Practical Tips for Creative Writers Most writers get into the profession because they enjoy reading fiction and writing creatively, but picking up the additional business skill set needed to write for a living can be challenging. Here are seven tips to help you improve the business side of your writing. Cultivate a Business Writing Mindset If you’re going to write for a living, you need to start thinking of writing as a business rather than a hobby or a creative art. Think of yourself as a professional providing a skilled service, not an artist. (You can still be an artist on your own time, but when you’re writing for an employer or a client, you’re a hired pen.) Approach writing with a sense of urgency in the realization that it’s a job tied to your livelihood. Pursue your writing goals with the same discipline you would apply to a regular…

How to Find the Right Market When you write a letter or email to somebody, you always know who you’re writing to and why. But you’d be surprised how many people write a book without considering these questions. It’s a big reason 10%-35% of books get returned to the publisher unsold and unread. If you want your book to be read, before you write it, you should have clear answers to the questions: Who am I writing to?Why would they want to read what I write instead of doing something else with their time?You can answer both questions at once if you realize that the reason people will read your book is if you’re offering something they need. When you factor this in, you can answer both questions at once using this formula:I am writing to people who need X.But how do you find what X is? And where do…