Roundup Of My Best Gifts For Writers Posts

Here’s a recap of great gifts for writers posts from recent years…which means I’m warming up for a new one!

31 Small Holiday Indulgences For Writers

Think Big Holiday Gift List For Prosperous Writers

Turn Your Gift Cards Into Writing Career Investments

Gifts For Writers Roundup of Links

The Writer Mama’s 2009 Holiday Gifts for Writers List

10 Ways To Shop For Writer Mamas (Holiday 2012 Post)

11 Gift Books (Holiday 2010 Post)

12 Books for Writers (Holiday 2010 Post)

Ultimate Holiday Gifts for Writers 2011

Gift This: Outstanding Ebooks As Gifts

Other cool holiday gifts for writers posts I’ve seen recently:

18 Holiday Gifts From Meghan Ward

Susan Kaye Quinn’s Blog

10 Great Holiday Gifts For Writers from the MarketCopyWriter blog

PJ Hoover’s Gift Ideas

Holiday Gift Guide from The Mom Writes

Holiday Gift Ideas for Young Writers from Writers Inspired

Happy holidays, writers!

More Of My Published Regional Parenting Magazine Articles

Ho-ho-ho, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here! And, believe it or not, Hanukkah is already over.

I have to admit, I am sad about the latter. I actually prefer when Hanukkah and Christmas go hand-in-hand. That’s why I wrote one of my latest articles, “Ho-Ho Hanukkah, Balancing Hanukkah and Christmas Celebrations,” and it appeared in many publications around North America this holiday season.

The truth is personal-experience based writing sells. It sold in the past and it still sells today, when you know how to write and pitch it in a professional manner.

Another personal experience piece I wrote this fall was, “13 Reasons Our Tween Does Not Have A Cell Phone Yet.” My husband and I are fairly tech-savvy. So why doesn’t our daughter have that much-coveted smartphone? Read the article to find out!

I love the holidays. I’m a December baby and the whole period from Thanksgiving to the New Year is hand’s-down my favorite time of year. But it is sometimes hard to maintain that holy-day feeling in the hustle and bustle of the holidays. That’s why I wrote “21 Ways To Keep The Hush In Your Holiday Rush” several years ago. And, I imagine, that’s why it’s still getting published today.

Burnout is pretty common among parents this time of year, especially among moms, and this is probably why “Moving Beyond Mommy Burnout, Ways To Recharge In Only 20 Minute” is still a steady seller for me.

And finally, ’tis the season of generosity, at least we work on this as a family value in our house. So, I’m very happy to see my article, “The Compassion Cure: Let Your Kids Catch You Being Generous,” has been popular this holiday season.

If you are interested in turning some of your values, traditions, and points of view into personal experience articles that sell, please check out my Writing & Publishing The Short Stuff class. I am offering a scholarship for the January 22nd class right now.

When I write about topics that are meaningful to me and share them with the world, I feel like I not only have something to offer, I feel like I am putting what I have to offer to good use in the world.

Join me in 2014, if you are interested in exploring your writing interests, too!

Happy holidays! I hope yours are merry and bright.

What’s A Cliché? Overused Words To Avoid In Your Writing

This post is excerpted from The Writer’s Workout, my third book from Writer’s Digest Books…you can learn more about it and all my helpful writing books right here.

Substitute “damn” every time you’re inclined to write “very”; Your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.  ~ Mark Twain

Avoid overused words that have achieved cliché status. Thanks to the increased speed of communication, it seems like a word can hit the cliché zenith overnight these days.

I like Sam Horn’s advice for how to handle clichés. In POP, Stand Out in Any Crowd, she says, “Substituting something unexpected for something expected startles people out of autopilot mode and pleasantly surprises them with your originality.”

Here is an assortment of tired words writers and editors shared with me that desperately need to be replaced with fresher ideas, plus a few words I’m weary of myself:

• Trust
• Wince
• Brand
• Wonderful
• Tribe
• Amazing
• Platform
• Leverage
• Connect
• Empower
• Human
• Intersect
• Funnel
• Authentic
• Gazed
• Lucid
• Literally
• Balance
• Peace
• Really
• So
• Like
• Soul
• Seriously
• Impacted
• Signage
• Gifted
• Journey
• Exactly
• Synergy
• Awesome
• Heaving
• Resonate
• Curate
• Actually
• Alternative
• Whatever
• Unique
• Very
• Issue

Of course, clichéd doesn’t merely apply to overused words. As author Scott Edelstein points out, “A cliché is anything trite and overused. Clichés are usually phrases (Look out for number one or It’s your funeral). But they can also be images (a cheery soda jerk with a pointed white hat; a cat pawing at a ball of yarn), ideas (war is hell; Californians are laid-back), or even whole scenes (the soldier comes home from the war; the lovers wake up to a magnificent sunrise).”

