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Guest Blogger: Erin MacPherson Last week, I kicked off our “Pinterest for Marketing” series with a blog post on using Pinterest as a content marketing tool. This week, I want to spend some time talking about some of the nitty gritty details of effectively (and legally) using images on Pinterest, Pinterest is primarily an image…

Lessons from Steve Jobs, part 2 As I wrote in Monday’s post, I found Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs to be full of insights about life and business — not all of them revolutionary, but presented in such a way as to have maximum impact. I found myself asking how or if each of Jobs’s…

Lessons from Steve Jobs, part 1 Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs has been out for a year and a half, and I finally committed to reading it. It’s a big book! The hardcover is 656 pages and the Audible version is over 25 hours, but worth every single minute. I got so much out…

Ever thought about your book becoming a movie? I’m blogging all about it over at Books & Such today. Here’s a preview: Let’s start with this assumption: if you’ve written a novel or memoir, chances are you’ve dreamed of it becoming a movie. Admit it! It’s visual… it’s dramatic… the story is even better than…

In my last post, we discussed “volume” as a key to being able to support yourself as a writer. Today we’ll talk about the second key: Variety. A lot of people are wondering what I mean by this, because we’ve all had it pounded into us that we need to “brand” ourselves, we need to…

I’m blogging at Books & Such today. Here’s a preview… As you know, agents aren’t able to sell every book we decide to represent. But the decision to stop trying to sell a book is always a tough one. We’ve already put a lot of work into it, and we probably really like the client.…

I’m going to make this very simple: The secret to making a living wage as a writer lies in two words: volume and variety. Today let’s talk about the first one. Volume The biggest mistake writers make with respect to their “publishing dreams” is hoping for one big break that’s going to change their lives,…

I’m giving a webinar TONIGHT with book marketing guru @ThomasUmstattd: How to Win Agents and Influence Editors… at a Writers’ Conference. Time is 8pm Eastern… cost is only $15.00 and you get approximately one million dollars worth of material. Okay, just kidding. But we think it’s at least a $100 value. You get: ♦ The live webinar…

I’m blogging over at Books & Such today. Here’s a preview: There are plenty of places online to get tips for using Twitter effectively. (I’ve given you some links at the end of this post.) But today I’m going to give you just ONE tip. I think it’s the first and most important thing you…

Yesterday I gave you a sampling of the blogs I follow in my Google Reader. But there are some blogs and publications I follow on Twitter instead of in my Reader. These tend to be very good at Tweeting new articles and posts, so it’s easier for me to click through from Twitter rather than…

I’m an avid reader of blogs. I have dozens in my Google Reader and I take the opportunity to read, especially on my phone or iPad, whenever I have a few moments to spare. I’ve been asked numerous times to share the blogs I read, so here is a sampling. My list might be a…

I was talking with a friend who works in the financial industry, and a question came up about what we would each be doing 30 years from now. My friend was anticipating a prosperous retirement at that point, having built up a significant and valuable business. While the financial life of our nation has its…

I’m blogging over at Books & Such today. A preview: Here is a typical email I receive from writers I’m considering for representation, or clients whose proposals are about to be sent to publishers: Dear Rachelle, I’m SO sorry to bother you and I hope it’s not too late. I was looking over my manuscript…

I’m an optimist by nature — I usually expect things will all work out. But I find that I’m more successful and experience less disappointment when I practice “thinking negative.” What do I mean by that? When I “think negative,” I factor into my habitual “positive thinking” a realistic assessment of the difficulties, challenges or obstacles…