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Award-winning, Nashville-based writer, editor and journalist Katie Lewis talks about the creative community, being a freelancer, setting deadlines and remaining healthy and inspired.
What I really, really want this year is admittedly huge and will have the longest-lasting impact on my writing life: I want to define my writing brand and orient my work toward that end.
Before you ick out over the word "brand" when it's applied to a creative craft, let me share how I'm defining this: I want to figure out who I am as a writer, what my voice sounds like, the type of stories I want to tell, the messages I want to impart. Phew, that's a big one. But I think it's time.
Read moreSelf-publishing is a way to gain readers for writers either immobilized by the traditional publishing process or thwarted by the constant rejection. There are benefits to self-publishing that go beyond cash money, though, and I picked the brains of three self-published authors to learn the ins and outs. Meet and learn from them here!
Read moreSelling a product no longer looks like pushing out ad after ad. Instead, it's about building relationships, even friendships, with your consumers -- relating to them and reminding them that you aren't just a company but real people and personalities who exist behind the company and relate to their customers.
This is why, as writers, we need to know the difference between writing to sell and writing to build community -- and the benefits to prioritizing the latter.
Read morePick up just about any nearby book -- go ahead, I'll wait -- and you'll see a brief quote or two on the cover trumpeting the book's value. Did you know that for the most part, it falls to writers to solicit the blurbs for their own books? Oh, yes. Eek City.
Here's everything you need to know about the blurbing process.
Read moreAbout pages are arguably the most important on your website. It's where you can break through the business-talk — here are my services, here are the prices, here are testimonials, etc. — and have a shared human moment with your audience.
Let's talk about the components of a killer About page.
Read moreEvery new freelance writer makes mistakes. Uh-ohs, as uncomfortable as they can be, are a necessary part of becoming a better writer.
When you start your new career path, do your best to avoid these top five blunders writers new to freelancing make.
Read moreEach literary magazine or writing contest has its own rules for how submissions should be formatted. Some want pages numbered, others want cover pages, most want cover letters, while still others think cover letters are outdated. It's crucial that you read each opportunity's guidelines so your submission isn't rejected for simply being improperly formatted.
Read moreConsumers are looking to build relationships with brands they trust, and that requires an ongoing conversation — one that continues on your company blog, in your social feed, over email and beyond.
Many businesses and marketers struggle to keep up with the demand for new content. Outsourcing that content's creation is one solution to continue building customer relationships while keeping your wits about you.
Read moreWhile most of my clients are pinch-myself-fantastic, I've had my share of unpleasant collaborations. Rather than grumbling on sites where others share the dumb, rude, thoughtless sentences their know-nothing clients have uttered, I've tried to make it a learning opportunity to help attract well-meaning, knowledgeable clients moving forward.
That's why I reached out to five established writers and marketers to get their take on what makes for a positive client relationship.
Read moreIn marketing, not every leap of faith has an easy landing. Sometimes you make the wrong call, people take offense to your well-intentioned quip or you simply share incorrect information. Pretend it never happened, and let it blow over?
Cute. No.
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