FundsforWriters

I used to treat writing contests like a gamble. I’d scroll through listings, pay my entry fees, and hope for a miracle. It was a strategy built on “maybe,” and it left my bank account empty.

The issue wasn’t that my writing was bad, it was that my strategy was non-existent. I was treating contests like $20 lottery tickets instead of a professional investment.

​A...

For years, I’ve counselled writers to avoid religion and politics in their branding unless they are part of their brand. There are always potential readers on the other side of the fence, and with so much competition for book sales, do you really want to alienate a chunk of them?

There’s another category rearing its head in this accidental culling of your own market, t...

I’m not a talented writer. I’m not even steeped in writing qualifications. Yet my website is splattered with published features. How? In three words – pitch, ballsiness and research.

Pitch – Turtles inspired me to write. While out having coffee, I noticed a company advertising string bags as alternatives to plastic ones. Not very interesting in it...

Once upon a time not long ago I did an event where several authors appeared. It was at a library. The library didn’t advertise except in its own material to its patrons. They thought the writers would really appreciate the recognition.

I asked if they had advertising prepared that I could use. No. I mentioned I would promote via my channels. They thanked me. I asked if...

When I started submitting my work in 2017, I didn’t have an author bio. At the time, I thought the writing should speak for itself. The bio felt like filler; plus, I had no idea what to say about myself. I didn’t have a long list of publications yet, and the thought of writing two or three sentences to sound polished and legitimate made me want to crawl under the bed.

...