Former-journalist Nikki Parkinson began her blog Styling You in 2008. In a nutshell it’s an advice-driven fashion, beauty and lifestyle site – and, most importantly, it has a highly engaged readership, who are motivated to buy featured products and services. The blog did so well that she wrote an ebook.
When Heather Smith graduated from the Australian Writers Centre’s online course in Magazine and Newspaper Writing in 2010, little did she realise that she would become one of our most published graduates. She is now an author of six books and has been on the business bestseller list for several weeks.
Question:
I can’t figure out the best way to structure my non-fiction book. Where do I start?
Answer:
When you are writing a book – whether it’s fiction or non-fiction – it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Where do you start? How do you know it’s going to be engaging? How in the world would you ever reach 60,000 words (or whatever word count you’re trying to achieve)? The following advice is specifically for non-fiction books and is ideal for business books.
Getting your first big break in writing can take a lot of hard work, determination, and maybe just a little bit of luck.
This is the tale of travel writer Brian Thacker, successful author of seven travel books including Rule number 5: No sex on the bus and The Naked Man Festival. His former life was as an advertising art director, and when you lose an account in advertising, many people lose their jobs. His was one of those jobs.
So he decided to do something different. “I saw an ad in a paper for tour leaders in Europe and winter work,” he recalls. “So, I got this big silly dream. I went over and got a job as a ski guide in Switzerland. And, in the summer I was taking tours around Europe, busloads of drunk Aussies and Kiwis around Europe.”
What’s it like to be a ghostwriter? Here, Libby Harkness – author of both credited and uncredited memoirs on various subjects – spills the beans on her life as a ‘writer for hire’.
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