One of my “favorite” HOLY COW clients was incredibly slow to pay, although she kept insisting she paid every invoice on time. It didn’t matter that I had to call and email her repeatedly after sending each invoice, requesting payment. It didn’t matter that at one point I refused to … [Read more...]
April 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment
April 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment
A company has asked me to ghostwrite a book for them. I’m dealing with a nice guy at the company, who invited me to submit a proposal with my terms for payment, due dates for blocks of chapters, etc. Nice Guy looked my proposal over, told me it seemed fine, and passed it on to the Legal Department … [Read more...]
March 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment
A few weeks ago I was contacted by a fellow who represented a large international firm that was setting up a website devoted to business. He wanted to know if I could write a series of informative 500-word articles for the site. “We want high-quality writing,” he told me several times. “And … [Read more...]
August 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment
When writing a health book for the popular press or a book designed to motivate and inspire readers, what tone should you take? Upbeat and positive is best. Readers of self-help books want to know what works. They want to know what you prefer. They want to know what they should do. As much as … [Read more...]
August 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Imagine that you are sitting at your desk, reading a new book on the benefits of exercise. Would you follow the exercise plan if the author proudly proclaimed, “Some of these exercises will affect you in a positive manner?” That’s not much of an endorsement. You’d be much more interested if … [Read more...]
April 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Many years ago, a publisher approached my agent with a plan for reissuing one of my old, out-of-print books. Their offer was modest, but it did include a huge inducement: a “national media campaign.” Whoa! NATIONAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN! I salivated as I imaged myself being flown from Los Angeles to … [Read more...]
April 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I often work as a writer-for-hire, penning books and book proposals at the request of agents or experts (such as a doctor or business executive). The work usually progresses smoothly, with the agent or expert sketching out their ideas for me, asking for my advice, critiquing drafts as I send them … [Read more...]
March 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment
When you’re in the process of putting words to paper (or words to screen, as the case may be) remember that writing is just like speaking, only you do it with ink (or computer images), not vocal cords. So follow these simple Readable Writing rules: 1. Keep the pomposity factor low. 2. Toss … [Read more...]
March 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Somewhere in the neighborhood of 170-200,000 books are published every year in the United States. That means there are a lot of authors competing for the book buyers’ attention. Imagine all of those authors – including you – standing shoulder-to-shoulder in rows and columns, in a big field, … [Read more...]
March 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
If you have money to work with you can hire a PR firm to build your platform for you by pitching you to television and radio shows, blogging and handling social media on your behalf, running commercials or ads, writing and distributing a newsletter, and so on. If you don’t have the dollars to … [Read more...]
March 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Setting up a website and/or blog is also relatively easy, although you will have to learn a little bit about website templates, hosting and a few other matters. Businesses like GoDaddy.com will secure your dotcom name and host your website and/or blog; you can even get a simple website or blog … [Read more...]
March 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment
When potential clients talk to me about ghostwriting their books, they inevitably ask, “How do you work?” or “What’s your writing process?” By this they mean, “Exactly what does a ghostwriter do?” The answer is simple: It depends on the client’s needs. Some clients, the … [Read more...]
March 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Which of the following two passages is easier to understand? This one: “As a consequence of his environmental exposures, he developed a cough, blackout spells, breathing difficulties, nausea, and was diagnosed as having asthma. He had headaches and irritation of the eyes, stomach aches, … [Read more...]
March 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment
If you read this sentence, “He developed high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol, something he had never had before,” would you know which ailment was new? The high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, or both? How about this: “He complains of frequent fatigue, pains in the lower … [Read more...]
March 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Is it possible to be too wonderfully, self-effacingly, grateful, humble and modest in your writing? If such an inferior writer as me may be permitted to offer an opinion, I would venture to say yes, although I would immediately and happily withdraw my conclusion if even one of the numerous … [Read more...]
March 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Experts know all the jargon and abbreviations, but most readers won’t. For example, foreign policy experts know “MAD” refers to the nuclear strategy of “Mutual Assured Destruction.” Psychiatrists and psychologists know that “mental/physical” describes mental distress resulting from a … [Read more...]
March 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment
When penning a self-help book or article, should you write about the actor or the action? In other words, is the active voice better than the passive in non-fiction books? As a general rule, the active voice is better than the passive voice. The active voice is more authoritative, to the point, … [Read more...]
March 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Can sentences be too short? Yes. Too-tiny sentences can be annoying because they spread a modest amount of information across several sentences. Making your sentences too small forces you to add unnecessary words and to chop up ideas and descriptions. For example: “See Dick. See Dick run. … [Read more...]
March 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment
How long should a sentence be? No longer than it needs to be. You don’t get brownie points for adding extra words. In fact, getting rid of extra words will help make your sentences more understandable. Take, for example, this sentence: “The presence in this plant of a significant degree of … [Read more...]
March 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment
How many words does it take to express an idea? The Lord’s Prayer is 66 words long. The 23rd Psalm is made up of 118 words. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address contains 226 words. The Ten Commandments are spelled out in about 300 words. On the other hand, the “US Department of Agriculture … [Read more...]
