Time to get serious about yourwriting career
You won’t be able to quit work and write, but you might find a grant to make your writing goals easier. Or a crowdfunding opportunity to fund your project. Find serious contests, too. Only those that pay in cold hard cash. No pay-per-click, $1 per blog or exposure markets either. Hope Clark writes for a living. If she wouldn’t try these opportunities, she doesn’t post them. Our newsletters are our world. Free subscription.
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Thought of the Week
Sooner or later you will receive a compliment for your writing. You will be tempted to say something like I try, but I'm a novice/beginner/part-timer, or I just started, or I haven't really sold many, but . . . So many words that border on being excuses. Excuses for what? For accidentally writing something well? For accidentally being in the right place at the right time to sell a few books or an article?
Do NOT use the words JUST, BUT, or ONLY.
Anything else tells the person making the compliment that maybe you haven't earned the compliment. People want to see confidence. They want to endorse the talented. Therefore, just say THANK YOU.
Latest posts
Cleaner Accounting for Freelancers
Alex J. Coyne / 2024-05-03All writers have hopes, dreams, and stories. Realistically speaking, professional authors and freelancers also have expenses to meet. In 2023, I realized the future of my writing business could look better (and earn more) once I analyzed what was going on inside all the loose ends. Here’s how to demystify... Read More
Busy Isn’t Quality and Fast Isn’t Good
C. Hope Clark / 2024-05-03A new writer in my area recently announced to various groups on Facebook that he had published a mystery. What caught me was the title, which I won't list, for his sake and mine. It included wording I have in a work-in-progress title, so of course it caught my eye.... Read More
The Art of ‘Accessible’ Celebrity Interviews
Alex J. Coyne / 2024-05-03Cambridge Dictionary defines “celebrity” as someone famous. Celebrity interviews can make for an easy sell of articles, too. “Accessible” celebrities are anyone reasonably within the author's reach without the complication of press junkets or bodyguards. What's not “accessible” Could you reach George Clooney or Brad Pitt in minutes? Probably not.... Read More
Turning Our Volunteer Passions into Articles and Income
Nicole Watt / 2024-04-19Children's television host, Mr. Rodgers, said that whenever he watched scary news as a child his mother would tell him to "Look for the helpers." He said knowing people were helping was a great comfort. His words inspired me to write about my volunteer experiences. I've been a mentor to... Read More
How Do I Get the Word Out?
C. Hope Clark / 2024-04-19I hear this over and over, people asking me what is the magic potion that made people buy my books. 1) I made appearances. 2) I published a weekly newsletter. 3) I answered every email, text, and message. 4) I freelanced every chance I could. 5) I guest blogged. 6)... Read More
How to Write a Book While Maintaining a Full-Time Writing Job
Ross Robinson / 2024-04-19If you have a full-time writing job and want to write a book, you may wonder how you will accomplish both. You likely spend most of your time and energy on paid work. How do you complete a book AND maintain quality work for clients at the same time? I... Read More
What Books Should I Read as a Writer?
C. Hope Clark / 2024-04-19As you might expect, I get deluged with books. From publishers, fans, wannabe writers, published-yet-still-struggling writers, my book club, and friends and family as gifts. My to-be-read stack is two columns of a dozen books each, and that doesn't count my bookcase with books I still told myself I would... Read More
What to Expect from a Developmental Editor—and Why Hire One
Jayne Benjulian / 2024-03-15My first editor worked with me on five revisions of my debut story in a major magazine. Decades later, when I wrote about him, I understood what had inspired his stamina: my trying and failing and trying again to express what I wanted to say. The piece wasn't spectacular, but... Read More
The Biggest Grant Myth
C. Hope Clark / 2024-03-15A week doesn't go by without someone asking me for money to self-publish their book. Nine times out of ten, they are beginning authors. There are no grants for this. And there are lots of reasons why. I'll try to toss most of them in here, in abbreviated form so... Read More
Top 7 Things a Producer Wants From Your Screenplay
Mark Heidelberger / 2024-03-15What makes a screenplay successful? This question has haunted many a writer since the dawn of motion pictures. No single genre, subject or storyline has so dominated the box office as to be dubbed a surefire winner. If one had, that’s all Hollywood would make. We’ve seen hits and flops... Read More