In the past few years, the “law of attraction” principle has been hailed as a new and innovative way of ‘attracting’ to us the things we want to have or achieve. Basically, the idea is if you have positive thoughts, you attract positive results. If you have negative thoughts, you attract negative results.

The truth is that the law of attraction concept isn’t new. One of the first known references to such a “law of attraction” is in the book Thought Vibration, published in 1906, and reissued several years ago.

While there is plenty of controversy surrounding the validity of the principle itself, I am a big believer in the power of positive thinking—a simplistic interpretation of the law of attraction principle. Instead of investing my energy in worrying about the bills that need to be paid, I invest my energy in brainstorming new ways to bring in more income. The worry will net me a throbbing headache and a schedule filled with due dates. The brainstorming will net me potential opportunities and a schedule to actually get the bills paid.

Here are three ways for writers to activate the law of attraction to snag more profits from their writing: Read the rest of this entry

Back (wa-a-a-y back!) when I was in college, still trying to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up, I was a fine arts major. I can’t honestly tell you what my goal was other than I liked to draw and paint and throw a clay pot or two on the potter’s wheel—however lopsided it turned out. Obviously, I veered from that haphazard trail and ended up on the writer’s path pursuing my fame and fortune.

Despite ditching my formal education in art and design, those four years as an art student left a few fundamental lessons branded in my brain that, surprisingly, have served my writing career well. In fact, the one lesson that has helped me time and again as a writer is this: form follows function. Here’s how: Read the rest of this entry

Back in the “old days” when all my writing contracts were verbal, I had a long-standing relationship with a nonprofit client to do a monthly event flyer and complementary 8-page program for the event. I used a set fee for the flyer, and a separate set fee for the program. It was a clear arrangement with full understanding of what the services were and the associated costs. About a year and a half into our business relationship, the client called me and said, “We just put up our new website, could you take a quick look and give me your opinion?” No problem. This is a good, consistent client who always pays me the same day my invoices landed on her desk. A quick look and a ten-minute conversation wouldn’t hurt.

Before I knew it, I was not only giving my opinion, but rewriting some of the content, consulting with the web designer, and giving opinions about another marketing effort the organization was about to engage in. I’ve now crossed the line from giving a quick opinion, to providing additional services. Unfortunately, I never discussed with the client ahead of time that I needed to charge for these snowballing ‘extras’ I was suddenly doing for her. Now what? Read the rest of this entry

Thinking of writing a nonfiction book? Have a half-finished manuscript already tucked away in a desk drawer? Preparing a long list of publishers to whom you will send your completed manuscript? Regardless of where you are in the process of writing your book, please, please, PLEASE resist the urge to send your finished manuscript to publishers “over the transom” (uninvited). It is a glaring mark of an amateur and rarely will a publisher do anything but line his/her trash can with your carefully crafted and formatted “baby.” The truth is that it doesn’t matter if you write your entire book first—as long as the first thing a publisher or agent sees is your book proposal. A book proposal includes specific elements that help you put a professional foot forward. But, before you begin to write one, keep these three things in mind: Read the rest of this entry