When you really, really want to write for a blog, magazine or newspaper, you put in serious effort to make your pitch stand out. You study the content, you align your writing with their style, and you polish your submission until it’s perfect. And yet sometimes, your...
Picture this: You’re a new-ish freelance writer. You offer a good mix of services for varying clients, audiences, and goals. You’ve got a solid writer website, a killer LinkedIn profile and you’ve been networking and marketing your business like crazy. And...
This article is excerpted from Chuck’s book, Create Your Writer Platform. GIVEAWAY: Chuck is giving away a copy of his book, Create Your Writer Platform, to a random commenter. Comment within two weeks to enter! (Must live in US or Canada to win.) (Update: Williesha...
The idea of working with a literary agent is always appealing to debut writers, but what exactly does an agent do? And if, after pitching and querying, you do manage to sign with one, what can you expect from this professional relationship? As a literary agent, I’d...
Writing a book is difficult, but crafting an ending that is both impactful and wraps the plot up beautifully is even more so. You worked hard to create a beginning that grabbed your readers, so make sure to write an ending that lives up to the rest of your story....
“The curse of knowledge” may sound like something out of a cheesy movie, but it’s as real as it gets — and if you’re not able to avoid it in your writing, it could hurt your business. The curse of knowledge is the inability to see yourself in a novice’s...
This article is excerpted from Chuck’s book, Create Your Writer Platform. Most writers’ blogs forever linger in obscurity. These sites never receive a number of page views that would be considered noteworthy (1,000 a day, for instance) or help them sell thousands of...
Nothing stops a reader in his tracks as quickly as a poorly worded headline, sentence or paragraph. Think about it: if the title or first few lines of a post are awkward or incorrect, do you continue reading or move on to another option? Quality writing demonstrates...
There is no one way to be a writer, you know. And there is no wrong way that will handicap you forever. Writers are usually thrilled at the beginning, eager to dive in and earn a living from their writing skills. Two weeks later, a niggling worry creeps in: how does...
Want to use Twitter to make connections for your writing career? Check out our founder Alexis Grant’s course: Become a Twitter Power User. It’s not easy, convincing writers on the value of Twitter. But once the social network begins to make sense to you and you start...
