Why do we go to movies?” he asked the audience. “Escape!” someone shouted. “An experience!” “Yes,” the speaker said, “we go for those reasons, but we also go for clarity.” I’m here in Chicago for Donald Miller’s Storyline conference as I write this, and I think Don nails it in the above exchange. We go to […]
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…
If you’re fairly new to blogging, the thought of building a team may never have even crossed your mind. After all, blogging is a solitary endeavor, right? Well, yes, it is. Except when it isn’t. I contend that the best blogs – including brand new ones – are never built alone. They grow exponentially with the […]
When my wife read my blog post about the importance of platform and Google search ranking for writers, she replied, “It makes me sad. I wish platform/Google weren’t so paramount.” She spoke for legions of writers, I expect. “Why can’t I just write a good book?” “I’m a writer, not a marketer. Why do I have to be both?” […]
I just noticed something I have been doing habitually for well over ten years. Whenever I review a book proposal, one of the first things I do is Google the author’s name. I do this because a book deal is a business partnership. When we sign an author, we’re excited about the author’s voice and […]
The other day I walked past my bookshelf, and this juxtaposition caught my eye—two books that have no business being next to each other. The one is an Advent devotional titled Preparing for Jesus: Meditations on the Coming of Christ, Advent, Christmas and the Kingdom by accomplished writer and National Book Award winner Walt Wangerin. […]
The first thing realtors tell you when you’re preparing your house to go on the market is this: declutter. Not paint or redo the bathroom or update your windows. Get rid of the stuff, they tell you. Why? Because when we’re making what is arguably the most significant purchase of our lives, what we want more than […]
As editorial director for a major trade book publisher, I regularly receive questions like this: Is it okay to blog content that I want to use in my book? Will publishers mind if my blog content ends up in my book? If my book proposal is for a book based on my blog, will publishers […]
