"The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas." -- Linus Pauling.As writers, we all want good ideas about what freelance projects to pursue and what else to write -- nonfiction books, e-books, a novel. And we also want good ideas … [Continue reading]
Writing Ergonomics: Top Tips for Proper Posture, Alignment, and Movement
Authors and everyone who writes or works at a computer needs to pay attention to proper body posture/position, alignment, and movement -- if you want to be a faster writer and be a happier writer, you must learn about writing ergonomics. What Is … [Continue reading]
My Review of Carol Tice’s Freelance Writers Den Membership Site
Carol Tice's Freelance Writers Den is a membership site dedicated to helping people serious about freelance writing increase their chances of success. The site opened a few weeks ago, and since I've been an active member since the get-go, I've … [Continue reading]
How to Capture, Save, and Review Your Freelance Writing Ideas
Good ideas are crucial to the success of freelance writers and all creative types. But you have to do more than generate good ideas: you have to get those ideas out of your brain and into some system to save them. Only then can you evaluate those … [Continue reading]
On Freelance Writers Who Write For Free or Low Fees
Many freelance writers write paid blog posts in order to pay the bills and further their writing careers. One freelance writer who has had success at it is Carol Tice, but she recently wrote an insightful and important post called "Will Huffington … [Continue reading]
Take A Writer’s Retreat: Go Camping or Rent A Cabin
Do You Need a Writer's Retreat? We freelance writers are bombarded with distractions: e-mail, blogs, social media sites -- the entire Internet -- along with phone calls, visitors, family, pets, and more. It's difficult to get our writing done.My … [Continue reading]
When You Should Write a New Edition of Your Book or Ebook
Many writers have written books and e-books, but aren't sure when, why, or how to write a second or revised edition. I've written two mainstream trade paperback books and 2 of my own e-books, and between them I've done both new editions and revised … [Continue reading]
How to Write Faster: 12 Top Tips
When you write faster, you get more work completed in a given amount of time. If you write slowly, you make far less money per hour, you can’t do as many projects, and you have less time for the rest of your life.The goal: Work Less ~ Earn More ~ … [Continue reading]
Small Positive Changes Add Up to a Big Difference in Your Life
Small positive changes will add up to make a big difference in your life: better health, better relationships, more happiness, more money. I think we all know this, but have you actually identified your small changes, and more importantly, are you … [Continue reading]
My Guest Post and Live Call on Carol Tice’s Make A Living Writing Blog
Update... I had a fantastic response to my guest post on Carol's blog (see details below). As of now the comment count stands at 37.And the call with Carol had some great questioners from listeners. Carol and I discussed my freelance writing … [Continue reading]
Freelance Writer’s Guide to Internet Research
As a freelance writer, you need to practice good time management skills so you have high productivity, and searching the Internet without the right skills can waste a lot of your time without giving you quality results.So let's examine the best … [Continue reading]
8 Ways to Increase the Joy of Freelance Writing
Maximizing my happiness and enjoyment of life is my top priority, and that includes my freelance writing.Like me, you probably spend a lot of time writing. Life is short -- make sure you get the most joy out of your writing time by following … [Continue reading]
House-Sitting and the Location-Independent Freelance Lifestyle
My location-independent freelance writing lifestyle lets me house-sit in San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and other northern California and world locations.I love to travel to interesting places -- to experience different local cultures, to see … [Continue reading]
Over 2500 Listeners to My Recent Podcast
Some of you may remember that I did a podcast/teleseminar interview with Kim Pawlak from the Text and Academic Authors Association last December about how to succeed in my specialty: freelance writing for college textbook publishers. Shortly … [Continue reading]
Edit Old Blog Posts to Boost Search Engine Optimization and Traffic
In addition to ProductiveWriters.com, I also write the Writing College Textbook Supplements blog, which is devoted to my specific freelance writing specialty. I started the blog back in April of 2009, right after I released the first edition my … [Continue reading]
Just Released — The Second Edition of My Writing College Textbook Supplements E-Book
Most of you who visit ProductiveWriters.com know that my main niche is freelance writing for college textbook publishers. Today I'm proud to announce that I've just released the second edition of my e-book that details everything a smart freelancer … [Continue reading]
Google’s Plan for Your Ebook Reading
I recently wrote about why I think publishers should pay a 50% royalty on e-books. In that post I focused on the money, but there is also the big question of how e-books will be delivered and consumed. There are many different e-book readers -- … [Continue reading]
Interview Tips for Podcast and Webinar Guests
Going to be a guest on a podcast, webinar, or teleseminar? Here are the top tips to make sure you do an excellent job.Last December I was the featured guest on the Text and Academic Authors Podcast. I really enjoyed being interviewed by Kim … [Continue reading]
Selling E-Books with E-Junkie: My Experience
Recently I put my new e-book Intelligent Productivity For Freelance Writers: Manage Your Time, Make More Money, and Get More Enjoyment From Life for sale using the E-junkie shopping cart.(Note: Intelligent Productivity For Freelance Writers is … [Continue reading]
Top Time Management Techniques for Freelance Writers
Time management is absolutely critical to achieving success in freelance writing and in the rest of your life. Time is the great equalizer: we all have 24 hours in a day.The big question—what do we do with our time?How you spend your time — … [Continue reading]
My History of Social Networking
Most freelancers are quite active with social media/social networking, me included. My Social Networking/Blogging Story I got online in 1994 with an AOL account and started using e-mail to connect with editors at my book publisher, at the magazines … [Continue reading]
2010 Book and E-Book Sales Data for the United States
Freelance writers, book authors, and creators of information products should pay attention to book sales. The data for both print books and e-books tells us what consumers are paying for and gives indications of future trends, trends we can take … [Continue reading]
Get Permission to Use Copyrighted Photos
Get permission first if you want to use a copyrighted photo in a blog post or any other online or print publication -- or at least be sure you can publish it under "fair use" doctrine. How I Got Permission to Use a Copyrighted Photo I'm up before … [Continue reading]
How I Improved My Sales Page and Increased Conversion Rates for My E-Book
A few months ago I made some changes to the website for my very first information product: Writing College Textbook Supplements: The Definitive Guide to Winning High-Paying Assignments in the College Textbook Publishing Market (WCTS for short).Go … [Continue reading]
Why Publishers Should Pay a 50-Percent Royalty of Net Income on E-Books
Many freelance writers and entrepreneurs/business people are very interested in writing a book for a mainstream publisher that will appear in bookstores across the country and help build the author's authority, reputation, and bank account.Today … [Continue reading]
