Did you know Voltaire wrote Candide in three days? IN FRENCH?? Now that’s talent. (And for the record, it’s also not true. But a great story, yeah?) You can write your own book in three days. It probably won’t be the Great American Novel. It probably won’t be your Signature Book. (I sincerely hope you…
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Baby Boomers and every generation after them have a hard time settling on just one thing. We want it all. “Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death.” Americans want to experience as much as possible and have as much as possible. Shiny object syndrome was invented just for us. I…
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Setting the scene, whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction, works to draw the reader in. When people refer to books as boring or dry, it’s because the author didn’t set the scene properly, if at all. We learn best through stories. Whenever I find myself trying to haul too much stuff in one load, my…
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I am doing the third editing pass on a client’s book and yes, I found two more typos (much to my chagrin). I tell my clients that editing is like sweeping a dirt floor. No matter how many times you sweep, you’re still going to pick up dirt. But too many books today are riddled…
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A business, for better or worse, reflects the personality of its leader and that is why it is so important to understand and shape your personal brand. Your personal brand is an extension of your own personality, your principles and philosophies, and, as long as I’m on an alliterative P kick here, your passions.…
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My mentor, Dave Lakhani, sent me a copy of Derek Siver’s Anything You Want. Derek is the founder of CD Baby, a website he started to sell his CDs. Then a few of his buddies asked if he could sell their CDs, too, and as these things go, the venture morphed into a multi-million dollar…
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Very few of us have the luxury of writing for ourselves – we write for other people, the target market we are trying to connect with. If what we have to say isn’t what they need or want to know, they’ll find the information somewhere else. Our job is to put ourselves in our readers’…
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What’s your writing pace? Are you a fast or slow writer? Are you haunted by the question how fast **should** be writing? Hemingway wrote a consistent and disciplined 400 – 600 words a day. That’s not a lot. However, it was perfect (for Hemingway, that is) when he was done with it—no rewrites, no editing…
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There are many , many reasons to write a book but this is one of the best: You can make your Mom proud. Feel free to substitute in “Dad,” your spouse’s or significant other’s name, your kids, your grandparents, your friend who has always believed in you and cheered you on. Maybe even yourself… Some…
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Years ago, I received a phone call from the new boyfriend of a business acquaintance. He wanted me to be a part of his new business. He talked at length about what he could do for businesses, his “great idea,” and I guess all kinds of stuff because I tuned out after the first five…
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