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Writing and Publishing

Going APE Over Guy Kawasaki

I don’t normally mention books I haven’t read, but after hearing a podcast with the iconic Guy Kawasaki about his new book, I’ll make an exception. Guy’s latest contribution to society is APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur – How to Publish a Book. Can you see why I’m mentioning it? APE is an acronym for Author, […]

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Writing and Publishing

What’s the Value of Writing Contests?

I sometimes submit my work to writing contests. And I sometimes wonder why. Though I want to win, I don’t really expect to. This isn’t self-deprecating; it’s realistic: I write nonfiction and most of the contests I enter are for fiction. So why do I do it? To Stretch Myself: Many of the contests I […]

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Writing and Publishing

Why We Need to Write Every Day With Intention

For the past few days, I’ve been fighting a cold. I cut out as much as I could from my daily activities, doing only what had to be done. I stopped exercising and skipped my morning writing routine. Though I still wrote during my illness, I only did what I could not put off: maintaining […]

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Writing and Publishing

Is Amazon’s Purchase of Goodreads a Good Thing?

As March wound down, news surfaced of Amazon buying Goodreads. The announcement shocked me. Fearing the unknown, I mourned for what assuredly would be lost. Not so fast. Is Amazon’s acquisition of Goodreads really a bad development? Here are four points of view: Amazon’s Perspective: From a business standpoint, this is a great move by […]

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Writing and Publishing

Seven Reasons Why Writers Need Each Other

Last weekend I was at a writers retreat. What were we retreating from? I think in one way or another we all chose to be there to enjoy a reprieve from the status quo. We were retreating from normalcy. For most writers most of the time, writing is a solitary activity. We toil in isolation, […]

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Writing and Publishing

How to Deal With Bad Writing – Yours

This week I pulled out something I wrote and published a decade ago. I wanted to repurpose it into a shorter, updated piece. My old work shocked me. It was ponderous. I used big words that no one ever wields. I constructed long sentences – the kind where you forget the beginning by the time […]

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Writing and Publishing

Book Review: Are You There Blog?

Are You There Blog? It’s Me, Writer By Kristen Lamb (reviewed by Peter DeHaan) Are You There Blog? It’s Me, Writer is the result of Kristen Lamb’s journey down the blogging path, from a struggling novice to successful blogger – with the following to prove it. And she specifically focuses on writers. Kristen avows that […]

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Writing and Publishing

Book Review: We Are Not Alone

We Are Not Alone: The Writer’s Guide to Social Media By Kristen Lamb (reviewed by Peter DeHaan) We Are Not Alone: The Writer’s Guide to Social Media, Kristen Lamb shares from her own experience how writers can master social media, using it to build their platform. While much has been written about social media, this […]

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Writing and Publishing

Why You Should Write Your Author Bio Now

Many writers lament about how hard it is for them to write their own author bio. It doesn’t go as quickly as we think and their optimum message is harder to craft. It’s best to have our author bios written before we need them. And even if our pre-written bios don’t provide the right slant […]

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Writing and Publishing

My Second Article Ever Published

I recently blogged about my first article ever published. This post is about my second article. But don’t worry, this isn’t going to turn into a series. I have no idea what my third article was or where it was published. Although I promised myself I’d never ever write again after my first agonizing piece, […]