Throw away your list of questions
Here are some of the rules I’ve learned from doing thousands of interviews. Real people are more …
The editor who forced me to spell correctly
Marc Salgado was tough. As a soccer referee, he once threw a red card, ejecting a player from a …
Here are writers I have worked with, and why
All the cliched images of writers have something in common—the tough guy with a manual typewriter …
The words I needed during my career freefall
At 55 years of age, I dove off a career cliff. I left Alaska, where I had worked in journalism, …
She broke through fear to give students a better life
Our world would be better if we honored those applying their genius to humbly help others and paid …
A good coach helps you think outside yourself
Sometimes a coach can offer a single insight that makes all the difference. I discovered this …
Here’s the path out of editing hell
Bad editing is torment. Office workers know what I am saying. After unclear initial direction, a …
When to make big decisions about your writing
Yesterday I completed final revisions on two books, both of them projects I started more than five …
Why practice outweighs talent
I was asked again today how to become a writer—how did I do it? My first piece, a short story, was …
Almost everyone lies to aspiring writers
Some writers I coach need me to be a teacher, mentor, or therapist. Others are just looking for …
Social media will not make you an author
Beginning authors often receive the advice that to publish a book they need to develop a large …
How non-fiction books get published
Publishing a book is easy, but selling books is hard. For the most part, only books from mainstream, …