’ve since developed presentations around each of my six subsequent books, including a “Legacy of the Magic Pencil” presentation for a creativity book that won’t be released until next year. Based on nine years of experience conducting programs, as well as my previous work as a librarian and current positi...

So, you’ve finally decided to try your hand at screenwriting. You’ve read  Syd Field’s Screenplay  cover to cover. You’ve bought the latest version of Final Draft. You’ve set aside time each night to write three pages knowing that in a month you’ll have a first draft of your 90-page opus. You’re pumped! There’s just one small problem. You have no idea what to write. I mean, you know what topics you’re passionate about, but that doesn’t necessarily make for a sellable screenplay… does it? Where and how does one generate those great story ideas that make it from script to screen? The good news is there’s no magic formula, no hidden secret, no play-by-play instruction book. However, there are a few practical methods that working screenwriters will tell you have often produced results. Look at What’s Hot Critics often pan Tinseltown for its plethora of derivative works. But there’s a very simple reason why the same kinds of movies and TV shows get made over and over: they work. ...

By C. Hope Clark The older I get, the more simplified I seem to want my life. That’s why I toned FundsforWriters down over the years from four newsletters, to three, to two. . . and now one, just like I started years ago. More time to write. More time to enjoy myself while writing. I love losing myself in a story. But marketing, publishing, and so on tend to distract us and rob us of the joy. At a recent conference speaker, I spoke to writers about corralling all the to-do things on their plates and learning how to focus on writing. I suggested they do what I’m doing. . . write for their most avid 100 fans. You know who those are. They are the ones who review, who respond to your blog, who converse with you on Facebook, who like your Instagram posts. They don’t just say they love your work, but they talk it, naming characters and plot points that resonated with them. Why just 100? Because those are your concentrated dose of energy. You have a better feel for what they like. Sin...

Content could be your best chance of making up the extra income you need to keep your writing ambitions on track. So what is it and how does it work? Content is the material produced by businesses to market themselves and covers all of these and more: social media messages, website collateral, print brochures, brand videos, infographics, email newsletters, white papers, ebooks, and sponsored articles. Is content the same as advertising? It’s more a cross between advertising and journalism. The idea is that people are tired of constant promotional messages – buy this now! – and are becoming increasingly savvy shoppers: before they buy anything, they do loads of research online, for instance, in online forums and on social media. So to reach them, businesses now need to be part of that research process. And that means offering useful information and inspiration to support their decision-making: content. So what does content look like? It’s the difference between a mortgage website ...

By C. Hope Clark I was chatting with a reader not long ago, and she brought up the age-old complaint about entities asking writers (or any sort of artist) to present for free…for the exposure. Her words were these: “…our culture places little or no value on volunteer work, despite the lip-service given it. So, the covert message is that if you – the performer, artist, service provider, etc. – do not value your services enough to put a price on them, the client won’t either. The lesser the value you place on yourself, the greater the disrespect you receive from your client.” I’ve written entire editorials on that subject, but she hit the nail on the head. People not only get what they pay for, but earn what they ask for. A few people will get their feathers ruffled. “Not me” or “I know a lot of exceptions to that,” but the grand majority of people see free as something of lesser value; otherwise, it wouldn’t be cheap. And if something costs more, there usually has to be a reason. ...

By C. Hope Clark Don’t ask an editor what you can write for him. Writers aren’t just about putting words together. They are about bringing fresh material to the table. Writers are a dime a dozen. New ideas are a dime a dozen. Writers who can write and produce fresh ideas hit the sweet spot. Don’t ask questions like: 1) What can I write for you? 2) Is this the sort of thing you publish? 3) What are your guidelines? 4) Are you accepting submissions? We’re talking ANY sort of writing whether you pitch magazines, apply for copywriting gigs, write nonfiction, or create novels. Your job as a writer is to make an editor’s work easy, not add to their pile. Come to them with solutions, not more work, and yes, answering inquisitive emails is work when you multiply it times a hundred each and every day. At the risk of being repetitious, the golden rule for any writer attempting to earn money is this: Don’t make work for an editor (or agent or publisher). Approach the editor/agent/publis...

