One of my current book clients is HUGE in the construction business. The company will boast $1 billion in revenues by the end of 2011. It has four divisions, 2200+ employees, millions of dollars worth of equipment, dozens of off-shoot businesses, a corporate plane, a ranch in Arizona for employee use, and a partridge in a pear tree (okay, I’m not certain about the bird, but you get my drift). The fascinating thing is that, 50 years ago, the business consisted of one man, one beat up, old, used machine he used to move dirt, and a dream. Sound familiar? Basically, he was a freelancer—a freelancer without much of a plan. Even today, his company thrives without a board of directors or established sales department.  When people read his story, they might think he just got lucky and could conceivably call it a fluke. Yet, the more I listen to his rags to riches story, the clearer it becomes that he relied on three critical ingredients for success that every aspiring writer should, too:

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Several weeks ago, a colleague forwarded an ad to me that he saw on Craigslist. He thought it was a good fit for me. The gist of the ad said, “High profile entrepreneur and inventor with national acclaim and developed marketing channels seeks ghostwriter for memoir. Compensation consists of base plus generous percentage of advance and royalties.” While the ad was quite vague, it was promising and I was intrigued so I sent a short introductory email with a link to my online ghostwriting site at: www.authorsanonymous.com.

About a week later, I received a response from the author’s “literary representative” and we set up a time to talk about the project by phone. She revealed the name of the entrepreneur I would be working with and, indeed, his products and company are well known worldwide, he has a colorful and highly visible life, and would be excellent at book promotion. However, after speaking with the representative, I said, “no” to the ghostwriting project. Here’s why: Read the rest of this entry

Pick up any book that details the characteristics of a successful writer and you’ll find traits like: talent, commitment, passion, perseverance, and the quest to learn all you can about your craft. Develop these things, and you are positioned to start a promising writing career. Yet, success does not magically appear by simply developing these traits. Many talented, passionate students of the craft work a day job to support their writing “habit,” likening it to an addiction that can neither be shed nor satisfied.  While you embrace these writing “profit starters,” be mindful, too, that there are “profit stoppers” that must be overcome. Here are three top picks: Read the rest of this entry

Writers need content and lots of it. We need it to research and write blog entries, articles, commercial material, and books. In this “need it now” and “what’s new?” age of information development and exchange, writers are under extreme pressure to ferret out copious amounts of information and distill it into readable, interesting content—and do it (practically) at the speed of sound.

Writer’s block has no place in your arsenal of excuses; there simply isn’t time to succumb to that indulgence—your readers, clients, editors, and publishers will not tolerate it. So what is a writer to do to find malleable content quickly? Here are three sure-fire techniques to stuff your brain with reader-worthy ideas: Read the rest of this entry