Today I’m going to talk about something that may seem a bit odd: The conference blues. “Oh, Tiff. You mean the post-conference letdown?” No. I don’t mean that at all. What I’m talking about is the deep sense of intimidation or “not belonging” that I’ve both seen in others and experienced myself at various writer’s conferences. This is something that I was completely unprepared for when I attended my first national writing conference in September 2006. I was so excited…so prepared…so overwhelmed. I remember when I got there I’d already been published in two national print publications [Today’s Christian and Charisma Magazine] and I’d also been a regular columnist for a local newspaper. Yet, as I walked around the group of about 300 people a voice in my head kept […]
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TEE Explains: Why Do Editors (Not) Hate Writers?
Editors do not hate writers. Really. We don’t. Hate is such a strong word. So let’s make sure we apply it correctly, shall we? We hate misspelled words. Especially when we open a Word document and the word has a squigglyline underneath it that is Word’s way of saying, “Hey! I think you misspelled this word! You wanna’ check this?” And, obviously, you didn’t. We hate really long sentences that contain enough words to fill an unabridged dictionary and that, if you tried to read it, would cause an asthmatic to reach for her inhaler, and that sometimes, but not always, contain an overabundance of punctuation, but not always. (That example contained 45 words.I counted.) We hate commas thrown hither and yon throughout your manuscript with no rhyme or reason. Comma […]
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Get Your Twitter On!
I’ve already posted on how to utilize Twitter and Tweetdeck on this blog so today I want to talk about how to Tweet effectively. As Twitter has gained popularity it’s become harder to stand out in the crowd. But with a little Twitter Tweaking, you can encourage new folks to visit your site. First, and MOST IMPORTANT, utilize hashtags. A hashtag (#) makes the letters following it searchable within the Twitter universe—even if the person searching doesn’t follow you. For example, when I tweet about My Book Therapy I utilize two hastags—#write and #MyBookTherapy. Important Note: When you space, the hashtag ends. That’s why I wrote out #MyBookTherapy with NO spaces. Second, be creative when you compose your tweets. Avoid the tired old tweet, “Check out my newest blog post.” […]
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You are what you read: A tip from the Writing Career Coach
Many times people underestimate the value of spending time reading to get information for every area of their life and business. I’d like to hone in on business, marketing, and business growth. Remember, writing is a business, selling is a business, all of us are salespeople, all of us can apply this to our daily business growth. These are the principles I’ve applied to Writing Career Coach to grow my business exponentially while other businesses contracted, particularly in the publishing industry. 1: Don’t NOT read a book simply because you can’t read the entire thing. Confucius said “Every journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” It’s true. Every journey in writing and business begins with the first step. Whether it’s a new idea for a marketing strategy, […]
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