Pay attention to words that habitually end up on your editing room floor. If you can discover what they are, you are halfway toward swearing off of them. And if you can’t train them out of your pen, at least you’ll get faster at plucking them out later.

2014 Writing Career Booster Rockets From Christina Katz

Work with me in 2014, if you want to…

  • Move through inertia or self-doubt
  • Increase your writing productivity
  • Feel more technically confident about your writing
  • Go from unknown to known
  • Get paid to get published
  • Show others you can turn your writing dream into a reality
  • Prove to yourself that you can strive and make solid progress

I offer writing and platform challenges, classes, and Dream Teams, and registration for 2014 is open now.

Learn more about:

The 21 Moments Writing Challenge

Platform Bingo

Classes with Christina Katz

Dream Teams with Christina Katz

I go out of my way to offer options that fit every budget. The longer you work with me, and the more you advance through my offerings, the more time we spend working together.

And, if you qualify, don’t forget to apply for The Writer Mama Scholarship! The deadline is Sunday, December 15th.

I hope to work with you and help you realize your writing career goals in 2014! Please contact me via e-mail if you have any questions or concerns.

Publishing 3.0: Want To Understand The Business Of Books?

Then tune in to the AuthorMBA Podcast, hosted by Matt Garland, available starting December 20th on iTunes.

I will be part of a panel on Publishing 3.0 with the illustrious Jane Friedman of VQR and Scratch Magazine and Wayne Ude, director of the Whidbey Writers Workshop MFA.

About the episode:

This is a special edition of the AuthorMBA podcast made possible by Yi Shun Lai of the Whidbey Master of Fine Arts program at the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts. We will discuss questions on subjects like:

Which skills are more foundational and predictive of a successful writing career: creative/literary skills or business skills?

Which apprenticeship opportunities and/or side projects are advisable to would-be writers who desire to make a go at a full-on writing career?

What are the pros/cons of the three primary publishing options: traditional, assisted, and self?

Answers to these questions and more! Hope you can listen. I’ll share the direct link to the podcast once it is available, so stay tuned!

About the show:

AuthorMBA features conversations with today’s brightest authors and publishing thought leaders who excel at the business of books.

Conversations feature insights into successful business models, revenue streams, publishing strategies, marketing know-how, author platform must-haves, content essentials, career decisions, and more.

To thrive in the new book economy, today’s most successful authors think like an entrepreneur and treat their books like a business. AuthorMBA is precisely that: business school for authors.

About the panelists:

Jane Friedman has spent more than 15 years in the media industry as an editor, publisher, and professor. Currently she serves as the web editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review (VQR), based at the University of Virginia, where she also teaches digital publishing and online writing. Her newest digital media initiative is Scratch magazine, a quarterly publication for writers, all about the intersection of writing and money.

Christina Katz teaches writing career success strategies that work even in a rapidly evolving publishing marketplace to writers who want ownership of their careers. Thousands of writers have learned how to build solid, saleable, life-long career skills via her classes, training groups, talks, books, and coaching. Learn more at ChristinaKatz.com.

Wayne Ude holds an MFA from UMass-Amherst and a Masters of Non-Profit Leadership from Seattle U. After 17 years of teaching and directing writing programs at universities, he moved in 1993 onto six acres of woods on Whidbey Island, Washington. He’s the founding director for the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts low-residency MFA Program.

Matt Garland is an editor, writer, and strategist. He’s the founder of WinningEdits.com. Matt specializes in digital content development at the nexus of web technologies, business thinking, editorial strategy, storytelling, and modern publishing. When he’s not gazing into a computer, Matt chases his imagination into a good book or travel adventure.

Hope you can join us!

Inexpensive Audio Coaching For Your Writing Career

Starting today, I am launching a new branch of my business.

