Jen's Writing Journey

Ten Characteristics of a Good Client
Use these tips when evaluating whether you will continue to work with your current clients. Also, the comment from Kelly Parkinson has great tips to evaluate a potential client.

Proving You’re Worth More Money
In this post, Heather Boerner helps you negotiate for higher rates from current clients.

Follow Your Passions to Find New Clients
Passion is what drives most of us to writing, but sometimes economic realities force us to look beyond our passion to what best pays the bills. In this post, Shelley DeLuca suggests that we return to our passions and find ways to make them pay our bills. If poetry is your passion, make it your greatest focus. If macroeconomics gets you going, find the clients who will best appreciate your skill and your interest.

Busy Parent Writer: Keep an Eye Out for Tax Deductions
What do I learn from tax season every year? “This year, I need to keep better records.” In this post on the Writer Mama blog, Sharon Miller Cindrich reminds us of things we can write off. I’ve already done my taxes for 2008 (and spent most of the refund, to tell you the truth–Ducks season tickets are not cheap), but these tips will help me keep better records for 2009.

Defining the Blog Tour
L.J. Sellers defines blog tours, then solicits feedback about how to handle a tour. I am planning a tour for this summer, when my book comes out, so I found this very interesting. Ican’t wait to see all of your comments on her blog.

Business Building on a Shoestring
Goals. Goals bedevil me, even though I know they are necessary. Tiffany Colter provides tips here to help set the goals for your writing business.

Lift Every Voice: In Search of the Writer’s Voice
Voice is one of the key components of a query, either for a book, short story, or article idea. How can you find your voice and ensure that it shines through in all of your writing?

Do Magazines Publishers Have an Irrational Fear of Digital?
The popularity of digital publishing avenues strikes fear in the heart of many in the print world. I think digital and print can co-exist–some types of publications make sense in print, while others work best online. This exploration of the hypocrisy of print executives who use their Blackberries to complain about the death of print gives a little perspective.

• Diversification The main reason we are in this whole writing game is that we love to write, to tell stories. But we also have real needs--bills must be paid, food must be purchased, and so on. Thus the desire to earn money for some of these ditties we write. I've written......
• Book Review: Novel Shortcuts by Laura Whitcomb Young adult author Laura Whitcomb shares techniques that will help even the most seasoned wordsmiths write better and faster....
• Top 5 Posts With the end of the year approaching, it seemed like a good time to look back at the year and see which posts you found most useful. Here are the top 5, based on traffic and repeat visits. (Side note: The writing roundups are typically the most visited pieces, but......
• Writing Roundup, September 11 Here is a handy table of contents that will help you quickly reach the topic of your choice. Let me know if you like it this way. The Business of Writing Craft Fiction Freelancing Platform The Business of Writing Freemium for Writers Is Two Debates Don Holloway provides interesting insight......
• Writing Roundup, Oct. 16 Here is a handy table of contents that will help you quickly reach the topic of your choice. Let me know if you like it this way. The Business of Writing Craft Fiction Freelancing Platform The Business of Writing Book Trade Can Avoid Music Labels Digital Mistakes Publishers are scared.......

• Sunday Roundup: Blogging Tips and Resources Good morning Sunday readers! Are you looking for some blogging tips to help out your blog or thinking of starting one? Check out our quick...
• 4 Ways to Keep People at Your Blog The longer you keep someone at your blog, the more they read, the more they see your message. If you're selling something on your blog,...
• Google Notebook Helps Keep Me Organized After reading about using Google Notebook on a number of sites such as Blogging Bits, I took the leap and set up my own Google...
• Increase Traffic To Your Blog, pt3 Here is Part 3 in our series on increasing traffic to your blog. We hope you enjoyed the series, and that you can take these...
• 7 Reader Friendly Corporate Blogs Tips You want your blog to be engaging, but that may not always be easy. Here are some great tips on how to keep your corporate...