by Amanda on June 24, 2010
This week I had the pleasure of reviewing an excellent book and I would like to share my review with you. I am not affiliated with this book in any way. The link that you will find here in this blog is to Amazon and yes I do have an Amazon affiliate account so if you purchase through this link I will receive a few cents.
The Gettysburg Approach to Writing and Speaking Like a Professional – By Phillip Yaffe
I must admit, I am not normally a fan of books that claim to teach you how to write. I believe that writing is personal and you either have a passion for it or you don’t. That being said, I am so glad that I chose to read this book. It gave me an edge that I hadn’t realized I had been missing and I discovered a lot of really great information about the different aspects of writing that I had neglected to learn.
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by Amanda on May 12, 2009
Choosing a freelance writing job to bid on with Elance isn’t as simple as just logging on and placing a bid and there are a number of things that you should take into consideration before you do this. There are some tricks and tips that can help you make the most of your bids (connects as they are called on Elance) and not waste them.
Connects are explained in the previous post http://ghostwritinguncovered.com/Blog/elance-fees-and-connects-explained/
When you log into your Elance account and go to the Writing and Translation category to find jobs there are a few things that you should do. I always choose the show all category so that I can see a list of all the jobs that are available. Here’s a screen shot of what you should see:
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by Amanda on August 22, 2008
Yes it’s Friday again and time to tell you about my favourite blog posts this weeks.
First off we have the Freelance Parent who this week celebrated their one year anniversary and including a really valuable and honest post about their year as freelancers and how successful they have been. Their post included a break down of the work plan that they created initially and also how well they have done in achieving all their goals. This post is definitely worth a read and the ones that follow this one too. Here the link for their post:
Creating and reviewing our annual freelancing goals
The next post I want to talk about is from the Freelance Writing Gigs blog. It is a great post about sharing information and you will find a lot of valuable stuff in this one post. I know I now have some excellent resources because of it. Let me know what you think.
FWJ Community Project: Share Your Favorite Resources
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by Amanda on November 5, 2007
In today’s world short is everything. When completing writing of any kind most clients want short sentences and short paragraphs. Call it the web but it seems that most people skim through web pages without actually reading the content. So in order to get your point across you need to keep your sentences short and to the point.
I’ve just been browsing and came across a great website that will help you to hone your short sentence writing skills. It’s called Espresso Stories and the idea behind it is that you write a complete story in just one or two sentences no more than 25 words in total. It’s a great way to get your juices flowing so why not check it out when you get a chance.
Until next time,
Amanda
by Amanda on November 4, 2007
Browsing through a number of writers blogs this morning I came across an interesting post on writing words that sell. Take a look for yourself and make note of these words especially when you are writing sales copy.
Until next time,
Keep writing
by Amanda on November 3, 2007
Before ghostwriting an article, have you ever felt overwhelmed by a blank sensation, not knowing where to start?
…I’ll bet you have!
This checklist should help you eliminate some common problems in writing articles:
1. Have a specific purpose in mind.
Always have a specific purpose in mind before you begin writing: you should be crystal clear about what are you hoping to accomplish by writing your article. Is it an article clarifying an issue for your client’s customers, to attract prospects, to improve the link
popularity for their website? Ask your client to clarify this for you.
2. Know your client’s target population.
Before ghostwriting an article, conduct research on the target population. What are their experiences, their interests, and their wants in the chosen topic? What pain or problem do they try to avoid?
3. Develop a detailed outline first, stressing on the benefits.
Now that you have a purpose and a target, organize your article so that scanning it quickly will immediately show readers how they will benefit from it and what are the most important points.
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by Amanda on October 30, 2007
I just read an excellent article on the differences between American and English grammar which I thought I would share. This article is taken from Trent Steele’s Smart Writers Newsletter:
Mind Your Language!
Oscar Wilde famously declared that Britain and America were two nations divided by a common language.
Actually he didn’t quite say that, but he should have done — which is why he is always misquoted.
First there are the differences in spelling; some of them familiar, others less so.
For example, while American films are in color, British audiences watch them in colour. On Broadway you go to the theater, but in London’s West End to the theatre. Americans measure in meters, the British in metres. American center is British centre. And so on.
As a British writer I have to keep these differences constantly in mind when writing for US publications. On finishing the article I always check carefully to make sure that I have paid due honor – not honour – to American usage. In this I fulfill – not fulfil – the editor’s requirements.
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by Amanda on October 29, 2007
Have you decided to start a home-based ghostwriting business? You may be juggling a full time job, a part time job and family life. You know that there are many things you need to do in order to successfully start your business and work from home. How are you going to fit your business project into your daily commitments? It’s easy to become overwhelmed and lose focus. Losing focus will cause you to take no action. Action is essential to moving on from where you are now, to where you want to be.
Here are 5 tips to stay focused on starting your home based ghostwriting business:
1. Break Things Down
If you have a large task to tackle, it is always easier when you break it down into smaller components. You’ll find it easier to focus because you won’t feel as overwhelmed. For example, ‘Registering your ghostwriting business name’ can be broken down into: ‘Think of five business name ideas’, ‘Find out how to register your business name’, ‘Get registration form’ and so on.
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