About this time last year, I signed up for a writer’s conference, the She Speaks Conference hosted by Proverbs 31 Ministries. I thought, “This is going to be fun!! Can’t wait till I get there!” But reality confronted me when I joined a Facebook group with other attendees. There was actual WORK to do before the conference! […]
I confess: I love a great giveaway. One of the reasons I love them is because I’ve been the recipient of free gifts that have made a HUGE difference in my life. I also like the rebelliousness of overturning the typical money-for-service paradigm and just giving somebody a huge gift. To register right now for […]
Have you ever started writing a book but stalled? Do you have an unfinished manuscript or two on your hard drive? How about an unfinished book proposal? Here’s a question I heard recently: “How do I start my book project in a way that I’ll actually complete it?” That is such a good question. Writers […]
How long should my book proposal be?” I suspect writers ask this question because they want to know how much work they need to do for a solid chance at a book contract. The good news is often a shorter book proposal is better than a longer one. The bad news is it may take […]
This is perhaps the most obvious question for a writer to ask a publishing insider: How do I get my book published? Funny thing is, people normally don’t ask it that boldly. More often I get questions like: How do find an agent? Is there some way for me to submit my proposal to you? What […]
What are the books that have made you . . . you? Recently my friend Bob Evenhouse asked me how I got started blogging, coaching, speaking, etc. I immediately started rattling off the books that influenced me. I owe so much to these books and their authors. I thought others might be interested in these nine books (as […]
I’ve been reviewing book proposals for well over a decade, and I’ve noticed that for the most part proposals fall into one of two categories. Either publishers fight each other to publish your book, or they don’t give it much attention at all. That’s an oversimplification, but not as much as you might think. For […]
I’ve got a platform,” writers sometimes tell me. “I’m on Twitter and Facebook. I’ve got a blog.” But here’s the litmus test for whether you have a platform: If a publisher sent a pallet of books to your garage, how many of them could you move on the strength of your own connections? This question puts […]
We write who we are. Or at the very least, we write from who we are. In the same way that beautiful gardens and happy productive children don’t just happen, neither does good writing. All of these are products of an environment. How’s Your Writing Ecosystem? So what if you took an ecosystems approach to […]
Wait, what? We need to stay motivated on our passion projects? Yes! No matter how much we love what we’re doing, we get tired. Or we get distracted. Or both! In this 79-second video I share an essential tool for creatives…