I am very pleased to announce my first audio coaching MP3 available for immediate download for the cost of a cup of coffee (even less than a fancy cup).

Introducing, Writing Career Pep Talks With Christina Katz. The first audio is just a bit longer than 30 minutes. The topic is: The Habits Of Successful Mom Writers.

Check it out here.

I gave this talk for free to the first hundred moms who signed up almost two weeks ago and the response to the content of the call was extremely positive.

If you are feeling like you need a little pep talk to get you motivated to do your best in the New Year, I hope you will purchase a copy of your own and listen to it as much as you like.

I will be offering another free pep talk in mid-December to celebrate the launch of my latest e-book, Permission Granted, 45 Reasons To Micro-publish, but you must be subscribed to my newsletter to be invited.

Registration will again be limited to the first 100 who register.

The invite will go out soon, so be sure to sign up for my newsletter, The Prosperous Writer.

You can sign up for the newsletter here.

To get into the holiday spirit, I am giving applicants two whole weeks rather than just one to apply for The Writer Mama Scholarship this time around. Happy holidays, mom writers!

Are you a mom, and you would love to take the Writing and Publishing the Short Stuff Class that starts Wednesday, January 22nd, but you would not otherwise be able to afford it?

Then you qualify for The Writer Mama Scholarship!

The application process for the next available scholarship for Writing & Publishing The Short Stuff Class begins today! I am accepting applications until Sunday, December 15th at midnight.

One full scholarship is granted each time the class is held, five times per year. Please read this post completely and double-check your application before submitting. The recipient will be announced on Monday, December 16th in this blog.

Please feel free to spread the word about the scholarship, even if you do not intend to apply. This is a full scholarship. The recipient commits to participating fully in the class and delivering all six assignments on time.

Please do not apply if you cannot make the commitment to participate in the class, which involves reading the weekly workbook, completing your assignments, and learning from your classmates work. (To learn about what you will get out of the class, please read the full class description.)

No additional time or special coaching is offered with the scholarship. It’s up to the scholarship recipient to make the most of the class.

Please note that this is a scholarship, not a giveaway. This scholarship is only for moms and is offered by class instructor, Christina Katz (that’s me).

One scholarship is available per WPSS class. The scholarship is not transferable if you fail to complete the class. The scholarship is also not transferable in the case of illness, family emergencies, a move, etc. If you have already paid for the class, you do not qualify for the scholarship. If you have already taken the class, you also do not qualify.

What is written in your application is private and your personal information will never be shared or sold beyond announcing the name of the recipient. The only way to qualify is to apply each time. No one else will view your application.

The application questions are below. Copy and paste them into a Microsoft Word document (to take the class you must be able to create and read Microsoft Word documents—no exceptions). Attach your application as a Word doc to your e-mail. Please answer each question concisely and completely.

Send your application to: “christina at christinakatz dot com” – this is the only email address for the scholarship. If you do not receive the scholarship, save your application for future scholarships and re-apply. Always add in your most current publication credits, since they are important. Put “WPSS Scholarship Application” in the subject line.

The scholarship recipient will be chosen based on the following criteria: demonstrated effort, need, and enthusiasm. The most important consideration is demonstrated past effort, so please don’t skimp on details of your past writing efforts. Applications accepted from U.S. residents only at this time.

To register for the class as a non-scholarship candidate, please visit the registration page. Space in the class is limited.

Please Note: The Writer Mama Scholarship is only for moms who legitimately cannot afford class tuition for whatever reason. So if you work at home, earn money, receive money, or your spouse or partner earns enough money for you to afford the class, please expect to regular pay price. My classes are kept affordable, specifically so moms can take them!

Here’s the application:

[Copy and paste the following application form into a Word doc, then simply fill it in:]

Name

Address

Email

Phone

Have you read the book, Writer Mama? How about my other books?

How long have you been reading my blog(s)?

What version of Microsoft Word software are you currently using?

Have you applied for The Writer Mama Scholarship before?

Write a short response to each of the following questions:

Please write one short paragraph about why you want to take the class, Writing and Publishing the Short Stuff.

Please list by publication name and date only, any publication credits you’ve accumulated thus far. Briefly list any other experience you think is relevant.

Please briefly state why you are unable to afford the tuition for the class at this time.

