Tips, How-Tos, and Guides

The Anatomy of a Book Proposal

Unless you plan to self-publish your non-fiction (which is a perfectly valid path), getting your book to readers requires building a book proposal. This is a document that gives an agent or publisher detailed information...

3 Tips for Writing on the Go

I've freelanced from home for years. But I CANNOT stay in my abode every. Single. Day. I end up like Peter from Office Space, leaving for lunch at 9:30 a.m. I follow these 3 basic...

How to Use Credit Card Rewards to Support Your Writing

About a year back, I did something spectacular for a writer to do -- I bricked my less-than-a-year-old laptop. It was an odd accident that shouldn't have made the machine completely unusable. Nevertheless, I had...

3 Ways to Keep Your Writing Research Organized and Under Control

The original version of this post appeared June 13, 2021 in The Writing Cooperative on Medium. I’m a writer by trade. But sometimes when people ask what I do, I jokingly tell them I Google for...

How to Find a Literary Agent

You don't HAVE to use a traditional publisher for your book. But if you want to, getting a literary agent is a must. Vitor Dutra Kaosnoff from Pixabay In this video, I break down my 10 years of querying...

Got Multiple Writing Projects? Take the Time to Do This 1 Thing

There's tons of advice out there about how to overcome writer's block. But what if you have so many ideas you're overwhelmed? This video explains why making a simple list of all the projects I've...

Why Silent Cartoon Zig and Sharko Offers the Perfect Writing Exercise

From time to time, I like to indulge in bad TV like Mechagodzilla or Xena: Warrior Princess. Those kinds of shows let me zone out for a while, and their absurdity serves as a counterweight...

7 Tips for Better Book Comps

Finding comps -- comparable titles -- is an essential part of the book querying process, as they are a shorthand that let agents and publishers know what your manuscript is like. This video highlights key...

Got a Lot of Browser Tabs Open as a Writer? Try This Option to Get Organized

Ah, the age-old writer problem...having so many browser tabs open your brain cries. Typically, I'm pretty time-crunched through my day. (Anybody else relate?) So, for many tasks, it's efficient for me to leave my browser...

How to Build a Content Calendar With Feedly, Trello, and Zapier

In a previous post, I recommended that writers integrate apps to improve their overall workflow. Setting this up is a highly individual process. What one writer finds to be *chef's kiss* might make another writer...