Author: Valerie Khoo

Alumni news
Valerie Khoo

My top 10 interviews… out of one million downloads!

By Valerie Khoo Our podcast, So You Want to be a Writer, has now hit over one million downloads! When my co-host Allison Tait and I started out on this journey we never even considered this magic number. We were too busy loving the fact that we got to present

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Content and copywriting
Valerie Khoo

Content writing opportunities for freelance writers: Part 2

In the first part of this series, I gave you an idea of the landscape for content writing for big businesses. In this post, we’re looking at opportunities for content writing for smaller businesses. This sector is booming as more small business owners understand the power of content. This is

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Content and copywriting
Valerie Khoo

Content writing opportunities for freelance writers: Part 1

So you’ve heard about the wonderful world of content. And, as a freelance writer, you want in. You understand that the world of content marketing has exploded and you’d like to ride this wave. Before you launch into this space it’s important to understand where this explosion in content writing

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Freelance writing
Valerie Khoo

Ask Valerie: How can I get into corporate writing?

There are many genres in writing. Crime and thriller writing. Memoir writing. Travel writing. Some of these can conjure images of exciting plots or exotic locales. But not all genres evoke this same kind of romance or glamour. Like corporate writing. But wait. Before you screw your nose up at

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Content and copywriting
Valerie Khoo

Organising your research for content and feature writing

By Valerie Khoo Would you like to save time and streamline your writing workflow? Do you want to ensure that your research is organised perfectly and easy to access/find? As a freelance feature and content writer, I often have to do a lot of research, conduct interviews, analyse reports and

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Business writing
Valerie Khoo

5 common business writing mistakes – and how to avoid them

You only get one chance to make a first impression. So you better make it count. With the rise of text messaging and abbreviations used in social media, effective written communication is falling by the wayside. This could be happening in your blog posts, brochures, websites and even your advertisements.

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Build your profile and promote your book
Valerie Khoo

Don’t have a high profile? Well, do something about it.

This post is by Valerie Khoo, National Director of the Australian Writers’ Centre I’m a little bit cranky. Why? Well, I was talking to an author the other day and she was bemoaning the fact that her books aren’t selling to her expectations. I tried to explain to her that

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Writing news
Valerie Khoo

What’s YOUR 2016 writing goal? Tell us!

Whether you believe in its power or not, the presence of a new year being just around the corner is difficult to ignore. It’s often a time to take stock, look back at the past year and set goals for the next one and beyond. We often talk about our

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38 films about writers and writing

I have a confession to make. If there is one thing I enjoy just as much as reading a great book, it’s a great film that has a writer as one of its protagonists. I guess it’s that element of curiosity from a fellow writer to see exactly how this

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Writing tools, apps and gifts
Valerie Khoo

Hack of the week: Make love to your apostrophe

When I’m using my smartphone, I almost develop a facial tick whenever I’m typing a word that needs an apostrophe. Usually, I’m on the go and want to minimise keystrokes and tap out a super quick message. But then comes a word that needs an apostrophe like: I’ll He’ll We’re

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Alumni news
Valerie Khoo

The new generation of magazine and newspaper writers

We recently completed a wonderful five weeks for our first course in Magazine and Newspaper Writing Stage 2. And I have to say that I’m incredibly inspired by the talent I saw in the 60 students who participated in the first intake. We’ve already seen many students published in mainstream

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Fiction writing
Valerie Khoo

How to ask your questions directly to a publisher (and get an answer!)

Ever wanted to ask questions directly to a publisher? Hachette Australia’s “Ask the publisher” initiative will give you the chance to do just that. It will take place each Friday between 3pm-4pm (Sydney time) on Twitter. Just tweet @HachetteAus and include the hashtag #askHAU. Then one of Hachette’s publishers will chat

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Content and copywriting
Valerie Khoo

The rise and rise of branded journalism

While the media landscape is peppered with announcements about print magazine closures, many writers are mourning the loss of opportunities in this space. At the same time, however, we’re also observing a rise in branded journalism opportunities with an increasing number of corporations adding “publishing” to their core activities. So what

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Build your profile and promote your book
Valerie Khoo

How to find time to write: advice from the experts

As a writer (or wannabe writer) you’re often juggling many other priorities and it’s easy for writing to become the last item on your to-do list. So how do you find the time to write?

The short answer is: you make time. There is no way to wave a magic wand and hope that more than 24 hours will somehow appear in your day. If you want time to write, you are the only person who can make this happen.

Too many writers think: “I’ll write that when I have more time” or “I’ll wait till I retire or the kids grow up”. The reality is that’s an excuse. If you really want to succeed as a writer then you need to … write! And the sooner you get started, the sooner you’ll succeed. Because guess what? It takes time to…

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