My writing life has been a series of transitions and I’m guessing yours has been, too. Most of us are an eclectic bunch. We work with clients on various types of projects, from technical papers to promotional copy, to full-blown marketing and branding campaigns, to ghostwriting or editing book-length projects that span a wide range of topics from practical how-to nonfiction through highly creative works.

These days I spend the majority of my time as a ghostwriter for other book authors. It has opened me to subject areas I might never have explored on my own and it’s broadened my experience and my knowledge. It has been highly rewarding, both personally and professionally. And, yes, it’s quite profitable, too.

But here is something else I learned: unless you are a “preferred” ghostwriter hired by a publisher or agent who continually feeds you assignments for their signed authors, the majority of your clients are going to ask for your help getting published. And that little factoid opened another profit-filled opportunity for me to develop an ancillary service of writing agent-attracting book proposal packages.  Whether it’s for client book projects or your own, here’s how you can, too: Read the rest of this entry

The holidays are in full swing and as much as I enjoy a rousing chorus of fa-la-la-la-la, I’m usually twice as stressed now as any other time of the year. I have a feeling I’m not alone. So when quiet time is hard to come by and a holiday break lightens everyone else’s load but yours, how can you clear your writing mind to cope with it all and meet your deadlines—those from clients and those that are self-imposed?

Here are five tips to de-stress in a hurry:

Leave the room. Put space between yourself and your computer, or office, or writing tablet… wherever you set up your writing space, get away from it. If all you can spare is five or ten minutes, take them. Walk to the corner and back. Make yourself a cup of tea. Do 10 pushups.

Find a distraction. Force your mind to go elsewhere by watching a short YouTube video of animals doing wacky things, or reading the first chapter of that novel you’ve been meaning to start.

Breathe. A friend of mine swears by meditation to get rid of stress. Me? Not so much. But I do think that taking a few minutes to slowly breathe in and out 10 or 20 times (yes, with your eyes closed and the television off), does wonders for jumpstarting your brain.

Power nap. Set a timer for 20 minutes, put your feet up and dream away. Nap for no more than 20 minutes and you’ll find you’ve got new energy to burn.

Defer.  If you are that stressed out, it’s likely you are not producing your best work. Reconsider projects that can be deferred until after the holidays. Oftentimes, the writer sets the deadline, not the client. If things are piling up and you have a deadline that can be deferred, do it.

Ready for a raise? If you’re a freelance writer, getting one can be a challenge.

After all, as freelancers, we’re trading hours for dollars and there are only so many hours in a day that you can spend on projects and assignments. Sure, you can work 15 to 18 hours a day instead of 8 or 10, but that’s not really giving yourself a raise, now, is it? That’s just working overtime. If you’re like me, you’ll quickly discover that all work and no play makes you dull, less creative, and absent from living your life. Work you love suddenly becomes work you hate and you have no one to blame but you. You cheat yourself, your family and/or friends, and your clients from having someone who is fully engaged.

If you want to give yourself a raise that doesn’t include slaving over an already overused keyboard, it’s time to start treating your writing business as a real business. Here are three small steps you can take to scale up your income by scaling up your freelance writing business: Read the rest of this entry

I spent a lot of years as a copywriter. I wrote ads, brochure copy, website content, direct mail campaigns and developed a host of other marketing materials that informed, enticed and invited potential customers to notice the client company and its services and/or products.

When I first started, I agonized over what to say and how to say it. I met with the client, took notes and spent countless hours – days even – investing “think time” to craft just the right mix of words to represent the company to its audience.

It wasn’t until I was assigned to a creative team, led by a project manager who was a former (and in demand) copywriter for Fortune 100 companies, that I learned the secret to writing copy quickly, in the client’s voice, and on target with the audience. Here is what I observed—and learned—in that one, single meeting: Read the rest of this entry

This weekend I had an opportunity to get together with two friends I’ve known for many, many (many) years and, thanks to life and family and work getting in the way, we rarely see each other. One is a kindergarten teacher ready to start the new school year, and the other is an office manager for a highly visible and very busy chiropractic practice. We exchanged family updates, and the conversation eventually rolled around to work.

After hearing about the comings and goings of a constant stream of chiropractic patients, and adding her account of days spent “herding” hyperactive five year olds, the teacher turned to me and said, “Most days I can’t hear myself think – I envy the freedom you have to work whenever you want and days filled with quiet creativity.”

I envy that, too.

My friend’s perception of what a freelance writer’s day is like is far removed from reality. So I gave them a quick “tour” of what a typical day in this freelance writer’s life can be like… and told them the one thing that freelance writing is not… Read the rest of this entry