It’s nice to be appreciated. As some of you know – mainly those in the D.C. area – I’ve been invited back for an encore plenary speech at the annual conference of Washington Independent Writers (www.washwriter.org) entitled: THE WRITING LIFE: “Where We Are and Where We Are Going,” on June 14th. Great conference, by the … Read more
Was doing a talk about commercial writing (wellfedwriter.com) recently when someone asked, “Isn’t writing for business pretty dull and uncreative?”? My reply? “I don’t glorify this field and won’t tell you you’ll get all your creative fulfillment from it. That said, I’m pleasantly surprised on a regular basis at the interesting, challenging – and dare … Read more
I was in downtown Atlanta a few weeks back, delivering a few seminars at a writers conference. I loooove getting out from behind my computer and mingling with the rest of humanity (and when they’re paying me, even better…). It’s part of the variety that makes me love this life I (we) have. Well, apparently, … Read more
So, I’m working on a project with this agency and they start hinting at this other gig. Seems they’ve been writing the copy for this consumer products line for seven years, and while the client is fine with the design work they’ve been doing, they’re just not thrilled with the copywriting. They wanted me to … Read more
Some months back, I got an email from a guy relatively new to the commercial writing field. He’d done a bit of work in one particular niche, liked it and was making a few bucks. He continued with this: “However, I want to go after the money, in whatever form is most easily gotten in … Read more
Last year, I leased a postage meter from the company that shares my initials. Their introductory special offer became more understandable after seeing the bloated prices they charged for supplies. Some time back, I started getting regular “Low Ink!” warnings on the meter. Their cost to replace the slightly-bigger-than-a-pack-of-Tic-Tacs-sized cartridge? $47 + $8.50 shipping (UPS … Read more
How much should you charge for your e-book? How do you set your e-book’s price? There’s no single right answer for every person or every e-book. However, there are a few factors that every e-book author should consider when setting a price that works for them: 1. What You Need to Earn Start by thinking … Read more
When should you send a press release about your book to the media? When (and why) will they care? In this Digital Age, it’s relatively easy for anyone to write up a basic press release and publish it online inexpensively. However, that doesn’t mean that you should just because you can. One of my biggest … Read more
Working in PR, I’m constantly exposed to the misconception of a lot of people that marketing and PR are essentially the same thing. Others will mistakenly tell you that PR is a component of marketing, which is also wrong. While marketing and PR often work towards similar goals, and sometimes make use of similar tools, … Read more
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! … Read more