We all know that audio can be a powerful way to engage your audience, but can it really help you make a book sale? You bet it can. Here are some ways you can use audio to help sell your book: 1. Audio book samples: do a reading from your book, maybe a chapter or two and load it onto your website (if you don't think you're a good reader, have someone else do it or hire some voice-over talent) 2. Audio on your website: while I'm not in favor of having an audio file load...

Before I became a full-time writer, I had a job counting envelopes. Not colored envelopes or large manila envelopes, mind you, but white #10 envelopes. I had to count them in series of a hundred. Even now I can see them flashing in my eyes as I flipped through them, blinding myself as though I were looking out at a blanket of snow polished by the sun with dilated pupils. At the end of the day I’d leave the office with spots in my eyes. Why I had to count envelopes for six ...

A large box arrives from a New York Publisher. It’s here—YOUR BOOK! You hurriedly rip it open and take the first book out. There it is…YOUR NAME as the author of your first book. You forget to breathe and your heart skips a beat in excitement. You caress the spine and read the title and your very own name again. The cover looks great. You read the back cover and study it carefully. Even though you saw the proofs, it’s like you’ve never seen it before. Your excitement build...

Do you have trouble finishing your writing projects? Do you sometimes wonder what’s the point? Do rejections make you want to give up all together? You’re not alone. Writing isn’t always fun, especially when your efforts don’t seem to make a difference. But if you want to succeed, you can’t stop. You must keep going even when you don’t feel like it. Here are eight great ways to stay motivated: 1) Read biographies. What you’re feeling or going through isn’t anything new. F...

Most people tend to dismiss what they’re good at. Part of it is that you become so accustomed to having whatever skill you have that you cease to notice it. Sometimes it is out of a sense of false humility. But every single person has innate talents and gifts that enrich people’s lives—AND provide a source of income for you. How can you discover what your true talents are? Let me give you a hint. Where your passion is, you will find many of your natural abilities that you ...

Ask a bunch of aspiring magazine writers what editors are looking for when they read article queries and I'll bet most of them answer, "good article ideas." Well, sort of. What editors most want to find in queries are good article ideas from writers who have an appealing edge over other writers. Contrary to what most beginning freelancers think, that edge need not be writing talent. A good many other qualities, some of which don't show up in a query, make a writer valuable...

Not all relationships work out and business relationships are no exception. Why hang on to something that doesn't jive? Put the relationship to the side and move on.

If you work as a freelance writer, some of your projects are likely to include editing existing articles. Take special care to determine in advance of accepting the job that you fully understand the nitty gritty details. Otherwise, be prepared to work hard for very little money.

Today, Norm Goldman, Publisher & Editor of http://Bookpleasures.com is pleased to have as our guest, Helen Barer author of Fitness Kills. Helen is a native New Yorker and has spent many years as a writer of non-fiction ranging from cookbooks to television documentaries. Norm: Good day Helen and thanks for participating in our interview. Helen: I'm delighted to have been invited. Norm: How did you happen to write a book about a fitness ranch in Baja and co...

Today, writers have to find new ways to get their material out. The phenomenal growth of the ebook industry is no accident. This new medium of distribution is fast, efficient and extremely profitable. If you want to start your new business of selling words, the same words, over and over again without lifting a finger when it’s done, then you have to start right now. Maybe you’ve already started, or is it still just an idea? Maybe you just can’t keep at it or the finish ...