Book Writing Tips
How Blogs are Different Than Nonfiction Books
Blogs are different than nonfiction books. One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone throws together a series of blog posts and calls it a manuscript. I know that not everyone will agree with me on this, but that’s not a book. It’s a collection of blog posts. And, IMHO, simply throwing them together…
Read MoreHow to Write in a Conversational Tone
When it comes to writing coaching, the number-one request I get from clients is, “Can you show me how to write in a conversational tone?” It’s a great question. In fact, it’s a genius question to ask, because, they don’t know it yet, but the question they’re really asking is not “how do I write…
Read MoreHow to Be the Author of a Ghostwritten Book
Although it might seem so, it’s not obvious how to be the author of a ghostwritten book. The most common misconception is that once you hire a ghostwriter, your manuscript will magically appear with minimal effort from you. Sure, the majority of the work will be done by the ghostwriter. But just because someone else…
Read MoreHow to Never Finish Writing Your Book
If you’ve been saying you’re going to write a book for years, you probably could write the book on how to never finish writing your book. But I’d like to save you the trouble and share with you two things. First, you’re not alone. And second, you can finish your book if you stop doing…
Read MoreWhat Authors Can Learn from the Agus Plagiarism Scandal
The day Dr. David Agus’s plagiarism scandal broke probably would have been a good one if not for the news. After all, March 6, 2023, was one day before the official release of Dr. Agus’s new title, The Book of Animal Secrets: Nature’s Lessons for a Long and Happy Life. And it already had hit…
Read MoreTop Ten Writing Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
I first identified the top ten writing pitfalls and how to avoid them for selfish reasons. I’ve seen a lot writing snafus in my 30-plus years editing other people’s writing. And the top ten writing pitfalls I’m about to share with you are the ones that show up over and over again and are the…
Read MoreHow to Write ‘Acknowledgments’ for Your Book
I had a client once, a first-time author, who didn’t realize they forgot to add an Acknowledgements page until the book was already out. No one at the major publishing house had caught it. My client didn’t feel ungrateful. They just forgot to do it. In fact, I have yet to meet one author who…
Read MoreHow Do I Know if My Book Idea is Original?
To figure out if your book idea is original is quite simple: look at what’s already out there. See what has already been written. The step is called a “Comparable Book Analysis,” or “Book Comps,” which means you will compare and contrast books similar to the one you have in mind to see what they’ve got, and what they lack. This is all part of making the case for why your book needs to be published.
Read MoreTop Writing Tips for Non-Writers
People come to us all the time with the same excuse:” I’m not a writer, I can’t write a book!” so, we’ve put together our “Top Writing Tips for Non-Writers” to help you keep writing when your mind is saying you can’t. Maya Hoffman (Ghostwriter and Book Coach) Carve out time in your daily schedule…
Read MoreHow to Write When You Don’t Want To
I told my team I’d have a blogpost ready to go in the morning. And I can’t really see myself showing up to the morning meeting as the CEO and telling my team, “Yeah, I finished my calls at 4:30, but I did other stuff for 6-hours and then I was just too tired.”
That’s a kind of leadership, I guess, but not the kind I want to promote in my business.