February was an insane month for me. I presented and sold books at the  Wisconsin State Reading Association Convention . I launched a  new book  – a process that included a party, a  public reading event , a plethora of  social media posts , a month of book launch  dedicated blog entries , an interview with the  local newspaper  and lots of thought, heart, and energy. Both my son and husband had birthdays and the  college baseball season  started up again, which impacts my household in a big way. I lead a Gifted and Talented Network Young Author Day. Oh yeah, and I worked two part-time jobs and helped keep two human children dressed appropriately, fed, bathed, and otherwise alive. Don’t get me wrong… it was a fun busy. A bored writer is a broke writer, but needless to say, I was silently looking forward to March, a decidedly slower month for me… at least according to my calendar. Now that I am here, solidly in March, my head is s...

After my first article about earning big as a ghostwriter on FundsforWriters, the next obvious question so many writers asked was where to find clients that pay well for ghostwriting jobs. Following you’ll find seven high-paying markets for ghostwriters. While there are plenty of websites and portals that offer ghostwriting gigs, most of these do not pay well. It seems counterproductive to give away your hard work for a pittance and not even have the right to claim it as yours. The good news is that not all websites are created equal, and places exist with well-paying projects with the potential for long-term work. Bypass the Obvious Sites Dig beyond the usual freelance websites like Upwork, Freelancer or Fiverr. The average gigs here are short term and in the low-to-mid range. Moreover, stiff competition drives down the on-going rates further. Upwork features an Enterprise Program for selected freelancers while Fiverr offers you to apply for Fiverr Pro if you meet their criteria...

A lot of people think that once a book is written, the work is done. Often times, especially if you are a self-published author, the work is just beginning. After the brainstorming and drafting, writing and revising, editing and publishing comes the… selling. There are only so many times you can say, buy my book! But the fact of the matter is, you need to continue placing your book in front of your audience if you have any prayer of selling copies. To help, I’ve come up with a list of ten ways you can blog about your book. I am breaking this article up into two parts , so read on for the first five suggested ways to blog about your book and then check back in next week to learn the second set of ways to increase your book sales through your blog without being pushy or annoying. The Inspiration Every story has to start somewhere. If you write about the inspiration behind the story, you don’t even have to wait until it’s published to engage your audience. Readers will feel like they ...

Seth Godin, a management guru you’ve probably noticed I enjoy reading, recently spoke about how we’re enduring cognitive overload. Too many choices. I wholeheartedly agree which is why I recently withdrew from three professional organizations. I also canceled a cruise to the Baltics. What started as the trip of a lifetime turned into chaos. Too many choices. Charters, places to visit in each port, too many ports, meal selections, a long list of chores to take care of before leaving. . . I was exhausted and hadn’t left home. Then when the tour agent threw an unforeseen choice at me, one that would take a few more dollars, I canceled. Surprised her. She found all these choices fun. To me, however, they threw a burden on the whole experience that was meant to epitomize relaxation. Turned into anything but. Publishing is like that. Marketing is like that. And if you let it, writing can be like that if you cannot decide what project to focus on. What do you want to do with your writing? ...

Last week I shared the first half of a list devoted to blog post topics that will let your audience know about your work in authentic and engaging ways. I will finish sharing those post ideas with you today in hopes that you’ll be able to spread the good word about your book and increase your sales without making your family and friends and social media followers want to run the other way. ( Click here for Part 1 ) Let’s jump back in! Book Launch Party One of my favorite parts about promoting my books is planning and executing the book launch party. Making my fictional piece of art an experience for others to encounter feels like literally bringing my story to life. After the party, I often write a post sharing the details and a plethora of pictures. Readers who weren’t able to attend due to conflicting schedules or distance can catch up on all the action and of course buy a book through a clearly provided link. Behind the Scenes Facts  Once your readers have had a chance to ...

Recently I was on a chat consisting of published writers. They were bitching. They had been with publishers for years, going back before self-publishing was a serious thing. The books they had with their publishers were no longer selling well, and they wanted their rights back. The conversation turned churlish, and I just hushed. To speak up would’ve meant being turned upon, and while I can handle debate, I sensed a high level of emotional angst. So instead, I just watched and listened. Once upon a time, these authors were thrilled to be published with a traditional press. They collected royalties. They held book signings. They made money. But along came self-publishing with a roar. Many of these authors jumped on board with new books, hungry for the higher returns, no longer wanting the traditional publisher. Now, even self-publishers are hurting. So many people got on board that train that authors on both sides, traditional and indie, struggle for the income they once collected. I...