How Answering One Scary Question Can Lead You to the Life You’ve Always Wanted
In The 4-Hour Workweek, author Timothy Ferriss encourages readers to answer this question: If you got fired from your job tomorrow, what would you do to rescue your life from financial chaos? Sometimes reflecting on a worst-case scenario opens up whole new worlds of possibility. Job Search I suspect many people would simply launch an […]
How to Do More of the Work You Love and Less of the Work You Hate
We go and we go and we go. “Watch this,” we seem to say. “I’m fast. I move. I get it done. See?” But how much of our work comes from a deep sense of calling? How much of our activity stems from our core, our creative center? How fulfilling is our work? And how […]
10 Things Nonfiction Writers Can Learn from Fiction Writers
I’ll never forget the first time I went to Times Square. My friend and I were just out of high school. We went to New York to see as many Broadway shows as we could fit into our three-day weekend. Arriving in the evening, we checked in, threw our bags in the room, and ventured […]
Interview with Literary Agent Esther Fedorkevich, a Living Legend
I couldn’t be happier to be interviewing literary agent Esther Fedorkevich of The Fedd Agency. Esther is a first-generation American, the daughter of Ukrainian immigrants born in Argentina and China — and she has that indefatigable immigrant spirit in spades. After breaking records selling Bible studies for Lifeway and then working for The Lampo Group, […]
Do You Have These Questions about Agents, Publishing, Writing, and Platforms?
Last fall I attended the inaugural ReWrite conference, a writers conference headed up by literary agent Esther Fedorkevich. It was one of the best writers conferences I’ve attended because of the quality of the speakers, the intimate atmosphere, and the access attendees had to great writers, editors, and agents. Author-in-his-own-right and moderator Jim Henderson interviewed […]
Give Me Five Minutes—And I’ll Help You Become a Twitter Genius
Whether you’re an author, speaker, employee, or blogger, Twitter is important. We know that. We’ve seen a single Tweet (from the right person) rocket an Amazon ranking. We’ve seen the retweet effect. We’ve seen large corporations like American Airlines respond dramatically to a viral tweet. But it’s a strange medium, and we don’t want to […]
The One Thing I Really Wish Aspiring Writers Would Take to Heart
Earlier this week I was listening to a conversation between Michael Hyatt (@MichaelHyatt), author of Platform, and Stu McLaren (@StuMcLaren), a startup entrepreneur. At one point in the discussion Stu emphasized the importance of knowing your audience’s pain. What is your audience’s need? What is the problem your audience has that you can solve? And […]
Taking Your Questions for Agents, Editors, and Authors
Gary Neal Hansen (@garynealhansen) came up with a great idea the other day. He suggested asking you for questions that you’d like me to ask agents, editors, and authors. This is all part of what I’m calling the Living Legends series, where I interview an agent, editor, or author about anything from self-publishing to building […]
I Would Love Your Help Deciding on a Cover!
I have mentioned here in the past that I am working on a manifesto. It’s coming together, and I’m having a blast with it. I’d like to share two possible covers with you and hear which one you like better as well as any other comments you might have. Thank you!
5 Bone-Chilling Writing Tips from Alfred Hitchcock
In 1960 Alfred Hitchcock was already one of the most celebrated filmmakers in history. With well over forty films to his credit, including The Man Who Knew Too Much, Secret Agent, and North by Northwest, Sir Hitchcock’s place in cinematic history was both deserved and secure. That is precisely when he set the movie world […]