Writing Better: My Interview with Timmy Bauer
Recently, I had the chance to chat with Timmy Bauer, host of the Writing Better podcast. We discussed success, confidence, Reedsy, and how to find the right clientele for your skill set and price point. I talked about my journey from working in the publishing world to venturing out on my own as a freelancer. We also spent a lot of time discussing how much to charge clients, and I told him how I honed in on high net-worth individuals and became confident charging what I'm worth. "I moved up to $30,000, and that felt uncomfortable. Because I was hanging [...]
What Gardening Has Taught Me about Life
May marks the start of my 24 th year in the publishing industry. At 44, that’s over half my life! I’ve gone through many roles, projects, and iterations since 2001, and I imagine there are many more ahead. But one thing I hope to never give up—apart from my wit and my literary abilities—is my love of gardening. My grandparents on my mom’s side were epic gardeners; my grandpa even had an award-winning rose garden. I grew up walking through the rows in a makeshift towel cape, like I was queen of the flowers. My mother is a fantastic gardener [...]
The Cowboy Rides Away: A Tribute to a Legend
The Cowboy Rides Away: A Tribute to Author G.R. Hester, a True Legend Sometimes during the process of writing a book, a genuine friendship is formed between the author and the freelancer. It’s an easy progression. You invest your time, energy, storytelling ability, and listening ear as someone tells you all about their life—hours and hours of stories. And then, weeks and months after the book’s publication, you continue checking up on each other, calling just to talk about the day. Planning the next time you’ll meet for coffee. Except sometimes, the next coffee meeting never happens. On Saturday morning, [...]
My Interview with NashvilleVoyager Magazine
Recently I had the pleasure of sitting down with NashvilleVoyager Magazine and sharing about my life and work. Check out the full story to hear more about how I got started, what I've learned, and how I dealt with the one client who called me at 2:00 a.m. to share her ideas (spoiler alert: boundaries are essential!).
What I’ve Learned In 15 Years As A Freelancer – 8 Business-Focused Lessons
It’s time to start a new series about the many lessons I’ve learned as a freelancer over the past (gulp) fifteen years. Of course, there are too many answers to put in one post. So, here’s the first of a two-part series illuminating what it looks like to work for myself. I’m starting out with my favorite business lessons. I’ll get to the fun, personal lessons later, but these are important, too! Plus, the business-related lessons help me optimize my time and talent, which, in turn, fund my lifestyle, my multiple hobbies, and my steady travel plans. 1. Save 30% [...]
The Not-So-Secret Life of Ghostwriters
This January, I, along with roughly 140 other ghostwriters, “emerged from the shadows,” as the New York Times put it, at the inaugural Gathering of the Ghosts conference, hosted by the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) and Gotham Ghostwriters. If it sounds a bit paradoxical, that’s because it is. Ghostwriters have traditionally skirted the spotlight, hiding their identities so the authors they write for shine. When I was invited to speak on the “Be a Visible Ghost” panel at Gotham, I put on my favorite flowy dress and hopped a plane to snowy NYC. Never before had I been able [...]
4 Unexpected Lessons from a Fiction Workshop
Last October, I huddled in an overstuffed armchair with my laptop in front of me, a blanket drawn around me like an invisibility cloak, eavesdropping on the conversations in the room. Oh crap, I thought, as I began to put the pieces together, many of these women all know each other already. I gazed outside at the drizzly Scottish sky and longed for my cozy living room and my cat. Several months before, I’d been in a “season of yes,” in which I accepted any opportunity that arose. That included a writing workshop in Scotland. The problem was I signed [...]
Being a Visible Ghost: My Talk at the Gathering of the Ghosts Conference in NYC
This past January, I spoke at the first-ever Gathering of the Ghosts conference in NYC. I'll share more of my thoughts later, but for now, check out Gotham Ghostwriter's summary of my "Be a Visible Ghost," panel, in which three other writers and I shared how we find and keep clients. I talked about my SEO strategy, while Carol Tice described how to build a following on LinkedIn. Bryna Haynes said she finds most of her clients on Facebook, and Fran Hauser fosters online community by using the #bookthreads hashtag on Threads. Pauleanna Reid said she aspires to continually surprise [...]