[End application.]

Thanks for applying for The Writer Mama Scholarship!

Happy holidays! My latest regional parenting magazine articles

Happy November articles on this first day of December!

If you’ve read Write For Regional Parenting Publications For Fun & Profit LINK and you want to kick your article-writing productivity and prosperity up a notch, I hope you will consider taking my Writing & Publishing The Short Stuff class and following it with my Beginning Level Dream Team.

What better gift to give yourself in the New Year than the ability to earn money writing parenting articles on topics you want to learn more about anyway?

Here are some of my latest articles for my parent readers:

The Compassion Cure: Let Kids Catch You Being Generous in MetroParent LINK

Available everywhere digital books are sold!

Gratitude Games, Fun Ways To Reawaken Appreciation In Kids LINK

Thanks You Notes, A Simple Approach LINK

A Puppy As A Present, 10 Ways To Survive The First 10 Days LINK

Ho-Ho Hanukkah! How To Balance Hanukkah & Christmas Celebrations LINK

10 Ways To Keep The Hush In Your Holiday Rush LINK

Ready to pen your own parenting articles?

Check out my helpful how-to e-book, Write For Parenting Publications For Fun & Profit and learn how.

Top Ten Writing-Career-Related Things I’m Grateful For This Year

1. Myself. All of the hard work I have put into my writing career into action over the past 14 years. All of the money I have invested in my development and growth. All of the awesome people I have worked with and come to know.

2. My student and clients. All of the hard-working folks whom I have had the pleasure of working with over the past 12 years. Thank you for helping me keep my head in a better world for writers and my feet on the ground of whatever we have to deal with today.

3. Technology — all of it. Thank you, Universe, for blessing us with great minds, forward-thinkers, and the amazing folks who share and carry out their visions with the world. Where would be without them? I cannot imagine.

4. Formal education. It may not have always given me exactly what I needed, but it always taught me how to think, how to persevere, and how to work hard to succeed amidst stiff competition.

5. Arts education. Thank you for teaching me to trust the right side of my brain, which had been neglected in my early life. Thank you also to all of the authors, teachers and mentors, who have helped me in this regard.

6. My readers and fans. Thank you for affirming what it took me years to believe — that I have value to contribute to the whole.

7. Steve Jobs and Apple. I so wish that I had tried to communicate with Steve Jobs while he was alive. His work specifically has blessed my life so incredibly. Thank you, Steve Jobs!

8. The creative process. I love nothing more than to be totally immersed in a creative project. It’s the best feeling in the world to know that you are working hard to put ideas into words that will actually reach and be read by others. Thank you everyone who has ever been involved in this process with me.

9. The publishing world of today and yesterday. I recognize that publishing is evolving, and we need to honor all of the stages of it, if we want to progress with any kind of compassion and dignity.

10. The people who have supported me, who have championed me, who have encouraged me or helped me when I needed it most. You know who you are. Never underestimate what a tiny word of kindness or a brisk piece of just the right advice can do for a person who is floundering. We are all human. We all need help sometimes. And as much as I have spent the past 12 years serving others, I have also been helped.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I wish you a very happy Thanksgiving and a very fulfilling and prosperous writing career!

~ Photo by Ruocaled

Quote 5: Permission Granted, 45 Reasons To Micro-publish

If the folks in traditional publishing have not figured out by now that most self-publishing authors stopped listening to what they had to say after they kept rejecting their and making them feel like less, than I think they are in for a big surprise in the coming decade.

Self-publishing writers are not going to be flocking to the doors of traditional publishing houses to avail themselves of new self-publishing services.

And the idea that they would, with all of the technology and assistance that is now widely and inexpensively available, is just silly.

Learn more about what the future is going to look like now that publishing is on a spectrum in my new book, Permission Granted, 45 Reasons To Micro-publish, on sale now in PDF with more digital formats rolling out soon.

In the coming years, writers will care less and less about publishing brands and care more and more about their own name as a brand. Anyone who is not viewing aspiring authors as a brands that might potentially change the world is just sleepwalking.

Aspiring authors and writers who have previously experienced a lot of rejection, usually from the folks in traditional publishing, tend to be a pretty scrappy, determined bunch. ~ Permission Granted, 45 Reasons To Micro-publish By Christina Katz