One Halloween while helping my mom pass out candy, I saw a kid in a cute Bugs Bunny costume. The costume was made out of nice material instead of the weird smelling plastic mask and the stiff vinyl bodysuit. See Exhibit A for an lovely example of a vinyl Darth Vader costume. What’s up with … Read more
Michelle Rafter posted a letter of introduction (LOI) from a writer who took an ego trip. Instead of an ego trip, I heard from an accountant who must be taking a trip to find blockhead clients. The email introduction implies she thinks writers don’t have business sense. The email makes a bad first impression coming … Read more
Guest post by Lior Levin. Reference this post for the what and why have a platform. In business and in life, what you say only means something to those who hear it. You can shout all you want, but if no one is listening, then what you say doesn’t matter much. A platform is the … Read more
In the mid-nineties, I worked for two telecom companies. In the first one, I had a colleague who was a published romance author. She did most of her writing in the evenings because that was her most productive time. My night owl friend arrived in the office as late as possible while I came in early. Despite my being the morning person and her night gal, we worked well together and stayed in touch after leaving the company.
How do you get most of your business? For me, it’s referrals. For fellow freelance writer Thursday Bram, it’s her address book. This guest post from Thursday shows how to make connections and make them work for your freelancing business.
Long ago, far away (OK, about an hour from where I write this) … in a softball game, I failed to catch a ball thrown to me at first base. This disappointed my coach because he depended on me to catch a reasonable throw every time. He forgave those occasional wild throws out of my … Read more
My youngest enters third grade, a grade that feels like a pinnacle school year. When my oldest was in third grade, I was pregnant with the youngest and had him at the end of the school year. He visited the school many times as a baby and toddler. Now, he’s over halfway through his elementary … Read more
I went to camp with my fifth grade class, but don’t recall much about the adventure. Only two scenes play in my memories. One is getting ready for bedtime wearing my long-sleeved maroon PJs with a big white 8 on the front. At the time, my brother attended Texas A&M and I was a big … Read more
I’ve been reluctant about guest posts because they rarely offer value and most of them write 10 versions of the same article to post everywhere. Not Matt Polsky. Matt did something different. He addressed me by name and his email included specifics about my blog. He also suggested a topic that worked for readers like … Read more
Almost <mumbles> years ago, I stood on the corner wearing a brand new dress suit on a hot and humid Washington, DC July day waiting for the bus to come. It had to be around 7 a.m. as I headed out to my first day of my first job after college. From that day on, … Read more