Friends often tell me I’m good at networking. But the truth is, I don’t focus on it. The only effort I put into networking is attending in-person professional events or meet-ups where I don’t know anyone. I hate going to those, but I make myself do it every once in a while to meet new […]
While scrolling through my RSS feed, I often notice that bloggers who write about books or writing tend to miss opportunities to take advantage of SEO, or Search Engine Optimization. I’m guessing that’s because a lot of us don’t understand it, probably because we’re focused on writing. While I don’t believe in writing for SEO, […]
How is it Friday already? Links: Do we have less time to read these days? I feel that way, and I don’t even have kids yet. From The Wall Street Journal’s The Juggle blog. Wanna make big things happen? Make big plans, says Seth Godin. Love this list of blogs for writers, from My Name […]
I’ve received a lot of friend requests on Facebook lately. Most are from people I’ve connected with through Twitter or other online forums, or public relations types who know me from my day job as a reporter. But I don’t want to be friends with those people on Facebook. It’s not because those people aren’t […]
My post last week about the myth of getting paid to travel struck a few nerves, particularly my comments about press trips. But here’s what surprised me: I thought more folks would disagree with me about how (un)realistic it is to make money as a travel writer. I expected to see more negative comments on […]
First things first: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM! (Yes, she reads the blog.) Links to keep you busy this weekend: At WordCount, 10 ways to make editors fall in love with your book. Lifehacker informs us that Kindle page numbers now correspond with paper books! An interesting take on travel blogging and freebies, from No Beaten Path. […]
Last week I called the cable company to ask how much it would cost to get Internet installed in my apartment. (Until now I’ve managed to use my apartment complex’s access.) The guy on the other end of the phone tried to give me a price for both Internet and cable. “Oh, I don’t need […]
Want to know how you can REALLY travel the world? Check out my eguide, How to Take a Career Break to Travel. I can’t stand all the posts on travel blogs that claim it’s possible to travel the world for free through writing. It’s NOT. Okay, maybe it’s possible for a few select writers. But […]
Some great links from this week: Publicist Jessica Lawlor tells how she helped an author publicize her book launch. Must-read piece from The Online Journalism Review about how to make money from writing. Brutal but truthful column from The New York Times on the problem with MEmoir. “If you didn't feel you were discovering something […]
A reader wrote me an e-mail earlier this week asking what, exactly, I meant when I wrote that a manuscript should have momentum. That wasn’t a literary term she’d heard before, she said. Was I referring to pacing? Or building tension? Or something entirely different? Which made me think: What exactly did I mean by […]