Newsletters have been around forever. But every couple of years they become the hot new thing. Thanks to services like Mailchimp then TinyLetter and now Substack, writers who have wanted to reach audiences via email can do so in an easy way. Just sign up and start writing. The services take care of the rest…
A few years ago, I wrote a silly post called Top 10 Email Subject Lines for When You Just Want to Say ‘Hello.’ The post was an inside joke that turned into the most viewed post in the history of this site. I’m embarrassed that that simple post, which offers very scant advice for writing emails,…
Hey, should I start blogging again? Yes. Yes, you should.
If you’re reading this, it’s probably because you just stopped whatever writing you are pretending to do and googled “distraction-free writing apps.” So, let’s be clear: you’re the distraction.
I’ve been freelancing on and off for more than 15 years. While I’ve been lucky to land some decent-paying projects with a few well-known publishers and online outlets, I’ve always wondered whether there is a secret formula to getting more work. In fact, there is a secret formula to getting more freelance assignments, just as…
“There are a lot of ways to stay safe as a writer: by not writing, by writing to no one, by writing to a single admirer, by challenging the judgment of those with the power to judge, by not putting much effort into your work. ‘It’s hard,’ Zink writes in ‘The Wallcreeper,’ ‘trying to…
Sponsorship. If you’re a travel writer, this is a topic that often comes up. Will you take a sponsored press trip, a trip that is planned for you and/or a group of other writers, so that you can see places you may not be able to afford to go? Or, do you go it alone,…
I’m doing it. Here I am on the first day of NaNoWriMo — National Novel Writing Month — tapping away in a WordPress window. I am writing. Or, should I say, I #amwriting? I don’t have to write a novel. But that’s what a lot of other writers are doing this month. The goal for…
The Best American Travel Writing, which highlights the best travel stories from the previous full year, arrives in bookstores and on tablets this week. The 2014 edition is edited by Paul Theroux, who has selected some outstanding reads from a variety of print and online publications. Here are few that you can read online right…