Business professionals considering writing a book tend to cite familiar rationales: to gain increased credibility and authority, a stronger speaking platform, or a valuable marketing tool. After publication, those perks often arrive—but sometimes the unexpected bonus shows up. Stephanie Scotti is the author of Talk on Water: Attaining the Mindset for Powerhouse Presentations. Since publishing […]
Write with Ease: Keep Your Creative Well Filled
I attended an event last week to honor Jaki Shelton Green, North Carolina’s Poet Laureate. As she spoke—as I drank in her words—I felt a tremendous sense of relief. The words themselves? I couldn’t tell you. But the feeling of craft and inspiration and new ideas…ah. I hadn’t realized I felt like a parched plant […]
How to Write with a Conversational Tone & WHY
If you think back to your high school English class, you may recall having been taught that the written word is different from the spoken word. That it requires more formality, that it must be “proper.” These lessons may have been cemented into place by a workplace requiring you to be “professional.” But “professional,” “proper” […]
Are you being authentic, or playing it safe with your writing?
In Jane Austen’s Persuasion*, 27-year-old Anne is courted by Mr. William Elliot. Her surrogate mother, Lady Russell, thinks Mr. Elliot, with his education, manners, and future inheritance, would be a fine match for Anne. (Plus Anne already broke off an engagement with Captain Wentworth and declined Charles Musgrove’s proposal. She’s going to age out of […]
Position Your Book for Top Billing on the Publishing Stage – Part 2: Behind-the-Scenes Metadata
This two-part series looks at how to position your book for top billing online. In Part 1, we looked at front-of-house elements that make your book appealing to your audience: cover design, title, description. In Part 2, we cover the behind-the-scenes elements that make your book findable: metadata. You’re at a Broadway show. In the […]